[IC] Gundam Build Fighters Origin [Open]

[Renny]

Energetic? he repeated in his mind, now leaning up against the arena with Barbatos' casing between his hands. Had he been explosive in some manner? he wondered.

"I'm not exactly picky ... Though I'd prefer teams."

On the sixth file, Yuma wished that Natsu would be more forward and friendly. One on one battles didn't necessarily promote extroversion. Not for him anyway. He was use to rampaging around on the battlefield, being far more in tune with Echo Barbatos than his opponent or the crowd. In a one on one match, it was basically him and his prey on the field and you didn't make friends with your prey.

[Double]

"Why do one-on-one when you could have done that without forming a club in the first place?" asked Sousuke with a raise of his eyebrow. It was true, by their very nature the one-on-one tournaments didn't require official clubs nor teams to participate in. So it wouldn't make sense for Nanashi to want them to compete separately when his stated goal was to form the Club.

"Besides, I can't charge you for matches that I fight in alone." Sousuke added with a smirk. Of course he'd find a way to turn it around and make it about his payout. Naturally. In any case Sousuke offered a shrug, and then a suggestion, "Well, you've seen us in the field. What exactly did you make of it?" Sousuke could suggest what he saw in the other two, but decided to keep it to himself. The 1st Year was a pretty aggressive attacker, while the 2nd Year just seemed to change his style from match to match. Maybe that was why his piloting skills were so average? He'd yet to really pin down his specialty. As for Sousuke himself? Well, to talk about himself would have been arrogant even for him, so there was no way he was going to try assessing his own skill level.

[Crimson Lion]

Nanashi smirked widely. "It. Was. AMAZING!!! Both of you are incredible fighters. You guys don't waste a second in combat and have great judgement in the field, truly incredible." He said as he walked across the room to one of the workbenched, a Gunpla case with a model inside sitting on top of the desk.

"You guys are incredible fighters ..." He said with a gentle smile.

Then, all of a sudden, the aura around him began to darken. A heaviness filled the air. "And terrible Gunpla pilots." He said as he turned around to face them. "Honestly, it pains me to see two beautiful machines being used by such incompetent people, and I'm sure they're builders feel the same way." he said as he approached the Battle terminal, poking a stab at the facts that neither of them used Gunpla they had made.

[Plavasky Particles Disengaging. Damage Level C. Area, Space Colony 5. 2 vs 1 requested.] The machine said, as the machine duplicated the space colony from Gundam Unicorn. (A huge tube with buildings along the inside walls.) "If your mad though, you can prove me wrong." He said with a smirk.

[Renny]

His fingers tightened over the hard case in his hands. Seeing and hearing the dark change in Nanashi's demeanor had resonated with him on a logical manner. He could believe that such darkness existed in this student rather than the sheer positivity that he was exuding earlier. It was just ... natural. To be able to show such happiness would mean an near-equal amount of sadness or negativity laid in parallel.

Without so much as a furrowed brow, Natsu looked up at Nanashi and said, "I'll take you on."

He walked around in opposition to Nanashi and pulled out Echo Barbatos from its case. The Gunpla was still beautiful in its own right, not taking any serious damage from the earlier match. Good, this is what I wanted. I wanted to battle more, to be with Echo Barbatos more.

He set his GP base in and set Echo Barbatos down in the arena. "Let's go."

[Double]

Sousuke's eyes narrowed in total seriousness. Incompetent? Him? Hilarious, coming from the 2nd Year who had not moments ago had his Gunpla nearly shattered to pieces by an attack from Sousuke's Gunpla. Maybe Sousuke didn't build the Crossbone Joker himself, but that didn't change what he already knew: that the Joker was built for him, and no one else, "You shouldn't make assumptions of things you know nothing about." he said in a somber and serious tone, probably the most serious he had sounded all day.

"Honestly, I shouldn't have to prove anything to you. But if you want to get beaten again so badly..." he straightened his hat and retrieved the Crossbone Joker from its carry case, "...then so be it." and with that he replaced his terminal back into the slot it had previously been in.

"Please set your Gunpla." requested the computer.

