A/N: I don't know how to describe the robots that Takeru and Mikoto are going to be fighting against in their matches without going overboard with the descriptions. So, to give you a mental image of how I see them I'll just compare them to the following mechs from the Super Robot Wars franchise. The Elefante is like the Gust Lander but it hovers instead of being grounded, the Frei is like the Bellzeute and the Ravager is like a Huckebein Mk. III.


Chapter 2: Innocent Fighting


(Showroom - Terminal N° 51)

[Takeru]


Azure skies with pixelated clouds veer in the screen as I do a barrel roll, landing hard onto the rocky soil, making the awful, teeth-screeching sound of a hard landing appear on the speakers, making my brows narrow and wrinkles to appear on my nose. The alarm continues to beep like birds in the morning, the explosions keep silence at bay like cicadas in the summer.

I lick over my lips, taking a second of pause, as I land with one leg and do a sidestep and take cover under the large cliff I was near, its pixelated cruncy-looking surface shielding me from the missiles. Once the dust and stock explosions fade away, I move my Take forward into the narrow, bumpy canyon road in between the towering cliffs, carefully watching my steps as I walk the pathway full of jagged rocks and pillars that looks like the last fashion trend among hedgehogs, and as soon as I do the missile alarm begins to ring out again.

"Mikoto, I need back up!"

"I can't! The Elefante is blocking the way, dang it!" He instantly replies, his tone a bit higher and faster than before.

"Tch, they got us good!"

I do a double jump as more missiles come my way. In this narrow space I can't even try to counterattack. Let's go for a triple boost jump then!

As soon as I jump, another wave of missiles comes my way forcing me to cancel the jump. I gotta do another barrel roll to not crash onto the cliffs or the stone pillars, left with no choice but to go back to my prior position.

These guys are the real deal, pro players. As soon as I went scouting they bombarded us with missiles, and when we got separated the Elefante took its position and started firing at Mikoto, while its partner cornered me with many consecutive long shots to my ankles from behind, forcing me to get even further away from Mikoto.

It doesn't help that we are playing on the Mirraoph Canyon, which has a lot of narrow pathways and tall cliffs. My speed works against me here, I can't boost as much as I'd like since I run into the risk of crashing myself. That means game over in this situation. And thanks to all the curves and corners, I can't hit my top speed to avoid the missiles either.

To make matters worse, this field plays to the strengths of our rivals. They're a pair that focuses on long range attacks. The Elefante, a dark gray and extra large sized mech, is the slowest in all the game but thanks to its size and defense it's the best tank. It also can equip more weapons than the other mechs and is one of the few that can equip an OTH Railgun and move with it. It looks more like a floating fortress than a humanoid robot, to be honest.

What were the devs thinking when they made it?! This guy should have gotten nerfed to hell a long time ago! Well, at least they removed its Beam Shield. With that it was practically unkillable without another heavy weapon.

Its partner is a Freikugel, a white coated, small frame mech that excels at longrange shooting but its completely average in everything else. Its range and accuracy are to be feared, since it can attack from beyond the radar's area you could get hit without any warning in big maps. Like what's happening to me right now.

Another wave of missiles comes my way, this is stupid. We're not getting anywhere like this, not with the Elefante blocking the way. We gotta do something now.

"Mikoto! How are you holding up?"

"I'm on the run, trying to get past it but it's hard due to the machineguns and the occasional missiles." He groans a bit then he seems to let out a puff of air, with a bit of strength since I could hear it through the mic. He won't hold out alone for much longer.

"Alright, just keep it up for awhile. I'm going there now!"

"Won't you get stuck between their attacks?"

"At this point it's do or die! We're just getting worn down."

I do a backflip as I dodge another missile. Alright, I've gotten the timing of the missiles more or less figured out, since the Frei has to stay out of the radar's area it should be relying on its partner to get my position. So he doesn't know exactly where I am, so staying in such a narrow space is doing them a favor. As soon as the next wave hits, I'm forward dashing the hell out of here! I'll just use the TR to blast away the bigger rocks to make me a path forward. I'll trust in my instincts to maneuver through the rest of the canyon, it's better than to leave this go on and on. Now they should appear in the radar right about…

What the… Where are they?

Still nothing. A few clouds pass over in the distance, the BGM keeps playing. No alarm is coming up, not even as I take a few careful steps in between the stones. Could it be that he went after Mikoto?!

"Mikoto! The Frei may have gone after you! I'm no longer under attack so I'm rushing there." Stepping hard on the pedals I begin the dash, blasting the bigger rocks with a minimally charged TR beam shot.

"What?! I can barely keep up with this guy, how do you want me to dodge the other one's attacks too?!"

"Just hold out for a bit longer! I'm trying to get there!"

Dammit, I'm too far away. I could get there faster if I use all the boosters, but that would use up a lot of fuel and I might crash myself. I have to make some sharp turns, some at a few crossroads in a 90° angle, so it's going to be risky. My swords aren't that good against the Elefante, so if I deplete my fuel by flying high to avoid the rocks, then I won't be able to go for the hit and run approach. Then I'm going to be a sitting duck against the fortress. Mikoto is probably rather low on fuel with how much he's been dodging, so I can't leave him alone against two enemies.

Use all the boosters and risk losing the grind game or crashing? Keep this speed and risk losing Mikoto? Either way, it looks like we're screwed. If only I could hit them from… Wait a sec.

"Mikoto, retreat to a safer position right now!" I stop my boost, positioning the Take's feet forward and stopping with a hop against a rock.

"The hell you're talking about! You'll get bombarded if I run!" Can't blame him for snapping like that.

"You can't take attacks from both at the same time, so if you try to retreat they'll surely try to block you. Just buy me ten seconds!"

