TOURNAMENT BRACKET PLACEMENT: SEMIFINALS
MATCH 13: LINCOLN LOUD - LAURA BODEWIG vs CECILIA ALCOTT - LINGYIN HUANG
MATCH 14: HOUKI SHINONONO - KANZASHI SARASHIKI vs ICHIKA ORIMURA - CHARLES DUNOIS
"Holy Shamoley..." Night Club gawked at the screen, "That has to be four mental luaus in one trip!"
"Mental?" Houki said, "Wait, what do you mean by four?"
"Don't you guys have like a third-place match or something?"
"Heck if I know," Houki looked over at Lincoln, who was conversing with her blue-haired partner, then at Laura, who was conversing with the open air by the gray metal. She could tell that neither of them were in any mood to continue fighting, "What's wrong with them?"
"Dunno," Night Club shrugged, "I think they saw their eeeeeviiiiiiil selves in the mirror and thought, "No! I'm supposed to be the hero!" At least, Ace is. Not sure about LaBo over there."
"Oh," Houki nodded. Then, she interrupted Lincoln and Kanzashi's conversation, "Lincoln."
"Yeah?" Lincoln responded a bit brashly.
"Uh..." Houki said, "Shouldn't you be getting ready?"
"Oh..." Lincoln stood up and went to the holding area. He saw Laura facing the open arena, arms folded, taking herself as deep into her own contemplations. He looked at the screen, and he was instantly reminded of an unseen moment in his life, when he and Lola planned an invasion of Lynn and Lucy's room, but ended up in a massive pillow fight that destroyed the house five times over.
"Those were the days..." he muttered to him self as he walked to his partner's personal space, "This is it. Just...one more battle, and we can face off against Ichika."
"Don't you have your own battle to fight?" Laura said.
"I do," Lincoln pointed to Rin and Cecilia's holding area, "It's over there," contain not-Lynn and not-Lola.
"More demons?"
"Yep...back home, they were the easiest to anger," Lincoln joked, "I treaded lightly to stay on their good side, and they ended up taking me for a scapegoat."
"What are you going on about?" Laura was pissed.
"Ok!" Night Club butt in, "Enough chitchat! Time to slug some metal! Let's get into gear!"
"Right..." Lincoln went back to the data screen to plan his move, against two pilots who defeated him in singles matches. He tried to decide his beat course of action in regards to eliminating them one at a time, without triggering any unnecessary mental flashes. He already had his moments with Rin, but he fought Cecilia plenty of times before the pictures leaked, with no mental repercussions.
And he wanted to keep it that way, "I'll take Rin and keep it in close. You feint Cecilia until-huh?"
Laura had already left for the battlefield.
"Is that good or bad?" Night Club asked him.
"It's...goo-ad..." Lincoln slumped, "I'll just mold my strategy around hers..." and joined his comrade on the field.
A little too late, as the his opponents had already started the smack talk, which was backed up by the rancorous cheering coming from the stands.
"Well, well," Cecilia said, "I never imagined our rematch to be this eventful."
"Same here," Lincoln said with a hint of hesitation, "I always envisioned us in a shooting range of sorts."
"Surely, we will resettle this at a later date," Cecilia then turned to Laura, "But I have unfinished business with her."
BLUE TEARS — READY
"Save your breath, uncultured swine," Laura hissed.
SCHWARZER REGEN — READY
"We felt sorry for your uneducated hotheadedness that we went easy on you," Rin taunted, "We won't make that mistake again."
SHENLONG — READY
Lincoln eyed Cecilia and planned his first attack.
SAVVY SUITE — READY
The entire stadium was chanting for a decisive victory from Rin and Cecilia. Houki stood by on the launch pad, trying to psych herself into the fight.
And once the buzzer sounded...
-FIGHT!-
SAVVY SUITE — SHIELD 86/100%
NIGHT CLUB — SHIELD 18%
Lincoln flew high and charged a full deck. He then threw it down and deployed Night Club, "FEVER PITCH!"
"Boom bam, baby!" Night Club let loose a deafening chord and combined it with Lincoln's 52-Card Spread, somehow turning his card bombs into frag bombs. The fight barely even started, and a few seconds in, the arena had turned into a massive mine field for everyone.
Laura was quick to dodge the frags in her range and put pressure on Rin with her wire daggers.
Cecilia, however, managed to see the attack coming and fly upward before the cards hit the ground.
"Can't escape me!" Cecilia fired her rifle at Lincoln, but her shot was bounced back by Night Club's guitar swing.
"Wasn't trying to!" Night Club shouted as she leapt onto him and let out a long guitar rift that strengthened the Suite's durability.
