[IC] Gundam Build Fighters Origin [Open]

[Double]

Sousuke walked slowly toward the high school. He hated mornings, especially mornings without some kind of coffee. Unfortunately, today was one of those mornings. He was groggy, felt like he hadn't fully woken up yet. Oh, and he was kind of cranky too. He wasn't even wearing his hat straight.

"Is it Friday yet?" he grumbled as he dragged his feet along. Without warning he let out a loud and very audible yawn. He was in no mood to think about school or anything associated with the place. As he approached he saw that 2nd Year just standing around and waiting, "Oh right... forgot about that." Sousuke groggily muttered under his breath.

Had... had the 2nd Year just been waiting for him? For how long? How could anyone be that eager, even for Gunpla Battle Club? Without a morning cup of coffee, Sousuke could be told he won the lottery and he probably wouldn't notice, "Oh it's you." Sousuke grumbled when he got close enough, "Don't tell me you actually like spending time here?"

[Crimson Lion]

Nanashi chuckled at Sousukes comment. "Whats so wrong with school? the buildings nice, the other students are kind, and even a couple of the teachers are cool!!!" He said enthusiastically. Not realizing he had said something that most teens would find preposterous. "AAAAnyways, the reason I waited for you was because I needed to tell you that Gunpla club has practice today after school and that the club rooms at the end of the 1st floor hallway." He said with a smile. "Well, Thats pretty much it, I'll see you after school K?" He said beforew running off to print out the fliers for the club.

That lunch, Nanashi and Mika had hung a [Join the Gunpla Battle Club Today!!!] poster on basically every wall in the whole building, showing where the club was located as well as a picture of Nanashi's Zaku and Victory Angel standing back to back with weapons drawn.

///

After School.

Nanashi, basically a bundle of excitement at the thought of their first training session, basically bursted out of his seat the moment the school belled released them, dashing to the club room at what looked like mach speed. being the first to arrive.

[Renny]

* * After School * *

Natsu was unusually frustrated. Normally he would be prying into one of his brother's secret dairy entries, gaining some insight into his brother's troubles but fear had grasped him now. He'd come too close to his own ire. Truthfully, it made him panic. He hadn't liked it.

Tucked away in the library, Natsu finished up his griping and with tightened fist gazed up at a Gunpla poster outside that hollow cathedral. His mind had registered that it was a club but all he had cared about was letting loose some stress. On his hip, in a hard black case was Echo Barbatos. He carried it around him just to feel closer to his brother but now it would get some real use.

He waited at the door of the Gunpla Club room. Crouched by it entrance, he rested with a dull, uninterested look on his face.

Just this once and I won't get it scuffed up. I promise ...

[Double]

~After School~

As he walked toward where the Club was supposed to to be located, Sousuke unclipped his Gunpla carrier and flipped open the flap, "Huh? What's this?" there was a scribbled note stuffed in with the Crossbone Joker. Sousuke's eyes squinted a bit as he read the note, "Try.. the... Joker Star! What does that mean?" he stuffed the note in his pocket and then pulled out the Gunpla to look at it more closely. Specifically, Sousuke examined the Crossbars attached the Joker's back.

The crossbars - or Joker Star - could normally be detached and used as a melee or throwing weapon, reminiscent of a windmill shuriken popularized by ninja. That much Sousuke knew, but why did the note say he should try the Star today? Some kind of improvement? Modification? Or even an upgrade? It looked exactly the same as far as Sousuke could tell. Then again, he didn't exactly have an eye for little details like an actual builder would. So he just shrugged and put the Gunpla back in its carrier just in time for him to reach the entrance of the Club.

"Excuse me, but I need to go inside." Sousuke said, paying no real mind to the 1st Year crouched outside the door. Maybe he was interested in joining but was too nervous to go inside? Yeah, that surely had to be it. Well, either he'd word up the courage to go in or he'd chicken out and go home. Either way it was no concern of Sousuke's.

"Let's get this over with..." and he pushed open the door and entered.