"Ten seconds? What are… Oh! Got it!"

Heh, smart kid. He got it in no time. Alright, here should be fine. I take my position under a cliff as I take out the Thunder Rifle. The Elefante is right at the end of my range.

Perfect, let's aim at its core and start the charge to full power. Thanks to all the missiles they shot at me I'm at 53% shields so this will definitely do a lot of damage. If Mikoto manages to distract them I'll get a clear shot to the core, which will probably put it near red numbers and then he can finish it off. Thanks to the cliff I'm safe from incoming missiles, so the charge won't get interrupted. And since the place is full of jagged rocks and obstacles, the Frei can't come near to snipe me in such little time.

10, 9, 8, 7…

A dot appears on my radar, what's the Freikugel doing there? Right at the edge of the radar, on the top of the canyon…

4, 3, 2…

BAM! CRASH!

Just before I took my shot an explosion shook the cliff I was under making it collapse on top of me. But I still managed to shoot, after all the cool down icon is flashing on my screen.

Once the camera readjusts itself, I see my mech got stuck in between some fallen rocks. To think the Frei would use all of its missiles to destroy the environment… This means its loadout is probably lacking a melee weapon. Full commitment to the playstyle, kudos for that. Still feels cheap as hell.

"Mikoto the cliff I was near collapsed. I'm stuck between some rocks, how did it go?" My Take's torso swings back and forth until I get fed up and use a sword to stand up again. On the plus side, the explosion cleared most of the big rocks on the area so now I can boost without worries.

"You got a clean hit on its head! Took 33% of its shields!" He yells, a bit too loud for my ears.

I was aiming for the body but wound up doing a head-shot. Well, at least I hit it.

Wait, if I didn't leave it in low health, that means… Mikoto is not going to be able to finish it off. And that means he's now in the range of both of them. Alone.

As I finished my trail of thought an alarm appeared on my screen. Mikoto has 10% shields left.

"Mikoto get outta there! Let's regroup somewhere else!" I flickered my joysticks and puller the right lever, entering a sudden full boost towards Mikoto's position, grazing a few pillars as I did.

"I can't escape! They're synchronizing their missiles to block me, and my air thrusters got hit so I can't glide anymore!" He shouted as I could hear the clicking noises of the controllers as he yanked them around.

Shit, they outsmarted us again. That's why the Frei didn't come after me immediately with missiles and instead tried to bury me under the cliff. He wasn't really trying to stop me from shooting at the Elef, he wanted to off Mikoto to later projectile spam me to death.

"Takeru, I'm sorry. I couldn't get past this thing and didn't do much damage to it."

"Hey, don't give up! We still haven't-"

"It was fun, you know! Playing together again. We should do this more often. Now let's go for that ice cream!"

Mikoto's dot stopped moving as missiles approached its position. A loud explosion could be heard in the distance as a message appeared on my screen.

[PLAYER 1 KILLED]

Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! They read us like an open book! If I had dashed out of there faster this wouldn't have happened. Because of me… Mikoto is…

My eyes are glued to the crimson word flashing in the screen. I ease up on the boost, bringing my Takemikazuchi to a stop in between some rocks.

Killed.

Mikoto got killed. He's… dead… dead…

I froze. I know Mikoto isn't dead, this is just a game after all.

But as I spoke the words in my head, my nightmares returned to my mind.

A ruined world, the eternal wasteland. Fire spreads through my eyes. My soul freezes as I once more hear the blossoming screams begging for help, explosions left and right, death as far as one could see. There is no sun, no light within this place. I see no hope, no salvation here.

The image of Mikoto being blown into a thousand bits fills my view, then it's Tama, then Class Rep, then Ayamine, then Meiya. Sumika appears in that bed as the white haired girl repeats the same words: "She's dead."

I feel my throat wringing tight at the sight and sounds of this nightmare. Something red is advancing towards me. Then slowly, so slowly, a black fire engulfs the battlefield, leaving nothing behind. The screams stop, the red things are all gone. As well as everyone else.

It's cold.

It feels so, so cold.

Complete, utter silence.

No screams… No one else alive is near…

No one…

…Alone.

But then another image comes to me, more vivid than any other one. Someone is still fighting, someone is still struggling.

So brave, so bold. Rushing through the wasteland like a thunderbolt. A metallic human-like thing struggles against the red sea, making tidal waves of gore rise high. A voice from within it shreds its lungs out.

"Give me my world back!"

Is that… me? A voice like mine roars from within the steel giant as it rushes through the wasteland slashing at some kind of monsters with swords in each hand. That has to be me.

Who else could someone who speaks like me be? No one, except myself.

I feel a small warm feeling on the back of my head, like small raindrops gently falling on me. Then my unfocused vision clears up, my throat eases up, I take a deep breath. As I blink a few times, I realize I'm back in the arcade cockpit, game still in session. I let out the air in me as I calm down.

…What was that? I've never had such a vivid daydream in my entire life. Was I having a panic attack? Over a game?

Yes, again I screwed up. But I was never that good on Valgern-On, truth be told. Then, why am I gritting my teeth? Why are my fists clawing at the joysticks? Why can't I wipe the frown from my face?

"Am I gonna have a break down? Just for this shit?!"

Having to move slower than usual? Fighting two on one? Being low on fuel? I feel like I've been through worse things in my life. Or was it in my dreams? Am I dreaming about a ruined world to pump myself up? Am I dreaming about this peaceful world to rest from all that carnage? A flicker on my screens snaps me back to reality.

Two waves of missiles incoming. I grip the joysticks tightly. No way in hell I'm losing like this. If I'm gonna lose then I'll struggle to the very end!

"Full accel on all boosters! I'm outta here, forward dash!" I got out of the impact zone by a hair.

