"Ready?… GO!" the announcer cried, and Allenby and Sai Saici eagerly leapt at each other.
Sai jumped above Allenby's punch and, as with Weilen, she followed him into the air. However, she couldn't pull her little sun- in- the- eyes trick again; besides its being the wrong time of day, Sai Saici was much faster than the other man had been. She tried a kick.
Sai dodged it and landed on the ring floor. Allenby touched down a minute later; as soon as she'd arrived, he planted his flags.
"This is going to be a good match." Domon observed quietly, watching the Valkyrie Gundam unexpectedly tunnel into the ring floor itself and come up behind Dragon Gundam, which quickly evaded the Valkyrie's fist.
Argo merely grunted. George nodded, and Chibodee clapped a hand to the Neo- Japanese man's back and heartily proclaimed, "I agree with ya, buddy!"
Asherah's eyes moved with the flashes that were the Gundams. They were really incredibly fast; she was impressed.
Dragon Gundam took up one of its flags and attempted to skewer Valkyrie Gundam with it; Allenby snatched a sword from her back and sliced it cleanly in half, then went after the flag's owner. Dragon Gundam leaned backwards away from the blade, and Allenby swept it; Sai Saici bent in a sort of backbend, touched the ground with his hands, and backflipped away.
Allenby ran after him sword- first.
"I can't see anything!" Marie Louise complained, trying to follow the speedy attacks and retreats.
"That's all right," Rain soothed, "none of us can see much. Just keep trying. Here, do you want these?" she asked, holding out a pair of binoculars.
"Thank you, but I have my own." Marie Louise replied, gesturing to a pair of binoculars that appeared to be plated with something similar to mother- of- pearl, and had gold trim. "Every time I put the binoculars on them, they move, and I can't find them again looking through these things."
"Wow!" a new voice exclaimed enthusiastically, and the women all turned to see who it was. Cecil Holgar stood there, wide- eyed as she watched Sai Saici jump right on top of Allenby's blade as she thrust at him, and kick Valkyrie Gundam in the face. Allenby staggered back, but was collected enough to sidestep a flurry of kicks.
"Who are you?" Nastasha demanded, sounding thoroughly prepared to dislike the newcomer.
Rain hastened to the girl's side. "This is Cecil Holgar; she and Sai met at the last Tournament." she explained. "Cecil, this is Marie Louise," the French princess curtsied and smiled, "Nastasha," the Neo- Russian slightly dimmed the hostility in her habitual glare, "and Chibodee Crocket's crew, Shirley, Janet, Cath, and Bunny." The Neo- Americans waved, smiled, and gave various greetings. "Oh, and there's Asherah! Asherah!" she waved.
The white- haired woman couldn't think of a way to get out of it without being rude, so, sighing, she smiled and pushed her way through the crowd. "Hello, Cecil."
"How'd you know my name?" the girl queried.
"I was at the last Tournament too." the older woman replied, turning to the fight. The others followed her example.
Allenby and Sai Saici now had a flag each. Allenby blocked the Neo- Chinese fighter's attempt to sweep her, and retaliated with a swipe at his neck. Sai Saici brought his weapon up and took a successful stab at her wrist. Valkyrie Gundam switched her handhold and jabbed Dragon Gundam in the armpit and twisted the flag, partially tearing off the Gundam's arm.
Sai Saici cried out and kicked the back of Allenby's knee; she landed on her back, but managed to get in a nice kick that made Dragon Gundam's own knee groan ominously. Taking advantage of the distraction, Allenby kicked off Sai's shins and scooted backwards before springing up.
"Impressive." Asherah said aloud.
"I'll say." Shirley muttered. "They actually feel the feedback when the Gundam sustains enough damage; Sai's arm is going to be killing him right now."
"Don't say that." Cecil reprimanded sharply; her face had paled a shade.
"What, that his arm has to be killing him?" Shirley asked, looking surprised. "I only meant-"
"We know what you meant, Shirley." Rain told her. "Cecil's just worried."
"You really don't have much reason to be, Cecil." Asherah stated calmly, and all the women looked at her. "Allenby plays fair, she's not going to kill him. And the feedback is set low enough that it won't do much damage to him unless the fight carries on for a very long time."
"It's already been going on a long time." Cecil fretted.
"Not that long," Asherah demurred, "and the amount of time he's been fighting prior to the damage won't affect the feedback he's getting from the arm. You really don't need to worry."
"I can't
help it." Cecil murmured, turning back to the fight. "These Gundam fights are dangerous."
None of the others could argue with that.
