"Okay people. We are about ready to begin the 3rd bout so...let the battlefield form!" Magenta Voice said as the battlefield merged with the fortresses of both the Red and White teams. "And now...let the games begin!" she said as fireworks went off.
"Alright. You ready for this Hope?" Mark asked.
"Not in the least. We got a good lineup but they have a number of power houses on their side, including Erza. And none of them have even heard of an easy difficulty." Hope said. "I hate to say it, but we could be looking at a very quick loss."
"Now you don't know that for sure." Sora said.
"We just need to figure out who their flag is and capture them." Roxas said.
"It's not like you to be pessimistic, Hope." Shuichi said.
"Sorry if I sound that way, guys. I just felt a little off because of the team were facing. Not to mention I have the worst luck when it comes to tournaments." Hope said.
"That's normally cause you overhype on others abilities and past. The past is the past, the future has not been written yet." Sonic said.
"He's right. 'Fate is something that can only be forged by your own two hands.'" Francisca said holding her necklace. "I know he's not with us, but my master's words still ring in my heart."
"Hope, you've been off your game for a while, and I think it's because you're overthinking everything." Ochako said. "I know things seem tough, but if we work together and not think about complicated stuff too much, we can beat anyone."
"You didn't have any problem having me and the others joining you." Mermista said. "So don't be down in the dumps and not think too hard, otherwise I'm not gonna be much of a follower, got that?"
"Thanks guys." Hope said. "So…what's the plan?"
"Knowing Erza, she'll definitely lead a charge to ransack our fortress." Lisanna said.
"Meaning, she won't be there to defend hers. So the idea will be...deploy fighters to the sides to bypass her forces and infiltrate the castle." Pit said.
"Fransisca, I can take Tsuyu and Carrot with me and flank left to their base, and you can take two more and flank right." Hope suggested.
"Alright. I'll take...Shuichi and Marco." Francisca said.
"The rest of us will stay here and slow down Erza's advance." Sora said.
"Shouldn't be too hard" Mermista said.
"Alright everyone, let's move!" Hope said.
It was then that Erza, Draco, Shirou, Maki, Examon and Akane came marching onto the fortress.
"Pit was right, they came straight down the middle." Mermista said.
"As expected. Though we shouldn't leave them feeling safe. Fishman Karate: Water Shot!" Jimbei said firing small droplets of water that zoomed past the six and demolished a few boulders nearby.
"Hah, Jimbei's more accurate than that. Or maybe he's missing on purpose?" Akane asked.
"Of course he is. He's trying to rattle us." Examon said.
"Then I'll rattle HIM!" Draco roared as he charged towards Jimbei. "Prepare to be crushed, Fishman!"
"Fishman Karate: Sharkskin Palmthrust!" Jimbei said striking Draco's stomach and sending him flying.
"Does that guy have anything besides head-on tactics?" Examon asked shaking his head. "Time to put this to use, then!" Examon said as he started glowing. When the glow faded, he is now shown in a full set of armor and his lance is now a double sided lightsaber with an orb at the tip of his wings.
"Okay, that's…different." Mermista sweated.
"So this is Examon's X-Antibody form. This just got a lot harder." Tsumugi said. "Examon is already very strong without it."
"Don't worry, guys." Mark said, activating his Angel Form. "Leave Examon to me."
"Not a good idea. When we fought Examon in Tokyo, it took all of us to bring him down. And that's in his normal form." Keebo said.
"Then I'll give it everything I've got. I went through alot in the six months we split up...I'm not the naïve newcomer I was before." Mark said. "If I can just buy Hope some time...then that's what I'll do! Let's go Examon!"
"Should we really let him do this?" Mermista asked.
"I think it'll be fine." Jimbei said. "It is true that their strengths are miles apart...one's potential always grows when in the heat of battle between strong opponents."
"So, it's you I'll be fighting, Markie?" Examon asked.
"That's right." Mark replied. "I won't back down, not when my teammates are depending on me. You understand, don't you?"