[Crimson Lion]

Nanashi greeted him with a smile, “Yo Sousuke! Glad you could make it!” He said before looking down. “Oh, and you even brought a friend that's fantastic!” He said, addressing Natsu who had been out of Sousukes line of sight. “This is fantastic, don't be shy both of you!” He said as he grabbed both their arms and dragged them into the room. Quiet forcefully he might add.

“Now then! Honestly I hate how boring most introductions are so I think we should start this off with a quick battle! I think it would be a great idea to get a good feel for each others fighting styles and machines while also showing our stuff, eh?”

Nanashi then pressed a few buttons on the battle system, causing plavasky particles to float into the air. “Plavasky particle dispersion. Damage Level C. Area, Mountains 1. Begin!” The machine said as an area that looked like Mount Fuji with a river at its base was created.

Nanashi took out his Gunpla, it was the white Origin Zaku Warrior but looked to be an upgraded version to some degree. “Now then,” he started as he put down his terminal, his name and Gunplas name popping up. “Nanashi Kanzen, Origin Zaku Phantom, Execute!!!” He yelled as the Gunpla drew breath, launching forward and flying through the area.

“The name of the game is Free for all! Last man standing is the winner!” He said with a chuckle as he grabbed the controls.

[Renny]

Natsu noted the open-door policy of the Gunpla Club and strode in behind the third year. The moment he was inside however, he immediately felt his mind at work, drowning out all the unnecessary. It almost felt like the hard yank had been dampened too. His hand slid down to the hard black case on his hip. He opened it and pulled out the Echo Barbatos. Its' white frame was immaculate, not a darker shade or hue on its body. Not even the Nu-Gundam funnels were tainted by a different color.

The sleek gunpla stood with a wild posture at the ready position. Natsu's gained a certain seriousness to his composure.

"Echo Barbatos, roar and go," he uttered out of habit.

The gunpla's eyes blazed to life before rocketing off onto the battlefield. Natsu maneuvered it to the base of the mountain, where it settled down, and through its eyes he searched for prey with quick but assured steps.

[Double]

"Friend? What are you - Ah, hey!" Sousuke barely had any time to even question who his supposed "friend" was before the 2nd Year grabbed his arm and yanked him over to the newly installed battle terminal, "Alright alight, I'll battle with you, sheesh." he stepped into position and laid his personal terminal onto the slot in order to register himself.

"Kikkawa, Sousuke."

Then the machine awaited the Gunpla. Sousuke opened the flap of his carrier and carefully slid out the Crossbone Joker. Seemed like both his opponents favored white paint jobs, so the Joker's jet black color scheme made it stand out in comparison. Not that it actually mattered, "Gunpla: Set." announced the computer."

"Crossbone Joker..." said Sousuke as he coolly grabbed his hat and placed it on his head before pointing toward the field, "...steal the win!"

The Gunpla launched into the simulation and Sousuke took the controls. A mountain field. Unlike yesterday he would have to be mindful of the terrain. There were more places to hide and ambush out here. If the name of the game was free-for-all, then Sousuke knew exactly what to do. He settled in for a nice camp so he could wait for his opponents to obliterate each other. Was it a cheap strategy? Sure, technically. But the Club President - whom Sousuke only just now learned was named Nanashi - said this was a free-for-all, so there were no rules as to how one could be the last surviving combatant.

[Crimson Lion]

“My my, how interesting.” Nanashi chuckled, watching the two enter the arena through the zoom in function of his Gunpla. His Gunpla looking down the sight of a beam sniper rifle. Natsu landing away from the mountain in a forested area and Sousuke landing at the base of the mountain but across the river. “On one hand, I have a black colored mysterious loner. On the other I have a white colored raging beast. Two truly beautiful Gunpla!” He said but then suddenly saw the Crossbone Joker moving away from the more active zones, “Ah ah ah Sousuke, you can hide, but I see everyone from here.” He chuckled with his sights aimed at the Crossbones chest, but stopped himself, an idea popping into his mind.

“To really see how skilled they both are, let's see how they fare against each other.” he said with a chuckle, aiming now at the Echo Barbatos. He began firing the rifle, but not aiming directly at the barbatos but left of it, trying to use the shots to lead Natsu towards the hiding Sousuke.

