Author's Notes: I know I should be writing one fic at a time for efficiency, but I've never adapted that to my fanfic-writing life, so here I am with yet another fic. I must warn all of you, though, that the concept of this fic is quite bizarre --- no wait, it is bizarre! --- as I totally let my weird imagination fly away. And by the way, this fic takes place eight years after the series.

Dedication: To the members of the Crush Gear Community, most especially our Kyousuke, or GM, as she is also called, who started out as my 'best friend' by name to someone I really consider as such. You just don't know how much happier a person you made me. Wabshu! XD

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Prologue

"You'll never be able to defeat me!" the Gear Fighter screamed loudly to surpass the roar of the exhilarated crowd, fire blazing in her fierce blue-violet eyes at a terrifying intensity. With a sweeping motion, she ordered her Gear to prepare itself for its deadliest special attack --- a technique so effective, she never suffered defeat ever since the beginning of the Asian Cup.

Instead of using her real name, the spectators and the other Gear Fighting enthusiasts called her the Wild Flower, the beautiful maiden of the Japanese Crush Gear arena, for she was attractive just as she was deadly. Armed with one of the most sophisticated Gears ever created in the world, she rose from the shadows of defeat to the pedestal of prestige and victory in the Gear Fighting world. She was fairly tall and well built for a female, wearing almost always a sleeveless sweatshirt and jogging pants the color of coal. Her long brown hair was whipped in a large braid that swung past her hips, and keeping her bangs away from her eyes was a bandanna that was of the same shade as that of her clothes.

She chuckled softly. "It's time to end this pathetic battle, my friend," she whispered in a barely audible voice, before she averted her gaze to the arena and the Gears that were clashing inside it, an odd gleam leaking through her glassy eyes. Sparing a glance at her opponent --- a young Singaporean lad who had innocent, big, brown eyes that reminded her of an old friend, a former Gear Fighter --- she realized that he was actually trembling in fright, and that made her smile widen even more. It was the perfect way to wrap up the quarterfinals, and she was only a few seconds away from bringing her team to the next level of the competition.

Raising her hand, she yelled, "Neo Garuda Phoenix! Shining Sword Breaker!"

She descended from the arena and walked back to her teammates, but her feet barely touched the ground when they came running to her side with huge grins on their faces. She held out her hand to stop them from doing anything drastic like hugging her, however; she wasn't in the mood to jump around in joy just yet. "Great job, everyone," she complimented, smiling at the three young Gear Fighters who were looking up at her in admiration, amazement and awe. Her expression then turned serious, however. "But we must not let our victory get into our heads. We must never let our guard down. We still have two more stages to conquer."

The other three nodded enthusiastically as they followed their leader towards the exit, not even waiting for the announcement regarding the semi-final round. Their opponents, on the other hand, were huddled together at the other end of the large stadium, holding what was left of their Gears --- which weren't very much, except for a few small pieces of metal, plastic and rubber. It was evident in their faces that they were devastated not only because they had just been eliminated from the tournament, but because their valued Gears had just been destroyed mercilessly by the Japanese team they fought against.

Kaoru Hanano, however, wasn't disturbed even the slightest. She continued to make her way out of the noisy stadium casually with her companions, and she did not even flinch when the leader of the team Eclipse from Singapore, Kramer Nguyen, spat a couple of curses directed towards her. Her goal was to lead the Tobita Club to victory in the Asian Cup, cost what it may --- because she would then earn the ticket to the World Cup, and attain the revenge she had long been planning for. I'm almost there, Kouya, she thought as she stopped on her tracks and closed her eyes, clamping one hand into a fist and holding her Gear, the Neo Garuda Phoenix, close to her chest with the other. Then, out loud, she finished in a cold, determined tone, "They'll pay for what they did."