Lincoln blasted off towards Cecilia, shrugging off every single shot that hit him. Three times he got within arm's reach of her, only to be quickly evaded and countered by her drones, and even they posed little threat as their shots did not impact his movement at all. The fourth time he almost got Cecilia, he call out his shield and managed to throw it right at her head, allowing him to sock her and pull her into his 52-Card Pickup.
"Pick a card!" Lincoln kicked her down and pelted her with a small stack of cards. "Pick'em all!" Then he got in close and isolated her from her drones. He started to increase the intensity of his attacks and started using point-blank shots to disorient her. But the moment he got above her head,
"52 CARD PI-" BOOM! "-CKLUGH!"
Cecilia interrupted him with a pair of rockets, causing his cards to scatter all over the ground beneath them.
Rin was not at all pleased with the progress of the midair battle. She had to stop her pursuit in order to avoid the majority of the cards.
Laura was fully protected by her AIC when she saw Rin struggling to find her footing against the rain of projectiles. She dropped her guard and made a mad dash to the Shenlong, using her wire daggers to shrug off any incoming attacks, and easily getting inside Rin's CQC range. Rin tried to fire her Ryuhou, but Laura ducked under and hit Rin with a saber uppercut.
Meanwhile, Cecilia followed up a drone bombardment with a pair of direct sniper shots. Lincoln was hit with both of them, but Night Club stopped her with a guitar strum. Night Club dove down after her, prompting Cecilia to send out her rockets and drones.
"DING DONG!" Night Club avoided everything- BOOM! "OWOWOW-" POW! "PUii..." -except a rocket and a leg.
NIGHT CLUB — SHIELD 11/18%
SAVVY SUITE — SHIELD 73/100%
BLUE TEARS — SHIELD 79/90%
Lincoln was in the middle of dodging the drones when he was hit with another mind flash. Seeing Night Club grabbing Cecilia's leg reminded him of...
("Lola, what are you doing? This is the red zone. The door is red.")
("Uh, hello! The carpet is green.")
...that time when Lola escorted Luna to the red zone. Looking down didn't help either, as seeing Laura and Rin fighting each other...
("You're always Miss Gloom and Doom! Like, would it kill you to smile once in a while?!")
("It would.")
("At least I don't smell like crusty athletic socks.")
("Please! Like Eau de Death is better.")
...brought on a lot more than that.
("I did not finish the potion. And why did you destroy the bad luck shield?")
("You better put that suit back on, mister! Otherwise, I'll put it on for you!")
"This reckless guitar rage is more troublesome than I anticipated," Cecilia muttered after getting Night Club off her leg.
"Take more than that to stop the music!" Night Club charged her jet pack and guitar, "What say we-HEY!"
Lincoln suddenly veered downward.
"Uhhhh..." Night Club eyed Cecilia, "...be right back..." and flew downward.
"Don't turn your back to me!" Cecilia recalled her drones and chased after the purple black and white.
Laura was gaining the upper hand in her skirmish with Rin. She had the Shenlong on the run and pinned her down with her railgun.
"Grr, why won't this stupid fight let up?" Rin was getting frustrated.
SCHWARZER REGEN — SHIELD 83/100%
SHENLONG — SHIELD 66/110%
Laura kept firing until Rin was forced to stop and engage her in a shootout. Then, Laura stopped shooting and charged directly at Rin, not the least bit affected by the Ryuhou's gunfire. But when she was twenty yards away, she saw Lincoln try to headbutt Rin, only to get a scimitar in his hair.
Lincoln rolled away from Rin, but he still threw his cards at her. Rin easily knocked them away and flew towards him. Lincoln regained his footing and stopped in time to catch her twin blades. He skidded back a few more feet before locking arms with Rin.
"Heheh," Rin chuckled, "Doesn't this take you back?"
"To what?..." Lincoln grunted.
"That time when I held back just to let you get over your problems," Rin taunted, "and I still beat you-UEY!" For that, her scimitars were shoved into the ground, and she received a knee to her chin.
And for that knee, Lincoln was blasted in the hiney, flown into the wall, and hammered with drone fire. He drew his shield to protect himself against the drones, but nothing could protect him from Rin's incoming assault.
Laura stood on the opposite end, watching her supposed partner struggling to withstand the power of two Representative Contenders by himself. She took a few seconds to observe his facial expression while they were closing on his position, and seriously considered leaving him alone due to the 'inner demon' statement.
Night Club suddenly landed on the railgun, "What are you doing, bro?! He needs you!"
"Clearly, he doesn't," Laura responded.
"Do you not see the double whammy picking at him?!" Night Club flailed, until she saw Lincoln flash to the post-picture mindset.