"Look!" Marie Louise breathed exultantly, flinging out an arm to gesture to the two Gundams. They were both of them beginning to glow gold…
"I didn't know Allenby could do that!" Chibodee shouted, sounding scandalized.
"She must've been training." Domon reasoned, his face and voice tight. "Besides us, she's probably one of the strongest fighters here."
"Maybe it's a replacement technique for the Berserker System." Argo said.
"That makes sense." George concurred, eyes riveted on the Gundams; the golden glow had now spread over the entire bodies of both machines, and they took off.
Asherah sucked in a breath and her dark eyes scanned the top of the stadium. Something was about to happen; she could feel it, the hairs on the back of her neck were standing straight up-
There.
Jonas stood a distance apart from the crowd, and there was something in his hand…
Asherah abruptly vanished. He can't, he can't, he can't…
But he did. The entire crowd, regardless of which fighter they favored, gave a great roaring scream as explosions rocked both Gundams; when the smoke cleared, in mute testimony to the amazing integrity of their design, both were still standing, despite being partially blown apart. Valkyrie Gundam appeared to have gotten the worse of it; Allenby herself was visible through holes in the cockpit. The feedback appeared to have overcome both fighters; Allenby and Sai Saici were screaming along with the crowd.
The Shuffle Alliance were on their feet and jumping barriers when the two battling in the ring decided to keep fighting with a fleeting glance at each other. Domon, Argo, Chibodee, and George stood stock- still, riveted, as the Gundams haltingly made for each other; with a simple kick to Valkyrie Gundam's chest, it was all over.
Sai Saici had won. The crowd that had been so loud mere seconds ago was stunned into silence.
The monks and the Shuffle Alliance stormed the ring as Sai tore his way free of the cockpit and made his way over to Allenby's. A moment later, Domon and Chibodee emerged; the Neo- Japanese fighter was carrying Allenby, and the Neo- American was half- holding Sai up with a firm arm around his shoulders. Rain and the other women fought their way through to them alongside the paramedics that attended every match.
*
"What happened?" was the question on everyone's lips when they were finally allowed to see Sai Saici; Allenby was still being treated.
The sixteen year old shook his head slowly. "I'm not sure. We were fighting, and I got this funny feeling; Allenby came on the screen, and we looked at each other, and I knew she felt it too. Then everything just went-" his face paled.
"- straight to hell." Chibodee grimly supplied, ignoring glares from all the women in the room.
"We ought to let him rest." Rain told the others, glancing worriedly at the boy in bed.
Sai Saici gave his head a vigorous shake, and winced. "It's okay. I'll be fine by tomorrow." he assured them.
However, the group was making for the door; before they left, Chibodee and Domon gave him claps on the shoulder, and George quietly complimented him on having "done very well," and acting "with honor." Argo only inclined his head respectfully.
*
"So she'll be all right?" Rain asked anxiously, peering at the doctor's face.
"I want her to stay here until at least the day after tomorrow for observation, but she'll be fine." he informed them. "It's just as well she lost that Gundam fight; she shouldn't exert herself for the next week at least."
They talked quietly among themselves as they left the hospital. "How on earth did they survive that, and without any major injuries?"
"Who did it?"
"Was it a malfunction?"
"Couldn't have been."
"Then what was it?"
"Explosives were planted in both Gundams." Asherah's exhausted voice answered from behind them, " and they survived because they were in that-" her hand flapped lamely in the air- "golden- whatever- state. Jonas was the one that planted the explosives, and they were specially designed to escape notice by both the mechanics and the Gundam's own sensors."
"Where have you been?" Chibodee demanded. "Sai and Allenby could've died-"
"I've been chasing Jonas," she interrupted, "and I knew they weren't going to die." Her voice acquired a nasty acidity that backed everyone but Chibodee up a step. "I just came to tell you what had happened, because I thought you might want to know. Good night."
"Mademoiselle-" George began apologetically, but Asherah was gone. The Frenchman glared at Chibodee. "You were entirely out of line, my uncouth friend."
A frustrated, angry silence fell upon the group as they walked back to the hotel. Exchanging dispirited goodnights, they went off to their separate beds, where questions continued to plague them until the darkness of the rooms merged with the darkness of sleep.
A/N: So, what do you think? Kind of a weak ending, I know, but oh well. Oh, and in case any of you are wondering, other matches are going on during this time and the unimportant fighters are defeating each other, and being defeated in turn. Let's pretend that Weilen was the best of the unimportant fighters, okay? *dusts hands* So that's that. Cookies to: LivEvil and Ryan.