Author's Notes:

-As interesting as Colonel Moxie is, she does not belong to me.

-Also, to my fans; thanks for your patience. This chapter was a beast to write. Also breaks my record for longest chapter ever written. I hope you enjoy it.

I can't believe this! I am freaking out! I'm going up against Colonel Moxie, who is tough as nails and...

As I stood at my station, working on several things at once, my mind was in a thousand places. Then I realized I accidentally dropped a sushi roll into the fryer when it was not supposed to be fried. Drat!

"Come on, Marina!" Andrea shouted at me. "You can't afford to be making careless mistakes!"

"Shut it, Andrea! You think this is easy?!"

I removed the tin from the fryer and separated the fried sushi roll from the tempura shrimp before plating it and handing it to a server. I groaned. It was the lunch rush at All Rolled Up, and all the chefs had countless orders to fill. Unfortunately, things were slowly falling into a state of disarray. As I finished making a large order consisting of six different sushi rolls, I felt myself sweating buckets. I stepped into the hallway briefly, drank some water and tried to get away from the kitchen for a brief moment. As I wiped away the sweat on my forehead with my arm, I looked at the dining area. It had never been so crowded. Then I looked closer. We weren't crowded; we were slammed. Every table was filled and the line of people waiting for a table extended to a few people out the door.

Damn, we've never been this busy. I internally mumbled to myself. I felt someone grab me by the shoulder and drag me back into the kitchen. She spun me round in a circle and proceeded to glare at me.

"You really are a slacker!" Andrea exclaimed.

"I'm not a slacker! I'm doing all I can!" I retorted. "Do you realize how crowded it is?!"

"Guys, knock it off!" Austin screamed. He leaned his back against the wall. "We're all just testy because it's super crowded and we've never faced a challenge like this before." Andrea sighed and continued working. "This rivalry between them is driving me nuts..." Austin grumbled, picking up a ticket and walking away.

As I continued cooking up a storm, I tried to remember everything written in Dr. Coyle's notes about my opponent. Moxie's ARMS weapons were the Flashbang, the Rocket and the Ironclad. They had the respective attributes of Stun, Explosion and none. She can accumulate up to ten stacks of Grit, and... oh man, what do they do again?

Before I knew it, it was time for me to leave. At roughly 3:28pm, after finishing my last order of the day, I went to Mr. Anderson's office to inform him that I was soon to depart. He sat there at his desk, reading a big stack of papers. He immediately noticed my presence.

"Hello, Marina." He mentioned for me to enter.

"Hello Mr. Anderson. I came here to inform you that I will soon be leaving for my ARMS match today."

"Yes, I know. I remember you asked for a half-day shift today for that very reason. Good luck in your duel, Mechanica."

"Thank you, sir."

Andrea, who was right behind me, asked, "Did I really just hear that little runt proclaim herself to be Mechanica and that she's going up against Colonel Moxie?"

"Yes, I am Mechanica, and I'm going up against Colonel Moxie. And I'm not a little runt!"

She entered the office, laughing at me. "You don't stand a chance! You don't even know what you're up against." I felt my face turn red with anger. "You should just quit now."

I clinched my right fist and attempted to punch her. "Why you little...!"

"Ahem!" He remarked, my fist only three inches from her face. "Don't you have a match to partake in?"

I looked at him, wide-eyed in terror. "Oh, you're right!" I drew my fist back. "This match starts in less than 30 minutes!"

I quickly ran out of the office, with Mr. Anderson snickering as I left, dashed through the kitchen and exited out the backdoor. My suit leaned up against the wall where I had placed it when I first arrived here today. I jumped in, fired up the engine, and ascended into the sky with the help of my jet-pack, making my way to the ARMS League Gym.

