[IC] Gundam Build Fighters Imagine! [6/7]

[KenjuGuy]

Despite Naoki's approval, Jun was still unsure of trusting Kai. However, he didnt have the time to announce his discontent when the action finally got started. He was assaulted by an Alvatores and its assortment of funnels. Jun made sure to hurl himself with a strong push of his thrusters to the side in order to get far away from the funnel's chaotic strikes.

From what he had gathered, this was Seo, the leader of their pack. "That old man was all talk after all huh? Fine then, taking out the head of their pack should be good enough!" Jun challenged Seo while drawing his Beam Zamber in one hand and Gun Buster in the other.

Funnels wouldn't scare Jun Takamaki, in fact he thought they made the fight more exciting and thrilling. It only makes his own victory the more impressive.

Jun used his beam sword to smash apart a large chunk of debris at Seo's direction in order to confuse him, then without care, dashed straight ditectly at his opponent. "The best way to deal with these, is getting up close and personal. You wouldnt want to accidentally shoot yourself with those funnels right?!" as he said that, Jun fired a series of shots and was prepared to slice at his enemy's chest once he got close enough.

[Crimson Lion]

Naoki POV
@Dezuel

“Domino Masque!” I heard and immediately my blood froze. Domino? No.

This was a locals. What were the chances of someone from years ago being here?

“You are the only Zeon weapon here! I didn't join this fight for the money! After all... you are the reason of this! We've met once before... many years ago!" And with that all doubt stopped. Whoever this guy was, he KNEW about Naokis old team Domino. About his previous self. About his previous history as the masked regional fighter “Aznable”.

Suddenly the mood of the battle shifted. I wasn’t at locals anymore with my new team and new beginning. I wasn’t fighting a fun battle where I could gather data on my allies. I was somewhere heavier. A battle where emotions were flowing and our senses were heightened as I felt the finger of my gunpla twitch in conjunction with my own.

Before I could try to piece together what it meant, I had to side step and parry a hurled Mjolnir hammer to the face, my left shield badly damaged and almost broken in half.

I blocked the machine gun fire with my other shield as my I field activated to absorb the blow of a beam cannon.

He’s probing. He’s trying to gather info on the Jesta?!

I quickly continued my assault of funnels in order to create distance as Charmaine dodged and weaved, revealing a handful of beam weapons that combined into a single large beam.

"We'll see about that! Acknowledge my existance! Gundam!" He challenged amongst the beams.

I paused for a spilt second, my mind running kilometers a minute. What was he supposed to do? Respond? Ask questions? I didn’t even remember this guy? Though, I didn’t remember a lot about back then. But his voice felt … emotional? Like a kid trying to express themselves.

No, what am I thinking? This is a Gunpla battle. If the boy in front of him did know me. If he did have some vendetta against me and was trying to express it, I couldn’t back out. Because Gunpla is a battlefield where we CAN express ourselves.

“Gundam?” I ask, “You shout the name of Gundam yet there are none in this duel. Tell me, what does Gundam mean to you?” I charge forward amongst my funnels, the bits moving in tandem with my blade to replicate the Creusherazade accomplishment of a multi beam saber. The lasers running parallel to my beam sabers strikes as the two of us entered saber combat. “You yell about the past but this is our first battle? With that precognitive abilities are you sure YOURE not the new type?” I asked, trying to bring out some response.

If he could probe for information. So could I.

Hachiyama POV
@Shiyonichi

As I confronted the new gunpla that was escorting Naoki I felt unnerved. Not from its sudden appearance or unique design but its pure power as in just a move of his arm this new machine could stop the swing of my buster sword. “Well, good to seeya. That was a good attack.”

Kai?!

The voice over the comms had completely caught me off guard. From the information we had I had suspected this to be Riku as he was the only one who had a history of multiple custom machines.

I tried to pull out the blade from his grip only to find the sword unmoving under Kais grip. The fact that Kai had a gunpla with this much power was a complete game changer! Beforehand it was arguable that our gunplas were at the same strength, so if I had lost it would be a matter of my own lack of piloting strength. But now. Now I was even less confident as the legendary reaper was now using a heavily customized unit.

“Though I got to ask ya, why do ya let yourself be held back? I will say ya have quite a bit of potential, but you’re not being allowed to express that potential to the furthest, are ya?” Expressed potential? Did Kai realise I was using martial arts? Was Kai able to tell just by seeing me fight through a Gunpla once?

“If ya did, you’d probably be more dangerous than that moron over there. And Ya probably could have hit me with this.” The fingers of kais gunpla tightened around my Buster Sword, which started to form cracks on the surface of the weapon under the pressure of the gunplas grip.

“Held back?” I parroted back. I immediately began releasing particles out of the busters bland, damaging the XCEEDS hand slightly as the blade was pushed out, still cracked and damaged. Inhaling sharply, I flew back and began firing my head GN Vulcans at him in an attempt to create distance, only to see them do little effect.

In the moment I remembered Seos orders, ‘Hold back Naokis other escort until Charmaine or I can assist.’. I calmed down a bit as I remembered that the my mission wasn’t to 100% defeat Kai but to stall.

Well, if he needed to stall might as well ask what he wanted to ask right?

“Kai, your full name .. is Kai Asakura right? As in the Asakura dojo right?” I asked a little nervous on how my opponent would react. “I myself am part of a long standing Dojo. Although not as prominent, the Towa Kendo Dojo has a long history of skilled swordsman who have earned national recognition. And as the current head student of this dojo I’ve decided to show the world the power of the Towa style through Gunpla.”
As I said this I activated my gunplas Trans-Am system, turning the painted red into a deep glowing red. “Seo is the one who helped me migrate into gunpla and learn the ins and outs. If he is holding me back he also pushed me forward on this path!” I dashed forward before changing directions, swinging my body beneath and around Kais in an attempt to slash at it from behind.

Seo POV
@KenjuGuy

"The best way to deal with these, is getting up close and personal. You wouldnt want to accidentally shoot yourself with those funnels right?!" Said the Shark of team Imagine V as he dashed at me, I smiled amused as Jun bobbed and weaved through blasts from funnels before he smashed apart debris and fired it at me..

Ah he thinks he’s smart, thinking he can avoid funnels in close combat. “Thats good, good thinking. Its always good to think one step ahead in combat, however.” I immediately unfolded both the Alvatores close range arms and the Alvaarons wings. “You’re thinking 3 steps behind in terms of me!” Both arms reached forward as one grabbed and threw the debris back at Jun and the other trying to grab Jun from underneath. At the same time my Alvaaron jumped into the air, aiming its mega particle cannon downwards at him.

“Y’know I was prepared to fight Naoki Yukihara, a clever insect who squirms and survives through careful planning and annoying persistence. Compared to that bastard you're easy to read you Dumb Fish!!!!” I yelled in excitement as I was about to destroy the Shark.

Previously I had been a bit mirked at the thought of Charmaine destroying Naoki before me, but as I saw the blue gunpla swim through space I had relised this was a a perfect opportunity to shine if you thought about it. Truly I have always been a good gunpla fighter, but in this new era of me I will ascend and solidify my place by defeating this upstart Dobutsu!!!

