Disclaimer: see part 1. Many thanks to my pre-reader VFGirl for all her help.
Part 4: Liger 0 vs. Ultima Dragon
While the Shadow Fox limped back into the Hover Cargo, a thought struck Doc Tauros. Pressing a button, he radioed the Judge. "Judge, I have a question. Our Liger 0 has several conversion armors. Would changing armors be considered battlefield support?"
"Deliberating...Deliberating...Deliberating. Changing armors is not considered battlefield support. However, the Liger 0 will not be allowed to change it's armor more than three times."
"Thanks for a quick answer, Judge." The com-screen flickered out. Doc turned around happily, and called out to Bit. "Bit I have some great news! I contacted the Judge and the decision was that changing armors is not battlefield support."
"Really? That's wonderful!" happily exclaimed Bit.
"But you can only do it three times or less during battle." Bit's face fell slightly at hearing that.
"Don't worry, Doc. I'll still win. Me n' Liger are more than a match for some Ultima Dragon."
"Okay, Bit. Time to go." said Doc as Bit walked to the Liger 0.
"Liger 0 Jager prepared for launch." said Jamie over the PA.
"Goooo JAGER!" Bit's battle cry could be heard over the comm link as he launched in the Liger.
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"The Blitz team has launched the Liger 0. Shinji, it's time for you to launch as well." said Misato. Shinji smiled at that. "They just launched him with the blue armor."
Shinji smiled a little more, before Rei grabbed him by his collar. "Shinji, if you don't beat him into the ground, I will rip your face off and CRAM IT DOWN YOUR THROAT!!!" she screamed in his face.
'She's been hanging around Misato too much.' Shinji idly thought. He continued to walk towards his zoid. Shinji entered his zoid's cockpit.
"Ultima Dragon prepared to launch." announced Ritsuko.
"Let's fly, Ultima."
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The Ultima Dragon stood on the battlefield; it's long, craning neck peering over the field, staring at his opponent. It's purple and green armor glistened in the sun, as the giant zoid's wings cast huge shadows on the ground beneath it. From Bit's perspective, it had to be at least twice as big as an Iron Kong.
"Purple?!? HahahahahahaHA! What kind of idiot paints their zoid purple?" Bit howled as he doubled over in laughter.
"Hey, I didn't choose the paint job." retorted Shinji. After Bit regained his composure, he took one look at his opponent, and started laughing again. Bit managed to regain his composure, only to take one look at his opponent, before he again started to laugh hysterically.
"Stop laughing!" Shinji growled. This only caused Bit to laugh even harder.
"I'll show you." Shinji growled. He fired three of his long-range missiles at the Liger, and then he charged his opponent at full speed.
Bit only noticed the missiles when it was too late, and they slammed into the ground around him. After the smoke cleared, Bit saw that the Ultima Dragon was only 500 yards away and closing. He immediately hit the Jager's ion boosters in order to close the gap, propelling himself in a charge towards the Ultima Dragon. Shinji realized this and stopped, readying himself for Bit's attack.
"Okay, Liger, he stopped. He's just a sitting duck. This'll be over in no time." said a very cocky Bit. Right after the words had left his mouth, the Ultima Dragon turned around 360 degrees and slammed the club-like tail of the Ultima Dragon into the side of the Liger before Bit could move to avoid the attack.
"I've seen your battles, Bit. I know how you fight. That move was predictable."
Shinji had an almost perfect photographic memory for battle tactics, and that memory had saved him many times.
"Doc, Jager's trashed. Only one of the boosters still works. I'm coming back to change. Get Schneider ready." said Bit as he ran back to the Hover Cargo. Shinji noticed this and just stood there, knowing that his opponent would return soon.
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"Liger 0 Schneider armor CAS complete." Jamie's voice sounded over the PA.
"Goooo SCHNEIDER!" Bit cried as he was shot out of the Hover Cargo's launch system.
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"Well now, you're back." Shinji commented on his enemy's return. The Liger 0 was charging towards the Ultima Dragon with all of it's blades extended.
"SEVEN BLADE ATTACK!" Bit screamed aggresively. However, the Ultima Dragon simply flew up into the air to avoid the attack.
