@Crimson Lion

The outcome was... not surprising. Riku himself had all but predicted it moments ago with his remark about taking the Queen Mansa down with him. God Hand Mode was powerful, but it had a nasty side effect of burning through all his energy reserves. Even the gunpla itself hadn't escaped from this gambit undamaged. The increased stress created by God Hand Mode had caused some visual wear and tear, not to mention the heavy fall damage that came afterward. It was in rough shape. Scuffed and scraped all over, and one of its arms was mangled after having to bear the weight of the gunpla upon its crash landing.

"Still needs work." he whispered under his breath in a low voice. The Metal Angel had a lot of power to it, but severely lacked a good way to properly harness that power. Maybe it was the Titus model, unable to handle the stress of God Hand Mode? Or maybe it was just his own human limitation as a pilot that was holding the build back? Either way, the Metal Angel was far from perfected. And after this battle, Riku would even dare say it might need an outright overhaul.

"Hey!" he called out to Koga Kyo before she had a chance to leave yet, "Thanks for the fight, you were great out there. Battle me again sometime, won't you?" it wasn't often that he complimented his opponents, and even rarer that he would ask them to battle again in the future. He usually only did such a thing for the people who truly challenged him, and whom had earned his respect.

“Kusaka Riku right? My names Yukihiro Naoki and I’d like to talk with you, if you don’t mind that is.”

Uh oh. It was the staff member who had been giving the building classes. Had Riku broken a rule after all by switching his Gunpla? At the very least he could plead ignorance, "Is... this about my switching Gunplas? I didn't see anything in the rules against it so..." he said, attempting to explain himself.

Blade quickly put away his twin buster rifles away and pulled out both his beam sword in both hands he said,” this is fun.” He laughs as he striked at the person infront of him and began to an intense offensive do back his enemy up. Blade simple moving quickly now since he doesn’t has the weight of the shield holding him back.

@Blade17 @Shiyonichi

Happy, but not totally satisfied with the blow he had dealt to the the Wing Zero, Jun continued his assault. He used the Beam Zamber in his Miracle's other hand to lock blades with his foe. As the sparks flew between them, the boy noticed the disappearance of the Red Zaku. "Dammit, is that bastard Kai trying to escape from me!?" he cursed in annoyance, however that momentary distraction had allowed the Wing Zero's beam saber to singe into the collar of Jun's Captain Miracle.

"I can't underestimate this punk either! Only a few minutes left..." Jun regained his focus after the sudden damage. Because the Miracle was only using one hand to hold off against the Wing Zero, it meant that Jun was losing in the struggle. So he tried to used the momentum of his opponent against him by boosting to the left side of Wing Zero and using the opportunity to unleash a flurry of shots with his Buster Gun.

@Double
The blond haired Koga Kyo sighed as the hologram around her disappeared and she turned to enter the audience. The ending fight of that match was intense, fiery, dare she say even passionate as the boy charged and destroyed her gunpla. This was truly what she loved about the game! But … sadly she had failed in her mission and was unable to win in the tournament. And without a tournament win she wouldn’t be able to enter regionals. “Things are really not going as planned.” She muttered before she was stopped by the sound of her opponents voice.

"Hey!" he called out as she turned, "Thanks for the fight, you were great out there. Battle me again sometime, won't you?"

Her glum thoughts were replaced with the thought of another hot blooded battle. “Heh, maybe I’ll see you at a bigger tournament, Sweetie.” She said with an exaggeration, before walking away into the crowd.

Naoki, who had approached Riku, was alittle taken aback when he started mentioning the rules before realizing he was still wearing his employee apron. Did … he not recognize me from school? Then again we’re not in any shared classes so it makes sense.

“Ah no no nothing like that.” Naoki said with a chuckle. “Actually I’d like to talk to you about something if you wouldn’t mind. We’re still missing a few people for this conversation however, but they’ll be done with their business soon.” Naoki said as he led Riku to the sidelines and motioned to the monitor showing the 3 combatants Kai, Blade, and Jun.

“Speaking of which, what do you think of the three left?” He asked the platinum haired boy.

---

@Shiyonichi
Kai successfully escapes the battle and dives into the ocean, letting the other two gunpla duke it out. Now escaping both of the gunplas sensors range, Kai now has the chance to both recharge his particles quickly since he wasn’t using any flight and plan out his next move as he floats among the wreckage of previous battles as something catches his eye.