Kobayashi POV
@Double
Amidst the barrage of fire, Myself and Tanka covered Komi as he split off from the group, circling back and heading straight to the other zones to avoid combat. Luckily we probably lost the least firepower as Komi was the weakest in long range battles, according to Seo anyways.

Tanaka and I switched places as I boarded the GN Arms, the holograms around me changing to show the new controls. As Tanaka charged forth with Ryuichi, I began fireing pot shots at thew flagship while we closed distance.

Before we could truly get close enough, a blast struck the leg of Ryuichis Gunpla, “Where did that come from?!”

I immediately expanded the range of my scanner, pointing my sensors in the direction of the attack. After a couple moments I finally locked onto the perpetrator, my camera picking up an extremely blurry image of a golden gunpla. “I don’t remember them having a sniper, did you guys?” I asked my team over comms. As I leveled my scope and activated the long range aiming computer a hologram of a crosshair appeared over my right eye.

I fired the first shot and watched as it flew, 150 meters and its still on course, 110 meters, still good. 90 meters. 70 meters. 40 meters. 20 me- damn!

The shot began to drift too far upwards, firing and grazing the area around the enemy's shoulder. “The next shot.” I told myself as I began to fire again and again at the distant gunpla. The GN Arms firing its array of cannons in hopes of getting a pot shot.

With Blade and Ryuichi
@Blade17@Renny
As Blade closed in on Ryuichi, the Baelstorm was only barely able to dodge the beam saber strike to the head, the Snow Whites beam saber slicing through the left horn and eye of the Baelstorm before Ryuichi was able to create distance.

Now the two stand against each other. The Snow White missing a handful of funnels while the Baelstorm completely lost its left eye camera.

A feather missing angel vs a one eyes demon.

Komi POV

It felt wrong leaving the team, should I go back? I know there was only one enemy and the flag ship but maybe their defenses are stronger than we think. Maybe I should meet up with Seo … no that’d end badly. I’ll just go to Zone B as ordered.

I quickly accelerated as I entered the colony, following the radar to where Zone B should be in this huge colony.

[Blade17]

Blade smirked and said,” your good, but this gunpla is built for speed and fighting.” Blade then raised the upper half of the wing showing a set of rocket booster just like how the original wing had he then launched forward toward Ryuichi as he thought can’t use this to much it will damage her this gunpla still isn’t fully finished.

[Double]

Riku POV
@Crimson Lion - The Fated Sword

The glancing shot was one Riku could shrug off easily enough. Between the Izanagi and the Anti-Beam Coated armor, the Shin Musha Hyaku Shiki was nothing if not incredibly resistant to almost all forms of beam weaponry. Particle beams from a GN Rifle was no exception to this. And so even though the shoulder of the gunpla was grazed, the shot left looking virtually undamaged thanks to the Anti-Beam Coating.

"That might have been a decent shot if not for the Shin Musha's armor. Nice try." Riku said to no one in particular. Immediately after firing his shot he let go of the Tactical Arms and let it return to it's previous Flight Form in the time it took for Kobayashi's shot to glance off his shoulder, "You'd better have brought more than just beam weaponry!" he said aloud, once again to no one in particular. He had also spotted the distant figure of one of the Gunpla's retreating into what looked like Zone B. Unfortunately, that route would take him close enough for Riku to get a decent look at the Gunpla in question.

"Heads up, Tomi!" Riku said over comms as his Gunpla shot forward toward the rider of the GN Arms with Izanagi drawn, "You've got one coming your way. He looks like he's pretty light on ranged weaponry. Use the waverider mode to keep your distance and you should be able to edge him out!" naturally, his opponent had been taking additional shots with their rifle in addition to the cannons of their GN-Arms. The cannons weren't intended for long range and so avoid those shots was a simple enough affair thanks to the extra mobility courtesy of the Flight Unit wings. As for the beam shots, well... he'd drawn Izanagi for a reason. Rather than actively waste particle energy by dodging those, he instead used the Izanagi to deflect the beam shots as they came at him. And with each one he deflected, that meant a small amount of particles absorbed by Izanagi's pommel.

Riku was able to close the distance rather easily thanks to the superior speed of Flight Unit provided by the Tactical Arms. In fact he'd actually pushed to full throttle as if preparing a rather high octane lunging slash at the Gunpla. Against an non-moving target he probably could have sliced clean through at that velocity. But the GN-Arms was presumably moving to try and match his velocity, though Riku suspected he would edge him out in terms of pure speed. But the real purpose for all this was a bit different.

Initially he'd given them all the impression that he was a sniper. So hopefully, his sudden switch to shooting straight into melee combat would hopefully catch them off guard. Riku had to presume this opponent was their resident ranged attacker, and so the natural assumption was that they were weaker in close range. Outside of the Tactical Arms' Arrow Form and Gatling Form, the Shin Musha on the other hand was almost entirely spec'd for close range combat.

Yuna POV

"Yeah, go Ri-kun, go!" cheered the girl when she saw Riku's golden gunpla race into a charge attack. But another voice brought her back down to reality. It was Ri-kun's mom.

"Those are supposed to be energy shots, right?" she asked with a look of confusion, "How could a metal katana deflect them like that?" while she didn't understand all the rules, she could at least tell that a metal blade shouldn't normally be capable of deflecting a burning hot energy beam.

"It's Izanagi." said Yuna with a grin, "Ri-kun made it special, you know? Particle... Alteration... something-or-other." she remembered having watched Riku build the Gunpla some time ago, but a lot of the specifics had been beyond her understanding. She liked the Gunplas and how they could look and move, but she was no where near as good a builder as Riku was, "Anyway, it's what lets the Izanagi deflect beams like that. I think Ri-kun also told me something about absorption too, but it kinda flew over my head. Gunplas are a blast to pilot, but I don't know the mechanical parts like he does."

This prompted Chisato to glance over at Takemori-san, as if hoping he could it explain it in greater detail.

[Renny]

Kishimoto Arcade, Local Tournament.
@Crimson Lion @Double @Blade17 - Metal Devil!

Ryoichi grasped an instant understanding of his situation even as he barely avoided the white Wing Gundam's beam saber. One of his overlays blinked out; his remaining screen stretching out to fill the space moments afterward. Bad gamble, he thought harshly. I was hoping this guy would be taken out... Would've saved his pride at the very least. That Gunpla is fast but its Fighter is clueless... Ryoichi settled into himself, feeling clearly for a certain malice.

"I'll make this quick. Hold on for a little while," he said over team coms.

The Baelstrom slowly floated, staring down the Wing Gundam with it single chilling optic. With the whirring of finely made parts, the Divine Striker slid up and opened its vicious palm; a grim claw extending from the Baelstrom's back to veil the stars and blue lightning strikes. A golden horn wading through the blackness nearby. After a time, the brash voice of the white Wing Gundam spoke. It was met with silence, then the white Gunpla lurched forward. Ryoichi reacted swiftly by pushing the Baelstrom forwards as well. He equipped his beam saber and held it at his side while holding his shield loosely over his torso. As they closed the meager distance between each other, the blackened claw stretched over the Baelstrom's back to grasp the white Wing Gundam's head and torso.