"Kikkawa, Sousuke." Sousuke lacked the cool personality he had earlier. If the 2nd Year wanted to see what Sousuke was like when he got serious, then by God he'd get his wish. Without any exaggerated movements or theatrics like usual, Sousuke placed the Joker on the gunpla base, "Crossbone Joker, steal the win!" as he said the last part, he shaped his fingers like a gun and pointed it directly at Nanashi. His intention was clear. Nanashi was going to pay for his presumptions the hard way.

[Crimson Lion]

Both the Crossbone and Barbatos entered the inside of the space colony surrounded by an artificial cityscape that itself was surrounded by forest. Nanashi no where in in any direction sight.

“Come and find me.” Nanashi's voice echoed throughout the colony in a sing song voice, baiting them.

[Renny]

Natsu sometimes forgot the blue screens and readouts that appeared about him. It was hard to focus on them when he would often meld with Echo Barbatos. His senses would either go numb or become completely immersed in the simulation. Now, as was typical, was the case.

"Roar and go, Echo."

The Gunpla soared over the cityscape, its' Fin-Funnels extending from its' side like a mechanical wing. Natsu, with a bit of effort anchored himself to the safe confines of the simulation screens and such. How pointless. I know all of Echo's equipment and moves like the back of my hand. The rest of these readouts are novel at best.

He shook his head and returned to the field, un-clipping a beam saber and ignited its sizzling blade while dropping for cover. He landed behind a cluster of buildings that neared the edge of the forest. The Fin-Funnels detached themselves, floating off in different directions not too far from the Barbatos.

"This game of cat and mouse is beginning to seem like your M.O. Nanashi."

[Double]

Having also appeared within the colony, Crossbone Joker also immediately went on the move. Since it was two against one, the battle terminal had already established a private communication channel between Sousuke and Natsu. Sousuke decided to make use of it.

"I wonder... what if we just blew up the space colony? That would teach him not to rely on the same trick multiple times." he said, as only in a simulated battle could the casual destruction of a space colony be a legitimately viable tactic. After a short pause however, "Or maybe that would be too easy. Guess we'll just have to flush him out and make him suffer." he was sounding more bloodthirsty than he was earlier. Sousuke clearly didn't take too kindly to his gunpla being insulted by anyone. In fact he was actually just as protective of it as Natsu was of the Barbatos.

Sousuke deployed the Joker Magnum and then flew straight up a short distance. Best way to spot a hiding mouse was doing it the same a way a hungry hawk would: from the air.

[Crimson Lion]

Neither Sousuke nor Natsu could find Nanashi on any sensor. As they continued to look they couldn't find a trace, until after a couple minutes of searching when not just the ground but the whole colonies began to start shaking violently. Outside the windows that make up the ‘sky’ they could see the earth coming closer and closer to them.

Outside the colony, Nanashi’s Gunpla floated in space. His Origin Strike Gundam equipped with an X Gundam Strike Pack. “Lesson 1!!!” He yelled from the radio. “This is a simulator, which means all the destruction you do isn't permanent. So don't be afraid to destroy the colony trying to escape.” He said as he looked at the falling colony, Multiple GX-bit mobile dolls pushing the colony towards earth. “Man, I feel like Char Annabel.” He said with a chuckle.

[Renny]

Natsu responded with one dry word to Sousuke. "Yea."

He was onboard with blowing the entire colony to space dust if it meant, Nanashi being taught a valuable lesson. But before he could implement that plan, the entire colony had begun to shake and rumble. Super-vacuumed fissures tore through the cylinder as the outside pressure had begun to its innards.

Natsu was quick to react, boosting Barbatos straight up. As it passed the Crossbone Joker, Natsu spoke to Sousuke over the comms. "Lesson one?" he commented with disinterest. "My last period was over awhile ago."

The Barbatos popped out of one of the fissures and landed on the falling space-colony. "And its Aznable ... not Annabel." he muttered under his breath.

Barbatos' Tail-Blade extended from its backside, whipping about with little care for the properties of space. A red glow, sharp and lagging drifted from its eyes. An unnatural snarl defied space as well. Natsu spotted Nanashi's "other" Gunpla. It was pristine looking, almost as good as Echo Barbatos but it lacked a certain wild-power to it.