---

@Blade17@KenjuGuy
As Blade changed the battle to close combat, Blade charged at Jun, lightly damaging the Captain Miracle in its side with a thrust and nic its shoulder with a slash before Jun began parrying the rest of its attacks. Jun, realizing a direct sword fight would be disadvantageous, blocks an attack and uses the momentum to maneuver to Blade's side. Once there he fires a flurry of shots, one of which hits the Wing Zeros left wing.

Kai grinned as he prepared his next attack...

Kai’s Theme

The Taisen surfaced from the ocean, as Kai took a deep breath before opening his eyes as the mismatched Zaku‘s monoeye flashed in synchronization, as he activated his trump card. The Zaku held it’s shield, and unknown to the others, there was something different about his shield. The Gunpla fighter threw the shield like a discus, his new arms helping better handle Kai’s “Trump Card.” The shield flew at great speed towards the two... only it wasn’t going to hit either of them going between them and hitting the air... Before Kai aimed at it with his Dobergun.

‘Sniping a moving target isn’t just pointing and firing, you have to predict the path that the target will move and the angle at it be.’

“Thanks, Kaguya.” Kai said, as he recalled his old teammate’s lesson on her specialty and the lesson that she had taught him before shooting his shield like a clay pigeon... and then a utterly massive explosion covered the skies.

What Kai had found was the Graze’s axe and embedded it into the bottom of the shield along with his own axe and bent the handles to create a makeshift rack to hold crackers while he placed and bent the handles of his Panzerfaust to better support it and add more firepower. Kai had put every single explosives he had into this, a grand total of 5 Crackers and 3 Panzerfaust, creating a crude discus of death.

The resulting explosion was quite possibly the biggest the local had seen so far, the resulting blast wave being large enough to ripple the sea where Kai was standing and Kai made sure that both Jun and Blade were near it when it detonated. Kai drew his beam saber, not quite activating it, but preparing to charge in if the explosion hadn’t quite finished the job.

@Crimson Lion@Shiyonichi@KenjuGuy@Blade17

"Huh?" asked Riku with a confused look. The employee, whom he now recognized as someone from his school named Naoki, had led them both to the sidelines. But it was the question he asked of Riku that was the confusing part, "What do I think of them?" his eyebrow had been raised, not really sure why Naoki was interested in his opinion. Even so, these were participants he knew next to nothing about. The only one he had had any meaningful interaction with was Blade, and that was only for a brief moment. But, he decided to oblige. That meant Riku needed to spend a moment watching the battle.

His eyes shifted between the Gunpla, and with each glance he made at them - each movement he watched them make - images began to appear in his mind about what their respective pilots were like. Some of them were a bit easier to figure than others, while one in particular was a strangely tough nut to crack. Still, he didn't stop observing their movements and tactics.

"The guy with the Crossbone, Shark right?" he asked, now ready to give his answer, "He seems pretty full of himself. Earlier I just took him for a small dog barking loudly to sound bigger than he actually is, but given how far he's made it maybe he actually can back up some of his boasting." but Riku's interest was more in the Gunpla itself, "His machine's had a lot of work put into it. You can practically see his ego oozing off of it with every part and color choice. But it's an impressive build, just the same."

Riku shifted his focus to Blade and the Wing Zero EW, "That guy with the Zero, I never caught his name, but from what I saw of him at Table B earlier he's clearly able to hold his own, but..." he almost hesitated, unsure of how to phrase the next part, "...his Gunpla's just a straight build by the look of it. Still solidly put together, but no customization or attempt to personalize it from what I can see. The colors and weapons all appear to be identical to what it had in the series. He must be a really big fan of Gundam Wing. Can't think of any other reason why he wouldn't customize it more."

His focus had moved to Kai and the Zaku kitbash he was currently piloting, "That one... well he's got some serious guts to take on a tournament like this in a demo model that he didn't even build himself. He's good at battling, but even the best battlers have trouble bringing out the potential in a Gunpla made by someone else. Maybe he's just not a great builder himself, difficult to say." a moment later, Kai had tossed his shield and fired a shot at it. This was a followed by a giant explosion, "Yep, he's a good fighter alright. But battling is only half of what this game is about."

After that he refocused his attention on Naoki, "But why ask me that? You're clearly interested in them but... why do you care what I think?"

@Shiyonichi @Blade

Jun could practically already hear a crowd of people chanting him name in victory, however that was just inside his head. This battle hadn't been decided yet, but he was without a doubt confident in his destiny. He wouldn't underestimate this Wing Zero fighter any further, therefor he would try to deal with him as fast as possible before finishing off Kai, where ever he was.

