Gundam Build Fighters Season 3
Battle 1: The Fastest Gunpla Battle
The TV flickers on in the Iori household. Sei, coming back from winning the 3rd Japanese Block Championship of the 8th WGBC, throws himself on the couch with the trophy in hand. It is now 17:00 and the South East Asian Finals were supposed to be on at this time. The Japanese caster for this tournament was none other than his own father, Takeshi Iori. He went into detail about Luang Dallara's improved Abigorbine, and that his experience and upgraded Gunpla should be able to soundly defeat the underdog team, "Team Trinity." He then went into detail about this group of 3 that took the tournament by storm, how they managed to defeat every single veteran in this tournament without even receiving a scratch to their Gunpla, Gundam Freedom Seravee. He also elaborated in his own world about how much of a disadvantage that a Heavy-Assault type Gundam has in a 1v1 tournament, and that a world level fighter like Luang Dallara should beat them.
"Mom hurry up, the match is about to start. Dallara-san is about to beat down these guys," Sei said with the utmost confidence.
"Okay, honey, I'm just preparing a meal for Reiji and Aila for when they drop by tonight," she replied, quickly putting something together for the new couple.
"Please Set Your GP BASE" Dallara and Team Trinity set down their GP Bases and did some last minute preparation for their Gunpla. "Please Set your GUNPLA" They followed the instructions exactly.
"Beginning Plavsky Particle Dispersion. Field 5: Desert"
"Luang Dallara, Abigorbine, Launching,"
"Rolando Pascual, Gundam Freedom Seravee, Launching,"
Within a split second of the two, Gunpla leaving the launch gate, a bright pink light filled the entire stadium. All that was left was a trail of destruction left from what happened to be several particle cannon blasts. At one end was the Abigorbine, or what was left of it. At the other end was the Gundam Freedom Seravee floating victoriously over its fallen opponent.
"Battle End. Winner: Gundam Freedom Seravee."
"AND FOLKS, WHAT YOU'VE WITNESSED HERE IS HISTORY IN THE MAKING," Takeshi exclaimed in excitement, "we are consulting the referees, and all of them said that was a completely valid takedown on the part of Team Trinity."
"DALLARA-SAN!" Sei screamed at the TV.
"Sei! What happened," Rinko asked.
"Dallara-san was beaten," He replied, "in a second."
"Really?"
"Listen to dad."
"We are watching replays of this match over and over again to make sure Team Trinity did not violate any tournament rules," Takeshi explained to the audience, "We see that that the Gundam Freedom Seravee and the Abigorbine were both out of the launch chambers when the match started. This means any action taken is fair game. The Freedom Seravee unleashed a powerful attack firing its GN Particle Bazooka, chest cannon, and 4 other GN Particle Cannons all at the same time upon leaving the launch gate. Understanding that the Abigorbine is a fairly slower Gunpla than other models, Team Trinity took advantage of this weakness and brought it down instantly despite its high rated defense stats."
"No," Sei said to himself, "Dallara-san is better than this."
"We are receiving word from Guiness World Record officials that are here," Takeshi explained to audiences all around Japan, "the kill time was set at 1.4 seconds, thus making this the fastest Gunpla Battle ever fought, beating the previous record holder by 5 seconds. Congratulations Team Trinity, Rolando Pascual and William Pascual, they are officially the South East Asian Champions, and will be representing the district in the upcoming World Gunpla Battle Championships. We will continue replays of today's..." The TV turned off; Sei holding the remote control for a little bit then setting it down on the coffee table.
"I'm going to go up to my room, I need to finish some tune ups for Cosmos Build Strike."
"Okay honey, I'll call you down when Reiji and Aila come."
"Ok."
Sei sat at his desk. The Cosmos Build Strike starting to stare back at him with the green paint eyes that he had just finished polishing.
"This is what the competition looks like for this year," he told his inanimate friend, "do you think you can beat them?" The Gunpla only stared back as its reply to the question. "I know you can too, I just hope I have the control power to beat them. This time, I'm not teaming up with Reiji."
[PPSE Gunpla Academy]
Allan quickly dashed through the empty hallways of Gunpla Academy to his Tatsuya Yuki's room. When he got there, he nearly punched the button to open up that sliding doors at the academy.
"Yuki!"
"Yes, Allan."
"That..."
"Final match in Southeast Asia. I know."
"Have you tried looking for information about their units and fighting style?"
"No, why?"
"There is no point in doing it. I noticed they were not only a lot more confident than the competition, but played like they were so far above the level of the other competitors that it seemed suspicious."