"Yeah, but I'm warning you. If you push me too much, I might end up destroying the entire fortress. Are you sure you want to be responsible for that?" Examon asked.
"I'll gladly accept the outcome." Mark answered, getting into a fighting stance. "Kaio-ken x10!"
Mark's body gave off an aura of both red and white energy before he leaped into the air and shot a spam of energy bullets at the Royal Knight.
"Have it your way, then. Avalon's Gate!" Examon said moving at Mark with his lance, causing its shells to burst.
Mark crossed his arms to block the shells, which impacted him, sending the boy flying back. "(Dang, even blocking, those shells hurt. I need to be quick to dodge…)" he thought as he disappeared and reappeared above Examon, bringing his fists to slam onto the Digimon's head, which caused the latter to descend several meters towards the ground before stopping himself.
"Is that the best you can do? I barely felt that." Examon said. "Now for something you'll REALLY feel!" Examon said as he flies all the way to the exosphere before descending, coating himself in flames from friction with the atmosphere. "Dragonic Impact!"
Mark looked up at the attack before he adopted a determined expression and got into a familiar stance. "Kamehameha!"
The half-angel fired the attack up at Examon, creating a struggle in the air. However, Examon continued to descend, barely slowed down.
"He's gonna blow past Mark and crash into us!" Donald panicked.
"(Donald's right, I have to use-)" Mark thought before stopping himself. "(...No. Not here.) Guys, get out of the way! Hurry!"
"We'll lose most of our fort but...survival takes priority." Keebo said rocketing around and gathering everyone to a specific place inside. "This should be the most likely area to be safe from impact."
"Imbue our shelter with a defense as strong as metal…Iron Ballad!" Kaede said as the fort's defenses have been reinforced.
"I'm sorry, Jonah...it's up to you and Franny now." Mark said softly as Examon reached him and sent both of them crashing to the ground, sending out shockwaves that slammed into the fortress…But to everyone's surprise, the fort was still barely standing.
"Heh…I knew you would've made a measure for this...Kaede." Examon said.
"G-Good work...it's still standing." Mark laughed weakly. "I guess you were wrong for once, Examon."
"Wrong? About what? I said I MIGHT destroy it. It didn't necessarily mean I'd be able to." Examon said.
"Oh, right." Mark chuckled. "Well, either way, I still have some catching up to do. Thanks for showing me that."
The team on the right flank felt the shockwaves.
"Gah! W-what was that?" Marco asked.
"That had to be because of Examon. Only he could do something like that." Shuichi said.
"Yep. That sure felt like him alright. We need to hurry and finish this before he ends up destroying our fort." Francisca said.
"Hmm...the flag piece. This is only a hunch but...I have an idea who it might be. In all likelihood...its Aka." Shuichi said.
"Hm? Why her? She seems very unlikely for that." Marco said.
"Well, yes, but with the position being randomized, we'll never really know until things start to heat up." Francisca said.
"But is it really randomized? Leopardmon was Yellow teams flag and he embodied strategizing. Tenko was orange team's and her Neo-Aikido was the embodiment of a rogue fighting style." Shuichi said.
"Hmm…You may have a point there. I'm just saying that there may have been a few more likely candidates. Like Omnimon, for example." Francisca said.
"Let's think about this. The team name of the enemy is Red Warriors. So, in that regard, their flag would have to represent a true warrior, right?" Shuichi asked.
"When you say it like that, it sounds like it could be either of them." Marco said.
"I would agree but I think it would be Aka because she was born on an island and learned to fend for herself and fight animals non stop." Shuichi said.
"Hmm…Well, we won't know until we actually get in there." Francisca said.
"You got that right." Shuichi said firing his Wispon and drilled a hole into the side. "Let's hurry."
On the left Flank…
"Looks like those shockwaves meant business. We'd better hurry and wrap this up." Hope siad.
"Lets just hope they can hold out over there." Tsuyu said.
"Yeah. Okay, Tsu, you go camo and see if you can find the flag. Carrot, you're with me." Hope said.