The Captain Miracle had readied it's light saber for another assault, but before he could, some red round object had been caught on his camera. The source of the hurl was the Red Zaku, Kai! It was only a few seconds, but Jun could tell that the trajectory was off. It may have only been for a moment, but in the last round, Jun had began to grow an understanding of the way Kai fought. To Jun, that guy was a bit of a coward in how evasive he was, but was certainly dangerous if you let him get away. Without a doubt this was one of those moments...

If one of Jun' hands been free, he would have grabbed the suspicious shield, unfortunately both of the Miracle's hands were occupied so there was nothing to do about it. There was one option left to Jun, and it was to use the Wing Zero near him as a sort of barrier to protect himself from whatever Kai's trick was. It was certainly the best and optimal move he could make.....but.... BUT!! "Jun Takamaki, The Once In A Century Genius, isn't some sort of wuss that would hide behind someone!"

Instead of doing that, he used all he had to send the Captain Miracle flying towards Kai while combing his Gun and Zamber into a Rifle. At this distance however, the only thing he could do was send a single shot from his Rifle at the red target. Yet that was all, once Kai's beam struck the shield, a massive explosion engulfed him despite how far he tried to get. The resulting hellscape hurled Captain Miracle into the forest in a blazing trail.

Down in the dirt and grass, Jun took note of the damage received. The back thrusters hand been completely wrecked, not only that, but both his left arm and right leg were completely blown off. There were also sparks of electricity flashing all around the mobile suit. Even so, Jun grinned, "Hahahaaha!!! I knew it, my plan worked! I really am a genius!"

Yes, though Captain Miracle was in critical condition, what Jun was more focused on, was where he had landed. He was on the outer edge of the forest, and just beyond that was beach and slightly further ahead was Kai hovering above the ocean surface. Jun had expected something like an explosion, after all, it was a move Kai had done before in the last round. So then Jun tried to get as close as he could in Kai's direction, so the occurring explosion would send him just within fighting range of his foe.

High risk and high reward was always the way Jun fought. This sort of result was the reason why he believed in that methodology. With sparks and electricity still dancing around the Miracle as it lay on the ground, it stutteringly raised the Rifle at the Red Zaku. "I didn't even get to show off my Muramasa Blade, but that's fine! I can still do this! I'll say it just like last round, Kai; VICTORY IS MINE!!!!!!!!!!"

Jun pulled the trigger

And exploded.

Before the beam could even come out, the Captain Miracle couldn't take anymore from the accumulated damage and therefor ignited in an explosion. Resulting in Jun's defeat.

"Wha-....DAMMIT!" he cursed, boiling in his loss.

@Double
As Riku continued to watch the battle and point out his observations, Naoki smiled, also watching but making sure to listen to Riku every word. Despite looking tough and somewhat violent Naoki guessed, after seeing Riku score and the play back from round one, that Riku had a somewhat strategic mind if his ambush and high score was any indicator. And he was happy that he guessed right.

Naoki agreed and disagreed with some of Riku's points. The Shark is loud, sure, but even lions roar to show their strength and he’s more than shown he can fight, for someone who is said to be a beginner anyways. Although it was a straight build Blade handles it remarkably well, being able to defeat 3 opponents with customized gunpla. And Kai, who at this point had dived into the water to begin his plan, was full of surprises.

As Riku finished giving his opinion he refocused his attention on Naoki, "But why ask me that? You're clearly interested in them but... why do you care what I think?"

Naoki stayed quiet for a second, before he put the question to the side to explain. “The domain of Gunpla … keeps growing.” He started, “And with the introduction of the WARS format 3 years ago that replaced the U-19, the demand for gunpla fighters has increased in the country of japan. And with the elimination of the under 19 rule, everyone can compete in it, from the young and old,” he said as he looked to the arcades counter, where the store owner Takemori and young boy Tomiyoka talked,

“From the solo to the group fighters,” he looked to the exit where a hooded teen and the 3 Yui siblings were exiting.

“And from the experienced to the beginners” he finished as he looked back to the battle. Looking between the Reaper and Shark. The Shark is still fighting the Wing Zero and the Reaper was underwater doing … something, Naoki still wasn’t sure.

“There had always been a cardinal rule in Gunpla battling, but in the WARS format where people are teaming up left and right it’s become more necessary than ever.” And at that moment Kais plan unfolded, with an explosion that felt like it shook both the arena and the crowd. “RESPECT STRENGTH!” He said loudly in order to make sure Riku heard over the cheering crowd. “As long as you can respect your opponents strength you can fight an enemy on equal ground, but more importantly, as long as you can respect your teammates strength you can work together.” He said with a smile. “In short, I want to invite you all to my Gunpla Team, and I wanted to make sure you were someone who I could work with.”