As I reached the ARMS League Gym and found my way to the Teleporter Lobby, I realized it took less time to get here than I thought. I still had ten minutes before the match began. Okay, what else was there to know about my opponent, the trooper? As I reminded myself of Dr. Coyle's notes, I breathed in, trying to reassure myself that I had this. But my lack of self-confidence began to mess with my thoughts. Colonel Moxie was tougher than nails, and much tougher than Ninjara. Ninjara was a difficult opponent, especially for a rookie like me. And I had only won the first duel by a stroke of luck, especially when the suit began to malfunction. Some people believed I didn't deserve to win that duel. To some extent, they may have been right. Luck saved me during the first match, but I knew that I wouldn't get lucky a second time. This match would require all of my skill.

Do I even have that much skill? I'm just a rookie. A rookie in a mecha suit, trying to do the impossible. Karai told me my suit is illegitimate and Andrea told me to quit. The more logical side of my brain screamed, No, Marina, you can't let those insults get to your head! I tried to breathe in deeply and exhale slowly to calm myself. One match could change everything. Go big or go home. Well, even if I go down, I'll go down fighting. It ain't over until the end.

"Well... here goes nothing."

I stepped into the Teleporter slot, taking me to the Scrapyard, where the match was to take place. I arrived with seven minutes to spare. I looked around, seeing a lot of my fans, and I saw other fans dressed in a Kevlar vest, dark-tinted goggles and helmet. Not too soon after my arrival, Colonel Moxie arrived. Since she was facing the other way, I saw her red hair was kept in a long ponytail, only visible from behind. She wore the same army helmet and vest her fans were wearing in addition to her green-colored combat uniform and heavy metal boots. Her ARMS were made of barbed wire, and much to my surprise, she was tiny for an ARMS fighter.

She then turned to face me, her face in a scowl, and I saw the freckles on her face along with the dark-tinted goggles, which left her eyes and part of her face obscured. If it weren't for the muscular build and stoic expression on her face, I'd assume she was a young girl pretending to be a soldier. But I knew I was looking at the real deal. "So my adversary arrived early."

"What now? Do we wait out the remaining five minutes?" I asked.

"Well, this is unexpected." the announcer said. "Should we wait?"

"I'd say we better get on with it." Biff answered.

"Well then, on with the show!" the announcer declared. The crowd roared in approval. "In this corner, she's called the Scrapyard Scrapper for a reason! She's turned her foes into scraps leftover from a fight. Give it up for Mechanica!"

Part of the crowd cheered and roared after I was announced. At least they had faith in me. I smiled to myself for a brief moment.

"And in this corner, this woman's tougher than nails and persistent to boot. She knocks down her foes and takes no prisoners! It's The Trooper, Colonel Moxie!"

As the crowd cheered her name, she continued to maintain her unwavering glare.

"It's Mechanica vs 'the trooper', Colonel Moxie! No one really knows what past Moxie hides or how long she's had her ARMS, but she's super tough. Mechanica's suit is also tough, but who is the tougher fighter? Let's get on with the match and find out!" Biff commented.

I started with the Whammer on my left, and the Revolver on my right. I figured I could stun her with my hammer then knock her down with the Revolver. Colonel Moxie went with the Flashbang on her left and the Ironclad on her right. Two glove like ARMS? What was her plan?

"Ready? Fight!"

Colonel Moxie made the first move as she punched her right arm towards me. I swiftly dodged and tried to grab her, only to have her briefly stun me with the Flashbang, dealing a small amount damage plus more from the stun, and knocking me down with the Ironclad. I tried to get her with my Revolver while dodging her Ironclad, but I missed her three times in a row, breaking one of the steel pipes to break. I then guarded myself from Moxie's series of attacks.

And I thought Helix was evasive! Well, Coyle never said this would be easy! No one did...

That moment of thought was all it took for me to lower my guard, and that was just what Moxie needed to take the advantage. Her onslaught of attacks persisted and I failed to realize that my shield was broken until it was too late. My ARMS hung uselessly at my sides, so Moxie came in for a grab and I was powerless to stop it. After pulling me in, I took a nasty uppercut from her left ARM, only for her to follow me into the air and deliver a mighty slam from her right that sent me toppling to the ground. As I heaved for breath, I noticed the blinking lights on my suit's control dashboard and they brought me worse news- the match had barely even started and I had already lost over a quarter of my health.