[Shiyonichi]

“Held back?” Hachiyama asked and Kai responded back. “Well, yeah. Guessing that’s your leader there, since he’s the only unique suit out of all ya and he can’t be the other merc. His Gunpla’s different and his piloting skill is just a whole lot worse than what I saw. You’d have to be a complete dumbass to mistaken the two. Your team uses the mostly the same Gunpla, it’s uncommon, ya know why? Because while it helps with consistency, it doesn’t allow the individuals on the team to grow on their own and weakens the team overall. The only team that uses the same Gunpla, is teams like SDR who are basically like one person in three bodies.”

The Gunpla fighter lectured as the GN Vulcans simply disappeared before it even hit the XCEED, due to it’s special field and the damage on the hand of the Gunpla simply regenerated using it’s Nanomachines, though it didn’t heal any of it’s other battle damage as it could only heal from damage inflicted during the battle and not before it.

“Kai, your full name ... is Kai Asakura right? As in the Asakura dojo right?” Hachiyama asked, to which Kai responded in a bit of irritation, which answered Hachiyama’s question. “In the Gunpla arena, I’m simply Kai, nothing more.” Though Kai simply listen to what Hachiyama had to say as the other Gunpla fighter activated Trans-Am attempting to slice him from behind, only for Kai to quickly turn around and block it with a raging orange beam saber from the arm of his Gunpla even with Trans-Am it wasn’t enough to overpower the cloaked Gunpla.

“While I do admit ya have the spirit of a samurai, loyalty isn’t just about following your leader around, true loyalty is about having the strength to challenge them and set the back on the right path as much as having the strength to achieve their desires.” Particles started to weave around the XCEED as the hood of it’s cloak was pushed back as a tassel of energy extended from the back of his head and the orange beam blade grew in intensity and color turning a bright blue as the strength of the XCEED suddenly increased drastically and with a swing of it’s arm, it blew away the Crimson GN-X.

“Allow me to show ya the next level.” Kai challenged Hachiyama. The inner frame of the Turn-XCEED started to glow a bright Azure and the Cracks along it’s body gave out the same shine. “When Gunpla and fighter come together, they unleash a new power.” Particles danced along the surface of the Turn-XCEED at blinding speeds, making it seem as if it was surrounded by lightning. “This power is known as... Assimilation!”

The Turn-XCEED revealed it’s other arm, it was mismatched and bulbous. The front of the arm opened up with five pseudo fingers as the center of the now open arm started charging particles, focusing it’s power into the ‘palm.’ The XCEED unleashed a powerful stream of azure energy, which streaked across the battlefield like a shooting star, completely decimated anything in it’s wake as it flew towards Hachiyama.

[KenjuGuy]

@Crimson Lion

Jun clenched his teeth, he had managed to knock aside the returning debri but he had been captured from below by Seo's trap. "Not bad at all,..." Jun muttered as sweat trickled down his forehead. The Captain Miracle was pulled down by the single arm from the Alvatore as to not allow him to escape. At the same time, the Alvaaron had leaped into the air and was about to blow him to pieces with his mega particle cannon

A few shots from his Buster Gun wouldn't be enough to escape from that monsters grip, but there was always another way....

Jun grinned as the light from the Bean Cannon grew brighter from above.
"But nobody calls me dumb! You'd better recognize that I'm a genius!!" as he said that, the scissor anchor fired from from the Miracle's waist, latched onto the Alvaaron's wrist and pulled it. His aim was of course, to redirect the Cannon's fire down at the Alvatore in front of him!

Once that was done, Jun used his Beam Zamber to hack away at the arm attached to the Miracle's leg. "Nice! That's the kind of challenge that I want! Come on, bring some more of those tricks, I'll conquer them all!!" with a roar, Jun used brought his Buster Gun and Beam Zamber together to form the Zanbuster, a beam rifle which he aimed and fired at the Alvaaron, which he hoped was still attached to his anchor.

[Crimson Lion]

Takemori POV
@Double

I chuckled lightly as Riku’s mother, Chisato, looked to me for an explanation, ah I truly love my job. Explaining gunpla all day is truly better than doing what my old job entailed. Dread from piles and piles of paperwork was a headache compared to the heaven of gunpla.

I cleared my throat before answering. “Let me explain, In gunpla, all plastic models are given life and power by something called Plavsky Particles, they are mysterious particles that interact with plastic in unique ways. In Gunpla battles, these particles are also what powers the beam weaponry you see. Now a unique thing about gunpla is you can actually build your gunpla to interact with these particles in different ways. The Izanagi is using a technique like this, making the Plavsky Particles in the beam weapon disperse on contact, or so I assume.” I explain, the last part being told a little quieter as it was true. I was assuming. In all honesty I had never seen Riku work on the sword in question, I had really only seen it in passing when Riku worked on the Yamato at the shop.

“Um, I’m sorry to ask, but do these ‘Plavsky Particles’ have any .. Negative effects?” The woman asked.

“Ah no no, there's around 10-15 years of study on the effects of over exposure to people. In fact, there's even study on its effects on plants and animals, long exposure has little to no effect on people. In fact according to a study by the Nielsen Labs and Anaheim Co., they seem to only truly react to plastic. Strange really.” I finished as the mother looked a little less fidgety.

As I look back to the battle I gulp a bit. A pang of guilt. But it’ll have to slide.

Small white lies never hurt anyone.

---

Kobayashi POV
As I finally hit the gunpla across the debris field I was stunned to see the gunpla almost completely shrug off the attack. Its shoulder seemed almost completely undamaged from what he could tell from his view with the long range camera.

God blasted! Their gunpla has some form of anti beam defense, and Hachiyama is nowhere near to deal with it! Worst of all, I know for a fact that this attack is either Naoki or Riku, meaning I can’t fight them one on one close range or risk elimination, I only have one choice.

“Tanaka, I’m going to back up and defend your assault, hurry up and finish destroying the damn ship!!!” I yelled over the comms as I activated the full force of both the GN Arms and Sapphire GN-Xs GN Drives to create a GN curtain.

“This should mitigate damage.” I murmured as I positioned myself to guard Tanakas assault from the enemy.

---

Tanaka POV
@Blade17@Renny

What .. am I watching? I’ve watched Gunpla fights before. I was there AT the world championship last year when Japan fought against Europes Titans last year in the finals. So why am I feeling this way?

That was all I can ask myself as I floated there stunned by the battle between an Angel and Demon. Their speed was unreal. The floated and dashed with a degree of skill He had thought he could handle but, was he wrong?

As Ryuichi and Blade closed in on eachother, the white gunpla quickly moved downward as the Baelstorms back claw extended and crushed the upper half of the Snow Whites head. The Snow White almost spins in a dance as it countered with a beam saber strike to the Baelstorms shield, creating a huge gash in the shield to the point it looked like it could split in half and second.