At the table, the holograms began to fade as Takemori walked to the front, “Everybody we have our winner!!!”

Naoki waves towards the tables “Seems like they’re done. We can get this meeting started.”

---

@Shiyonichi@KenjuGuy@Blade17

The explosion was what truly marked the climax of the battle as both the Wing Zero and Captain Miracle tried to dodge the large explosion.

Blade tried to use the Wing Zeros still superior air mobility to escape the blast, but with his broken wing he wasn’t able to fully escape the attack and his gunpla was unable to handle the blast, falling to the ground before crashing amongst the mountains near the coast.

Jun, having escaped the center but not the shockwave of the blast, had been launched into the forest below. Now missing an arm and a leg, he crawled towards Kai to fire one last shot .. before internally blowing up, truly ending the round in an explosion.

For the 3 fighters, the holograms around them began to fade as Takemori walked to the table, “Everybody we have our winner!!! Kai and his Taisen!!” He said as he walked up to Kai, “If you could take out your GP base I can upload your results.” He said as the two did just that, Kais GP base showing he had another local win to his record. “Uh, hey kid, this is gonna be a weird question but could you stay a bit after this? A friend of mine has something he’d like to talk to you about.” He said as he motioned over to the side of the arcade where Naoki and Riku stood, Naoki waving at them.

Over on the other side of the table, the 12 year old Tomiyoka approached Blade and Jun. “E-excuse me sirs, uh if you don’t mind there’s someone who wants to talk with you both!” He said with a bow as he also motioned to the side of the arcade where Naoki and Riku stood, Naoki waving at them as well.

Blade sighed and laughed a bit and said,” yea sure .” Blade stood up and stretched, “ but give me a moment there’s someone I want to talk to.” He took off running to find the girl, his wibg gundam in hand.@Crimson Lion

@Crimson Lion

Riku could only blink in silence. Team? Him? The outcome of the battle wasn't even on his mind anymore. Did Naoki really want him on his team? He supposed this was inevitable on some level. WARS format required teams in order to make it work. It wasn't hard to see that the old ways of battling solo in a royale or in a duel against another Gunpla was slowly being phased out. Today's tournament was one of the only opportunities Riku had had to compete in some form for this reason. He wasn't one to just invite himself onto someone else's team, and until now, no one had ever approached him.

WARS format... with opportunities to design everything from Mobile Armors to Warships. No way I can pass this up. His gaze shifted down to the broken Gunpla in his hand. That was something else he needed to mull over. With its present specs, the Metal Angel wasn't performing like he'd hoped it would. He'd already effectively decided it needed to have some of its armor slimmed down in order increase mobility, but it was also possible Riku would have to look into using a different model as the base for the build. He believed the beam spikes still made for an effective close range combat option, but the Titus was clearly too slow and clunky for his purposes.

At this point, Riku had brandished his phone. On it he was browsing for information on various suits from various series, hoping to find one that might better match the movement capability he was looking for. And that was when he saw it. It was a clip from a series he hadn't watched yet, and the machines there were moving in ways unlike anything he'd seen elsewhere. He looked up the series in question, discovering it used the Gundam elements and placed them in a fighting tournament rather than outright war. And then, in one of the clips, he saw one of the Gundams detach its shoulder armor pieces and reattached them to its fists, converting them into reinforced punching weapons. In addition to that it discarded the chest plate of its armor entirely, overall becoming much faster and more agile as a result. But it was the emphasis on boxing that really sold Riku on this machine.

"That's it!" he said to himself, not realizing he was speaking aloud, "I need that machine." he could already visualize a few ideas in his head. The question was, did the Gunpla Shop here at the arcade have any of that Gunpla in stock? Hopefully so, because Riku had already made up his mind. The model that would serve as the new base for Metal Angel... was that one: The Gundam Maxter.

"I'll be in the Gunpla store. Need to pick something up." he told Naoki suddenly before rushing off without another word. He returned to the Gunpla store and began his search.

The battle would be over with Kai’s gambit, as both of his opponents would crash down and erupt into fireballs indicating his victory. The holographic cockpit would dissolve into particles as the shouts of the crowd and the announcer would fill the air, though he barely acknowledged it, he had won without taking a single direct hit and even finished off two opponents with one attack all while using a hastily built and repaired Gunpla, to some this would have been the highlight of their Gunpla career, but to Kai it wasn’t enough.