I dashed backwards up the ramp to avoid her Ironclad, then stunned her with the electricity of my charged Revolver. Moving across the raised platform, I tried to get her with the Whammer, but her Flashbang was quicker and I took some damage. I attempted to grab her, but she swiftly sidestepped and avoided my attack. As I threw my Revolver at her again, it ended up colliding with her Flashbang, stopping my attack and resulting in me taking more damage while she gained an orange bar next to her right triangle. I looked closer and realized she actually had two of them.

As I threw my Whammer at her, I noticed that she didn't flinch and took only half of the damage from my hammer like ARM. I noticed one of her stacks of Grit was gone. Then a rush potion appeared in the center of the stage. I immediately rushed towards it, and Colonel Moxie attempted to grab me, but I dashed, avoiding her attack. She attempted to do another grab to get me out of the rush circle, but I stunned her with the electricity of my charged Revolver then knocked her down with the uncharged right ARM for good measure.

Her stacks of Grit were gone, but she had more health than me. I had lost almost half of my health points while she had roughly three quarters of her health left. 69 seconds. I needed a plan to turn this around. Then I felt the familiar vibration throughout my suit. The rush attack was ready to roll! As Moxie got up, I was trying to think of a plan on how to use the rush attack to bring her down. She dashed and jumped, trying to avoid the missiles from my Revolver, although she didn't get very far; She ended up hit by one of them. I used the opportunity to activate my rush attack. A few blows later, she was very low on health.

So close, yet so far. She attempted to jab me with the charged Ironclad, but I jumped up and grabbed her, spinning my ARMS in a circle and punching her out, breaking the second pipe as she fell to the ground. She briefly fell unconscious, lying on her back.

"K.O!" the announcer exclaimed.

"Yahoo!"

She got up and put her ARM glove to her helmet, almost as if she was trying to adjust it. "This war isn't over!"

For the next round, I replaced the Whammer with the Revolver and went with the Homie on my right arm, while Moxie chose to keep the Flashbang and replace the Ironclad with the Rocket, which looked a lot like the Homie, but skinnier, and possibly more painful.

"Ready? Fight!"

The next round began with me throwing out the first punch, but Colonel Moxie was quicker. My prediction was right; her Rocket was quicker and more painful than my Homie. I felt a twinge of jealously, but I tried to shove it aside and focus on the match. After about ten seconds of throwing punches and dodging them, a red bomb appeared towards the middle of the stage. Using my right ARM, I knocked the bomb over in her direction, and she knocked it back towards me. I tried to dash backwards to avoid it, but I realized that I had already reached the perimeter of the ring. As I threw my Revolver towards her, I was backed into a corner with no way out and the bomb was set to explode in two seconds. I tried to guard myself but it was too late.

Ka-boom! The bomb went off right in my face, dealing a significant chunk of damage to my health and knocking me down in the process. I tried to punch her, but she evaded my attack. I tried the same thing again, but she countered with her Rocket. Then it happened again. And again. And again. I then realized she had four stacks of Grit. I growled under my breath and dashed up the platform, trying to evade more of Moxie's never-ending attacks. I punched her down, but she hit me again... with another Rocket. Those thrice-blasted Rockets! I attempted to get some health points off her with the Homie, only for her to get me with a fully charged Flashbang.

I won't lie, I felt kinda jealous about her Rockets. They made my Homies look like firecrackers! I shrugged it off and tried to continue the fight, no matter how hopeless it seemed. And it did look pretty hopeless. My health was in the red zone while she had over half of her health left. And to top it off, with the last attack she now had six stacks of Grit. Then she grabbed me. I tried to strike her, but she shielded herself. 40 seconds left.

I've still got time. Maybe I can turn this around.