"That attack was more difficult to avoid than your last one. I could still see that one coming, though." Shinji gloated as he flew in the air above the Liger 0.
"Doc, I can't hit him with the Schneider if he's hanging in the air like that.
I'm coming back to get the Panzer." growled Bit in frustration.
"Will do, Bit. We'll have it ready for you when you get back." replied Doc. Bit turned the Liger around and ran towards the Hover Cargo.
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"Liger 0 Panzer CAS complete." Jamie called over the PA speakers. The side panel of the Hover Cargo extended and with the Panzer standing on its platform. The platform tilted backwards and the Panzer slid off and onto the sand.
Seeing this, Shinji opened a line to the Liger. "So, you're going to use the green one, eh? Enhances defensive and offensive capacity. Do your best." Shinji taunted Bit with a sneer before closing the line.
"So you want my best, huh? Alright, I'll give you my best." Snapped Bit. The Panzer's targeting recticle lowered in front of his right eye. "Hybrid Cannon," Commanded Bit, and there was a shifting of the air in front to the Ultima Dragon, but Bit dismissed it, thinking that it was an illusion. "FIRE!" Bit screamed in anger. Two twin beams of energy roared in the direction of his opponent. Nothing! The shots hit some kind of barrier and were deflected by some kind of invisible barrier. "N-n-no damage." Bit finally managed to stutter in shock and amazement.
Shinji opened another line to the Panzer. "Are you amazed by that?" he taunted with a smirk of superiority.
"What was that?" Bit stammered, in shock that his most powerful attack had missed.
"That was the power of my mother's final masterpiece: the AT Field!"
"AT Field?"
"An unbreakable wall the no weapon can penetrate." Shinji exclaimed in triumph with a proud smile on his face.
Bit shut the com-line in frustration with a scowl on his face. "That's it!" he growled, as multiple targeting grids came on-line, all locked onto one target- the Ultima Dragon. "BURNING BIG-BANG!" Every missile the Panzer had available was launched at his opponent. As the missiles accelerated towards the target, the Ultima Dragon flew into the sky, missiles following his every move.
"Damn, those missiles just don't give up. They follow me wherever I g-. Wait I have an idea." Shinji's frown turned into a confident smile. He then nudged the joystick and the Ultima Dragon banked, turning in a wide circle so that it was now headed towards the Liger 0 Panzer.
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"I wonder what he's doing?" Jamie wondered out loud.
"He's going to lead the missiles right into Bit so they hit the Liger instead of himself. Rather ingenious, if I do say so myself." commented Doc Tauros with a lazy and bored expression on his face while he picked his ear clean with his pinky finger.
"I wonder why nobody ever bothered to try that?" responded Jamie. "Wait, with all that armor, Bit's not going to be able to get out of the way!" he exclaimed in horror.
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Shinji led the missiles close to Bit's zoid. Once he had neared the Panzer, Shinji pulled up sharply and hit the afterburners, leaving the Liger to suffer the impact of the missiles alone.
"FUCK!" Shinji shouted in frustration, as he looked behind him and saw that a few missiles were still following him. A flash of inspiration suddenly washed over him as he flipped a switch on the controls. Sparkling clouds of silver trailed behind him. The missiles followed into the cloud. Wavering and faltering, the missiles slammed into each other, detonating on impact.
"Doc, I can't maneuver out of the way of any of his attacks. I'm dropping the Panzer and coming back for my regular armor."
"Don't worry Bit. The armor will be ready and waiting for you when you get here." the Doc said with a reassuring smile on his face.
"Thanks, Doc. I'm coming back now." Bit said as he dropped his armor and ran towards the Hover Cargo. 'Damn, I'm going to have to stay on my toes if I wanna have a chance to beat him.' Thought Bit.
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"Liger 0 CAS complete and ready to launch." said Jamie over the PA system.
"Goooo Liger!" cried Bit as he was launched through the air and onto the battlefield.
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Seeing the Liger 0 catapult itself out of the Hover Cargo, Shinji wore a hearty smile on his face and he opened a line to the Liger. "This is how I wanted to fight; no extra help, just skill against skill alone."
"Well, you got what you wanted." Bit replied with a smile that looked more like a smirk.
