Stephanie opened the door as quietly as she could, but it wasn't enough, for as soon as she stepped foot into that room, her friends shot their feet and tackled her to the floor. Stephanie was used to the abusive care her friends gave her, as Stephanie was the most resistant to pain. They talked as Stephanie got up and sat down at the bench, her friends joining her. She looked over at Mustang and saw that he, Josh and Kadar were having a great reunion. It wasn't until 5 minutes later when the next battle of round 1 was to be announced. Stephanie, being the opportunist she was, told her friends about a very big event for Stephanie.

- Madison, Sheila, can I tell you guys something?
- Hmm? Sure you can! I mean, isn't that what we have been doing for the past 3 minutes?
- Well, this is something I can't really just say out of the blue.
- And why is that? Scared that me and Sheila will, I don't know, laugh at you?
- That is the least of my concerns, Madison.
- Then what is it!
- My parents are getting a divorce.
- Oh no! What happened?
- My mother apparently had enough of the whole me being a Pandora. The paperwork has already been done.
- Was it 9th Nova clash? Because I know that my two dads had second thoughts about me being a Pandora.
- Who knows.

They then got sidetracked and starting talking about cake until the 5 minutes were up. The three girls and three boys watched on as the screen showed the participants for the next match.

Stephanie Vs. Elizabeth

Josh turned to Mustang, who was seemingly OK with his opponent.

- Do you know who that is, Mustang? Because I have no fucking clue.
- Josh, you were always so dense like that.
- Shut the fuck up Kadar, I wasn't asking you!
- Elizabeth Mably.
- What! You mean, THE Elizabeth Mably! I envy you my friend.
- There's nothing to envy. We might as well not fight.
- Don't say that. Me and Madison beat that Charles chick pretty good, and she was rank #4! If I can do that, then you can do this.
- Well, I don't have a choice. It's not like I can shoot myself in the leg or something.
Josh couldn't tell if that was jab at him, or just something Mustang came up with on the spot, because he didn't look over to him or anything.
- Mustang!
- Yes Stephanie?
- You ready? Because I'm ready.
- Sure thing. See ya guys.
- Good luck Mustang!
- Yeah, good luck. Beat the crap out of her for us, alright? The world needs to get its head out of its ass and see the power of A.G.

Stepping out onto the arena floor, Stephanie could see Elizabeth do the same. Stephanie knew Elizabeth; everyone did, but she didn't idle her. A hardened woman around others besides her friends and Mustang, Stephanie was not going to let herself be swayed by Elizabeth's powerful family. Meeting in the middle, the woman exchanged a handshake and a few words before stepping back into their positions. Stephanie materialized her volt weapon, which was scythe that stood just above her height of 6 foot 3 that has two blades; One on the front and one on the back, both of the same length, called "Deus ex Machina", as it always saves her at the last possible second. Hearing the count down, Stephanie grabbed her scythe with both hands, preparing for a onslaught from her opponent. When the referee called "GO!", Stephanie stood her ground, and anticlimactically so did Elizabeth. Sensing something was not right, Stephanie slowly walked to towards Elizabeth, cautious if she was being led into a trap. Stephanie stopped 5 meters back from Elizabeth, who had a smug grin on her face.

- You know we actually in a battle, right?
- Of course I know that.
- Then what are you doing?
- Charging up.
As soon as Elizabeth said that, Stephanie knew what was going on. No one at Australian Genetics had a SSS type volt weapon, so Stephanie was confused as to what was happening.
- It's too late now. I apologize for this, but Volt Longinus.
Stephanie didn't know what to expect, she braced for the worst. As soon as the two satellites around Elizabeth light's changed from a light blue color to a blacker one, Stephanie stretched her arm out, pointing Dues ex Machina at Elizabeth and, hopefully, in the path of the laser beam about to strike. However, It didn't do her any good.

Mustang stood idly and watched Stephanie get her arm split down the middle by a giant black beam from Elizabeth Mably. Luckily or unluckily, as the beam continued down her arm, it cut it off at the shoulder, leaving the two halves of her left arm on the ground. Smartly, Stephanie called for the limiters to be introduced, and Mustang ran over to Stephanie to see if she was OK.

- Steph, you alright? That was a hell of a hit you took there.
- I'm fine. I just glad that it didn't hit me directly in the chest, otherwise I would be dead by now.
- Think we should forfeit?
- What?! No! We have to continue the fight, till the very end.
- Steph, that attitude is going to get you killed one day.
- And when that day comes you can tell you "told me so", but right now isn't that time.
- Oh really? And how do you propose we we go about gaining victory?
- Brute force.
- Out of the dumb ideas, you had to pick the most text book one!
- No, no! You see, she is a long range fighter, she can't fight up close.
- She can generate barriers. All SSS types can do that. And don't even think about trying to force your way through them. It won't work.