A blast hits my shoulder as I am brought back to my situation, the enemy flag ship attacking me with its cannons as it's finally turned enough for me to be in its side cannons line of sight. Kobayashi's voice yells over the comms and I restart my assault on the flagship, maneuvering behind the ship to get out of line of attack.

---

Hachiyama POV
@Shiyonichi

As Kai finished explaining Assimilatrion to me I tightened my weapon in both confusion and familiarity of the word. I’d heard it somewhere before but from where? Before I could think heavily on it, Kais Gunpla glowed with an azure glow before sharps of lighting began to flow around it.

Not lightning from the storm around them but from the gunpla itself.

I instinctively held up my blade, using my other hand to support the blade as Kais palm flung forward and in that instance it almost looked like Kai himself was standing in place of his gunpla.

It was a pivot.

If I hadn’t pivoted then I would’ve suffered the same fate as my blade and left arm as Kais attack completely destroyed the weapon and limb with what looked like the ease of poking a hole in a piece of paper. My gunpla let go of the remaining hilt of the buster sword, quickly grabbing the beam saber on his left hip and swinging upwards, desperately trying to swing and cut off the extended arm.

---

Seo POV
@KenjuGuy

All according to plan, Operation Grab and Smash was going well with the Shark restrained by the Alvatore. As I charged my particle cannon I was frozen shocked when the Miracle shot something at my leg, as before I could react my whole gunpla was tugged, my cannon instead attacking the Alvatores arm!

As I drew back the Alvaarons wings, I looked down to see some sort of grappling arm attached the the Alvaarons leg. I took out the beam rifle from behind and aimed it down at the Shark as he slashed away at the Alvatores arm remains.

“You stupid sea creature!! Know your place and let go of me this instant!!!” I yelled as I aimed my beam rifle at the Shark, firing as him and watching in suprise as he countered with his own blast, an attack powerful enough to absorb my own and still hit me!!

The other leg of my gunpla was struck with the beams immense power as even some of the torso began to melt. “Tch, DIE!”

The one armed alvatore aimed all its cannons at the Shark as Seo tried to surprise the fighter with a sudden attack from the Mobile Armor.

---

No POV
@Blade17@Double

"This is a Top Priority order to all in Zone C, and absolutely must be followed. Lock the Wave Motion Cannon onto my broadcasted position, and in 180 seconds from now, fire." Naokis voice said over the comms.

[Renny]

Kishimoto Arcade, Local Tournament.
@Crimson Lion @Double @Blade17 - Transparent Moments

Ryoichi could pinpoint the moment he submersed himself into the battle, no the WAR. As the Baelstrom's claw raked through the white Wing Gundam the artificial mangling of metal drove him to focus. He worried about the accumulated damage Baelstrom had taken; cursed himself for not taking better care of it. Now the dark and gray Trikeros Kai Shield was useless to him. The Baelstrom equipped its beam hangun before loosing the shield and launching it in the Wing Gundam's direction in hopes of scattering his opponent's attention. Ryoichi pushed on the thrusters, brandishing his green beam saber while darting the Baelstrom away and upward.

He took a lightspeed moment to reflect. 'I have my grappling arm, my beam saber, my beam handgun, and Me. I can do this, WE can do this, Baelstrom... carry me till the end partner!'

The Baelstrom, in its tarnished state, suddenly gain a fluidity to its plastic-form. The Divine Striker pack fixed itself into Flight-Mode as it rocketed off into the distance; becoming a pillar of blue jolting through the glittering black. Ryoichi succumbed to a cold malice, his mind sharpening to a point. 'I'll kill him this time...'

The Baelstrom begun to close the distance, it was a metallic shadow moving in erratic bright lines in search of a hidden moment.

[Double]

Riku POV
@Crimson Lion@Blade17@Renny - Fly

That curtain won't stop me! Riku didn't slow his speed down in the slightest. It was almost as if he intended to crash right into the GN Curtain. Because that was exactly what he intended. He knew Izanagi could slice through it easily. And if that Curtain was being directly powered by both of Kobayashi's GN Drives, then the weapon's handgaurd could also use the close contact to drain particle energy from both machines to quickly power up for a Shining Flash follow up. Kobayashi could either save his energy and deactivate the curtain (allowing Riku to get within reach to slice him and his teammate into scrap metal), or he could leave it up and let all of his particles be drained into the sword. Riku would win the clash either way.

"This is a Top Priority order to all in Zone C, and absolutely must be followed. Lock the Wave Motion Cannon onto my broadcasted position, and in 180 seconds from now, fire." Naokis voice said over the comms.

This gave Riku a brief pause. Was he serious? They were going to use it? He couldn't say he was disappointed by this. Truth be told, the longer this Tournament went on, the more Riku felt an insatiable itch to unleash the power of their trump card weapon. But wait, that trajectory... it would shoot right through one of the sections of the Colony! Perhaps Naoki wasn't aware that Tomi was still in there? Or maybe he was counting on the weapon not doing enough damage to the colony to endanger Tomi? Regardless... Riku unfortunately knew better than that. Even if the cannon didn't destroy the colony on its own, there was still a strong possibly of Tomi getting caught by debris or the blast causing some kind of chain reaction.

For the briefest of moments, Riku closed his eyes for a moment of thought.

Chisato POV

"Ah, I see. Thank you, Takemori-san." Chisato responded politely. Some of it still went over her head, but it sounded like Riku was doing quite well so that was enough to satisfy her. Right around now, she saw Riku's golden Gunpla appear to stab its sword right through the energy shield his opponent had put, "Oh, so it can cut shields as well? That really is a special sword, isn't it?"

"Oh, look Miss Chisato!" said Yuna, pointing at the battle, "See how that energy looks like it's being drawn into the handguard? That's the other special ability of the sword. Riku told me once that the hilt and handguard are laced with a different coating, separate from the blade. He called it Absorption Coating, I think. Apparently it can draw in particles from enemy beam attacks and shields to further empower the blade. If it absorbs enough, Riku can unleash his ultimate attack: The Shining Flash. That must be what he's planning down there. He's gonna use the Izanagi to drain energy from that person's shield to empower himself for a counterattack."

If he was listening in on this, then Takemori would likely take note of the weapon being laced with two separate coatings. He would also realize that he'd never seen Riku in possession of either of the coating sprays in question. That would lead him to only one conclusion: Riku didn't actually make that sword himself. Someone else must have.

Riku POV

Riku's eyes shot open again after his split moment of thought. First things first, "Tomi!" he said into the team comms, "In three minutes we're going to fire the trump card at Naoki's coordinates. The shot's trajectory goes through the Colony. It won't hit you directly, but it could cause a chain reaction of explosions or you might get caught by debris! Forget the Zone for now, get out of that colony!"