I keep dashing forward, avoiding the second wave of missiles that approached, grazing a few large stone pillars, colliding with some smaller ones and taking minimal damage, rebounding off the cliffs as I jump onto them, making the screen move faster and faster as if this were a racing game and I was going at over 300 km/h. Getting the TR back on, I move my boosters back and begin to fly just a bit over the ground as I charge my shot, the alarm of more missiles coming resonating yet again on my ears.

I inhale slowly through my nose, easing up the grasp on my joysticks. Blinking fast, I let out a groan as I fire the beam and blast away a few pillars and rock formations on the cliff, flying through before the missiles hit and managing to get back to an open area. Alright, this place isn't as narrow. Let's go for some jumps in zigzag, that should let me avoid most missiles and conserve my fuel.

Another wave incoming. Taking altitude, the skies take a larger part of the screen as I look at the radar, at the rocks and cliffs ahead. Forward dash, jump to the right, cancel, double boost jump to the left. I pass through a small hole under the cliff, continuing through the opening safe from the explosions. No damage, great.

I should go for the Frei first, since the Elefante can't move much. Looking at where the missiles came from he should be somewhere around northeast. I do another double boost jump, landing on a large pillar and jumping again off it, and jump again off the cliff as I approach it. Changing the direction of my boost, I reach the top of the canyon before I lost more altitude or fuel. The large view of the barren wasteland with it's rocky surface and signs of life shining for their absence sent a shock through my back, but I bit it back down as I dashed through the sinkholes and cracks in the map. Now let's get moving, he's bound to appear on the radar sooner or later.

And not a second later, a dot blips on my radar.

"There it is! Lock On! Don't think your missiles will keep me back!" And neither will this bumpy terrain, it's nothing I haven't done before! As the missiles get closer I grip the joysticks and prepare to dodge them.

Sidestep, dash, boost jump, cancel, crouch, cancel, forward dash! Missiles avoided. It's almost in range, don't underestimate the Takemikazuchi's speed!

I go into a full boost for a second, my unwary rival seemed to get off guard by the purple beetle piercing through the twisting clouds of dust, going at it like an arrow. Letting its shoulder pads cascade onto its back, the Frei cancels the missiles and switches to the machineguns, as he begins to backboost it opens fire. I dodge to the right and dash towards it, then I do a jump and immediately cancel it. Heh, I got you to aim up! That'll cost you dearly!

"How do you like my machineguns?!" I shouted as I pushed the triggers, my bullets making their way to the Frei's platinum and slim body like moths to a fire. It couldn't dodge all the shots at this range, and now that you're stunned I'm gonna-

An alarm appears in my screen. I pulled back as fast as I could and then a yellow flash passed before me, surging forth like a splurge of sauce when you press the bottle way too hard. I completely forgot about the Elefante, so it did have an OTH equipped.

I got lucky this time, so let's finish the Frei before it runs away or the OTH gets reloaded. Dammit, its already trying to get away!

"Get back here, you coward!"

The Frei might be one of the best snipers but on the open terrain at the top of the canyon it's no match for the Takemikazuchi, so long as I don't fall in one of the sinkholes. I circle around it waiting for an opening, I don't think the same jump cancel trick will work twice.

But since he's trying to get me to the area full of sinkholes… He also has to take care to not fall into them, and once he loses some speed…

Noticing a chance as the Frei did a slide while crouching along the crackling edge of a fracture in the wasteland, I sped up slightly when going behind a rock and, flicking the joystick hard, I boost jumped over it while taking my short swords out. And as soon as my lock was confirmed, I fired the machineguns in midair trying to catch the coward off guard before it regained any speed. Yes, stunned!

"I'm done with you!" I aim at its core with both short swords and get a direct hit.

…Wait, why is he still moving? He's not down yet?!

The Frei punches me and tries to boost jump away as my Take stumbles back, but I finish it with the machineguns before it gets away, after button mashing like mad to regain my footing.

"Sigh… Damn, that was dangerous." If it was any other mech that little percentage it had left could have costed me the game, thank God the guy didn't have a melee weapon.

Now, let's see how I'm holding. Shield at 31%, fuel at 24%. Since I barely used my swords they're at full durability, but even then I can't go for the hit and run. I probably can do only one full boost if I'm careful. If we're talking about range there's no way I could fire the TR, even if I bait and dodge another shot from the railgun it probably has either a rifle or long range missiles to disrupt my charge. And my speed does lower a bit while charging the TR, so dodging and charging at the same time is out of the question against an Elef. So, what do I do? Where's the safest place to attack such a giant enemy?

I have an idea, but it's completely stupid. It's better than letting the timer run out on me, though. C'mon Takemikazuchi! Let's show 'em how good we are together!

After running to almost the edge of the canyon, I start boost jumping towards the Elefante in zigzags. I'll assume it has the OTH charged already and is waiting for me to appear in the radar. I'll have to be quick to dash out of the way! And there it is, just as I descended from the cliff. The alarm flashed as I dashed to my left, barely getting out of the yellow beam's way. Now's my chance, full boost ahead!

I rush towards him at top speed, dodging some shots from its rifles and some missiles using the cliffs and rocks as cover while again grazing some as I moved. Mikoto was right, this one relies more on its guns than on the missiles. Carefully reading its shooting timings, I manage to get near the open area where it is but then he switches to using a heavy machinegun on each arm and I'm forced to sidestep to get out of harm's way, hiding behind some large stone pillars that can't be destroyed by the weapon.

How did this OP mech not get nerfed yet?! Seriously devs, what the hell?!

Moving to another pillar, I circle around the giant fortress, running through the dust and pixelated large rocks in the area, that is being showered by incoming sunlight from the clear sky. I just gotta dodge for a little while more, the heavy machineguns gotta cool down after a short while. Dammit, my shields are at 21%, am I gonna make it?! There's not enough places to take cover in if I wanna get closer.