He felt he was stagnant. He had to settle a score, but he couldn’t settle it alone. The current format prevented him from entering alone, but he didn’t find a group that was skilled enough or had the right character to get to the point he needed. His thought were interrupted by Takemori. “Here ya are.” Kai handed over his Gunpla Base, more than a dozen other wins would be recorded within it. “Why hell not, a I’ve got nothing else to lose.” Kai would walk away after taking back his Gunpla Base, but not towards Naoki.

Kai approach Seo’s group... and completely ignore Seo himself, instead turning to Hachiyama. The Gunpla Fighter would put his fist into his palm before giving him a traditional martial arts bow. “I hope we can fight again.” Without waiting for a response Kai turned on his heels and gave a slight wave. He said nothing to any of his other opponents, not to Kishimoto, not to Hamada, not to Blade, or even Jun he simply walked to Naoki and Riku. “So, I’m willing to hear ya out.” Kai said to Naoki. “So what do ya want?”

@Crimson Lion

"Freaking, *grumble* could've *grumble* if only *grumble* *grumble*" without a doubt, Jun was grumbling to himself as he started down at the destroyed Captain Miracle in his hands. His mood had been so foul, that it was almost like a deadly aura that scared away the fans in the audience that wanted to congratulate him for a good fight. "Such a goddamn moron, that's what I get for being so conservative with my weapons! I should have gone all out from the start! What's even the-" before he could finish his ruthless hail of self-criticism, an elementary school boy walked up cautiously.

"H-Hey Shark. I think you were real cool out there! You'll win next time, don't worry!" spoke the kid with a bright smile. From the looks of it, he was a fan. In face of that pure honesty, Jun couldn't feel so angry anymore.

"O-...of course! Even someone as great as me catches a setback every now and then! What's important is that always I get back up and face that challenge again even stronger than before! So..thanks for the support." with that final statement, he ruffled the younger boys head and showed him his usual grin full of bravado.

A moment after, Jun was greeted by another young kid, this time asking him to follow along to speak with somebody. "What, more fans?" he questioned as he walked along, placing his defeated Captain Miracle into his bag.

When he got there, Jun noticed the group of fighters that had just fought in the tournament. Even worse off, Kai showed up last, as full of himself as Jun had expected him to be! "Kai! It's not manly to make excuses, so I won't say you got lucky this time. BUT, that wouldn't have happened if it were one-on-one and it certainly won't happen next time. Because when I get my revenge on you- HEY DON'T IGNORE ME!" to no one's surprise, Kai had ignored him and approached Naoki, the person that brought this group together.

"Oh yeah, what's this all about? Hm, you're that weird Graze fighter from before. ...Oh I see, you all want to take me on at the same time as payback! That's fine by me, I'll fight even with a busted Gunpla!"

@Blade17
Exiting after her, Blade sees the three Yui siblings walking away from the store front. The three siblings all had straight black hair with the two boys having very short hair while Hanakos was long and tied up. “B-but that one guy was all alone!” One could be heard saying in plee.

“Basically easy pickings!” The other joined in their defense.

“I don't care what your excuses are!” She said as she turned around to face the two. “Thanks to you two we're gonna be in tro- Oh” Hanako paused, now seeing Blade in front of the store. She had almost passed him off as a complete stranger before she saw the Wing Zero in his hand.

Before she could say anything to him, her two siblings also turned around and made the revelation. “You!!” The two said in unison

“Here to rub it in our faces?”

“You already ruined the debut! What else do y-“ Was said before Hanako covered both of their mouths.

She whispers, “Shut the HELL up.” She said before moving them behind her. “Both of you. Leave. Now.” She said commandingly as she was now facing Blade. The two brothers nod before walking away, watching the two from afar. Hanako turns back to Blade. “So, YOU’RE the one behind the Wing Zero.” She said, looking him up and down. “I don’t have a lot of time, I need to make sure my brothers don’t get into trouble, so did you .. need something?” She asked, tilting her head, mentally ready to leave if he really was going to brag. Then again, he was pretty cordial during the fight and even offered a hand so she wasn’t too worried.

Still though, she really didn’t want to keep her waiting too long.

---

@Double
Takemori, having returned to the counter of the shop, was surprised to see Riku looking through the shelves above his head looking for something. Following Riku's eyes he finds it drawn to the Gundam Maxter sitting in the top row. “You interested in the Maxter kid? It’s definitely a fierce gunpla in close range, though you gotta have guts to shed your armor for more offensive strength.” He said, trying to dole out whatever wisdom he could to the young fighter.