[Renny]

The forest he had landed in was just large enough to tuck him away. Somewhere in the distance he could hear the babble of a river snaking away. He looked over, knowing that he hadn't encountered anyone but somewhere close were two other Gunplas he knew near nothing about.

He took a step forward, the impact of his foot thrumming the earth. Then he felt it, a bolt of instinct anchoring him with caution. A long beam bolt sung out, crashing into the earth to the left of him.

Echo Barbatos jumped away from the initial shot before gazing in the direction of still ringing sound. As more and more bolts rung clear, followed by massive beams veering mostly to his left, he directed Echo Barbatos through the dense forest. The wild Gunpla surged through the trees like a feral beast, its Tail Blade extending out and whipping back and forth in anticipation.

It wasn't long before he spotted the cause for the missed shots.

Echo Barbatos tore through the trees and out into the open, standing in the raging river. A glinting in the distance gave him a hint of his shooters location, however, he also felt guided, or pushed in the direction he had ended up at. He looked up and around himself before noticing something, it was slight but the color was so pitch black that it begged for his attention in the mountainous daylight.

"Prey ..." mumbled Natsu.

His Tail Blade smacked the ground as he started towards the Crossbone Joker. He reached down and ignited one of the beam sabers on his hip during his charge, fully prepared to strike out at him once on him.

[Double]

Sousuke watched the beams fire from a source a long distance away. Sniper fire, but it was a beam sniper rifle, meaning that it was easy to trace the shots to their origin. And it only took a moment for Sousuke to get a rough estimate of Nanashi's position.

"Thanks for giving up your position... idiot. Next time try using something other than beam attacks so you're harder to spot." of course, it wasn't long before the rustling and shifting of trees betrayed the impending arrival of Sousuke's other opponent. He wasn't exactly trying to be stealthy, not that much anyway, "Oh for the love of... he does know he's being herded like cattle, right?"

Sousuke's grip on his controls tightened, and he suddenly activated his own thrusters, firmly pushing the throttle all the way forward, "Sorry, Mr. President, but I'm not playing your little game." and he started flying right toward where he estimated Nanashi's hiding place was. Assuming the Barbatos was was still hellbent on targeting the Joker, that meant Sousuke would be leading the beast right to their would-be manipulator.

"Okay no more hiding, 2nd Year. Time to face the music." without slowing down, Sousuke deployed his rifle, the Joker Magnum, and fired off a high-powered shot toward the spot he guessed Nanashi was hiding. Little did he notice, the crossbars on the Joker's back began to emit plavsky particles and the Gunpla's flight began steadily speeding up beyond what it was originally capable of, "Huh?" Sousuke quickly checked his settings, and that was when he finally figured out the meaning behind that note.

It seemed there were now openings along the edges of the crossbars that could emit plavsky particles. Specifically, these would give it extra throttle, like a plane using afterburners. It also had the effect of the Joker leaving behind a rather pretty trail of sparkling particles. That meant it was easier to spot from a distance, but in exchange it could cover a greater distance in a shorter time.

[Crimson Lion]

"Waaaah, Sousukes so mean!" He said chuckling as Sousukes blasts fires just over him. "But man, thats a cool upgrade, but in earths gravity how much particles can it use up before falling?" He asked looking at the now flying MS, before the three shields move to reveal the missile pods hidden away. He then began to fire missiles all along the mountain side, creating a large amount of smoke as well as making the mountain side a mess. He then began to fire more missiles to both of his enemies, makings them fly from different angles as not to show his position.

Now the mountain side is messed up so Echo Barbatos can't get to him, and his rifles and missiles are intercepting the Crossbone Joker. Nasnashi was thinking he was doing pretty well right now.

[Renny]

Natsu pursued the Crossbone Joker and despite all the ruckus, once he had caught up to the two, even with all the debris scattered and the mountainside crumbled down; the Echo Barbatos found it is to traverse with its hardened claws. Its strong frame and build endured the light pelting while its powerful legs bounded it up the cliff side. "Don't take me so lightly. I may be just a first year here but I'm skilled," he proclaimed with little passion.