With that covered, he moved on to the second step, "Haro, establish a screen-share with me!" he said, this time broadcasting to both Haro and Blade, since he needed Blade to hear this as well. "I need to be able to see what you see so I can walk you through the steps. Naoki wants us to fire the cannon in approximately 3 minutes, but the cannon will take you approximately 1 minute to actually charge. When 2 minutes pass, divert all power to the cannon and activate the Trans-Am System. From there it will take 60 seconds for the weapon to be ready to fire. Your other weapon systems will only slow down the charging speed if you use them, so let me worry about defending the ship during that time. Got it?" at this point, he now had a small screen pop up in the corner showing Haro's cockpit view. Haro would also receive a similar screen showing him Riku's cockpit view as well.

"Blade, there's a chance that Merc might catch on to what we're doing once he sees the Yamato start glowing red. He may try to disengage you and make a break for the ship to stop it. Don't let him. Keep him engaged with you no matter what. When you see the Yamato start glowing, that's your signal that you have 60 seconds remaining before the cannon fires. Make absolutely sure you are outside the Yamato's line of sight by then or you will be vaporized. Now let's put an end to these chumps once and for all!"

Whatever Kobayashi had decided to do about his curtain wouldn't change Riku's plan of attack that much. If he left it up, Riku would just hold his ground let the Izanagi drain him dry, after which he would go for a powerful Shining Flash in the hopes of taking both opponents out in one stroke. If Kobayashi deactivated the shield early, Riku would still go in for close combat. Only instead of using the Shining Flash, he would instead be dual wielding weapons, the Izanagi in the Gunpla's right hand and one of the yellow beam sabers in its offhand.

[Blade17]

Blade was to into the fight as he said,” you think you could beat me.” He laughed as he actived the Z.E.R.O system boosting everything as the snow white vanished and appeared behind his enemy ripping the grabbing arm then kicking his opponent and then vanishing again and appearing infront of him cutting one of his legs off then disappearing.

[Renny]

Kishimoto Arcade, Local Tournament.
@Crimson Lion @Double @Blade17 - Transparent Moments

A lesser Gunpla Fighter would have lost sight of the white Wing Gundam; Ryoichi, however, let his instincts and experience guide his sight along the path of the Gunpla. The Baelstrom kept the white machine within his overlays along his jarring flightpath over the enemy flagship. Absently, he admired the crippled make of the white Gunpla. He could still see the silhouette of the machine before his Baelstrom had dug its claw into it. The Baelstrom on the other hand looked neglected. Its paint was peeling, the plastic around the missing optic and leg were being pulled away by the velocity, and he could feel through the controls the shakiness of his damaged Gunpla.

Ryoichi furrowed his brows at the annoying voice of the pilot, 'This team is just a bunch of cocky no names. Is this the battle you envisioned for me, Ryojiro? or am I just wasting my time here? critically injured, torn apart, and still hoping... this kid is letting me down.'

It was the sudden disappearance of the enemy that flashed awareness for the near-future. His mind touched on the past, old enemies under performance boosting mechanics. They were often back-beaters. From what he could gleam so far, his opponent was skilled though childish. It was like fighting a novice and now that he had settled on that, Ryoichi could begin to see his eventual victory. Less than a moment passed between the white Wing Gundam's disappearance and reappearance, and still, the Baelstrom had completed its movement. Streaking through the lightning battered background, the Baelstrom slashed its beam saber into a barrel roll, arcing about its personal space.

Ryoichi cut the thrusters then, and with quick wrist and finger movements, snapped the Baelstrom to face the white Wing. His saber was close to his chest while his beam handgun was training on his potential enemy.

[Blade17]

What he hit were the fangs acting like shields for snow white which means he wasn’t there the wing gundam appeared behind the gunpla as he was prepared to take him out.

[Shiyonichi]

As the Ruby GN-X would dash forward, the Turn-XCEED would stand firm as the GN-X would attempt to slash it... only for the blade to meet an invisible wall and stopped. By using particle manipulation, Kai focused a part of the field of the XCEED to guard against the beam saber. “When piloting a Gunpla, don’t control it with your hands and controllers. Think of it like your own body.” The Gunpla Fighter gave one last piece of advice similar to what he gave earlier. It wasn’t fun to fight a weak Gunpla or a weak fighter, especially one who could do so much more.

The Turn-XCEED slapped aside the Beam Saber with it’s arm and point shield, before turning it’s body along with the motion. Particles would gather under the XCEED’s feet, as it unleashed an attack. “Gate of the Iron Fortress.” The other hand would shift forwards gathering particles which compressed around the arm, before it unleashed it as a palm strike which shot out the particles as shockwave to knock back the Red unit.

As the Red unit was sent flying back, Kai charged another attack. The finger protector of the Turn-XCEED shifted forwards and massive amounts of particles gathered around the hand once again and compressed into it’s palm as a sphere, resembling a small shining star.

The Turn-XCEED dashed forwards to the Ruby GN-X, the compressed star in hand and lightning running off it’s body. If it made contact, the sphere would rapidly decompress and consume the target. This was one of the Turn-XCEED’s signature attacks...

“NEUTRON IMPULSE!”

The XCEED attempted to ram the compressed star into it’s opponent to end the fight.

[KenjuGuy]

@Crimson Lion

Success! Jun was pleased by both the results of his counterattacks leaving some damage to both mobile suit and mobile armor. "There's more where that came from!" he shouted as he prepared to shoot again, however this battle wasn't settled just yet.

As pleased as he was to have a challenge, it was still exactly that, a challenge! Meaning such a foe wouldn't be so easy! This was hammered home by the fact of the multiple cannons coming straight at him from the Alvatore.

"Shit!" he cursed, trying to navigate through the deadly beams of energy flying past him. The X-Boosters on the Miracle's back allowed to to make quick movements in different directions despite whatever path he was going.

Not only that, by this newly improved Miracle was impressive with it's nimbleness and agility... However, there was only so much he could evade while at close-range. While trying to escape the volley of cannon fire, a beam shot through the side of the Miracle's torso, sending the Gundam hurling backwards.

This left him open for another strike, where the Captain Miracle's right left was melted off. While trying to circle around, a third shot was narrowly evaded but had blasted away and destroyed the Rifle he had been holding.

"Crap, this is what I get for hovering too close around this damn mobile armor for too long...." he cursed his position, but still didn't get too far away from his foe, after all, trying to get back in would be even harder.

Jun didn't back down, instead he took out and wielding his Muramasa Blaster, a weapon with multiple short 14 energy sabers attached to the sides of it like a sawed-tooth blade. Not only that, but on the opposite forearm he unsheathed his GN-Sword.

The Captain Miracle hovered before the Mobile Armor and Mobile Suit. Yes, the scene was certainly similar to the deadly final battle from the first season of Gundam 00.

With both blades at each arm, Jun grinned at sweat dripped from his forehead. "It's all or nothing....

TRANS-AM!!!"

The Captain Miracle swelled beat red like a comet and took off like a meteor. It's target was both the mobile suit and mobile armor! First it would dart around the sides and strike at the Alvatore with the GN-Sword, then immediately hurl himself at the Alvaaron and swipe with it's Muramasa Blaster.

Jun would continue like this, back-and-forth, swirling around in circles like a mad red hurricane, with the Alvatore and Alvaaron at it's center
"I like your confidence Seo, it reminds me of myself, but the difference is that I can back it up! Tell me, can you keep up with this!?"