Takemori grabbed the box from high up and handed it to the teen. “It’s obvious that you wanna buy this, so how bout you just take this and we can put it on your tab.” He offered discreetly. He’d feel bad if he took the kids' money right now of all times.

---

@Shiyonichi
Seo watched the rest of the battle as he was seething in anger, watching Riku rack up point after point. Only feeling smug when he saw Rikus Metal Angel finally fall in its last ditch attack. When the match ended, the 5 of them stood to the side talking about the match. “The end of that fight was intense.” Kobayashi said, looking over the damages to his blue GN-X. “The Reaper, and the Shark. Without Seo did we really stand a chance?”

“Obviously not!” Seo answered swiftly. “However. If I hadn’t underestimated Riku I’d have gone to the next round as well.” He said in frustration. Before they could say anything else however, Kai walked up to them. As the other looked to eachother, wondering why he would approach them, Seo smile. “Ah Hello. You were the one who won the tournament yes? If your interested in joining sign ups ar-“

He was then interrupted by Kai walking directly past him, to Hachiyama. Kai put his fist into his palm before giving him a traditional martial arts bow. “I hope we can fight again.” The Reaper said before walking away.

Tanaka spoke first, “D-dude, you just got complimented by the Reaper!” He said, hachiyama for his part was still shocked silent.

Seo, still stunned by being ignored, recovered and tried again. “Anyways I think you’d make a great addition to our team and if you can come by Saturday I’m sure I can assess your skills properly.” He continued, but again was ignored. Before he could follow the boy he realized WHO he was walking towards. Naoki and Riku.

It had made sense now why he was being so disrespectful! ‘They had probably already formed a team and had come to work together, just like us!’ He thought incorrectly.

“C’mon boys! We’re leaving, but mark my words.” He said as he watched the group form at the other side of the room. “I’ll get you for this.” He said more to himself as he stomped out of the arcade. His allies in tow.

---

(Side Story)@KenjuGuy

“I got to say hi to the Shark! Did you see sis!” A young boy said as he and his sister walked home from the arcade.

Kishimodo laughed at her brother's energy. “Yes yes I saw, and he was much nicer than I thought.” She said, remembering how frustrated the boy looked after the battle. She honestly thought he was going to bite her brothers head off but was happy when he changed tunes. “By the way, I’m sorry for ruining your gunpla, and you were so excited to see me win.” She said handing him his gunpla back.

“Y-You were amazing out there big sis! There was just a lot of other strong guys. And you lost to the first place guy, so it’s not all bad.” He said as he held his damaged Victory Gundam in his hand. “And we had a fun time right?”

“Heh, yeah it was pretty fun. Who knows, I might get more into this myself.” She said as she looked down at her shopping bag, a new box kit sitting inside.

---

@Blade17@Double@Shiyonichi@KenjuGuy
As the teens began to finish their individual business and join the group, Naoki smiled as he examined the 4. An image of all 4 of them working in tandem flashed through his mind as he was already assigning roles to strategies in his head.

“So, I’m willing to hear ya out.” Kai said to Naoki. “So what do ya want?”

Jun chimed in at that, "Oh yeah, what's this all about? Hm, you're that weird Graze fighter from before. ...Oh I see, you all want to take me on at the same time as payback! That's fine by me, I'll fight even with a busted Gunpla!"

Naoki for his part was shocked by what felt like a sudden challenge, not that he’d reject a fight. Naoki's hand was already hovering above his gunpla case on his belt, but quickly stopped, remembering why he was here. “No no, at least not yet.” He said as he tried to calm down Jun. “The reason I gathered the 4 of you is because I’m forming a Gunpla Fighter Team, a team with the goal of reaching the world tournament together.” He said, trying and moderately succeeding to add confidence to his voice as he continued. “I already have everything we need for an official team, from a Haro bot to a financial sponsor. So we won’t have to worry about any extra sort of expenses. The only things I’m missing are teammates, so I came to today's tournament in hopes of finding potential candidates, and that's where you all come in.”

Naoki took a deep breath before bowing. “Please! Consider joining my team!!” He said in a bow to the 4.