When Rin was about to pin him against the wall, Lincoln grabbed her forearms and kept her close. He threw a card at her cannons, distracting her long enough for him to get a flurry of punches to her head. She was about to fly back, but he tripped her and jammed his leg into her gut.
"Ok, I know he shouldn't be able to do that," Night Club muttered, right before two drones fired at her, "System overplay!" She played a guitar riff that stopped the drones in their tracks, but she couldn't stop a sniper shot from hitting Laura's shoulder.
"I didn't forget about you either!" Cecilia separated the two and focused all her weapons on Laura.
"Mad woman!" Night Club swatted away some of the shots using her guitar. The one she couldn't swat sent her flying back inside the holding area, "OOF! I'm ok... I think..."
NIGHT CLUB — SHIELD 5/18% (WARNING)
Cecilia released her missile pods, "Now for you!" and sent an unusually huge number of rockets after Laura.
Lincoln was having problems of his own. The longer he fought Rin, the more he saw Lynn at her worst. He was trying to keep a level head, but each time he got hit, more of his rage seeped out. Many times he had to stop and recollect himself...
("Lori's right. Your manners are deteriorating.")
("I can eat my words on my own time, dude. And that Academy did a number on your manners.")
...only to have to fend off attacks on the mind. If he wasn't dealing with Rin from the real world. And all it took was a headshot to get it all out. Lincoln ignored all shots on him and stayed in Rin's private space.
Cecilia and Laura were locked in a shooting battle. Laura was firing with her railgun while having to defend herself from rear attacks with her AIC. Cecilia did not hold back, using her drones and her rockets to get Laura towards the center.
"What's wrong?!" Cecilia said, "Can't get into your own head?!"
("I have to get rid of my inner demons.")
("So...this is the demon you were referencing?")
For once, she's right. Laura could not get that line out of her head, no matter what. She knew that he was talking about an inner struggle, but she couldn't help but think that he meant her. Her mirror reflection did look so disturbingly like him-
-THWACK!-
"AGH!" Laura was actually mindful enough to let a rifle handle knock her back. It wasn't long before she and Lincoln were backed against each other in the middle of the arena. Cecilia positioned herself and her drones around the white-haired pair. Rin stood in front of Lincoln, pressure cannons and scimitars at the ready.
SAVVY SUITE — SHIELD 52/100%
SCHWARZER REGEN — SHIELD 59/100%
BLUE TEARS — SHIELD 63/90%
SHENLONG — SHIELD 47/110%
"Uhhhh...come on..." Lincoln just got done wailing on Rin. Backing up against Laura kept his emotions at bay, but now there's too many triggers for him to lose himself, "Can't lose myself again..."
Laura couldn't say a word to him without mulling over what he said. She couldn't afford to figure out why it pained her worse than being called a defect.
"Think of anything?" But Lincoln could, "Gotta bust outta here."
"Why?" Laura whispered.
Night Club crawled out of her pile of broken jet pack, "Dangit...no more after parties..." She wiggled her hair and saw Lincoln and Laura backed against each other, "Tsk, tsk, tsk...I thought we told you, bruh," she readied her guitar and speaker, "There's a right way and a wrong way to do everything," and let'er riff.
That's when Lincoln suddenly had an idea.
("Instead of attempting to control it, you merely guide its current towards its destination without the least bit of tension!")
"Oh, duh," Lincoln said, "I gotta flow."
"What?" Laura twitched.
"Follow my lead," Lincoln grabbed her hand and flung them both towards Rin.
"Wh-No-Agh!"
"Just stay alive!"
Rin fired them to slow them down, but he shielded Laura and took all the hits, allowing him to slip Laura under the stream of bullets and surprise her with a railgun shot. Rin flew up to escape the ground, with Lincoln and Laura in pursuit.
"What are you..." Cecilia sent her drones after all three of them.
Lincoln felt a drone shot strike his rear, "EEEEYAAAHAHAHAAA!" He threw his deck all over the sky, forcing Rin and Laura to lose balance mid flight.
Laura adapted quickly and used the cards to slip inside Rin's range. Rin was firing back at the cards, when one of her shots missed the Schwarzer Regen by a literal hair. Laura launched her wire daggers and caught Rin's legs, but Rin broke free by combining her scimitars and slicing the wires. Rin's staff struck Lincoln's forearms and engaged in a fierce two-on-one fight. Lincoln left Laura to the CQC and stayed in midrange to keep Cecilia's drones off them as best as he could.
After a solid minute, Cecilia recalled her drones and aimed her rifle right at Laura. Laura was able to duck those shots, but Rin was able to get a big hit with her staff and her Ryuhou. Cecilia took aim again and fired twice. One hit Laura's leg; the other was intercepted by Lincoln's shield. Cecilia attempted to fire her rockets, but she was pushed back by a couple of his cards and rattled by Night Club's Sound Cannon.