[Crimson Lion]

Seo POV
@KenjuGuy
As I tried to gain my bearings, readjusting my boosters now that I had lost my leg, the blue shark turned red as it completely disappeared when I blinked.

Where did it go?!

I turned both the Alvaarons and Alvatores cameras as I tried to scan the battlefield of where he had run off to. Did he run now that he was damaged? Hmph what a-

Instantly, before finishing that thought, an explosion and an alert told me of the Alvatores destruction, “I like your confidence Seo, it reminds me of myself, but the difference is that I can back it up! Tell me, can you keep up with this!?”

As I looked down I was met with a spinning mech and blade rushing straight up towards me. I try to use the wings of the Alvaaron to block only for the wing to be cut off, a final slash cutting through my Royal Alvaarons chest as the hologram around me turned from blue to red. “No no NO! THIS WASN”T HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO!!” I screamed in despair as a loud ringing sound entered the arena.

“MATCH OVER, WINNERS …”

---

Hachiyama POV
@Shiyonichi
As I flew backwards from Kais next palm strike, the right should came loose and completely fell off of my gunpla as I tried to direct my boszters to slow me down. To think I couldn’t even touch the damn thing.

Was this the power of that gunpla? Or was this truly the power of “Assimilation”?

As my energy reserves finally ran out, my gunpla became limp and still as the enemy charged forward with its final attack. With no options left I resigned myself to the end.

Kai started charging a ball of particles I could only watch. To fight without a controller. To fight as if your gunpla is truly your body. I wonder … if I can do that one day…

The Turn-XCEED dashed forward and ended the battle, disintegrating what was left of the Ruby GN-Xs chest as the holograms around me turned from blue to the familiar red.

“MATCH OVER, WINNERS …”

---

Takemori POV
@Blade17@Renny@Double
I watched as the Wave Motion Cannon of the Yamato continued to charge, the ship's angle moving slightly as it tracked Naoki's movements from afar. To think Naoki would use plan M in a situation like this!

My eyes shifted to Riku as the Hyaku Shiki stabbed forward and absorbed the entirety of Kobayashi's GN curtain, The particles being absorbed into the blade just as Yuna said before letting out the particles and slashing down at the Blue GN-X with the blade shining flash signature attack, as Yuna put it. The Izanagi, to think Riku had something this advanced. Guess I underestimated him.

As Riku quickly dispatched the last GN-X, I shifted again to a different screen and watched the Snow White vs Baelstorm fight with nervousness as each subsequent clash had the Snow White taking more and more hits. The Baelstorm was also taking hits, but I knew a loss on their side would be more detrimental than the other way around, and if they lost Blade, Riku would be heavily outnumbered by the Merc and Zenshin fighter.

“Is Blade going to be able to win this?” A voice I hadn’t expected asked as I looked to my right to see Hanako watching the battle intensely. “I don’t know … you tell me. You’re the one who ran in and gave him a gunpla. A gunpla he used without checking.” I said the end with a sigh. Kids these days are far too trusting.

“The Gunpla is fine!” She countered, “Well, not .. fine fine.”

I raised my eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s not complete. It still has some structural kinks to work out along with a frame upgrade we didn’t get to. If this battle was on earth, the frame wouldn’t be able to handle battle for more then 10 minutes.”

I furrowed my brow even more. “So we got lucky.”

As the two started their last clash the Yamatos Wave Motion Cannon fired its laser, crashing through the colony and breaking it clean in half as the multiple screens showing all the fighters showed the blast from different angles.

As the beam reached the other side of the map, Blade appeared behind Ryoichi as Ryoichi quickly turned. The two beam sabers move towards the enemies cockpits before their energy sabers immediately turn off at the sound of a bell, the two plastic models clashing into each other as the hilts of their blades both clash into their enemies chests.
“MATCH OVER, WINNERS …

---

Tomiyoka VS Komi

Tomiyoka POV

"Tomi!" Riku said over the team comms, "In three minutes we're going to fire the trump card at Naoki's coordinates. The shot's trajectory goes through the Colony. It won't hit you directly, but it could cause a chain reaction of explosions or you might get caught by debris! Forget the Zone for now, get out of that colony!" I heard but furrowed by brow.

“I heard, my completion of the zone had reached 98%. I’ll evacuate right after Riku senpai, over.” I said as I took a deep breath. It unnerved me to do so ever since training with Naoki. Image training, similar to shadow boxing, was a way of training through imagination. Naoki had taught me how to do it but warned me that the results would be uncomfortable.

As I looked out at a hole through the ceiling of the colony, I stared at the emptiness of space. The feeling of limited oxygen made me shake a bit but I stopped, reminding myself that its just holographic.

"Don't let your nerves get the best of you, Tomi. If you need to, just use this brief calm to practice controlling your breathing.”

Rikus-sans advice rang and I took a deep breath, knowing that at any time I’d need to rush out of here to avoid friendly fire.

As I continued to stare through the hole I stared at what I thought was a shooting star, only to be shocked when the star changed course straight towards his spot on Zone B. Activating my camera I realized that it was the Orange GN-X from team Zenshin High!!

The progress bar for the zone changed from [99%] to [Contested] as the Gunpla charged in through the hole in the ceiling and threw a beam saber at him, which he quickly dodge leaving the saber to stab into the ground.

“Dammit, not now!!” I yelled as the GN-X dropped down in front of me as we now both stood in the middle of a city ruins within the colony. The GN-X took out two more beam sabers and began to walk towards me slowly.

“Sorry kid. But I can’t have you claiming this zone, or its game over. Let's do this Amber GN-X!!!” And with that he increased his pace and activated his boosters, rushing forward with his beam sabers in an X shape.

What should I do? Do I run and let him get the point? Do I fight and risk getting blown up with the colony? Do I lead him away and try to grab the zone?!

”When you’re controlling a Gunpla with a Humanoid form, don’t think of controlling it’s limbs by moving your controller. It’s all about instinct.”

The memory of Kai-san's advice rang and my gunpla jumped straight up without thought, dodging the two balades before I took out my rifle and aimed downwards to fire. Sadly he was quicker with his reactions then I could draw my gun and he was able to sidestep the blast.

“Impressive kid, I can see why you're rolling with these guys!!” His enemy said over the comms as his gunpla kicked mind in the chest, launching it into the air. “But you’re not quick enough to compete with me!” He said as he launched himself to slash at me midair.

Dammit, I don’t think I can hit this guy, and unless I transform I don’t think I can outspeed him, he’s too fast!!!

“Whenever things get rough, that's when it's most important to bet on yourself.”

Jun-san's advice rang and I smiled.

All or nothing time.

I charged towards the leaping GN-X and as his beam saber thrusts forward I side step last second, grabbing his arm as I transformed from my mobile suit form to the waverider form, the GN-Xs arm getting stuck within the folding arms.