@Crimson Lion

"Guts, huh?" asked Riku, staring intently at the model kit box in his hand, "Sounds like I should approach this with more patience." if there was anyone in the shop he was always willing to open up and socialize with, it was definitely Takemori-san. The guy had a way of offering little nuggets of wisdom and advice to anyone interested in getting into Gunpla. Apart from the counselor at school, he was probably the person Riku was most friendly with, "I was eager to push Metal Angel's limits, and it ended up costing me the tournament. I won't let myself make that mistake twice." though there was one small caveat to the Maxter that made him hesitate. From what he saw of G Gundam, the pilots in that series were every bit as trained in body as they were in piloting. Sure, he'd gotten into a schoolyard fight or two, but Riku was no boxer or martial artist. Would he even be able to handle the Maxter's fighting style?

When the owner offered to put the model kit on Riku's tab, he blinked and gave a bow of gratitude, "Thank you, Takemori-san, I appreciate it." but then he glanced back in the direction where he knew Naoki was waiting, "Guess I'd better not keep him waiting." and he left to go back to the arcade, the new Gundam Maxter model kit box held securely under one arm.

@Crimson Lion@KenjuGuy@Shiyonichi@Blade17

After having returned, Riku simply waited for Naoki to make the pitch to the others. He of course already knew it was coming, so he needed only stay silent and wait for it. Afterward, though, Riku was quick to speak up. He wanted something of his own out of this, and so it was now or never to make his counter-offer, as it were.

"I've been wanting an excuse to work on bigger and better builds," he said, then gestured to a nearby poster promoting the WARS format, specifically one that featured the White Base ship as part of the promotional art, "and designing a flagship sounds like the ultimate build challenge. As long as I can get some up input on designing our ship, then count me in."

@Crimson Lion

Blade said,” want wanted to see the person who took me down and damaged wing, but no im not here to brag, honestly wanted to see if you like to hangout, like I don’t know a date?” He was honestly a bit awkward didn’t know how to ask her to hangout. But he decided to be straight forward. Waiting for her response.

@Blade17
Hanako went wide eyed and flustered. She wasn't expecting to get asked out all of a sudden, especially since her brothers drove most others away. "I, uh well." She pondered, unsure how to really respond, "Listen, I have to go but .. here's my number." She said taking out a paper and scribbling a number, and giving it to him. "We can talk later!" She said, walking away to rejoin her siblings.

@Crimson Lion

Blake took the number and said,” yes talk later.” He smiled a bit as he looked as she left turning around to rejoin the guy who wanted to talk to him and a few others joining everyone else and spoke,” I am completely down for this”

Contrary to how he acted, Kai was actually listening to Seo’s “request” for recruitment, he just ignored him because one he seemed a pain in the ass, two entering that team would simply shackle him. He could tell from looking at Hachiyama. Kai’s team were freaks of Gunpla, from his martial arts, to Kaguya’s eyes and Souji’s building abilities, to his old leaders freakish Newtype like spacial awareness, all of them were talented in someway. That why he tell when he saw talent when he saw it and Hachiyama was actually pretty talented, when he fired the Bazooka at him he made the proper judgment using himself as a sacrifice to prevent himself from dragging the rest of the team down as well as trying to take down an enemy with him. As far as he could tell he had potential, he could certainly be a regional regular if not higher and could have been a threat to Shark, but unlike the loudmouth he was being held back. Usually a Gunpla team tends to use unique suits suited for the member of the team, a specially made Gunpla for the user was a force multiplier, the only time you see when someone has the exact same Gunpla is if the team had amazing team work as in seeming like a a single person in mutiple bodies. Otherwise the downsides of not allowing the pilot to thrive out weighted benefits of consistency. He could tell that despite their loyalty, they couldn’t go beyond even regionals, an event that his old team had swept through without losing a single Gunpla.

Which was lucky for Naoki as the other team made his proposition seem better in comparison, though the prospect of being in a team with the loud mouth also took away points. Kai was almost indifferent to being asked to join a Gunpla team, after all he had plenty of two bit amateurs asking him like that amateur that tried a couple of minutes ago, of course he was also not very accepting of being part of a group, after his old team breaking apart. Needing to advance, but also against taking the steps Kai was at a crossroad. “So, then why us? Did you just want strong teammates?” The delinquent asked.

“Well then... catch.”

Kai suddenly raised his arm and dropped the Taisen in front of him from chest height, something that was completely out of left field for a Gunpla fighter, which was the point. While Kai was more than capable of catching the Gunpla before it hits the floor, this was a test for Naoki, not just his reaction time and ability to act in the face of the unexpected, but how he handled even a cheap Gunpla like the Taisen.