The shooting stops and the player took a little too long to switch its weapons, I went behind the floating fortress and started to get closer. Just a bit more, if I land a hit with my machineguns it's as good as dead.

He spams the missiles again, no problem! Forward dash, sidestep, boost jump to the left, cancel, boost jump to the right! …Huh?

[MAIN TANK DEPLETED. BOOSTERS DISABLED.]

Shit! I ran out of fuel! I can't boost jump anymore!

BAM! BAM!

I took two missiles to the face. My Take was sent flying back, crashing against a rock. Shields at 5%. Well, F this. F everything.

"Like I'm gonna lose after getting so far! Get up Takemikazuchi! We'll just run to it!" Yanking the controls as if they were a stuck doorknob, the Takemikazuchi sprung back on its feet.

I bet the Elef's player thought they had already won because the arms definitely moved oddly for a sec there. Even if I can't boost jump I can still cancel and do regular dashes, so I'm still not totally hopeless here. I keep dashing to stay behind the giant titan as it turns around, if I get in the range of those machineguns I'm toast.

The triangles on it's shoulders move, revealing the missile launchers. Great, more projectiles to dodge. Yay. I bring out the TR, aiming it upwards as I rush on.

Forward dash, sidestep, shoot the beam, and then dash! I made it to a big enough rock to protect me from the missiles I couldn't take out.

"And now… you're in my range! Being so big must suck right now!" I flicked the trigger and the machineguns hit its lower body while I dodge the fire from the turrets it has equipped on its sides. "Hahahaha! 0% damage! This is hilarious!" I can't help but laugh at this. Who on Earth designed this monster?! And you're telling me it had a Beam Shield when it was introduced? What were they smoking? I want some of that.

But anyways, thanks to the stun I'm now in position. Let's see if my gamble was worth it!

Back in my college class there's this guy called Onimura. He's also a gamer so we hit it off immediately. He plays this game where he is just a medieval guy hunting monsters with a giant horn that plays music or something. The thing is, one day I asked him how did he even approach one of those giant dragons he fights, to which he answered:

"The safest place to fight a giant dragon is below him, ironically! Since most of its attacks can't hurt me if I'm there, and I can just keep beating it up no problem!"

Onimura if this plan works I'm buying you lunch for a week, I swear.

The stun wears off as I take out a longsword and start slashing at the Elefante from below while shooting the TR without even charging it.

Slash, 2% damage. Slash, 2% damage. Laser Beam, 9% damage. Little by little I lower its shield. The Elefante tries to move, but since the Takemikazuchi's speed is better even on foot I can remain below him. He can't attack me with its CQC Turrets or any other weapon while I'm here, and the Elefante cannot jump since it's always hovering. I keep slashing at its lower body while making sure to stay below it. Soon, the metal plating of the mech beings to peel off like a snake's old skin, sparks and screeches jumping as if you poured water onto a frying pan filled with warm oil.

"You son of a bitch! You okay winning like a scrub?!" I hear over the headphones.

"You two tried to win this by spamming projectiles, so I'm sure you won't complain about me taking the easy way out!" I tell them in my old cocky tone.

"You've no skill, noob! Sucker! Cheater!" The other guy of that team keeps calling me names.

The Elefante's shields are in red, let's finish this!

"Hey you two, GG. And by that I mean Git Gud!" Holding a chuckle, I drove my longsword into the Elefante. Shields 0%! We did it!

[MATCH OVER - TEAM N° 63 WINS]

"WOOHOHOO!" We made it into the top 12 of our zone! "Hey Mikoto! Say something! What do you think about that?!" I must sound like a kid, but I can't hide my excitement right now. All that anxiety completely gone from me, I cannot help but smile like an idiot.

There's no answer. I get out of my seat and look around but I don't see him anywhere. Where could he… Don't tell me that he went away!

He's not in his seat, not outside the terminal. Mikoto if you leave and we get disqualified you'll never hear the end of it!

"COME BACK HERE MIKOTOOOOOOO!"


5 Minutes later.

(Showroom. Rest Area.)


"I can't believe you! You have no faith in me!"

"What were you expecting?! One of them was unscathed and the other was a friggin' floating fortress with a freaking OTH Railgun! You had less than half of your shields and fuel! I really thought it was the end of it!" He waves both hands upwards, rather annoyed. I mean, I guess anyone would think it'd be impossible to turn the tables on a situation like that.

"Whatever, let's go for a drink or something. Just lemme tell you that you missed one of the best matches in the tournament!" We began walking towards the rest area in the showroom. I really need a good drink, though.

"I'll just watch the replay later. But that was enough, you know? I mean, I was really happy that we made it to the Top 24 of our zone! I can't believe we're in the best 36 teams of the whole tournament!" He says as the glee returns to his face.

"Yeah, but from now on we stick together and watch each other's back. The next fight is gonna be brutal too."

"Wait, you wanna win it?!" He looks at me with a surprised face, resembling an electric rat.

"You don't?"

"Eh? Ah, no. I mean, yes, I wanna win but, you know, you kinda carried us here. Not just the last fight, I've not been much help in this." Then, he lets out a sigh as a dejected expression appears on his face.

"Dude, this isn't like you at all. And last fight was all on me for not acting faster. You kept the Elefante at bay for, what? Three full minutes? That's awesome, you know?"

"Yeah, but I got taken down in the end. And it was your idea that took down the Elef, and you took care of the Frei all by yourself too." He looks away, his pace slows down.

"That was more thanks to the Takemikazuchi's exceptional speed, if you had tried to get below that thing I'm sure you could have done it."