"And?"
"There is nothing about them. Team Trinity has no history in any other tournament other than the regional championship. The only information I gathered were the statistics from this tournament."
"Anything significant?" Yuki asked.
"Everything, from damage dealt to other Gunpla to the fact that they took only a paint scratch from falling debris. What do you think about this group?"
"What do I think, Allan. I think that this year's World Championship is going to be by far the most competitive and definitely just as one sided as last year's. This dark horse, Team Trinity, sounds like they have a lot more up their sleeve than what they are showing."
"I hate to admit it, but I don't think we even have a chance against these guys."
"You are overestimating them," Yuki said with a grin. He knew at that moment that he could beat them, but a voice in the back of his head said that they could be his greatest threat in the tournament.
"At least I'm not underestimating them."
"Now don't say that, I take competition seriously. "
"So what happened last year?"
"Reiji-kun and Sei-kun loved Gunpla more than I did, they rescued me from a dark place last year. However, I won't let anyone else be able to match my spirit for Gunpla."
"That's what I want to hear from the 3rd Meijin." Allan looked at the pair of Gunpla the two of them had assembled over the past year. In order to revive Yuki's love for the Zaku mechs, they had constructed the Red Dawn Zaku Amazing, outfitted to be faster and much sturdier than the Red Comet Zaku Amazing. Also on Yuki's Desk, standing next to the Red Dawn Zaku Amazing, was the 00-Qan(T) Amazing. A reconstruction of Setsuna F. Seiei's final mobile suit, the 00-Qan(T) is the exemplary step forward in GN-Drive technology in the Gundam 00 series. Now in the hands of a more than capable pilot, Meijin Kawaguchi.
"Don't let this get to your head," Allan told Yuki. In reality, Yuki for the first time since meeting Reiji and Sei in that exhibition match, felt a sense of fear creeping up on him. The fear of possibly losing to a duo who outclassed his skills.
[Iori Household]
"SEI!" Rinko yelled from the kitchen, "Reij-kun and Aila are here."
"Okay mom, I'm coming down."Sei stepped slowly down the stairs to greet Reiji and Aila.
"Yo, Sei. Long time no see," Reiji exclaimed with excitement.
"Hi, Sei," Aila said with a small smile, "What's got you down."
"Nothing," Sei said with his face cringing in a horrid fashion.
"You're lying," Aila replied starkly.
"Dallara-san," he said sadly, "was beaten in the South East Asian Finals."
"No way," Reiji yelled, "we are supposed to have our rematch this WGBC."
"Yeah, I know," Sei replied lethargically, "just check this replay. Dallara-san was slaughtered."
"****," Reiji exclaimed after watching the replay of the SEA Finals a couple of times, "There is no way that can happen. They must be disobeying some kind of rule or something."
"No they didn't," Sei explained, "my dad was in charge of officiating the tournament. Everything Team Trinity did was legitimate."
"We'll pay back Dallara-san and beat these ****** down. Right Aila." Reiji looked at Aila happily munching down on the meal that Rinko had prepared for them. "Oh, Aila-san."
"What," she said with a muffled voice. Her mouth was stuck full of Chinese chicken salad that Rinko made minutes before the couple's arrival, "come eat Reiji," she swallowed as she spoke.
"Nah, I have other plans in mind, right Sei."
"What..."
"Let's head over to the model shop and battle the rest of the night away. I need some practice for the tournament."
"Of course," Sei said coarsely, "Tomorrow."
"You suck," Reiji replied, "that means I'm taking your bed."
"What the hell, that doesn't mean that at all."
"Of course it does, I shouldn't be sleeping near Aila at all, who knows what kind of things she'll do to me in my sleep."Aila glared at Reiji, and almost lunged at him with the fork in her hand, if it wasn't for Rinko's attempts to restrain her.
"Reiji, get your mind out of the gutter."
"No, it's true though. She's drop kicked me in my sleep, and threw stuff at me. Not nearly as lady like as I thought of her to be."
"Haha, you two were made for each other," Sei laughed as he heard the ridiculous news from Reiji.
[Tokyo Airport]
"Ugh, Rolo, why did you want to come to Japan so quickly," William asked. William is a fairly thin boy for his age, weighing only 45 Kg and only 5 feet tall. His dark skin and spiky hair stood out in the crowd of fair skinned Japanese people. He was wearing a dark navy blue school uniform worn by high school students from their community. He carried with him one suit case filled with his clothes and a briefcase filled with spare Gunpla parts.