"Ooh, that does it!" Cecilia sent a drone after Night Club.
NIGHT CLUB — SHIELD 2/18% (CRITICAL)
Right when Night Club decided she had enough, "Whew...I think that should've retuned their moodiness." She was satisfied with her work until she looked up and saw a blue drone planted on her speaker. Then, she plucked a C and a low F-sharp.
-BZZTTT!-
"HAHAAAAA-" BONK! "-OOF!"
NIGHT CLUB — SHIELD 0 (EMPTY)
She was blown across the locker room and into a pile of towels and bouncy toilet paper, where she went full-on defiant British, "THE SOUND OF SILENCE WILL PERMEATE NO LONGER!" Fists in the air "I SWEAR ON ALL THAT IS RIGHTEOUS!!!" before fizzling out of existence.
That didn't sit well with Lincoln. Seeing Cecilia retaliate against Night Club like that...
("YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MAKE ME MAD!")
...brought on some unwanted memories of the most volatile Loud.
"I couldn't do anything then, but I can now," Lincoln muttered, "It's past time for discipline." He shifted priorities, going after 'Future Lola' and her drones when they fired. That gave Laura a bit of leeway in her fight against Rin.
And her rage. Laura started to wonder why Lincoln could get along swimmingly with the woman she was trying to bring down, how he could relax around Rin in the middle of his training sessions. It almost made her jealous...yet another confusing emotion she never experienced before today.
Laura caught Rin's downward swing with her AIC, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!", and immediately followed with a railgun shot.
SHENLONG — 17/110% (WARNING)
"Hey, Cecilia!" Rin flew away and shot at Laura, "I could use some help here!"
"I'm working on it!" Cecilia rocketed Lincoln at point-blank, then sniped two shots that hit Laura a split second before a card struck her. She turned her rifle to Lincoln, who dove headfirst into her line of fire shielded by his wing units. She tried to slow him down, but he slammed his shield right at her head, unfettered by her energy bullets, bounced back towards Rin, and swung a card at Rin.
BLUE TEARS — SHIELD 58/90%
SAVVY SUITE — SHIELD 39/100%
Laura was gaining momentum in her fight against Rin, but the sudden card exploding in their faces right when they began to lunge at each other gave her the best edge she needed. She flipped under the resultant smoke and fired a railgun shot. Rin was able to avoid it, but she couldn't avoid Lincoln's hammer leg or the chaos that followed him.
Drones peppered them with energy throughout the scuffle. Lincoln remained stationary and focused solely on defense. Rin threw herself in the fray to eliminate him, timing her attacks with the drones' shots to get the maximum amount of damage in. Laura was back outside of the scuffle and saw Cecilia focusing her mental efforts on her drones, and fired a railgun shot at her. Cecilia was quick to dodge, and even quicker to break her concentration. Lincoln used the break to throw his shield, and it shredded two drones before it came back to defend him from the Ryuhou. Rin tried to go after him, but she was locked in place by the AIC.
"What the-" Rin only had a split-second's respite before she was shot with the railgun, and entering a Unison Attack.
Lincoln stopped his shootout with Cecilia as soon as Laura's railgun went off and went after Rin.
Rin was sent flying into Lincoln's shield, then back to Laura, where she was slammed with Laura's elbow and roundhouse kicked with extreme force. She was rocketed towards the ground, but it wasn't even a second before Lincoln threw his shield together with his deck at an angle, hitting her back and exploding with even greater force. She hit the ground hard, but Lincoln and Laura hit the hardest they've ever hit. When Rin bounced off the ground, Laura struck with a saber, then Lincoln bashed his shield into her and somehow wrecked her Ryuhou and destroyed his wing shield. Then, the pair came together and launched a railgun shot and a single card at her, creating a fiery explosion of energy that blew all three of them back. Lincoln and Laura were able to jump into the air to slow down their recoil. Rin crashed into the wall before her IS fell to the kneeling position.
SCHWARZER REGEN — SHIELD 31/100%
SAVVY SUITE — SHIELD 16/100% (WARNING)
SHENLONG — SHIELD 0 (EMPTY)
Cecilia wasn't quick enough to stop any of it. Her drones did damage them, but they couldn't get in their way to careen them off-course. She descended and recalled her remaining drones, deciding to meet her opponents at their level.
BLUE TEARS — SHIELD 47/90%
Laura was purely focused on the fight now. She didn't care about how she was able to spontaneously time her movements with Lincoln's as if they had been in battle before. Nor did she think to question it, "Where's your shield?"