She then knocked me down with the Flashbang, followed by the Rocket all charged up. The second round was over.

"K.O!" the announcer declared.

I slumped to the ground. "Daugh!"

She bent her left arm and pretended to strike an opponent with her right arm. "I'm an army of one!"

One round left. This next match was for all the marbles. I went with my double Revolver combo as Moxie replaced the Flashbang with the Ironclad. While Moxie swapped out her ARMS, I tried to think of a new plan to bring her down.

Please tell me she doesn't retain those stacks of Grit when a new round begins... I mentally prayed. I looked at her bar. She still had the six stacks of Grit she ended the round with. Not only that, she had her rush attack ready to go. I sighed. Oi vey... Looks like I have my work cut out for me.

I looked at her, glaring at me. Why wasn't she smirking? She had a huge advantage.

The third and final round then began. "Ready? Fight!"

I waited for Colonel Moxie to strike, which she wasted no time in doing. I countered her Ironclad with the left Revolver, knocking down a stack of Grit. She then grabbed me yet again, and before she could grab me a second time, I stunned her with electricity from my Revolver. Four stacks left. My punches ended up colliding with her Ironclad, resulting in me being knocked down by a charged ARM. Then my Revolver collided with her Rocket, each one cancelling each other out. I tried to stun her with the charged Revolver, but she was too quick, and struck me down again. This ended up happening twice over. This was bad, I was losing. 69 seconds left. I had to turn this around.

A health potion appeared in the center of the stage. Colonel Moxie immediately went towards the circle.

"Not on my watch!"

I swiftly grabbed her and threw her out, then entered the circle to refill my health bar. As she got up, I stunned her with a charged Revolver to prevent her from reentering the circle. Soon it disappeared, leaving me with more health than her. Colonel Moxie continued to evade my punches, shifting between dashing and parrying them, trying to survive. By the way she frantically moved, I could tell she wanted victory just as much as I did. But her time was running out. Eventually, she stopped swerving around my punches and shielded herself.

In the brief amount of time she shielded herself, I noticed her symbol on her shield; a circular shield over two diagonal swords. As she let her shield down, I attempted to punch her with the Revolver, but she countered with the Rocket, resulting in another explosion to my face. She threw the first punch, yet they collided again. I attempted to punch her, but she deflected with a punch of her own. Suddenly, in the midst of battle, I remembered the crushing insults thrown at me by my enemies.

Your suit is illegitimate!

You should just quit now.

Thinking of the words from my greatest foes, I glared at her, letting my anger empower me.

"It's over, Moxie!"

I knocked Colonel Moxie down with my charged up right ARM. Her health was all gone.

"K.O!"

She fell to the ground. I looked at the clock; 55 seconds before the timer went off. The second circle under my image was filled up. I grinned.

Well done, Marina! Wait until...

Suddenly, without any warning, the trooper arose! The entire crowd gasped as she stood, roaring like a lion. I felt a cold chill creep up my arms and my spine, paralyzing me if only for a moment. Never before had I felt so terrified. As she approached me, Colonel Moxie's fans cheered for her, while my side of the crowd revolted in shock and terror. The second white circle disappeared. Then the timer then resumed its countdown.

"Holy cow!" Biff exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like this! What's happening?! It's like she's risen from the dead!"

"But she's alive! How is this possible?!" the announcer asked.

The trooper stopped and growled at me. "I'm not finished with you yet!"

She threw her Rocket towards me, only dodging it by a mere second. I was terrified and horribly confused. How was she still standing?

How is this possible? I asked, dashing to dodge her ARMS. She's lost all her health. This should be a technical knockout!

I looked at the board displaying her stats and realized...

Oh man! She has nine stacks of Grit! And I forgot that she isn't knocked out until her health and her Grit are gone!