Rolo pushed up his glasses, "I want to spend as much time here as possible of course."He was taller than his brother and had a bulkier build. He was wearing a red Polo shirt underneath a dark gray, hoodless sweater that had one large black square on his left breast. He was also wearing his favorite pair of khaki pants that day. He carried a backpack filled with manga and anime DVDs and miscellaneous junk that he treasured. In one rolling suitcase, he carried all the different outfits he wore, and in another suitcase, he was dragging his entire desktop gaming set-up that he planned to put together in the hotel room.
"More like you want to move here, bro," William said jokingly.
"I do want to someday," Rolando replied, "I might transfer to a university here to continue my studies."
'"Whatever you say, let's get to our hotel room." As they walked down the arrival terminal, many of the people that they passed by recognized them, and began bowing before them. "What the heck." A group of kids ran up to them asking for autographs on their Gunpla. Rolando pulled out a Permanent Marker and started signing their Gunpla models.
"Haha, with this autographed Gunpla, I'll beat everyone for sure," one of the kids said. William laughed.
"I guess this is what being famous feels like, haha."
"You said it bro." It took nearly an hour as the duo were busy signing various objects that people asked them to sign.
"Crap, its 11:00," Rolando said to himself, "TAXI!" A taxi pulled up to the curb and they loaded their luggage into the car.
"OOOO YOU ARE THAT SOUTH EAST ASIAN TEAM, YAH," the driver exclaimed in excitement, "here sign this for me." He pulled out a piece of paper and the duo, now exhausted from signing autographs over and over, reluctantly signed this last one. "Okay, I'll give you this ride for free."
"Thank you." The driver pulled away from the airport and made his way across the landscape of Tokyo. They passed by the bright lights of the urban area and ended at their hotel which overlooked Akihabara and the PPSE Gunpla Battle Arena. Rolando tipped the driver, who was already in a daydreaming state having been the driver for the now famous Team Trinity.
Rolando checked them into their room, and they had a look around the hotel and were amazed by the quality of the hotel they were staying at. "This is the life," Rolando sighed as he lay down on the mattress of the hotel bed, "hey I know what I want to do."
"What?" William asked.
"Let's pay a visit to the previous world Gunpla Champ."
"But that means we have to get in a train, and we just got here."
"So, don't you want to visit the best builder in the world?" William was persuaded by this argument posed by his brother. He wanted more than anything to meet the competition, let alone talk with Iori Sei, the 7th WGBC Champ and pronounced best builder in the world. Soon they walked over to the train station and found directions to Iori's models. By the time they got there, it was almost closing time.
[Iori's Models]
"GO STAR BUILD STRIKE!"
"G-GUNDAM EXPERT ARIAN, SHOW HIM YOUR POWER."
Sei and Reiji had been battling all day with their older Gunpla Models. Even pulling from the samples that Sei had built to add some variety to their battles. They were evenly matched, except that Reiji was only a little better because his reaction times were always a second ahead of Sei. They looked outside and noticed it was nearly dark, the evening sun was coming upon them, and that their day was almost over.
Just when they finished up their last battle. The door ringed, a couple of last minute customers walked into the store. There was a skinny, brown kid with bushy hair that was wearing a navy blue school uniform. His older brother, who had a paler complexion, and wore glasses that reflected the evening sun. He pushed up his glasses and asked, "Is Iori Sei here?"
"That's me," Sei replied, "Do you need anything?"
"Yeah I do, I was wondering if my brother could..." Rolando was cut off by his brother gasping and looking at the collection of Gunpla displayed on the wall. William was completely amazed by the craftsmanship and care put into each model. Sei thanked him for his appreciation, but he looked more closely at the two brothers.
"Wait a minute," Sei stated, "you two don't happen to be part of..."
"Team Trinity," Rolando replied, "yes we are."
"Why are you here then," Reiji asked from the back.
"Why else? Checking out the competition, also my brother and I wanted to battle against the defending champions."
"No we didn't," William exclaimed, "you said that we were gonna talk to them, not battle."
"We can do both at the same time," Rolando replied, "so how about it? Sei-kun."
Reiji butted in, "After what you did to Dallara-san, why wouldn't we accept your challenge."
"I see, you were friends with the former SEA champ," Thomas said calmly, "it was only a tactic that we knew would ensure victory, our Gunpla couldn't possibly win against his if the battle dragged out for too long."
"That doesn't matter, I'm going to crush both you and your brother for shaming him in front an audience that large," Reiji stated.