"Gone," Lincoln answered, "It was my wings. My speed's gone down, so..."
When Cecilia had touched the floor, she was tense. Her partner was out of commission, meaning she had to do something quick before she received the same beating. No doubt fueled by some rage brought on by who knew what. She wasted no more time for words, immediately throwing her sniper shots at them.
"Fallen Sie nicht zurück," Laura quickly whispered.
"Ich kenne," Lincoln darted forward and took the shots head-on.
Laura skid left and fired at Cecilia, causing her to break concentration and release her drones instead. They both went after Laura in order to slow her down, leaving Lincoln to the brunt of the fight. Lincoln gathered to full hands and chucked them at Cecilia, who broke concentration again to avoid his projectiles and lunge at Lincoln. Lincoln guessed that the surprise missile pods would come into play so he prepared another hand to deal with them, but he flew up once he heard Laura's railgun go off. Cecilia was barely able to counter the fast missile with one of her own, but she was trapped in a puff of smoke and bombarded with cards. She fired her missiles in the direction of her impacted zone, right before she was frozen by the AIC. Laura shot Cecilia into another Unison Attack.
BLUE TEARS — SHIELD 38/90%
Cecilia was blasted into Lincoln's fist. She retaliated with two missiles to him and a sniper to Laura. Laura blocked the energy shot with her AIC, but she had to contend with the drones. Lincoln easily dispatched the missiles and resumed his skirmish with Cecilia, giving Laura enough time to destroy the drones and catch up to him. Cecilia and Lincoln were throwing projectiles at each other until Laura fired at Cecilia, throwing her off balance and sending her across the arena, right into Lincoln's 52-Card Pickup. Midway through the combo he was joined by Laura, and together they laid the ultimate smack down of blade and bomb.
It ended with Lincoln and Laura raining down on Cecilia with a flurry of cards and wire dagger strikes, followed by a double cartwheel kick and a double punch that planted the Blue Tears into the ground. The pair had enough momentum leftover to transition into a victory pose, crossing a card-tricking left arm with a magenta-cutting right arm.
BLUE TEARS — SHIELD 0 (EMPTY)
SAVVY SUITE — SHIELD 7/100% (CRITICAL)
SCHWARZER REGEN — SHIED 23/100%
"THE MATCH IS CONCLUDED. THE WINNER IS LINCOLN LOUD AND LAURA BODEWIG."
The entire arena was in an uproar the moment that announcement was made, and not the good kind:
"THIS ISN'T HAPPENING! THEY'RE IN THE FINALS!"
"Ichika, it's up to you now!"
"Did you see how badly they beat them up?!"
"They absolutely cannot win now!"
"WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST LOSE?!"
Only then was Laura able to absorb the full scope of the match. And everything that happened. And everything that was done...and none of it was done alone. Everything that they accomplished...they...Lincoln was the one who flung her into the Shenlong. He was also the one who said that he needed to get rid of his inner demons. He wouldn't stop talking to her, nor would he let up on her. He had the best hangouts and the worst fights with people she never considered worth her time, and yet she was worth his time. She had to know how he was able to pull off such a massive blitzkrieg in the middle of the fight.
But he cut her off, "Go back and rest. We're not finished yet." And he knelt down and picked up 'Future Lola', "Uh...hi again."
"Oh, my head..." Cecilia muttered, "What are you still doing here?..."
("If anyone needs me, I'll be up in my room for the next 30 days. Care packages welcome.")
"Just cleaning up, is all," Lincoln said as he hauled Cecilia over to where Rin was... "Uhhhh..."
"zzzzz...YAAWWWNNNN...Oh, what'd I miss?"
...sleeping.
("You forgot that you've got a secret weapon: me. I'll teach you everything you need to know about Football.")
Lincoln hauled them all back to his holding area, where Houki joined them in their analysis of the fight. He walked them through every emotion behind every attack he pulled...aka, dropped the ball on why he was acting strangely for the past few weeks.
"Holy Shamoley," Rin mouthed, "Are you saying that you're trapped in a megaverse of multiverses?"
"No, but it might as well be," Lincoln rubbed his eyes, "I came to Japan to escape my life and drop off my emotional baggage off the ends of existence. Turns out I ran into older versions of my own sisters."
"And they're giving you the runaround?" Houki asked, "I mean, us? Uh, I mean-"
"Hahahah, I know what you mean," Lincoln said, "And yes, it's the uncanny valley between alternate dimension and like 6,400 miles removed."
"Darn," Houki muttered, "I don't want to think about this match."
"Ouch," Rin winced, "You're up against Ichika. You're a goner for sure."