“I’m Sorry Zenshin san, But I’m betting on myself. Or more specifically, I’m betting that my Zeta will last longer than you!!!” And with that, the 3 minutes were up and an energy beam shook the colony before a pillar of energy erupted from underneath them. As the Wave Motion Cannon evaporated them, I angled my ship to have the GN-X under me, using the enemy as a temporary shield.

As the Amber GN-X disintegrated underneath me, I briefly heard the system say “Zone B, Capt-” Before the Zeta dissipated as well.

“MATCH OVER, WINNERS … TEAM IMAGINE VICTORY!!!!!”

---

Full Charmaine VS Naoki

Dezuel

"It means nothing! And at the same time... EVERYTHING! First it was love! Then the love grew into hatred and then love anew!" Charmaine's eyes glimmered as Naoki funnels sprayed the Creusherazade with it's beams, just to cause them to bounce off it's form due to it's Anti-beam Defensive Reflection System.

'He's at a serious disadvantage, his funnels cannot do anything to my gunpla... I.. don't want my victory to feel incomplete...' Charmaine thought while he raised his beamsaber to lock against Naoki's.

"Newtype?! You are the one with the spatial awareness and funnels! I am no such thing, I just gave my limbs to the gods! In order to defeat you, I had this gunpla gain what I lost! My missing limbs! I once sought an autograph upon a box and show you a gunpla! But that's all in the past! And we can never go back! To you, I may have been nothing more than one of the many fans in the crowd! However! In that moment-" The masked young man screamed out, igniting both the legilis beam sabers in their hands before making a downward slice from both aiming for his physical shields.

"In this moment! I shall make all the domino pieces topple over! As long as I wear this mask, you and I shall be enemies! I will get everything back! Fight me with all you have, don't you dare hold back on me! Fight like you mean it! Where's that passion from three years ago?!" Charmaine screamed out, before shooting the two waist-mounted piercers which were both attached by wires towards Naoki's gunpla, aiming for it's cockpit. While speaking to Naoki, he couldn't help but feel admiration of the opposing gunpla. It wasn't overdesigned, it wasn't overequipped or overly flashy. It had a particular class to it, not only in it's build quality but it's usage.

---

Crimson

My heart began to beat faster as I listened to Charmaine, a ringing in my ear as I saw just how little effect my gunplas funnels had on the enemies armor. "You, your passion, your rage. I had thought you a Zechs Marque or a Graham. Just a lost warrior looking for battle. But I can see it now. You're like the past me, a Char Aznable who is brimming with pride and drive!!"

I started before pull back as the two waist mounted piercers launched out at me, but instead of out right dodging I ripped the remaining shield from the Jestas sub arms and pushed the shield forward, the anchors latching onto it.

I grabbed the shield as the Creusherazade returned the wires, dragging my gunpla along with it. "But I'm not the same person I was long ago. In fact, my masked was shattered by someone and I felt a loss so powerful I also was reborn anew, scared and frightened but with even more drive to move forward. And I've decided, I'll do the same for you!!!"

I activated my boosters, increasingly rushing towards the Creusherazade with the intention of grabbing its arms and subarms with its own and having the shield in between them.

"It may not be today, or tomorrow or even within the next decade, but I promise here and now. I'm gonna shatter that mask of yours into a million pieces!!!!" I yelled as I charged, the next couple minutes would be essential to my plan and I needed to bring my A-Game

"Zone C," I said, momentarily switching from the public channels to the Team Channel.

"This is a Top Priority order to all in Zone C, and absolutely must be followed. Lock the Wave Motion Cannon onto my broadcasted position, and in 180 seconds from now, fire."

---

Dezuel

"Pride is useless without honor! To fight is to keep on living! Innovade! Coordinate! Extend yourself! To be the strongest, to go the farthest and to climb the highest!" Charmaine yelled out to Naoki, having witnessed his opponent successfully block his waist mounted weapory with his shields. His performance in battle was just as he had hoped it would be. Yet his opponent was so determined about bringing victory for his team, that Charmaine couldn't help but feel a smirk crawl up his lips in enjoyment.

"Hah! But can you?!" The masked young man replied as each of his gunpla's arms were grabbed by those of his opponent, that despite it's many limbs it was now having trouble to attack. But even so, he wasn't fully without options.

"I knew this fight would be what I wanted! Do you not feel it? This is how it is to be alive! Now let us bring it to the finale!" Charmaine pushed his gunpla's thrusters to the maximum output and began to push his opponent which had grappled his precious machine. That Jesta had really turned out to be a troublesome thing. Yet it was too late to regret not looking over the opponents gunpla.

The Creusherazade began to forcefully push and charge it's thrusters against the Jesta, pushing it towards one of the large asteroids about. Charmaine was intending on using the sheer impact from such a collision to deal damage to Naoki and his Jesta, and if nothing else free himself. Yet along the path right before reaching it, there was something coming their way quickly. A flash.

Charmaine's eyes widened and he held up both his arms before screaming aloud. "Gaaaaaaaah!"

---

Naoki POV
@Dezuel@Renny
As The WMC evaporated the two of us, I almost wanted to cry a bit as I felt the end of the match. So exhilarating. So nerve wracking! Truly it was one of my toughest fights ever and I had taken out the enemy by using our trump card. I felt like I wanted to crash onto the ground and laugh. To celebrate with my teammates.

… But theres something I need to do first.

I walked past my teammates to the other side of the table to the end where Charmaine sat. “Masked Fighter!” I said as I took out a business card for Takemori Arcade. “Give me a call soon. Theres something I want to talk to you about.” I said to the masked boy before turning to Ryoichi, “And you, take a card as well. If your contact with them ends soon gimme a call, I’d love to have someone like you around .. “Old man”.” I said, copying Juns nickname for him.

[Double]

Riku POV
@Crimson Lion@KenjuGuy@Shiyonichi@Blade17 - The Shot That Pierces the Stars

His plan succeeded. Kobayashi's shield remained up for as long as it could, but the Izanagi devoured it in the end. And afterword, there was nothing left that could stop him. With a fully charged blade, Riku cut down the two GN-X's with ease. As he did so, he noticed the bright red glow of the Yamato. The charge had begun. Having faith that Blade could handle himself, Riku positioned himself on the Yamato's broadside, safely outside outside its line of fire. After that, he simply held his position and waited.

This was would be the Wave Motion Cannon's first actual use. For that, Riku was certain he wanted to have a good hard look at the weapon in action. It was his creation after, his great project. This would also be his only real means of properly gauging the Cannon's power and capabilities. Data that would surely be helpful when refinements would eventually be made. Riku counted down the seconds in his head. When the countdown was about to reach zero, he raised his finger and pointed it at his cockpit view as if aiming an invisible gun, before seemingly pulling an imaginary trigger.

"Bang."

And the shot fired. The massive beam of energy lanced its way clear across the battlefield. It easily punched through the colony and broke it clean in half. Whatever was caught in its line of fire, was no doubt doomed to be destroyed. No amount of armor or energy shields would stop it, just as Riku designed. The sight of the energy, and the sheer pressure of witnessing such raw power firsthand was enough to send a chill down Riku's spine. And yet, chilling as this weapon's power was... he could tell that it paled in comparison to the weapon that inspired it. The Cannon from Space Battleship Yamato was powerful enough to vaporize an entire island the size of Australia. Riku's version of the weapon didn't come close. And yet, he couldn't help but curl his slips into a small smile. The potential was there, he could sense it. And he believed it was only a matter of time before he could devise a way to match that power... or even surpass it.