I tried to punch her and start knocking her out, but she was quicker, landing a hit on me, filling up her Grit stack to the max. Then she grabbed me and threw me across the stadium, knocking me down to half health. Time was running out. I thought about waiting it out and trying to survive since I technically had more health than her, but my instincts told me that wouldn't work. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the only way to win the match was to knock her out. I shielded myself from her Ironclad and Rocket.

Oh man... What did Dr. Coyle's notes say on how to defeat her?

[22 hours earlier...]

"Who is your opponent?" Dr. Coyle asked me.

"Her name is Colonel Moxie." I answered.

"Ah, the trooper. You certainly have your work cut out for you." She flipped through the pages of her journal, stopping after reaching the right page. "Pages 70-72 contain all the information you'll need. That's two and a half pages worth of notes. Feel free to examine them to your heart's content. You can take pictures of them, although if you do so, do not show them to anyone else. This is for your eyes only. Do you understand?"

I slowly nodded. "Loud and clear."

"Good. I've love to stick around and chat, however, I have some data to look up to see if my theory is correct, so I will leave you to it."

She exited the room. I started reading at the top of page 70.

Name: Colonel Moxie, aged 25. Rank: 9-Tougher Than Nails

Colonel Moxie, also known as the trooper, is one of the toughest fighters I've ever seen. Right away I can tell she's super serious, yet super strong. She has the ability to accumulate stacks of Grit, which are represented by orange bars to the right of her name above her health bar, when she deflects an incoming punch with one of her own. She can accumulate a maximum of ten stacks of Grit. While she has Grit, she takes half damage and won't flinch from an uncharged punch, similar to the resistance of a heavyweight fighter. Any throw or damage she takes will remove a stack of Grit, save for the chip damage she takes while guarding herself.

Due to a practice match between her and Min Min I got to witness, I have figured out two critical pieces of information. The first is that Colonel Moxie isn't knocked out until all her health points and stacks of Grit are vanquished. The second is that this also gives her another advantage; trying to evade and wait out a match if she has no health remaining and a few stacks of Grit won't work.

I don't have much negative to say about Colonel Moxie, other than she can't jump very far into the air and her heavy combat gear slows down her normal pace. When it comes to dashing, she's not the slowest but I have seen better. Seriously, why does she carry her old combat gear around if she's no longer in the service?

What intrigues me more than her power is her past. There's so much I don't know about her. Did she have her arms before or during her time in the service or was it after her time spent defending her country? If it is the former, did she use her ARMS in combat? And why is she competing in the tournament? Fame, money, thrill? Some other reason? Alas, all attempts to find answers to these questions have ended in failure.

Also, she never smiles. I can only wonder what happened to her. Is it perhaps possible that her time in the service has made her cold and bitter? It seems that it could be a possibility, although if that be the case, how did she manage to not lose her temper or her patience when she was approached by a crowd of fans and was asked for autographs and pictures after one of her duels?

Her ARMS weapons involve the Flashbang, the Rocket and the Ironclad. The Flashbang is an ARM similar to Max Brass's Nade, with the only difference being that it has the attribute of Stun instead of Explosion damage. The Rocket is skinnier, faster and more powerful than Mechanica's Homie and befittingly has the Explosion attribute. The Ironclad is similar to the Buff, but it's weight and damage increase when charged. An interesting and powerful set of ARMS weapons.

As much as I hate to admit it, she is pretty damn powerful. However, I wonder... would it be possible to knock down all ten stacks of Grit at once with the power of a rush attack? Unless I get the opportunity to face her myself, whether in practice, or in the tournament, I may never know...

I remembered what I had to do, but I was running out of time. 30 seconds left. I dashed backwards as my shield was about to break, avoiding having my ARMS disabled by her. I avoided her attacks as best as I could and attempted, once again, to get her with the Revolver, but she knocked me down. I felt the rush vibration throughout my suit. I then guarded myself against Moxie's rush attack, but my shield was yellow and it soon broke, leaving me with less than a quarter of my health left. I quickly got up and dashed backwards, trying to avoid her next attack.

15 seconds. I was running out of time.