"Am not!" Houki stammered, "I can still beat him!"
"Sure, your rusty sword against an all-powerful light saber. I'd like to see that!"
Cecilia was a tad unsettled, "Is it possible for you to escape this delusional phase?"
"Not likely," Lincoln bluntly said, "Probably I'm gonna have to walk on through."
"And you cannot forget about it?"
"Tried," Lincoln stared at the locker room entrance, knowing that he'd have to stand before the mirror one more time, "Failed."
"Yo," Strong Suit suddenly appeared behind him and tapped his shoulder, "If I may demonstrate a painfully obvious metaphor..." and then she ran into the repair room.
"Yow!" Rin jolted, "Uh, did you-"
"No," Lincoln said, "The IS is acting up..."
"Rude!" They heard Night Club's voice.
And then, they saw Strong Suit hauling Night's Axe, jet pack, speaker, and criss-cross-applesauce on her back, "Ooogh! Wow! This baggage is heavy!"
"I'm emo," Night Club deadpanned the entire trip, "Hello? Bathroom's over there?"
"Yep...Yep..." Strong Suit pretended to struggle under the weight- "YACK-" and fell on her belly, "Time out...I need to rest..."
"Really?!" Night Club pulled her head out of her jet, "You couldn't stop cracking for a minute?!"
"Oh, posh," Strong Suit chuckled, "What's a good workout gonna kill?"
Everyone in the holding area facepalmed themselves.
"Yep, I'm out," Night Club tried to get off, but she was pushed back onto Strong Suit, "Hey-Wha-What're you-"
"The bathroom is where we're going!" Strong Suit manipulated a jump rope to tie the two back to back, "And we're going there one way of another! NEEIIIGGHHHH!"
"Get this stupid charade offa me!" Night Club flailed, "Worst lyrics ever, bruh! You ain't never seeing me at your stupid gigs again! HEEELLLLLLLLPPPPPP~~~"
Houki shook her head, "Well, the arena floor's clean...I'm gonna go get ready..." and left for the Uchigane storage.
"I might as well," Cecilia followed her, "I need a break from this emotional baggage..."
Lincoln couldn't resist a tiny smile. If the metaphor of turning out some fun and strengthening from his personal mission wasn't enough, there was also the way he's been going about his life: far too seriously, "And there's the thing I've been missing."
"What sense are you making?" Rin mumbled, "I just saw someone turning emotional turmoil into a workout program."
"Ew, no..." Lincoln saw Laura and Kanzashi sitting next to each other, staring at a dressing mirror, yet never saying a single word. "The things we do for attention..." he turned back to Rin, "What's your take on this blasted game?"
"Don't know, don't care," Rin stretched, "All I know is, that was some slick moves you pulled, dude."
"Uh, really?" Lincoln blushed, "You don't have to-GGCK?!"
"I insist!" Rin got him in a headlock, "I'm gonna egg you until you show me how to do my own super move, hahahaa!"
At the wrong time, because Kim just finished her doubles tournament and came by to check on Lincoln, "Dear me, Miss Huang," Kim slyly cooed, with several giggly seniors behind her, "What will Ronnie Anne think of this development?"
Rin kicked him off and went after the girls, "REA-THE-FRICKEN-LLY!"
"Ah! Run!"
"WHATEVER'S IN YOUR HEAD GET IT OUT NOW!"
"Such a fox, you are, Lingyin!"
"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UUUUUUUUP!"
Lincoln walked to Houki and Cecilia, "Uh...so, did you get anything from that?"
"Not really," Houki was settling in her IS model, "Just a lot of 'Keep Walking' and 'Don't Give Up', what I already know."
"I think it's a nice message, however flawed the execution," Cecilia joked, "Alright, the Samurai is set."
"Thanks," Houki fitted her gauntlets in, "Ready, Kanzashi?"
The blue-haired girl nodded her head and readied her Yumi. Then, she took off into the arena with Houki.
"Is she gonna be alright out there?" Lincoln asked.
"I'm not sure if the fight itself has any importance," Cecilia said. When she turned around, "Oh!" she saw Laura standing right behind her, "Ahem...you have a visitor..." and then she walked off. And Lincoln knew what that meant.
"We need to talk," Laura muttered.
The last of the semifinals was underway. Houki took point and stood 200 feet away from Ichika. So far she's been consistent in keeping her emotions in check, but seeing the ferocious beast that was the previous fight brought back a sense of uncertainty. In all her practice matches with Ichika, she could pour all her emotions into the fight because it was just the two of them (minus Cecilia and Rin and Charles and oh god the), but here...everyone's watching her.
"Come on, Shinonono!"
"You can win this!"
"Get'em, Sarashiki!"