"You think?" He looks really down. How could I cheer him up? I'm not good at giving speeches, I always end up preaching when I do.

"What? Is this how you wanna go? With me showing you up? What's next? You're gonna start calling me Takeru-sama?" Poking fun at him, I smirk while moving my brows up. Let's just do what I usually do, no point in overthinking this.

"Wha… I-Idiot! You're such a stupid idiot, Takeru! That's it, next fight is my turn to shine!" Yes! There's the competitive Mikoto I know!

"That's more like it! Now let's get some juice or something!"

"…Hey Takeru, you alright?" He stops in his tracks, locking his gaze on me.

"Hmm? Yeah, why?"

"You look kinda… different. No, you look like you usually do."

"Huh? Then why did you ask me if I'm alright?"

"Because you've been weird for awhile. You didn't smile, rarely made jokes, didn't react when you got teased. Even the tone of your voice sounded down."

"Well, what can I say? Beating someone up sure is nice. Especially with a sword!"

"Hahaha, see? That's our usual Takeru!"

"Hahaha, well, is it what it is. Let's relax for a bit and keep doing our best. Then we're hitting that ice cream harder than a triple boost jump landing!"

"Yeah!"


40 minutes later.

(Showroom. Rest Area.)


"AAAAHHH TAKERU!"

"Stop screaming. And stop running. Sit down already." I sat, finally biting into the sandwich I ordered.

"B-B-B-But we made it to the FINAL! How do you want me to calm down?!" Mikoto starts running in circles again as he shuffles between all his character sprites at the speed of sound. Seriously, he needs to chill. We just won a super close game, too.

"Mikoto, you must chill! We're already here, so no matter the result we went way beyond our limits. Let's fight with no regrets!"

"Aah, what are we gonna do?!"

This is pointless. Ayamine I wish you were here to help me calm him down. And by that I mean suffocate him until he calms down.

"If you didn't want to be in the final then, why did you land all those cannon shots?" He really creamed the opposite team real bad last match while they ganged up on me. Still can't believe he got the two kills, to be honest.

"I was just having fun! And you were trying so hard to corner them, so when I saw my chance I just took the shot. I wasn't even aiming at the core! This is the first time I do more than 40% with a single attack!" He crashes into the seat in front of mine with sparks flying out of the thunderstorm of wonderment that laid in his eyes.

He got not one, but two fully charged cannon shots to the core of the first enemy, taking 45% off its shields with each hit. Obviously the mech exploded.

Imagine my surprise, I'm having trouble at CQC while dodging some mid range fire, and suddenly one mech explodes outta nowhere. And then as I stunned the other, it exploded too in a flash after Mikoto got yet another cannon shot at its core, shaving its remaining life away.

A match that was at a standstill for three minutes ended in less than one, thanks to Mikoto's exalted mode activating or something.

"Well then, let's just keep having fun! This time it's really hard to think we could win it. So, let's go out with a blast!"

"Uuuh, but everyone is gonna be watching! And the final is going to be uploaded to the official website! What if we screw up and it ends up there forever?!" He keeps shaking, forehead full of sweat beads as he takes his first bite of his food.

"All the more reason to calm down, so that we don't make any stupid mistakes!"

"Uuuh…" He seems to have calmed down a bit. But it's not like I don't understand him.

The last two matches were very hard, even when Mikoto upped his game. We went against pros and managed to somehow get out victorious. Honestly, if it weren't for the Takemikazuchi's speed and stun and Mikoto's deadly cannon shots we wouldn't be here. So much for weapon balance! So many things are broken in this game! Though, I suppose that for my rivals my speed is broken too.

There's also this seething motivation I've been feeling since that match with the Elef and the Frei. Like, I don't even wanna lose this. Yet… this seems kinda… pointless? I mean, we're losing the final no matter what we do, we're nowhere near the level needed to actually win. But, I dunno, it's like something's missing here.

At least this is the end of the tournament. I'm really glad I got to be here, even if after this it's another half a year until everyone can get together again. After this we get some more time to hang out. I really shouldn't let my nightmares bring me down so much. I really rather be hanging out with the gang right now. I really wanna spend some more time with them.

As I laid back onto my seat on the rest area, I noticed Mikoto was playing with his keys. He's nervous. His gaze is clouded as he eats a sandwich, it's also rare for him to be so quiet.

"Alright Mikoto, let's make a bet!" It may be a stupid idea, but I want him to at least have fun in our last match.

"Huh? About what?"

"The first to go down has to give the other half of his ice cream!"

"What?! No, you're just gonna rush away and leave me to die!"

"Of course not! We're both rushing in at the same time, since I don't think we stand a chance either way. Might as well go for the surprise attack."

"Huh? But…" He doesn't look convinced. Let's give him one last push.

"Wow, someone is not confident. Highschool Mikoto would laugh at you right now!" I see his face change from doubt to anger in a second. Baiting: Successful!

"What?! Don't be a jerk Takeru! I just… I'm really nervous, you know? Like this is the kind of thing I was always dreaming about when we were back in school!" He says as his face lights up. "I was always getting dragged to the sea or the jungle, so when I got back home playing games was one of the things I looked forward to the most! But I could never go to any events, and now not only I'm in one but I'm in the final match of the event! Do you get it Takeru?! We are on the final of an official Valgern-On tournameeeent!"

And then his eyes start rotating in a counter clockwise way. Seriously dude, chill.

"Then all the more reason to go and give your best!"

"Huh?"

"With college and work in the future we probably won't be able to come to another event like this. This may be the last time for a long while that we can just have fun without worrying about what hour it is or if there's any studies to catch up to. So, chill dude. We came here, we played, we took down some pro players and we got to the final. What else could a fan ask for?!"