"Sousuke, you got a plan?"

[Double]

As soon as the colony started shaking, Sousuke swore under his breath, "...bastard!" then he boosted at full throttle. He let the crossbars emit their particles to give him extra speed as well. In the previous battle, this act ate up a lot of energy due to the Earth's gravity. But this wasn't Earth, not quite anyway. And as soon as the Joker Magnum blasted a hole in the colony's sky, it would cease to be like Earth and become like Space. Without any gravity, or friction, the particle booster could last much longer and use far less energy while still providing the same increased speed.

"Lesson one?" Sousuke echoed, similar to Natsu, but he also added, "Here's a lesson for you, 2nd Year! Don't screw with me!" then Sousuke, in his frustration and genuine anger, instinctively activated his Gunpla's trump card. All of a sudden, the Crossbone Joker's speed literally tripled as its black color suddenly roared into a blazing red. Sousuke rarely ever used the Trans-Am system, as it had a tendency to cause backlash damage to the Joker like a double edged sword. But right now? He didn't give a damn.

"Plan?" he echoed in response to Natsu, "Yeah I have a plan. Rip that precious Gunpla of his to pieces and shove them down his stupid throat!" clearly, Sousuke was completely angry. It was a good thing this was a simulated battle, because he would otherwise be trying to actually kill Nanashi right about now. Sousuke discarded the Joker Magnum but didn't even bother deploying another weapon. As soon as he was close, he'd just go fisticuffs against and beat the living hell out of his gunpla. Most of all, he would actually try to grab the thing and use his tripled power and performance to try and force Nanashi back into the falling space colony.

"Lesson one!" Sousuke yelled, mocking Nanashi's earlier words, "Don't be afraid to take your enemy out with you!" with those words, Sousuke just confirmed his willingness to see his own Gunpla destroyed just to screw over Nanashi. That was a trait very few Gunpla Battlers had, as even the most stubborn fighters still cared a great deal about their Gunpla. Sousuke on the other hand had no problem at all damaging and breaking the Crossbone Joker in the process if it meant taking the other guy down. The first two battles Nanashi witnessed were examples of Sousuke cocky side. But this battle ended up being the perfect example of Sousuke's driven side, his unwillingness to back down and willingness to power through any amount of pain or self-inflicted damage for the sake of making his opponent lose.

[Crimson Lion]

"He is REALLY angry with me." Nanashi sighed as he lined up his remaining 5 Bit Mobile Dolls to form a sort of barricade in from of him. All of which firing at Sousuke and all of which where MISSING!The Crossbone Joker quickly flew through, as in THROUGH 2 of the bit soldiers, and punches the X Strike Gundam, damaging its arm as it tries to block blow. "D-damn senpai, that's savage!" He said as the remaining three dolls grabbed onto the Crossbone giving Nanashi just enough time to fly passed it and towards the earth, using full speed and trying to enter earths atmosphere to escape. "Those bit mobile dolls are goners, i'm gonna have to repair those later" He said as he reached half way to earth, firing long range shots at the barbatos on the way.

[Renny]

Natsu was close behind Sousuke, pushing his excessive, yet subtly placed boosters to their limits. Outside of the battle, on his leftward monitor was an image of Sousuke. A part of him felt the same anger but he could comfortably say that it was being glazed over by nonchalance. The Crossbone Joker was on the offense now, beating and pushing the X Strike Gundam towards the Earth. As he was following the Crossbone Joker's path he noticed its discarded Joker Magnum; he swiped it from dead space and continued on.

Alarming beeps warned him of shots fired.

Natsu threw the Echo Barbatos into an advanced maneuver, having the Gunpla swirl just out of range of the first shot, before veering from the rest. All the while, clear to see afterimages were copying its movements in the desolation of space. God. Crossbone Joker's fast. Faster than my Echo by a bit. I think its using Trans-Ams and if it works in the same manner as the show ... Meaning it'll be out of commission after a moment. Shit! No, I can make it!

Natsu pushed Echo Barbatos' boosters to its limits, emitting its plavasky particles in a trail of twisting lasers. Fin-Funnels go."