"Reiji..." Sei whispered from behind, "let's not get in over our heads."
"I don't care," Reiji exclaimed. He stared intently into the glasses that masked Rolando's face. Invisible fire shot back and forth between the two men. A battle of fighter's pride was at stake here before the match even started.
"We don't even have the Freedom Seravee," William said to his brother.
"I have the Dark Hound and Cherubim with me," Rolando replied, "we'll battle Reiji and Sei with them."
"Fine, fine," William said complacently, "let's do this."
The 4 of them traveled to the back room where the Gunpla playing field was.
The familiar "Please set your GP BASE" and "Please set your Gunpla." blared out from the machine.
"Beginning to disperse Plavsky Particles. Field 1: Space." An asteroid field was completely reconstructed right in front of their eyes.
"Star Build Strike, Iori Sei, deploying."
"G-Gundam Expert Arian, Asuna Reiji, coming at you."
"Gundam AGE2 Dark Hound EX, William Pascual on duty, launching."
"GN-0006 Cherubim Spirit, Rolando Pascual, prepared to provide long-range support."
All 4 Gunpla beamed out of the launching chambers at tremendous speeds. Reiji and Sei rushed into battle to take on the AGE2 Dark Hound which approached them in fighter form. William launched a large volley of missiles into them, however to his surprise Reiji and Sei managed to dodge or destroy nearly all of them. Reiji charged up to him wielding 6 beam sabers held as claws while Sei opened fire on him using the buster rifles originally equipped on the star build strike. Realizing he was outclassed in firepower and piloting skill switched into jet mode and went deep into the asteroid field.
"COWARD," Reiji yelled from his cockpit, "COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN." With that, Reiji pursued William into the asteroid field.
"Reiji, that could be a trap, regroup and let's think this through."
"No, we can win this, if we can take down William here 2 versus 1, then we can easily destroy Rolando."
"Fine." Sei said reluctantly. Together they pursued the AGE2 Dark-Hound into the asteroid field. Whenever they saw the mysterious black mobile suit, they attempted to shoot it down, but all attempts failed as it was way too fast for them to target.
"Come back here," Reiji yelled as they passed by a larger asteroid. The asteroid rotated revealing William's hiding spot in a crater. Reiji and Sei quickly turned around and released a volley of particle beams on the asteroid. William leapt off the asteroid at the same time, unleashed another volley of missiles. He also used his Lance Rifle to destroy the surrounding asteroids, the result was a large amount of debris and smoke created from the missiles and the asteroids.
Reiji and Sei fired blindly from the depths of the smoke. Yellow particle beams could be seen flying out of the cloud of smoke that covered the Star Build Strike and G-Gundam.
"Where are you," Reiji continued to yell. He exhausted all the ammunition in his Buster Rifle and was now flying around the seemingly endless cloud of smoke and debris, "What the hell is this." He gritted his teeth as he has never been challenged with a tactic like William's before. "Come on out and fight us."
"Fine," William said, "I'll accept that request." The AGE2 Dark Hound suddenly appeared behind the G-Gundam striking off a leg with his beam saber. He then disappeared back into the cloud of smoke. He repeated this guerilla warfare tactic, taking shots at both Sei and Reiji's machines from the cloud of smoke. He aimed at the limbs and thrusters on each Gunpla, being successful in every ambush attack.
"Reiji, we cannot win like this. The Dark Hound was piloted by Asemu Asuno, an ace pilot, who became an expert at raiding Federation and Vagan ships that passed through asteroid fields like this."
"What are you saying."
"William knows his Gundam universe well. Taking advantage of not only the superior mobility of his Gunpla, but also using its dark color to blend into surroundings, and using tactics that would be beneficial to its arms."
"Yes," William said from his control seat. His face appeared on video in front of Sei and Reiji, "I thought we were fighting the world champions. I expected them to know more about their opponents, but guess not." He grinned, "well you want to fight in them open. Well, I guess it's time. Prepare yourselves." After he said that, the camera flicked off, and two hooks appeared from the bottom of the dust cloud.
"Damn it," Sei said to himself, "this was all a trap. I forgot that the Dark-Hound is armed with two grappling hooks to take control of enemy mobile suits." Both Reiji's and Sei's Gunpla were dragged into the direct sunlight. Their eyes that were adjusted to the darkness of the dust cloud were definitely ill-prepared for the sudden blast of sunlight.