"Yeah… I mean, today was great! I guess there's nothing else a fan could ask, aside from winning the thing. Thanks Takeru, you've matured a lot, you know?" He gives me his usual smile. I'm really envious of how easily you can change your mood.

"That's hardly a good thing, considering how much of a brat I was before. If I didn't grew up a bit I'd be in deep shit now that I'm in college."

"Hahaha, don't be silly!"

"To all finalists, please go to your terminal. The final match shall begin in five minutes. I repeat… "

The voice echoes through the showroom. All the players that lost have gone to the hall, I think, so the showroom feels empty right now. We were on the rest area but the other players didn't come at all. Who knows what kind of people we were against now?

"Let's go Takeru! It's showtime!"

"Yeah, let's!" Let's do our worst and go down without regrets!

Heh, who would have said it? A videogame is what got me out of my cloud of negativity of these last months. Though, I do wonder what the hell is up with these nightmares.

After getting ready we heard the announcer on our headphones introduce all the teams. Can't believe they used our full names, I better not make a fool out of myself here or my college life might become hell. Please guys in my class, don't watch this!

Then we got to the field select screen and the battlefield is…

Heh, of course it would be this. Yguloch Fortress. The narrow circle of hell as they call it. Well, at least we won't have to worry about Rigulla's damage hazards.

And then, with a loud cheer, the three-headed dragon match began!

The Technopolis comes into view, imposing as always. I'll never get tired of praising some of the maps. The backgrounds, BGMs and style they have is top notch.

"Takeru, can you see any enemies?"

"Nope, I'll go check. Stay close, I'll go over that tower."

I get close to a futuristic looking control tower, but I can't see anything on the screen or my radar. Yguloch has an open exterior filled with all kind of sci-fi, futuristic looking buildings and in the center of the map there's the fortress. The inside is very narrow, similar to an actual building, with many hallways and very few open spaces.

But there's one special thing about this map. In the dead center of the fortress there's a room with a control panel, and if you interact with it you'll make nukes rain down on the outside of the fortress. It basically destroys all the outside map, forcing players to fight within the fortress. But the nukes are programmed to drop automatically after 5 minutes anyways.

So we have no time to waste, we gotta try to get close to the entrance in case anyone pushes the red button. Or we could just rush and do that ourselves? Nah, no way in hell that's gonna work, we'll be exposing ourselves unnecessarily.

"Takeru! Enemy to your left!"

I check my radar, there's two of them near. Wait, I got another reading to my right. Two more coming from over there. Are they rushing into the fortress? So much for being cautious.

"Can you see anything Mikoto?"

"Not yet, I still can't… wait, is that… an Elefante?!"

"Times two actually, there's another to the right." I say as another Elef becomes visible to my right as it flies above the buildings.

"EEH?! For real?!" That match against the gray Elef must have left quite the impact on him.

So much for a balanced and diverse meta. Let's see what are the others piloting.

"Mikoto, stay on the ground. Let's lay low for awhile."

"Huh? What about rushing in for a surprise attack?"

"Just let me see what are the others piloting." Just a little more and they'll get in the radar's area…

And there we go! Let's check what are they… Slim build, spiky head, long backthrusters. Huh, well shit. This is gonna suck.

"Takeru, can you see them?"

"Yep, both of them are using a Ravager." I say as I start advancing towards the gate on the ground with Mikoto following me.

"Both? So the other teams are identical?"

"Yeah, balance and diversity be damned. I can see what they were going for, but this is just ridiculous. Both teams are rushing to the entrance, and if I were a betting man I'd say they're trying to block it with the Elefante while the Ravager gets to the control panel to wipe all other players with the nukes."

"Huh?! And you think that'll work?"

"Honestly, yeah. The Ravager is the fastest mech in the game, and while most of its weapons are light and don't do much damage, its signature weapon, the Homing Missile, is really good. It dodges covers and obstacles and can stun just like my machineguns. With those it can keep any pursuers at bay or hop in for the kill if it needs to."

"So what do we do?" He sounds worried. Can't blame him.

"What we were going to do anyways! Rush 'em!"

"R-Really?" I can feel his incredulous look through his voice.

"Yeah, the Elefantes are going to knock each other trying to seize the gate, while the Ravagers will infiltrate the fortress. That way if we get past the giants we can kill off each Ravager individually. Since the hallways are so narrow the Elefantes can't get inside the fortress, so once the nukes get sent they're as good as dead."

"This feels really cheap, you know."

"Have you ever played this map Mikoto?"

"No, not really. I haven't got the time to try all the new maps from the last updates."

"The inside of the fortress is like a labyrinth, so it's not like you can just rush in and get to the panel in a short while, and even from outside the OTH Railgun can hit us when we are on the outer rings of the fortress, so it's not going to be easy! Let's go!"

"Okay, right behind you!"

As we get close to the entrance, crouching and hiding behind a building, we see that the fight has already started. A green Elef has taken the gate while the other team tries to get past it. This one is firing missiles everywhere. Another spammer, huh? This one seems to have equipped missiles for all ranges and is holding a single machinegun.

The other team has an orange Elef repelling some missiles with its own, trying to cover a blue Ravager. All right, they seem to be so focused on the gate that they haven't noticed us getting closer, or they just don't give a damn. Whatever, I think that one full boost dash followed by a triple boost jump should get us close enough to just dash under the green one. There should be one Ravager inside the fortress already so we should hurry.

"Mikoto on my mark we go for a full boost dash followed by a triple boost jump, that should get us close enough to get past the green one. You ready?"

"Wait, don't you see that mark on the radar? Just above the gate?" Mikoto says with a shade of doubt.

"Huh? I just see one dot, what are you… It moved! There's two dots!" They're overlapping their signals? Is that even possible? I'm sure this is as legal as a loli.