Stephanie just simply smiled at Mustang as they turned to face Elizabeth once again. This time, following her lead, Mustang used his freezing to restrict Elizabeth. This gave Stephanie plenty of time to get a good running start. Only having one hand to work with, Stephanie was forced to use a one handed technique to fight. At about three quarters of the way, Elizabeth's limiter neutralized the freezing put out by Mustang, Allowing Elizabeth time to move out of the way of the incoming Stephanie. However, Elizabeth hadn't foreseen what came next. A quick Accel turn placed Stephanie in between Elizabeth and her limiter, both an arms length away from each other. Whilst other schools teach Accel turn and Tempest turn to third years, Australian Genetics teaches it to first years, allowing them to master it by the time they hit third year. In a spinning motion, Stephanie bent down, and twisted her body around to face the limiter. Then, extending her legs and getting a massive boost, she swung upwards, just catching the front of the limiter, creating a giant cut from his groin to his forehead. Immediately afterwards, even before the blood spurted out of the wound of the limiter, Stephanie turned towards Elizabeth, caught off guard by the Original Accel turn, and, with her scythe above her head from the previous attack, swung it around and lower this, keeping the momentum and sweeping Elizabeth's legs.

Slicing through the bottom half of Elizabeth's left leg, Stephanie waited for the chaos to begin. In a matter of milliseconds, Elizabeth and her limiter were out of commission. Making sure that Elizabeth didn't try and be persistent, Stephanie crushed the two satellites with the top of scythe, assuring that her victory was absolute. Showing everyone her dominance over Elizabeth, Stephanie held the blade of the scythe against Elizabeth's throat, automatically gaining victory. Upon being claimed victor, Stephanie made her way back to the rooms, avoiding a possibly annoying conversation with Roxanne Elipton and Chiffon Fairchild. Entering the room, she was again tackled to the ground, but this time so was Mustang. For that moment in time, Stephanie was a champion among her friends, and it felt good.

On the other side of the world, at West Genetics in Japan, Satellizer L. Bridget and Kazuya Aoi sit together in the cafeteria, watching on as Elizabeth, their senior, gets beaten by a nobody from Australia Genetics Stephanie Dirk. The two eat burgers from burger Queen and discuss the second battle of the day.

- I can't believe that this just happened!
- Really? I think Elizabeth-Senpai should have been more careful of her opponent.
- Her arm was cut in half.
- That isn't an excuse to go easy on the person.
- Well, I think it is.
- Anyway, the next round is in 5 minutes, so what do you want to do in the mean time?
- Don't know. I thought Rana was going to join us.
- I haven't seen her around anywhere.
As soon as Satellizer said that, Rana Linchen walks into the cafeteria, visibly angry. She stomped her way over to the table where Kazuya and Satellizer were, and slammed her fist on the table.
- Satella! I can't you believe you!
- What? I have no idea what you are talking about.
- Wipe that smirk off your face and tell that again!
- Whoa! What's going on between you two?
- Satella here told me that we were watching the Pandora World Championships in your room.
- What? Satella, Did you really do that.
Satellizer turned to lie to Kazuya, but as soon as she saw his face, and how disappointed he looked, she had no choice but to say the truth.
- Yes, I did do that. But I didn't think she would fall for it.
- Of course I would! Why the hell wouldn't I!
- Alright, alright. Calm down you two. Rana, please sit down.
- My pleasure, Kazuya.

Most of the day Josh spent asleep on a hard, wooden bench in a small, dirty locker room forgotten by the School's cleaners because no one from Australia ever makes it to the big times. When he woke up, the second last battle of the first round was underway, and a somewhat mortified Sheila watching on alone. Moving over to her, Josh put his arm around her shoulders. slightly jumping at the surprise of a sudden touch, Sheila went back into her mortified state. Josh didn't understand what she so scared about, but as soon the bracket for the first round came up, he understood.

SHELIA VS ROXANNE

The act of shooting himself in the leg only seemed to change the position of the opponent from 1st to 2nd in the world. Maybe it was a good thing or a bad thing, but to verse Roxanne and win would be almost impossible, even her them. Josh was confident that they could gain a upper hand if the limiters are brought out, but unfortunately Josh didn't expect to get that far. Waiting in silence with Sheila for the 5 minutes between battles was the most awkward and uncomfortable things for Josh to do, but he didn't want to upset Sheila anymore than she already was. Seeing the clock strike zero, the two got up and got ready. Josh holstered his pistol in the back of his of pants, but only after he admired the engraving on the side of the hand cannon. The name read "Faze Cannon", and it was fitting name name for an over sized revolver. Finally getting his chance to walk out onto the arena floor, the first thing that Josh noticed was the blinding lights. Even though Josh didn't know much about the world class Pandora, he knew that Roxanne was a flashy person, and the bright lights would signify a Roxanne battle. Walking into the middle, Josh watched as Roxanne and her limiter waltzed up to the middle, Roxanne shaking hands with Sheila. They both walked back to the starting lines, and Sheila looked as calm as she had ever been.

- Sheila, you alright?
- Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine.
- You suck at lying, you know?
- Yeah, I guess so. It's just nerves, OK?
- Hey, that's good! Nerves are good. Now, I want you to fucking decimate this bitch so we can continue on with our journey to the top!
- You know, when you say it, it sounds nerdy.
- Fuck off, it does not!
- Whatever you say. *Chuckle*
- You cheeky fuck. Get out there already and show the world why I love you so much.
- OK then!