He surged Echo Barbatos up the mountain and through the smokescreen.

Within said smokescreen, under the veil of Origin Zaku's poorly aimed missiles, he deploy the four funnels on his side upwards through the smoke -- stealthily changing his target from Crossbone Joker to Origin Zaku Phantom. The sound of extraneousness explosions dialed his cautionary instincts up to eleven. It was them that ushered him out the smokescreen and a few meters from Nanashi's Origin Zaku Phantom. Echo Barbatos let loose an odd, alien snarl from menacing face.

A moment later and the thin whip of his tail-blade arced up before stabbing down at the Zaku-modded Gunpla. "Are you seriously the president?" Natsu asked Nanashi. " 'Cause I'd like to join."

[Double]

The missiles, well, Sousuke admittedly didn't anticipate those. Maybe the 2nd Year wasn't as dumb as he looked, after all? Still, with him in the air, he did at least have one surefire way to dodge the salvo of missiles, but it wasn't going to be pleasant. Without warning, Sousuke killed his thrusters, and without anything keeping it in the air the Crossbone Joker slowly started to free fall back toward the ground, specifically the mountainside. It might get scuffed from the landing, but it was better than getting blown up by missiles.

And that was then the apparent avalanche happened. And Sousuke just happened to have put himself in the worst place during it. He was tempted to fly up but that particle boost from earlier had ate up a good portion of his energy and he couldn't afford to waste anymore. Instead he stayed put and readied the Joker Magnum. Only one of the falling rocks rolled his way, and when it did Sousuke pulled the trigger and let the beam from the rifle split the rock in two so that it rolled in two separate directions on either side of the Crossbone Joker. That was much more cost-effective way to avoid the rocks then wasting more particles on high-speed flight.

At this point, Sousuke returned to his original plan. The beastly Barbatos seemed to have lost interest in him, and by the time the smoke started clearing, Sousuke could just make out the two other two Gunpla staring each other down. He let them talk for a moment before thinking of a devilish idea. The two enemy Gunplas were only meters away from each other. The crossbars of the Joker Star had quite the long diameter. With a well-aimed throw... Sousuke gave a devilish smirk. From higher up Mt. Fuji, he made his Gunpla leap into the air instead of flying in order to conserve as much particle energy as possible. While airborne he made the Gunpla's body twist around while the crossbars simultaneously detached from the Gunpla's back and went into the Joker's hands. With both hands gripping it, and with momentum from the spin Sousuke made his Gunpla give as much of a mighty throw as he could, and the Joker Star went flying.

Something Sousuke wasn't expecting was the Joker Star automatically beginning to emit particles again after it was thrown. Similar to when he was flying earlier, the particles acted as makeshift thrusters that added extra flight speed and spinning speed to the Joker Star as it screamed toward its two targets, and it would thus hit quite a bit harder than Sousuke first calculated, especially when taking the particle energy emission into account. It looked like it could hit one of them dead on while just grazing the other. Unless of course they detected the attack coming and were fast enough on the draw to avoid it. Then the Star would just go crashing into the side of the mountain and probably leave a very visible gash along the cliffs and possibly cause another avalanche.

[Crimson Lion]

“Your gladly invited!!!” Nanashi yelled as the Echo Barbados grew closer. Drawing out two of his beam tomahawks. “Let's have this fight be our first in ma-” but was cut off immediately as the crossbone star rips through the Origin Zaku Phantom in a split second. The controls turn red immediately. “I … I don't even … ugh this sucks.” He said as the control room disintegrates around him.

“Hey senpai.” Mikas voice says from behind him.

“Hey Mika.”

“You lose?”

“Yeah.”

“First?”

“Yeah.”

“And you started without me?”

“... yeah.”

He sighed as he watched the battle continue.

[Renny]

Natsu just barely dodged the swirling Joke Star. If not for his opponent being cleaved through, he wouldn't have had the time. He pushed his thrusters half-way just to stay afloat as it demolished some of the mountainside as well. That was ... scary. The Gunpla he was fighting was just as strong as his own.