The four funnels circled the Joker Magnum's barrel, spinning and aiming down its sights at the fleeing X Strike Gundam. A high-whine permeated Natsu's ears as he got a feel for the power of his partner's weapon. As it surged to full power, Natsu fixed his aim on X-Strike and fired its high-powered beam. Simultaneously, he fired his Fin-Funnels long-ranged weaker beams, extending and amplifying the weapons already impressive firepower.

"I'll call this the Wild Card Surprise."

[Double]

He could see his energy levels dropping like a rock. He could see it, but Sousuke ignored the readings. He didn't care how much energy he wasted, nor how much backlash damage he did the Crossbone Joker. As long as Nanashi was wiped out, then nothing else mattered. When Nanashi managed to wrestle free, Sousuke moved to give chase, but was stopped by a trio of tiny Gunplas. First a giant Gunpla, now tiny ones? One of these days he'd have to sit down and slog through the anime, it seemed. But that didn't matter right now, nothing else did. Just victory, complete and total victory.

"No..." Sousuke muttered, watching Natsu's Barbatos take the lead in attacking Nanashi, "...not yet. I said NOT YET! I'M STILL HERE!!!" he had no energy to move forward, and he was too far from Earth's gravity to go into free fall. But he did have enough energy for something else. The Crossbone Joker's hand reached for the crossbars. Sousuke detached the Joker Star from the gunpla's back and used the last remaining energy reserves to put every ounce of his remaining strength into a mighty throw. Even in the throwing motion the bit mobile dolls were trying to drag him down, but the Crossbone Joker just seemed to ignore them entirely. Whether that was the performance of the machine, or the sheer adrenaline of the pilot was unknown. The Trans-Am almost immediately flickered off when the Joker Star left his hands. But the effects lingered within the Star itself as it screamed toward Nanashi's position. Unlike the previous battle, this Joker Star attack was empowered by the remains of the Trans-Am system, ergo its overall speed and power of the impact would be tripled what it was before. And before it demolished part of a mountainside.

[Crimson Lion]

The X Strike Gundam fired its Satellite cannon at Echo Barbatos, countering Natsu’s laser with his own. The two blasts pushed against each other both both were evenly matched, cancelling each other out. “Impressive, to be able to cancel out a satellite cannon.” Before Nanashi could do more, the systems warning alerted him about the oncoming Trans-am powered Joker Star. “Striker pack disengage!!” He yelled as the satellite cannon on the X Strike Gundam detached and was grabbed by the Strike and thrown in front of it, treating it as a sacrificial pawn. The Striker Pack and the Joker star collided, creating a large cloud of pink smoke. It almost looked like it was fully successful until suddenly the Joker star burst through the cloud, only barely being blocked by the now Origin Strike Gundam. The windmill shurikens caused the Gunplas lower half to rip of, now leaving only its torso and arms.

“Damn, Senpai really fights till the bitter end.” He mumbled as he looked at his status, his energy gauge with only 20% left. The variable shift armor protected the Origin a lot but damn did it eat a lot of energy.

The Origin looked over to where the Echo Barbatos is. “Well then, I'll have to put all I got into this if I'm gonna win!” He yelled as he activated a program in the Origin.

The Plavasky scarf the Origin wears began to grow while wrapping around the mechs remaining upper body. “Origin!” The scarf then seemed to sink into the mech, surrounding both the outside and inside with Plavasky Paruicles. “Burst!” As he yelled that, the energy output from the Origin doubled.

“Get Ready Natsu! I'm coming for you!” He said as the upper half of the Origin charged forward with its beamsaber unsheathed.

[Renny]

Natsu was surprised.

For a moment he had been truly surprised. Nanashi had said he was a poor battler but perhaps his Gunpla was making up for that. Not likely, he mused, taking a short moment to glance over at Barbatos' remaining life-signs. Its energy was just over half. Fifty-one percent huh? I'll make it work. Nanashi is an exceptional Builder. He's almost as good as, Yuma, but he overestimated himself severely. Sousuke's Crossbone Joker was too much for him, and now ... even with this "Origin" upgrade. He won't be enough to put me down and win this match.

Echo Barbatos straightened its posture before drawing its remaining beam saber from its hip. Igniting it revealed that it was slightly shorter than the other.

