It wasn't much longer that the crowd began to disperse. Allen and Sam, along with Phillip went to the shelves to get new supplies for their respective gunplas. After Allen paid for his supplies, he called his mom to tell her about the outcome of the tournament and how he and Sam were part of a team that would represent the shop on the upcoming world tournament. Allen had to pull his ear away from his cell when his mom let out a loud squee of excited delight before she hurriedly said that she'll be there soon to pick the whole team up to celebrate and hung up before he could check with his new team mates. Sam just smirked as Allen explained what his mom had suddenly planned. Kris Phillip and Edward agreed once Allen said that there was probably going to be food at the sudden appointed party, and with a few quick phone calls, they busied themselves while they waited.

Twenty minutes later (a very quick drive considering traffic for the time of day) Sam and Allen's mom pulls up in front of the store. Sending a text to Allen's cell phone, who relayed it to the rest. As they walked out the doors, Jeremy was standing to the side waiting for Allen.

"I hope you don't disappoint me again," Jeremy said to Allen as he passed by, "Until you return with the Berserker, I'll never see you as an equal." And with that, he walked off but not before saying, "Don't let me down," over his shoulder before disappearing down the crowed sidewalk.

Allen stood there looking after Jeremy until he left his sight, his hands clenched into fists flexing them unconsciously. Sam put a hand on his shoulder shaking Allen out of it.

"Don't listen to him Allen. He's just a prick and not worth it." Allen stared at him blankly before Sam gestured to their mom's car, Come on, we have a party to get to."

Allen nodded glumly as he climbed into the car with the rest of his team. Sam had differed the front seat to Allen. When Allen got into the front seat and closed the door, before he could fasten his seatbelt, his mom was already upon him drawing him into a smothering hug.

"I'm so happy for you boys," she said with glee. Sam, in the back seat let out a quick sigh of relief but gulped when his mom gave him a sly look with a grin, "Don't think I've forgotten about you Samuel. When we get home, I have a special hug for you too," she said to him causing him to gulp while the rest of the back seat chuckled at him.

The drive back took a more normal travel time of forty minutes for the time of day. The kids in the back seat were talking amongst themselves the drive continued while Allen remained silent, looking out the window. His mom glanced at him from time to time as they drove onwards with a sad look on her face. She knew something was eating at Allen, but she'll wait till later to ask about it. When they finally arrived at the restaurant, the kids saw that it had been closed for "sudden celebration".

As Heather lead the teens into the restaurant, she threw her hands up towards the counter, "Eat up kids. The lunch special today was pizza so we have all kinds. Drinks are in the cooler so help yourselves." The teens marveled at this and began collecting plates to fill with the food. Before Sam could grab his plate he felt a chill run up his spine as he heard his mother's voice, "Samuel, don't think that I forgot about what I promised you," she said as she quickly grabbed Sam as he attempted to flee into another suffocating hug which caused the other teens (save for Allen) to snicker.

Allen quietly loaded his plate and grabbed a pop from the cooler and headed upstairs.

"What's with him?" Kris asked while taking a bite of her pizza. Phillip and Edward just shrugged as they eat.

Sam, having escaped his mother's clutches loaded up his plate before walking over to the booth they were sitting in, "Apparently, he's had some problems with bullies. That Jeremy kid was the tip of it from what I understand," Sam told them. He took a swig of his soda, "Jeremy would bully him because he thought Allen would fight better in gunpla battles. Some other people might have picked up on that. He almost quit gunpla battles because of that," he said finally as he took a bit of his pizza.

"That's horrible," Kris said with shock, "Why would anyone do that to just one person?"

"I guess he thought Allen was the only one that could give him a challenge. Some people can't accept anything less and will do anything for a challenge," Edward stated.

Kris turned to him, "You believe what he did was right?" she accused.

Edward threw his hands up in defense, "I'm not saying he's right, far from it. I'm just saying that some people are willing to do anything for a challenge whether it's good or bad. This Jeremy guy is a jerk, through and through, and I hope he gets what's coming to him."

"Should we go talk to him and try and cheer him up?" Phillip asked.

Sam shook his head, "No, let's give him some space for now," he said. The others reluctantly agreed for now.

Allen's mother, Heather, was already on her way up to her son's room. On opening the door, she saw the room to be empty which caused her shoulders to droop. "Oh no, it's worse than I thought," she said to herself as she closed the door and walked down the hall to her ex-husbands study and knocked on the door, "Allen honey? Are you in there?"

There was the sound of shuffling noises before her son answered, "Yes mom."

She breathed a quick sigh, him answering was a good sign, "What are you doing in there?"

There was a pause, "I'm getting back to work on a gunpla that I've been working on so I can have something to use for the upcoming tournament," he said, "Since my VF-1S Strike got so completely totaled, I'm going to need something more powerful, I just hope I can finish it in time," he finished.

Still not completely convince, Heather prodded further, "Is that all?"

"Yes mom," he said quickly, "Can I take some time off from the restaurant by the way please? I'll need all the time I can get to work on this."

Heather thought for a moment. She can probably divide Allen's shifts among the other servers, one of them was asking for more hours anyways. Samuel would probably want the time off as well. "Okay Allen," she decided, "You and Samuel can have the time you need, but," she added quietly, "Don't lose sight of who you are. Don't let others tell you how to battle."

There was another pause from behind the door, "...I won't mom," Allen assured.

Even though he couldn't see her, she nodded anyways, "Is there anything else you need while I'm here?" she asked.

The sound of a chair moved across the floor followed by several footsteps. The door then opened showing Allen holding an empty plate, "Could you get me some more pizza please?"

Heather let out a short laugh before taking the plate, "Of course. You'll need all the energy you can to win the world tournament," she said as she sauntered down the stairs to refill his plate.

Author's note: I'll now be on a set schedule for updating this story now so expect one chapter every month. (if things are really good then I'll be posting two chapters a month) At any rate, I hope everyone still enjoys the story and I'm still requesting original characters and custom gunplas. Any who donate will be credited in the chapter their characters appear in.