He didn't want to acknowledge it but there were other Builders just as talented as Yuma.

That's almost impressive.

But its not enough to stop me, he mused.

Quickly he spotted an area that was less dangerous than the rest. Rocks had come to a standstill there and looked to be settled. It was there that he dropped down the killing whine of his thrusters. Echo Barbatos snarled that alien, rolling, mechanically sound. Above him, Natsu had spotted the danger. Crossbone Joker was waiting for him.

Or he thought so at least.

Natsu wouldn't have his prey waiting much longer. They may have thought the Echo Barbatos was beastly but it was really an elegant specimen. A rex among other Barbatos-type Gunpla. He pushed Barbatos up the mountain at an astounding speed, to the point that just the hints of his afterimages had begun to form. A slight shift in its white color here, a bluish whip of its tail there. While he was moving up, his Fin Funnels danced over the Crossbone Joker; shooting at it while he drew closer.

[Double]

Before anymore Gunpla parts could go flying, the simulation suddenly halted, "Player, forfeit. Battle, ended." announced the computer. It soon became clear what had happened. Sousuke had went ahead and input the command to forfeit the match and kill the simulation before anymore damage could be done to either Gunpla.

"I know you wanted to rip me to shreds but..." he gave a shrug, "...the Joker Star kind of ate up the rest of my energy so I figured it would be a waste to just let it sit there and wait to get trashed. So I did us both a favor and forfeited, that way nobody else's Gunpla has to get smashed." lifted his hat so he could scratch the back of his head before putting it back on.

"So um, what next, Prez?" he asked of Nanashi as he reached over to retrieve the Joker and the detached Joker Star and reattached it.

[Crimson Lion]

Nanashi looked down at the Battle terminal in deep thought. "i guess we should actually 'formally' introduce ourselves, don't you think?" He said with a smirk as he looked to the two. "My name is Nanashi Kanzen, 2nd year transfer student and president of the Gunpla Battle Club." He said with a smile. "I'm great at building and suck at piloting, I hope we can all get along."

[Renny]

Natsu felt himself "return" in a sense. A jarring sound that made clear of Sousuke's surrender had ruined everything. His hands tightened around the sphere's until finally he exhaled. With a hushed sigh, he reached into the arena, retrieved Echo Barbatos and its weapons, and touched it to his forehead with a bit of longing. He had missed it horribly, the melding, the "feeling" like he was part of something more.

Something greater than death and humanity.

Placing it back in its obsidian case, Natsu felt obligated to introduce himself. It also didn't hurt that he'd rather not return home anytime soon.

Natsu side-eyed Sousuke, managing to put on a half-hearted smirk. "Its'... fine." He tucked his hand in his pocket. "I'm not usually this aggressive during battle. Battling use to be fun for me, now its something like a stress reliever."

His naturally hushed footsteps made its way through the bare but potentially amazing Gunpla Club room. "Don't know if you caught it during the battle but I'm a first year. My names' Natsu Saisei. I'm the opposite of Nanashi, horrible builder but I'm a pretty good battler ... I think."

[Double]

Sousuke tipped his hat, "Kikkawa, Sousuke. Third year, and I..." he gave it a moment's thought and then added with a wink, "...well, you can just think of me as a Free Agent." he made it no secret that he didn't consider himself a full time member of the Club, mostly because he was expecting earn a salary in exchange for taking part in the team's battles.

"I'm like the Joker... a wild card that isn't always used in the deck, but always a Trump Card when it is."

[Crimson Lion]

nanashis smile grew even wider. "This is great! I now have a cool senpai and energetic kouhai!" He said with a grin. "Although, with this many people we can probably enter any category of the tournament we'd want. Hey you guys, what type of battles are you guys interested in?" He asked unsure. Honestly they had many options in front of them right now for the upcoming tournament. On one hand they could work together to do 3v3 battles as a team, on the other all three of them could enter the 1v1 tournament, increasing their chances of winning. Or those two could enter the 2v2. so many options!!