"What do you think they're doing?" He seems surprised this kind of thing is even possible.

"If they didn't get into the fortress, then I have no idea. There's no advantage to fight on top of the gate, since launching homings from inside would be safer."

"What if they were waiting to catch them by surprise? Takeru you said that the Elefante can't get inside, right? So, if they kill the Ravager of the team…"

"They have the match in their pocket! You're totally right!" Mikoto, you're a genius.

Of course anyone would assume that rushing to the panel is the safer strategy. But when they saw that the other team also had an Elefante, they decided to seize the chance to kill its partner, to have no one to compete for the panel later, since it seems they don't care about us.

"What do you think we should do Mikoto?"

"Um, the Homing doesn't do much damage right? So, I think that after the other team realizes that there's a Ravager on top of the gate, they'll try to kill it. And that's when we should rush into the fortress, while they fight between each other."

"Why don't we reveal the Ravager to them, then?" Light bulb moment right now, I have an idea we can exploit.

"Reveal it? Charging in into those two Elef's range? No, thanks!" He really is scared of them, after all.

"I was thinking of sniping it, we're in range I think. They haven't focused on us because we are not a threat to them, but when they look at where we shoot, even if we miss…"

"They'll see the other Ravager! Nice thinking Takeru!"

"Nah, this is all you noticing the second dot."

We went near a building and took position. Mikoto readied his cannons and I took out the Thunder Rifle. Looking with the scope it's obvious there's a mech above the gate, but if you don't look closely you can totally miss it. Looking at it from the front must be almost impossible, since he's hiding behind those light poles.

Alright, let's get this baby charged up. Let's aim at the light poles!

"Mikoto I'll blow up the lights, you target the Ravager!"

"What do we do after we shoot?"

"Wait and see, depending how things turn out we either take advantage of the chaos or wait until they stop bombarding each other with missiles. No point in rushing if we can't get to the gate in one piece."

"Okay, got it."

3, 2, 1… GO!

Both of our mechs shot in unison towards the gate. The lights got blown up to smithereens and the red Ravager was forced to jump to dodge Mikoto's shot. The other team was taken aback but when they saw the other Ravager they immediately started firing at it.

"Looks like that went well. What now Takeru?"

"They're nuking each other, we should… Mikoto to your left!"

A homing missile was headed towards Mikoto, luckily he reacted in time and shot it down.

"You damn casuals! How dare you ruin our plan! Go back to the Dreamcost with your low tier shit!" I think this is the guy in the red Ravager.

"What does he mean by low tier shit?!" He better not be insinuating what I think he is.

"You don't check the tier list Takeru?"

"No, I just read the summaries on the forums and saw some replays of each mech."

"Really? No wonder you picked up the Takemikazuchi." What's up with that sarcastic tone?

"Which tier are our mechs in?"

"Mine is Mid tier. Yours is in Bottom tier."

"What?! This baby is at the bottom?! I call bullshit!"

"You're the only one I've seen to be able to use that mech without crashing and exploding at some point."

Our chat was interrupted by more missiles coming our way. Seems like camping is no longer an option for us, now that we got ourselves noticed.

"Mikoto, let's go! No point in staying here taking the missiles!"

"All right, right behind you!"

We dash towards the gate dodging and taking cover to avoid taking damage. This doesn't look like a battle that just started. Both Elefs are already at less than half shields and the blue Ravager is around 70%. I think this is going to turn into a slaughter, control panel be damned.

The red Ravager turns around when it notices us, shooting a homing towards us along two grenades. Dammit, he's trying to split us up!

"Mikoto, to the left!" We take down the homing and get out of the grenades' damage area.

"Aren't you good for being a casual? At least you'll put up a fight!" The red's pilot screams at us.

"Masa, stop screwing around and leave the weaklings to me!" A women's voice rang on the headphones. So she's the green Elef's pilot. Weaklings, you said? Heh, we'll show you!

"Takeru, to your left!" Just as Mikoto warned me a grenade was about to explode near me. I quickly boost backflipped out of danger. That was too close.

"Thanks dude!"

"Stay focused, who should we target?"

"Let's go for green and red! The other two have taken more damage than them and will keep getting damaged in the crossfire. Don't let your guard down though, they'll surely try to hit us when they get a chance. It'll try to get under green to get red's attention, then we can pincer him. After that we can deal with the blue one, and then we retreat into the fortress. Give me some cover!"

I dash towards the green Elef at top speed. Now that I know how much damage it takes from below I know I can lower its shield enough for it to get killed by the other Elef.

The red Ravager tries to go after me but it's stopped by the blue one. Alright, let's do a full boost and do this quickly!


[Mikoto]


Dang it, these guys are too fast! I can barely keep up with them. Between their guns and the missiles from the Elef I have my hands full. I'm just shooting at whatever gets in the autolock's range. Hey, Takeru got under the green one! I just gotta keep them busy for awhile!

That red one has been gunning for me all this time, alright let's pay him back. I start to glide to my left and shoot down the homing that was closing in, now let's go for some consecutive jumps! Just like Takeru said I got to a decent distance, can't let this pass me by! I shoot a gun barrage and manage to hit it, but he also hits me back and throws a grenade upwards. Dang, I gotta pull back.

BAM!

What the?! The blue one?! It hit me from behind! Wait, the grenade!

BOOM!

Somehow I got out of that with some boost jumps. Uuh, how dare they! That's it! I'll show them.

The red one is again sending homings, but this time it's towards the blue. Using this breathing room I get my cannons and lock them towards both Ravagers, even if it's not a full charge I'll just take the shot!

One hit! I quickly glide away and start shooting at the blue one that was coming my way. I manage to take down a homing again, and just like I wanted the red one is right on my trail. Just a bit closer, come on you two!