Everyone's waiting for her to deliver a decisive victory, but they might see an ugly side of her close to what they saw in Lincoln. She couldn't let her anger get the best of her this time; Ichika was her childhood friend, after all.
"Hey, Houki!" Ichika said.
"Uh...huh?" Houki responded nervously.
"Here we go," Ichika readied his blade.
BYAKUSHIKI — READY
"Alright..." Houki unsheathed her sword, "Let's do it!"
UCHIGANE (SAMURAI) — READY
"Well, Madame Sarashiki?" Charles said, "Shall we have a fair bout?"
RAFAEL REVIVE CUSTOM II — READY
Kanzashi didn't say a word; she only looked at Ichika with contempt, then at Charles with disdain for being associated with Ichika.
UCHIGANE (YUMI) — READY
-FIGHT!-
Ichika and Houki charged at each other and clashed swords less than a second after the buzzer sounded, while Charles moved towards Kanzashi and kept her off the sword duel.
At that instant, Lincoln, Strong Suit, and Laura were sat by the IS repair room with a good view of the semifinals.
"She's real good with the blade," Strong Suit commented after watching Houki outright counter the Barrier Disabling Attack multiple times, "but it's still just one end of a super saber, am I right? Uh, hello?"
Their eyes were on the fight, but Lincoln and Laura's mind were elsewhere.
"Uh, can you give us a minute?" Lincoln asked.
"Eww, introspection," Strong Suit fled the holding area, "Keep your emotional diarrhea out of my hair!"
The two were left alone with the match, which was really two battles fought separately. Houki would've had Ichika if he didn't use the Ignition Boost while blocking. Or looked at how Kanzashi was fighting Charles, because that fight brought on flashbacks of Houki's years of violent isolation.
Much like how Lincoln and Laura went overboard with their fight, and because of that and what happened before, they were stuck in recovery mode.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Lincoln asked.
"About where we stand," Laura lied, "We'll never beat Ichika like this."
"You mean, mentality-wise?"
Laura responded to that question with one of her own, "What was that bit about the inner demon?"
Lincoln clammed up. He had to think of something quick to say to her. Luckily, Laura was momentarily distracted by Ichika taking a blade to his shoulder.
"I saw the two worst sides of me," he said, "A former footstool to be stepped on by all my sisters and their friends. He suffered one step too many and...One ended up beheading everyone in sight, including Lily. The other was reduced to a slave, kept hidden from the world."
"That's...thorough..." Laura didn't know what to say to that.
"It's how I really felt," Lincoln continued, "The longer I fought, the more raged I get."
"So, the combination attacks...that was the peak of your brutality?"
"I don't know..." Lincoln said as Houki started to struggle with herself, and as a result, taking unnecessary potshots that were easily avoidable, "What about you? I know you weren't yourself during that last bout."
Laura looked back at her IS, standing side-by-side with the Savvy Suite, "I was...unnerved by your 'inner demon' talk."
Lincoln knew that was coming. He winced at the fact that he caused her decline in performance, "How?"
Laura turned her eyes to the fight, "I knew you saw something in me...I didn't think you saw your worst self in me."
"Yep...yep..." Lincoln gritted, "Knew that would come back to bite me..."
"I've been called so many names by so many people throughout my tenure in the German Special Forces," Laura just watched Houki get hit in the stomach by Ichika, "Why is it that I am adversely affected now...and by you of all people?"
"How would I know?" Lincoln said, "Only you know you."
Laura struggled with that thought. All her life, she's been told to be the super soldier, the fiercest warrior in the world, and nothing else. She never bothered with the battle on the inside because it wasn't important to her, or her fellow soldiers. Now came along someone who virtually equaled her, and he's spouting this crap.
"Are you guys done with the inside out yet?" Strong Suit poked her head into the holding area.
"More or less," Lincoln said with his eyes still on the fight.
"Yeah, no you're not," Strong Suit came and sat in between the two, "You're acting like this is a culture shock to the core. It ain't."
The two just kept watching Ichika and Houki go at each other, getting up every time they were knocked down.
"Do you even know what you're talking about?" Laura questioned Strong Suit.
"Not a dang clue!" Strong Suit leaned back and twirled a 50lb barbell, "All I know is you two are overthinking this whole inner teamwork thing, to a cringey degree."
"How?" Laura got irritated, "I was just told that I was what he didn't want to be."
"And you could say the same thing about him," Strong Suit said, "I mean...weaker half and all."
"Is that why you trained me?" Lincoln asked, "To cover up for your past?"
"I could've done away with you anytime, mind you!" Laura snapped.
"Then, why didn't you?" Night Club surprised both white-haired combatants, "Hey, I'm just asking for a friend."