"Okay!" Carrot said as Tsuyu camouflaged herself. Hope and Carrot then leaped together into the fortress and moved out.
"Fransisca's team is probably already inside looking for the flag. We should do the same." Hope said.
"Right. We might not know who it is...so we'll just have to try to guess." Carrot said.
"Yeah. No thinking, just go!" Hope said as they ran through the castle to find the flag. Suddenly he saw a flash of light. "Carrot, Duck!"
The two duck as a laser beam passed by them and blasted outside. The shooter was revealed to be Franky.
"Sorry, Hope. But SUPER me isn't going to let you through here." Franky said firing another beam.
"Figures the castle would have guards…" Hope said as he charged at Franky. "Impressive as you are Franky, I'm not gonna let you stop me!"
"Just try and get past me, bro!" Franky said as he went to grab Hope. "Time for a suplex!" he said bending backwards with Hope in his grip.
"I was hoping you'd do that." Hope said jumping out as Franky hit the ground. "Thanks!" he shouted running off.
"Son of a…he used the momentum of my move to his advantage!" Franky realized.
"Like I said, you're not stopping me." Hope said as Carrot caught up with him. "I've been in a rut for far too long, and it only took now for everyone to get me out. I finally understand now, that I can't think about the past, or what I'm up against. All I need to do…is look towards the future and charge straight ahead, just like they do."
"Like that'll happen." a voice shouted as Eijiro burst through the wall.
"Eijiro!" Hope said.
"That's right. Sorry but you aren't getting near the flag. I'm in charge of defending the flag's room here on the left side." Eijiro said.
"Now that I think of it...Eijiro and Tetsutetsu are on the same team this time around. So if he's guarding the left, Tetsutetsu might be guarding the right. Makes sense since their Quirks are so similar." Hope pondered. "Problem is my moves aren't going to make a dent in him. So I'll just have to get past him without fighting him."
"Hey, you gonna be standing there all day? Let's go!" Eijiro said charging in with hardened punches as Hope ran and dodged each one.
"Well...here goes! Spectral Thunder: Speed Enhancement!" Hope shouted as electricity coated his body as he jumped over Eijiro. "During my time with Barry and his coalition, I've learned how to boost my body using my Spectrum Style." Hope said.
"Hey, get back here!" Eijiro said chasing after him.
"Dang he just won't get up. Hope Franny and the others are having better luck." Hope said.
Meanwhile, on the other side…
"Sorry...but there's no way you three are getting past me!" Tetsutetsu said banging his fists together.
"Actually, I think we actually will." Shuichi said.
"Yeah how are ya…" Tetsutetsu said before seeing Francisca and Marco had gotten past him. "What the hell?!"
"You really should have paid more attention." Shuichi said running past him.
"Get back here!" Tetsutetsu said running after them.
"Well, we managed to slip past him, but he's still after us." Francisca said.
"My Wispons should be able to work well against his metal. I'll hold him off, you two keep going." Shuichi said.
"Go ahead and try it! Cause I'm not gonna back down no matter how many you fire at me!" Tetsutetsu shouted.
"It wouldn't be wise to take me so lightly." Shuichi said. "Lightning Wispon!" Shuichi said requipping to the Lighting Wispon. He then lashed out a whip of lighting at Tetsutetsu as it made contact.
"Hey, that actually kinda tickled!" Tetsutetsu said running with lightning surging around him.
"How about this, then?" Shuichi asked firing from his Flame Wispon.
"Go ahead." Tetsutetsu said as the Flame Wispon was fired at him. "Wow...looks like that training...really paid off!" he said with his metal body glowing bright red.
"I gotta admit, I didn't think you'd be able to withstand that. But even the strongest defense has a weak point." Shuichi said.
"Yeah but there isn't a single wisp you can use to stop me!" Tetsutetsu said as Shuichi listened down the hall.
"True but...I know something that can." Shuichi said as he saw Hope and Eijiro running for them.