"Now I'm just a builder," William said to them, "but meet Team Trinity's fighter." As he said that, an asteroid floated in front of the sunlight. On the asteroid was, the GN-0006 Cherubim Spirit armed with a platform range booster for the GN Particle Beam Rifle, it's main rifle.
"Targets sighted," Rolando said to his comrade, "Eliminating with extreme force." he pulled the trigger on his controls, and a large pink beam descended from the heavens and hit the cores of both the G-Gundam and Star Build Strike.
"Gyaaaaaa," Reiji and Sei exclaimed. Their Gunpla exploded into a cloud of purple and pink smoke.
"Targets eliminated," Rolando told William, "two birds with one stone."
"Battle End. Winner: Team Trinity."
"No way," Reiji said to himself. He looked into the eyes of Rolando. Rolando only glared back, his glasses reflecting the image of Reiji.
"You two lost not because you were simply outclassed in basic military experience, and inability to work together," Rolando told them.
"What the hell are you saying 4 eyes," Reiji said angrily now grabbing Rolando's shirt.
"Reiji..." Sei said gently, putting his hand on Reiji's shoulder, "it's alright, you still aren't completely warmed up."
"Reiji, that was among the most basic strategies in the history books of any being that fights to survive," Rolando said calmly, "this just shows your lack of experience of the battlefield. The fact that Sei recognized it far before you did shows you have a lot to learn before you can beat us. Also the fact you did not listen to him despite his experience in Gunpla shows your inability to work well as a team. I know that you two won last year as a duo, but this year, both of you need to step up your game."
"B******," Reiji said tightening his grip on Rolando's shirt. He threw his left fist back and began to follow up with a punch. However, Rolando's quick reflexes allowed him to dodge the punch, and he grabbed Reiji by his right thigh and somehow pinned him to the ground.
"If you plan on fighting me, please do it with your Gunpla. I don't want anyone to get hurt, " he said smugly, "if you plan on beating any of the competition this year, you are going to need the knowledge to compete, because that is half the battle."
"Is everyone that much better this year," Sei asked.
"Of course," Rolando replied, "you should always expect everyone to become better as time passes on, this year is no exception to the rule."
"Besides us," William continued, "there are other powerful teams this year from around the world. Fighters from Egypt, India, and Spain have come to be the forefront of this year's competition. In addition, last year's returning representatives have become a lot stronger since the 7th WGBC."
"For example, Ricardo Fellini and his upgraded Wing Gundam Rinascita once again took Italy's regional championship's with ease."
"I can only expect nothing else from the guy," Reiji muttered, his face still pinned to the ground.
"Sorry about that," Thomas apolgized. He released his grip from Reiji and continued to talk about the competition. "Your friend Mao Yasaka also won the 5th block again. This time with a completely new Gunpla model."
"Yes, I saw it myself," Sei said, "GF13-017NJ Shining Gundam Maoh."
"That's it," Rolando replied, "known for harnessing one of the most powerful moves in Gundam history, The Shining Finger Sword." He paused and looked at Reiji who was slowly getting up from the floor.
"What do you want 4 eyes," Reiji said fiercely.
"Aila Jyrkainen."
"What about her?"
"Is she competing this year?"
"Yeah, she's my co-pilot. Why do you ask?" William burst out in laughter when he heard this, "what do you want pip squeak?"
"So all the rumors on the internet were true," he exclaimed while catching breaths between laughs. He pulled out his phone and showed Reiji a bunch of pictures from last year's tournament that were taken of them. Somehow people had captured pictures of them during their random adventures outside the WGBC grounds. "Are you two dating now?" Reluctantly, Reiji said yes, and William burst out in more laughter, "at least we won't have to worry about fighting her one on one, Rolando."
"I guess so," he replied, "she's way better a fighter than both of you. You two only won last year because she took it easy on Reiji."
"However, against us, you won't have the same kind of luck as you did last year," William chimed in.
Rolando picked up a call on his phone. He then covered the microphone, "William, Anita is here with Freedom Seravee and Project Trinity. You can begin your work."
"Alright, catch ya later nerds," he said to Reiji and Sei proudly, "I'll come back if I need any parts. I'll also have AGE2 Dark Hound with me if you want to play."
"Alright, Sei," Reiji said looking fiercely at Sei, "you know we have work to do. Today's practice wasn't enough obviously, let's get serious."
"Right," Sei replied. They grasped each other's hands and shook, then they continued to head back into the room of the model shop.
"Let's go, William," Rolando sternly told William, "we can't fall behind schedule. You have to finish Project Trinity before the Best 16 starts."
Battle 1: The Fastest Gunpla Battle