“MATCH OVER, WINNERS … TEAM IMAGINE VICTORY!!!!!”

His cockpit hologram deactivated, and now Riku found himself looking around at a stunned and cheering crowd. The Wave Motion Cannon was sure to raise some eyebrows among them, but most would surely just be hyped beyond belief. He reached out and picked up his golden Gunpla, as well as the Yamato. Then, he looked around at each of his teammates and said, "I was right after all, our Cannon paled in comparison to the original. But it got the job done, and I intend to make sure it's perfected by the time we need to use it again."

This probably was also enough of a hint to the losing team that he was the one responsible for building the superweapon.

Yuna POV

"WOW! That. Was. AMAZING!" Yuna was yelling at the top of her lungs over the cheers, "That cannon was so awesome!" She could also see the expression on Riku's face from where they watched. He was happy, happier than he'd been in a long time. She could tell. And she was sure that his mom could tell, too.

??? POV
Stranger in the Crowd

Unbeknownst to anyone from Team Imagine or their affiliates, there was someone else in the audience that day. A man in a coat and dark sunglasses, who watched the Tournament with great interest while also retaining a strict poker face throughout. His attention shifted between battlers, but seemingly remained fixated on the Golden Samurai Gunpla more than any other. Or more specifically, on the young man piloting it. Seeing him use the blade to slice a Mobile Armor clean in half during round 1 aroused an amused eyebrow raise from the man. And the similar stunt pulled in the finals against two opponents simultaneously elicited a very slight nod, almost like one of approval.

But it was that finale that really caught his attention. The powerful Superweapon that not only cleaved a colony clean in half but also ended the entire round in a single shot. When the holograms faded, and he saw the pilot of the Golden Gunpla retrieve the ship from the ship, that was all the confirmation needed. So it was his creation after all. And while the previous things that caught his attention had elicited small responses at best, now he allowed himself an actual smile. He slowly, offering applause as the crowds cheered around him. And then, without a word... he was gone. He'd left his spot in the stands and slipped out of the arcade in silence.

"Finally over, is it?" asked a man sitting in the driver's seat of a car as the man from the audience opened the door and sat down in the backseat, "From the look on your face, I assume he did well."

"No," said the mystery man, "He did splendidly."

"Exceeded your expectations, then? You'd best watch yourself then, he may well come after you eventually. Sounds like he's going to be quite good."

The man in the backseat offered a knowing smile, "No, he's going to be the best." he said, correcting his associate driving the car, "If the darker side of the World of Gunpla doesn't destroy him, that is. That ship is going to be a game-changer. It may well end up painting a target on that team's back. You know as well as I do how ruthless and cutthroat some people in this industry are."

"Hm, well enough of that for now. You've your own battle to get to, you know. You're already about to be late as it is thanks to this little detour you made."

"I'm aware," said the man in the backseat, his gaze slightly shifting to a Silver-Armored Gunpla sitting safely on its display stand nearby. "but it was his first real tournament. There was no way I was going to let myself miss that."

[Blade17]

@Crimson Lion@Double

Blade was fighting the close fight, but once the canon fired, blade moved out the way just in time, but then after that the Snow White shut down completely as Blade sighed and leaned into the chair blade gave himself a face palm and sighed heavily and said,” sorry Hanako we worked hella hard on her and she got badly damaged, sorr I couldn’t keep her out of getting damaged, and she held out good for me even with the structural kink,” he looks around as he then spoke to him and looked at the snow white you did good, me and Hanako will fix you up.” He smiled a bit. He looks at the others and offered a smile and sighed as he grabbed snow white and stood up stretching he was happy they won but a bit disappointed the fact that he couldn’t keep snow white from getting damaged

[Renny]

Kishimoto Arcade, Local Tournament.
@Crimson Lion @Dezuel - Devils Cry

His defeat was on repeat in his head, flickering vividly and insufferably slow.

Baelstrom was dying on him, flashing screens burned orange. He didn't have time to read them, not that he needed too. In a nut shell the Baelstrom was maimed; it was missing a foot, an eye, a shield, and a horn. Its paint was all but gone, all that remained was the beaten black frame of the demonic Gundam; its grappling claw open with dark intentions. Though that wasn't the worst of it. The WARS he had experienced had left the gunpla battered inside and out. Its limbs were becoming stiff and unwieldly with the resistance of his controls. Ryoichi poured strength into his arms and hands. The exertion he was throwing into the battle paid the price for his still fluid movements.

It was in their last skirmish that he understood just how outnumbered he was. In a flash that golden gunpla had defeated the others while simultaneously, somehow, managing to operated the flagship. Stuck between surviving the onslaught of the white Wing Gundam or destroying the flagship; Ryoichi decided to disengage the white Wing Gundam. From there everything went from confidence, to fear, to acceptance, to anger, and then to joy...

Sweat fell from Ryoichi's face and arms. And for a long moment he refused to raise his head. He had seen the dark frame falling apart as the stadium shut down. Seen the right side of the Baelstrom pluck away at the joints. That was rough and yet exhilarating too. Before, he had wanted nothing more than a strong Gunpla Fighter to stand against him. Now, after experiencing all that WARS had to offer, a flame had reawakened inside him. And if nothing else, he was grateful to his opponents for that.

The roar of the crowd was a muffled sound compared to the voices of Team Imagine Victory. He felt exhaustion lay over his eyelids as he stood up straight and gathered the Baelstrom's parts. With a gentle hand he placed the pieces in his plastic bag and carried it close to his chest. He plucked his glasses from his pockets to hide the true toll the match had on him. It was annoying and maddening but he had always been good about playing the buffoon.

"Char-chan!" he called aloud once he reached Charmaine. "I lost my match. Can you tell I'm heartbroken right now?"

He choked off his next words seeing one of the guys of Team Imagine Victory walking over. He straightened himself and placed his hands on Charmaine's wheelchair. Through closed lips he quickly whispered, "Stay cool, I could probably take him in a fight."

Throughout Naoki's card peddling, Ryoichi held back laughter until the "Old Man" comment reached his ears. Fortunately he was okay with Naoki's vibe, so he simply smiled. He took the card with two fingers and looked back at the boy. "Sure thing, Kid. Though my fee might've just rocketed up a bit."

[Shiyonichi]

Kai took the Turn- XCEED of the table. Once again he didn’t really feel anything about the victory. They were the stronger fighters, that’s all that mattered. Though he had to wonder if his words had gotten through. Kai looked down at his partner.

“Ya satisfied?” He whispered to it, before smirking and putting it back into the lacquer box and sealing it up once again. Kai looked up once again, this time to a stage further away and with a quiet voice that was drowned out by the crowd, he made a vow. “Akira. I’m coming for ya. When I do we’ll settle this.”