"Just go down!" Tetsutetsu said pulling back a punch.
"One, two...three!" Shuichi said ducking along with Hope as both Tetsutetsu and Eijiro punched each other.
"The unstoppable force meets the immovable object." Hope said. "Glad to see we were thinking the same thing, Shuichi."
"Not really. I saw you running and thought on my feet." Shuichi said as he saw Eijiro and Tetsutetsu fighting each other. "That should keep them occupied for awhile. Now, come on. Let's catch up to Franny and Marco while they're bickering."
"Yeah. Carrot and Tsuyu might meet up with them soon too. Likely meeting up where the flag is." Hope said.
Shuichi and Hope then advanced, catching up to Marco and Francisca. Eventually they made it over to rendezvous with Carrot and Tsuyu near the supposed flag.
"Okay. The flag should be at this point, but we still don't know who it is." Hope said. "Guess we'll find out when we see for ourselves."
"Wait, it could be a…" Shuichi said before Hope found a spear against his neck. "Trap."
Hope looked to see Aka holding the spear at him.
"Aka…" Hope said. "I walked right into that one."
"Looks like you were right after all, Shuichi. It really is her." Francisca said.
"I had a feeling. Now we need to subdue her and run before our fortress goes." Shuichi said.
"It's not going to be easy, though. She seems very focused." Marco said.
"She got me at spearpoint so fast. Guess she's been training too. But all that aside, if we work together, I'm sure we can win." Hope said. "Everyone, surround her!"
Everyone got in a circle as Aka jumped up before spinning her spear and knocked them back away from her.
"Okay, plan B." Francisca said. She invokes Sapphire God Mode and clashes with Aka. It was an epic clash that could have shaken the heavens. But…
A few minutes later, both Francisca and Aka were passed out on the floor unconscious.
"Whoa...well...least we tired her out." Hope said.
"Now we just need to carry her out of the fort, and we've won." Marco said.
"Let's go." Hope said as they carried Aka and Francisca out of the castle and straight to the territory line. "Alright, almost there!"
"We're gonna win!" Carrot said.
"Yeah...if we hurry. Look." Marco said pointing out to show their fortress was down to one pillar.
"I don't think that's going to happen." a voice said as Omnimon descended in front of them.
"Omnimon? Man, this is exactly what we need right now…" Marco said.
"Did you honestly think you were going to win against heavy hitters like us?" Omnimon asked. "One more hit, and you've lost."
"It ain't over till it's over." Hope said. "We might be down to one pillar, but we haven't given up. Because there's always a way for us to win, even in this situation."
"You've got a plan?" Tsuyu asked.
"Nope." Hope said. "Improvise! Go long!" he said tossing Aka into the air as Carrot jumped off him and grabbed her before dashing into their territory.
"No...no way!" Omnimon said.
"And that is game! Winner is...the White Team!" Magenta Voice said.
"Haha… To be honest, I didn't really think my defense would've accounted to much." Omnimon said.
"I haven't been honest with myself either." Hope said. "Being the smart one and accounting for every little detail isn't who I am. All this time, I've been trying to be someone else, when I should've been me. The one who's always optimistic and looks ahead to the future with his friends by his side…. That's who I am."
"That's basically me, but...I guess there has to be one of those in every group." Omnimon said.
"Hmm. Now that I think about it...this is the 3rd bout. So those fighting after us are...Green and Indigo." Tsuyu said.
"That means Kokichi is about to step in as well." Shuichi said.
"I am a bit concerned about how that battle is going to turn out." Francisca said. "And I'm not just saying that because Khan has it in for me."
"That's right. Kokichi may have half the forces, but he always has a scheme festering in his mind." Shuichi said.
"Of course he does. We're talking about the Ultimate Supreme Leader after all. A king of lies and a king of schemes." Hope said.
Kokichi smiled as the fourth bout was about to begin. "Well...I think it's about time to show everyone here just how useless numbers can be. Nehehehe." Kokichi said laughing.