"You won't like hearing the last echo, Nanashi," Natsu droned as he pushed the Barbatos straight up then rushed it down at the Origin Gundam.

The beam sabers guarded his torso and head but left enough space for the Barbatos to attack. "Listen clearly to the Barbatos' will, hear my echo within it, Nanashi-san." He applied the honorific out of respect for the man's courage. Even still, it was going to suck ... the fall out from this emotionally-charged match.

[Crimson Lion]

“If I'm being honest, my piloting skills are average.” He said as he charged forward. “My reactions suck, my spatial awareness is bad, and even my basic controls are wonky sometimes. However, I’m still able to stand my own. I’ve been able to fight tons of tough people equally thanks to my Gunpla! The Origin isn't some straight build you can underestimate!” He yelled as he thrust his beam saber forward at full speed. “Because the Origin is my first ever World Level!!!”

[Renny]

"Your Gunpla is impressive. World-level though, I'm not so sure."

While he spoke, Echo Barbatos and the Origin met in battle. That simple thrust of his beam saber betrayed no counter measures, no subtle misdirections. It was honest, and to put bluntly, easy to counter.

He had been preparing himself to sacrifice the Barbatos' arm to win but that tactic quickly flew out the window. Instead, on a whim, he matched their beam sabers against each other; causing them to push until they fizzled out and the Gunplas violently embraced.

Natsu extended the Echo Barbatos' Tail-Blade quickly, bringing the blade whiplashing out until it stood still at the Origin's crown. A glow starting to form on the attached blaster.

"Let's stop now."

[Crimson Lion]

"D-damn." Nanashi let out in a sigh. "I was right, you guys are amazing." He said as he pressing the forfeit button, ending the fight as the field and control rooms desintigrated. "Man I really thought I could get u guys." He said as he picked up his Origin. "Guess my piloting skills still aren't good enough to bring out Origins potential." He said disappointed.

"Hey, sorry for being so rude before." He said scratching his cheek. "However it seems my initiat suspicion was right. Both of you," he said pointing at the two of them, before pointing to their Gunpla, "Don't truly understand your Gunpla do you?" He asked not exactly explaining it fully.

[Double]

When the simulation ended, Sousuke snatched his Gunpla and parts and put them away without a word. Then Nanashi spoke again. Sousuke's blood started to boil again as he clenched his fist and fought the urge to punch the 2nd Year right in his face. Instead Sousuke lashed out verbally, finally speaking, "I understand plenty, 2nd Year! You shouldn't assume things about people you know nothing about!" he practically threw his Gunpla case into his book bag before slinging it over his shoulder.

"I'm done for today!" he said, still in a snapping tone, "I have somewhere I need to be." and then he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Who does that self-righteous bastard think he is? Where does he get off acting like he understands anything about me? Who cares if I built the Crossbone Joker or not? I still kicked his sorry ass in that arena, that's all that matters. He can ramble about building all he wants. In the end, we're still the stronger team.

Later, at the Hospital

"What did you do? The Joker, it... you almost broke it!"

"I'm sorry. I let him get under my skin. It won't happen again."

"He must have really made you mad. What happened, anyway?"

"It was kind of stupid, to be honest. He said I didn't understand the Gunpla, and I... disgreed."

"How, with the Gunpla's fist? Sheesh... well, I better get started on the repairs. By the way, how did my little surprise work out?"

"It nearly demolished a whole mountain. Can't believe you were able to make it that much stronger. Not much longer now, and we'll be World Level for sure."

"Right! But first... I wanna meet them."

"Huh?"

"The team. I wanna meet them. Can you bring them here sometime and introduce me?"

"Why so interested in meeting them?"

"Not many people manage to get under your skin so thoroughly. I want to meet the person who can pull that off. Besides, your teammates should know who's been building your Gunpla, right? After all, I could help them with theirs if they needed it."

"You're exerting yourself with the Joker as it is. I don't know if working on so many other Gunpla is a good idea."

"Okay, fine... but if you don't let me meet them I'll refuse to fix the Crossbone Joker!"

"Huh? What? You wouldn't-"

"Oh yes I would."

"...Fine. Tomorrow, I guess."