What if I can't do this? What if they were right?

As I dashed to avoid her grab, I looked at the board displaying Moxie's stats. Ten stacks of Grit. Ten seconds numbers in the countdown turned red.

10, 9...

Well, Marina, it's now or never!

Moxie tried to grab me and end the match, but I countered by firing away the rush attack. Colonel Moxie tried to shield herself, but it was too late. She faced the wrath of my super-charged Revolvers. I fired away at her, faster than ever, pretending that she was one of my worst enemies.

8, 7, 6...

Karai, my suit is just as legitimate as Twintelle's hair and the ARMS of any other fighter!

5, 4, 3...

Andrea, I know exactly who I'm up against!

2, 1!

This is for doubting me!

A blaring alarm went off as the clock reached zero. The timer had ended its countdown as I eliminated the last stack of Grit. Colonel Moxie screamed and was knocked into the wall of red tape that was the entrance to my workshop. She laid there on her left side with left arm across her torso and her right arm next to her stomach. The crowd gasped and then there was silence. I was sweating buckets, my face flushed, heart pounding, and felt drained in more ways than one. I panted as I tried to steady my breathing. Who knew ARMS fights could be so exhausting?

Did I win? Did I lose? I asked myself in my mind.

After three seconds, one of Colonel Moxie's fan-girls asked, "Is she out?"

A few seconds later, someone in the audience answered, "Moxie's not moving. She's out."

"For real K.O!" the announcer exclaimed.

The second circle under my profile image turned white accordingly. "And the winner is Mechanica!" Biff announced. A majority of the crowd cheered, clapped and roared in approval. "I can't believe it folks, just wow! I thought Mechanica was a goner, but she has managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat!"

My heart leapt. I heard the crowd chant my name.

I flew around in my suit and jumped up, reminding them to remember my name. "Mechanica!"

I felt on top of the world. I was about to leave the arena and celebrate my victory and then I looked back and saw the trooper there, still unconscious.

"Colonel Moxie!" I got out of my suit and ran over to her. I knelt down and checked her vitals. She was still breathing. I placed my hand on her forehead. She was still warm. I gently tried to shake her awake. "Colonel Moxie?" I shook her a bit harder. "Moxie?" She groaned and presumably opened her eyes underneath the goggles. She sat up. "Are you alright?"

She shoved me away from her, answering, "I'm fine. I'm fine." Moxie then removed her goggles and shifted them to being slightly above her forehead to let the sweat on her face be blown away. I noticed that her eyes were brown. Her arms were no longer stretched out. She stood up. "I hate to admit it, but that was a well fought match. You're not quite the person I thought you were."

Completely confused, I arose from the ground. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hmm... How do I put this in the nicest way?" She folded her arms and mused to herself. "When I first saw you in your previous matches against Ninjara, Helix and Master Mummy, I thought you were just trying to cheat your way into the ARMS Tournament with your suit. I believed you were a liar, a faker, a sheep in wolf's skin." I clinched my fist as she stood there in silence. I was tempted to punch her. "But as I fought you, I realized there was more to it that meets the eye." My anger washed away. I raised an eyebrow and she pointed to her goggles. "In a similar way my goggles make things seem darker when I wear them, I was looking at you the same manner. And in your own strange, unique way, you possess both brains and brawn."

"Wow, um, thanks?"

"Don't push your luck." She sighed. "I'm just wondering where I'll go now that I've been defeated sooner than I anticipated."

"You're not staying here?"

"I don't have any reason to." she explained. "I don't have any friends to cheer on or any desire to get tickets to the finale."

Moxie put her googles over her eyes and was about to walk away. "Wait! Before you leave, do you have any advice for the ARMS Tournament?"