@Crimson Lion

Jun tried to reign himself in from shouting dead into Kai's ear. Instead he focused on what Naoki was trying to say to him. There came the proposition to join forces with these group of fighters and form a team. Questionable, Jun scratched the side of his cheek in an uninterested manner. Since Jun was always taking part in all kinds of activities, he of course had gotten to be part of several teams before. However....

"Huh? Why would I need to team up with you guys? The challenge I'm taking on is becoming the best in Gunpla. So I don't get anything out of working with you guys, especially since there are some of you that I want to take down! I mean, I understand that a genius like me is a rare catch, but I got my own goals, sorry."

Jun prepared himself to walk away until Naoki continued his bargain, looking over the team. “If you all join we can I can provide whatever any other team would provide, from equipment to training opportunities.” He said stopping at Shark, “There’ll be multiple opportunities to prove your strength, even amongst the group.” He emphasizes with his eyes flicking over to Kai.

That was of course, what caught Jun's attention. Tugging on his competitive nature was what certainly brought back into the fold. "Yeah....you're right,...YOU'RE RIGHT!" he slammed his fists together in envisioning his future triumph. He scanned around the group of boys while speaking, "It's not just that punk Kai, I didn't get the settled the score with that Wing Zero Fighter. Then there's you Naoki, I wasn't satisfied with that battle, you were obviously weren't at full power! Not only that, but I didn't get to take down Riku like I wanted. I got some bones to pick. So yeah, I'm in."

Shark stepped within the center of the group and thumbed toward himself, "I'm Jun Takamaki, The Once in A Century Genius! They call me Shark, I wasn't too fond of the name at first but hearing that kid call me it made me change my tune a bit. Anyways, just leave everything to me and we'll be champions in no time!"

@Shiyonichi
The first to agree was Riku, with the promise of opportunity for building Gunpla. Blade was next, joining fairly quickly as well. Jun, with a little bit of extra convincing, agreed to the partnership with the promise of challenge.

“So, then why us?” Kai asked, breaking the chain of agreements. “Did you just want strong teammates?”

Naoki opened his mouth wanting to rebut the comment, but couldn’t find the right words at first and hesitated.

“Well then... catch.” The delinquent said as he held his hand out, revealing the Taisen before immediately letting go. As the gunpla began to fall, Naoki I gracefully dived forward, his palm up and his fingers extended in order to grab the gunpla and cushion the fall. As he successfully grabbed the waist of the damaged gunpla he relaxes, before realizing he hadn’t made any plan to catch himself and landed face first, the rest of his body following except his arm that still held the gunpla in the air.

“W-what’s that all about?!” He asked himself with a sigh as he began to pick himself up and dust himself off. A small scratch on his face from his chin to his cheek from the fall. “I … I’m not gonna stand here and lie to you saying it’s not because you’re strong. But I’m not looking to create a group of fresh starts!!” He said with conviction, seemingly ignoring the scratch. “I spent the last three year refining my skills, and studying gunpla and gunpla battles in order to achieve my goal of going to worlds and beyond. I chose you all because I saw in you people who wouldn’t slow me or my dream down and in fact can help me achieve them. So, please fight with me and I promise I’ll make good on my word and bring this team to great heights!” He said finishing his monologue with holding the gunpla out to Kai, handing it back to him.

@Double@Blade17@Shiyonichi@KenjuGuy
After Kais response, Naoki looks to the rest of the crew.

“I’m happy so many have agreed to join already. With this many people in our group we can realistically compete in a WARS game for the first time.” He said as the young boy Tomiyoka and Takemori approached the group. “In order to compete we’ll need to build a flagship in case it’s an Event WARS, we’ll also need to train. Luckily, we have both a sponsor and coach ready to help us out.” He said, looking behind him at Takemori.

Said shopkeep held up a hand, his other still behind him. “The names Shinrai Takemori. Excited to be working with you all.”

“And if you need any help with testing we have our very own little eternal AI fighter/Gunpla Storage container, Haro!” He said, as Takemori pulled out a half blue, half black life sized Haro from behind his back.

“HARO, FIGHT! HARO, WIN!!” The little robot said in robotic excitement.

“As well as our substitute Support Fighter/Warship pilot, Tomiyoka!”

The kid bowed. “My name's Takemori, I-I’ve been training under Takemori for a year now, so I know a lot about gunpla. I may not be experienced, or a permanent member of the group, but I’m great at flying and will support you all with everything I have!!” He said with a small bow.

“And with that, we’ve assembled.” Naoki said as he took out a handkerchief and held it to his injured cheek. “The nearest local WARS in our general area is in Minato, in 2 weeks. Are you guys interested?” He asked the group.