The orange Elef keeps sending missiles to us as it keeps shooting at the green one, the blue Ravager is in front of me readying another homing and shooting with its machine guns, and red is behind me preparing its grenade launcher.

Alright, now's the time!

"Takeru! Throwing the Flash!"

"Okay!"

I immediately pull the second trigger, launching the small pod on my shoulders into the air.

I close my eyes as a bright light covers the battlefield. Of all the weapons that the Xao-Myun can equip on its upper body the Flash Grenade is the only one that doesn't lower my agility. But it only has one shot and if the enemies aren't really close they won't get stunned.

Now's my chance! I take some distance to equip my machinegun, and shoot at both Ravagers. Hit to the Blue! 19% Damage! And the red one…

…got blocked by the green Elef. Of course, the green one was too far away to be stunned. No problem! It seems Takeru got him with his TR from below the Elef. I'll go press the red one now so that we can pincer him. Takeru should be done with the Elef any minute now.

"Mikoto! Get out of there!"

"Huh? What?!"

I glide away at the last second as a giant beam fills my screen. Wait, this attack…

"An OTH?!" Yes, it is! The green Elef has one of those too! It must have charged it during the time the others were stunned by my Flash.

The blue Ravager is on red numbers. The shields of both Elef's are in their low twenties, Takeru is still slashing at the green one. Wait, the red Ravager is going after him!

"Like I'd let you!"

I shoot a barrage at it from behind, to which it just does a spin in the air to dodge and then throws a grenade my way. I boost jump over it and keep firing at its red frame. You're not getting away!

Just as I was getting closer my mech suddenly stops and begins to lose altitude. The stun icon appears on my screen.

"What? I'm stunned?!" When did I get hit by a homing?!

"That's payback for that cannon shot from earlier!" The guy who played the blue Ravager snickers as he sicks his gun on me.

Dang! Shield at 47% and decreasing. C'mon! Move!

I turn the boosters back to life and glide to my right when the stun wears off. The blue one follows up with a homing. I know what he's thinking. I'll take down the homing and he'll just take a vantage point to sick his gun on me again.

Well, not this time! I've got a plan to take you down. I glide towards a giant tower, spiraling downwards. If it works on the wall, it should work on the floor, right Takeru?

"The heck you're doing?!" Blue seems surprised. Hehe! You'll be more shocked in no time.

I'm getting close to the tower, homing right behind me in a spiral movement.

Alright, slightly slow down, change the boosters direction and just before impact… full boosters!

I hit the tower with a crash but instead of tumbling down, the Xao-Myun rebounds towards the ground. And as I pull the accel to max power and shift the thrusters angle just before hitting the ground the Xao-Myun flies upwards at top speed! I dodge the spiraling homing as it explodes on the ground, and fly up charging at the blue Ravager.

"What the hell?!" Blue couldn't even react before I switched to my saber and slashed at him.

Just one more push! I tilt the joystick forward and thrust the saber again, this should do it!

"Don't you get cocky on me, casual!" He roars.

"I'll take you out!" I snarl back.

SWISH!

SLASH!

We both hit each other with our melee weapons. But as my screen shakes I see I dropped his shield to 0%.

The blue Ravager descends as it goes limp, then explodes. I… I did it.

"Yeah! I took out a Ravager! Now I'll go to Takeru before-"

BOOM!

Dang, what happened now? I'm losing height! Wait, what did…

"You may have taken Kero out, but I'm not gonna stand here and let you walk away." Said someone, clearly pissed off.

Is it the pilot of the orange Elef? Oh, dang it. He's gonna shoot me with the machineguns.

C'mon Xao-Myun! Move! Boost outta here! I'll try to block some shoots with the cannons. My screen shakes as the low shield warning alarm starts playing.

I somehow managed to get outta there without dying and managed to take cover behind some sort of mobile command post to protect me from the missiles.

But suddenly, the missiles that were coming after me disappeared from the radar.

"Thanks for the diversion!" It's the green Elef's pilot!

What does she mean by… Oh! A yellow beam engulfs the orange Elef, then it explodes. She must have charged the OTH while the other was trying to shoot me down. Doesn't matter, let's take some distance.

"Takeru! How are you doing?!" At least I know he's above 10% shields.

"I'm inside the fortress! I got the green one close to red numbers but then the red Ravager started chasing me. I'm the one chasing it now, though. How are you?" He sounds worried.

"Hehehe! I took down the blue Ravager with an Albright Turn! Check that out!"

"FOR REAL?! That's awesome! Hurry up and get inside the fortress then!"

"I don't know if I'll be able to get past the green Elef with how low my shields are."

"Doesn't matter! Red is almost to the central room, the nukes could fall any second now!"

"What?!" And just as Takeru finished warning me, an alarm sounds and my radar displays ten incoming bombs. I still have enough fuel but with less than 10% shields and against an Elef…

"Looks like you won the bet Takeru. But we ended up getting second place, huh?"

"You're not even gonna try, huh? Well, this time don't go wandering off. I just might pull some awesome moves and win this thing."

"It was really fun! I wonder if we'll get a silver trophy or a medal."

"Dude, the match isn't over yet."

"I'm really in the mood for some strawberry ice cream, or maybe should I go with some chocolate?"

"Stop ignoring me!" Hehe, it's so fun to tease you Takeru.

"Well, anyways, see you later Takeru! Have fun with the red one!"

A bright flash followed by a great explosion. My screen shakes as it goes white.

[SHIELDS DEPLETED-UNIT KILLED]

Oh boy! This match was so much fun! I can't believe we actually beat one of those Ravagers!

Okay, let's switch to spectator mode. Takeru do your best! I hope you're having as much fun as I!