She stopped. "I can't really say that I do other than continue training and keep doing what you're doing. So instead, I'll give you some advice for life in general that I learned during my time in the service. First, appreciate what you have and never take it for granted. In the blink of an eye, everything can change from good to bad. Second, never start a fight you can't win. Now there's a difference between giving up on a battle in the overall war and then wasting your time and energy in a dead end situation. And third, always be wary of the people close to you. Even the closest coworker can stab you in the back." She looked around the Scrapyard. By now, all of the fans had vacated the arena. "Well, it is time for me to depart." She walked away before stopping to look back. "Who knows? Maybe some day we'll meet again, either in the arena or outside of the ring. Good luck, rookie. You're gonna need it."

Colonel Moxie left the arena. My audience with the trooper was over. I smiled to myself. If I could change the perspective of one fighter, maybe I could prove every Debbie-downer wrong.

I returned to the lobby, looking for the scoreboard to try and figure out who won and who had yet to finish their fourth round match. Waiting for me at the lobby stood Ribbon Girl, Kid Cobra and Dr. Coyle.

"There she is." Dr. Coyle spoke.

"Congratulations, Mechanica!" Ribbon Girl exclaimed.

Kid Cobra gave me a high five. "Congrats, dude!"

"You managed to get a victory against all odds once again." Dr. Coyle noted. "I must admit, towards the end, when Colonel Moxie arose after being seemingly defeated, you looked absolutely horrified."

If my face wasn't already red from the heat, I would have blushed in embarrassment. "I forgot about her being able to continue fighting with Grit when her health is depleted. I'm just fortunate I recalled how to defeat her in time."

Kid Cobra exclaimed, "You pounded away at her like you had a grudge against her!"

"Well..." I rubbed my arm, stuttering. "I... I kinda pretended like she was one of my worst enemies."

All three seemed baffled by my statement, but Coyle was the most confused. "Enemies? I thought only Karai teased you."

"Not anymore. As of today, I have a new foe who wants to bring me down; Andrea."

"Your co-worker?"

I scowled as she finished speaking. "Unfortunately." Smirking, I put my hands on my hips. "But with every match I win, they have to eat their own words. Karai Domen and Andrea Williams, eat your heart out!"

Dr. Coyle smirked in agreement. "It does feel good to prove others wrong, doesn't it?"

I nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes, very much so! Thanks again for letting me use your notes."

"Don't mention it."

"Well, Mechanica, we're moving on to the fifth round." Ribbon Girl said. "I say this calls for a minor celebration, and I know just where to go. Put away your suit and meet me out in the parking lot."

After putting my suit back in my room, I rejoined her in the parking lot, got into her limousine and we went to an ice cream shop in Brooklyn. I was almost worried that Ribbon Girl would be mobbed by fans, but there was hardly anyone there. After getting our respective orders, we sat on a bench outside, enjoying the nice weather. Despite the sun being so bright, it was not scorching hot. Even without shade, we were kept cool by a soft breeze.

"This... this is totally crazy." I said before taking another bite of rocky road ice cream.

She finished her bite of Cherry Garcia. "What is?"

"That I'm here, that I'm fulfilling my dream. That I'm actually fighting in the tournament."

Ribbon Girl looked at me curiously. "So, if you don't mind me asking; why do you fight in the grand prix?"

"Well... I know some fight for fame, money, or even bragging rights, but..." I paused, trying to think of what to say next. "I'm really just fighting for myself. To prove everyone who's doubted me wrong." I looked at her sincerely. "I hope you don't believe my reason to compete in the tournament is selfish."

She chuckled. "It's not a bad reason. A lot of people are fighting to prove themselves." She held the bowl in her hand motioning to herself with the other. I smiled. "That's one of the many reasons I'm here."

"I suppose you're right. From here, we're ascending further, getting better and better. We're not going down. Not easily anyways..."

She put her hand on my shoulder. "No matter what happens, no matter who we're up against, even if we should be pitted against each other, we'll always be friends and we will fight til the very end."

I nodded in agreement, joyous with the recently unfolded events. I just did the impossible. One could argue I had done it four times over. I felt on top of the world. Who or what could stop me now?