"Well, he..." Laura stammered for an excuse, "because he was very...insistent...that...we..."
Lincoln grabbed Night Club's Axe, "Don't you put any weird ideas in-"
He didn't have to, because Strong Suit manipulated four V-handles into a heart, and connected them to a jump rope arrow that pointed directly to Lincoln. "She dig!"
Laura bopped Suit into the metal cold.
"What?!" Strong Suit muffled through the hole in the floor, "It's true, ain't it?!"
Laura grabbed the V-heart and shoved it down Strong Suit's ass.
"Really, LaBo?" Night Club laughed, "You don't even have friends in the army?"
"THERE ARE NO FRIENDS!" Laura shouted.
"Not what High said-AYY!" Strong Suit got a foot stomp.
"Laura, stop!" Lincoln restrained her by doing a bear hug, which caused her to blush.
"Uh-oh..." Night Club pulled Strong Suit upright, "She dig."
"I-Uh-this is just-not that it..." Laura was completely lost.
"Ok," Lincoln said, "Now it's flying awks," then withdrew himself to upright position, "Uh...wanna tell-"
"It's because you wouldn't stop yammering!" Laura let it out, "You wouldn't stop talking to me, or sharing useless things with me... and the things you did with me, you did with everyone else, and it...it..."
"Looked fun?" Strong Suit snuck behind Laura and only got a nasty look in return.
"But what's that gotta do with your behavior throughout the whole shebang?" Night Club asked, "Usually, you keep quiet."
Laura turned away, scared to look at anybody in the eyes for the first time ever.
"Yo ho?" Strong Suit got in her face.
"What?" Laura growled.
"Look, I know it can be needlessly complicated, this...opening your heart stuff," Strong Suit said, "But it's pretty dang important to being a stronger person."
"What does that have anything to do with one's true strength?!"
"You ever figure, maybe that's how Ace got so strong?" Strong Suit walked her to the open pad, "Maybe that's how Ponyboy's gotten stronger. Take a look."
That's when Ichika pulled an unbelievable switch on Houki. He let Houki's sword clock him in the head. The hit provided more than enough force to propel him right into Kanzashi's CQC range, allowing him to get the jump on her and deliver a One-Hit Kill, and getting Charles some much-needed breathing room. Charles switched targets to Houki, who refused to back down despite her IS lacking a long-range weapon.
"See what she did?" Strong Suit said to Laura, "There's no other way but to jump in and just go for it."
"What makes you think just bombrushing would be at all effective?" Laura doubted her.
"Dunno, but it's a first step," Strong Suit responded, "Just dive headfirst into the squabble long enough, and you'll find a pattern that works. It's like a combat mission where it's just you and your partner. Just breathe, think, go with the flow. And eventually..." Strong Suit momentarily stopped as Houki had just been knocked out by a head strike.
"THE MATCH IS CONCLUDED. THE WINNER IS ICHIKA ORIMURA AND CHARLES DUNOIS."
"... the answer will come," Strong Suit finished her sentence.
Laura saw what she meant, right when Ichika approached Houki.
"So that's it..." Houki muttered.
"Yeah," Ichika panted, "Looks like it..." Then, he offered her a helping hand. Simultaneously with Charles offering to lift Kanzashi back to the holding area.
"I don't understand," Laura said.
"You don't have to," Strong Suit said, "Just let it come naturally. Sometimes it's better to bend and go with the flow...rather than risk your spine to control a hurricane tree-sus cripes."
While Laura was grappling with Strong Suit's words, Lincoln was washing his face, staring at his reflection one last time.
"Well, how'd you like that?" he smirked, "I went absolutely ape on them, and I did with a good friend of mine. And guess what? I still saved some compassion for Cecilia and Rin."
("You're unbelievably weak. You'll never get any stronger with that pathetic display of sympemp assness.")
"Unconditional life cliche number 5: that which is perceived as weakness is in actuality what makes us strong."
("Keep telling yourself that, albino. One day, you'll learn. You'll learn that you can ink away your errors.")
Lincoln backed up and took a deep breath to collect his mind. "No," he thought, "but I can correct them."
"Hey, bruh, you done trying to crucify your ego?" Night Club said.
"Uh, yeah," he said, "I'm going to see Cecilia and Rin off." He waved to Night before running off to the hallway.
Night took one last look at Laura having a heart-to-heart with the gym-savvy sidekick, then turned her head to Lincoln and Rin trying to get Cecilia away from her hair care kit, and then to the holding area across from her, where Ichika was consoling Houki about the recent match.
"Huh," she chuckled, "Nice note to end on before we pine away," right before she fizzled out of existence.