"Indeed I have." retorted Shinji with a smirk of his own.
The Liger began to run at his opponent, and the Ultima Dragon did the same. Liger leapt upon his opponent and started to bite on the arm of the Dragon, but the Dragon craned it's long neck around and grabbed the Liger on the back before deftly removing the Liger from it's shoulder. With a toss of its head, he tossed the Liger, with it landing some distance away. The Liger slowly got back on its feet, and charged at the Ultima Dragon, using it's most famous move, the Strike Laser Claw. Shinji noticed this move and readied his own attack.
"Strike Laser CLAW!" Bit screamed in anger.
"Magnum Laser CUTTER!" Shinji screamed.
The Strike Laser Claw and the Magnum Laser Cutter impacted each other, neither giving his opponent an inch. Suddenly, the two attacks moved to the side, giving each other a path for which to continue the attack. The Magnum Laser Cutter moved along the inside of the Liger's front-right paw, along the leg, all the way to the shoulder. Shinji's attack made contact with the Liger's almost unprotected shoulder, rending the limb from it's body. The shriek of metal rending under the tearing power of the Dragon's Laser Cutter sliced through the Liger's metal body. The solid sound of metal falling onto dirt accompanied the soft beep of the Liger's computer that signaled the stall of it's control system.
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"BLAIRRRRRRRRR!" went the horn, signaling the end of battle. "The Battle is over. The battle is over. The winner and still S Class champion is: the Penguin team."
Upon hearing this, the Ultima Dragon reared his head back and let out a mighty roar, one that could be heard for miles.
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"'System Freeze', huh? My first real defeat. I guess I'll just have to work harder next time, eh Liger?" Bit said happily, reflecting on a battle fought long and hard. The Liger softly roared in agreement.
Shinji panted heavily and waited for his heart to slow down before he did anything. After his heart calmed down, Shinji activated his com-line with the defeated Liger. "That was the kind of battle I have been waiting to have for a long time. Thank you, Bit. If you fight like that in our next battle, I'll be looking forward to it." he said with a happy, satisfied smile on his face.
"Next time we're going to beat you into the ground. We'll be back. Count on it." said Bit, a slow smile appearing on his face.
"See you around, Bit." replied Shinji as the Ultima Dragon walked away.
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"Oh my. We-we lost. Hey, Doc, how much money did we lose to them, anyway?" asked Jamie, already dreading the response.
"We'll have to sell your Raynos to just barely break even after paying the Penguin team, and then there are the repair costs, not to mention the regular expenditures.
Jamie groaned in defeat and exasperation.
"Don't worry, Jamie. Once we battle a few more times, we'll have enough to get by." replied Doc.
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"Yay, you beat him!" exclaimed Rei as she wrapped her brother in a crushing hug.
"Can-can't breathe." Shinji gasped out. Rei let go of him immediately.
Misato came out to greet him and wrapped him in ANOTHER crushing hug.
"Gaaak." Shinji croaked before going limp.
"Misato, if you're not careful, you're going to break him." complained Ritsuko.
"Say, how much did we make from that battle?" asked Asuka.
Ritsuko looked over her figures and wore a big smile on her face. "We now have enough so that we wouldn't have to battle for quite some time AND have our usual level of luxury."
"It's time to celebrate." said Asuka.
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Next chapter: Surprises and Revelations. Ready, FI...oh, wait. You don't have to.
Part 4: Liger 0 vs. Ultima Dragon
While the Shadow Fox limped back into the Hover Cargo, a thought struck Doc Tauros. Pressing a button, he radioed the Judge. "Judge, I have a question. Our Liger 0 has several conversion armors. Would changing armors be considered battlefield support?"
"Deliberating...Deliberating...Deliberating. Changing armors is not considered battlefield support. However, the Liger 0 will not be allowed to change it's armor more than three times."
"Thanks for a quick answer, Judge." The com-screen flickered out. Doc turned around happily, and called out to Bit. "Bit I have some great news! I contacted the Judge and the decision was that changing armors is not battlefield support."
"Really? That's wonderful!" happily exclaimed Bit.
"But you can only do it three times or less during battle." Bit's face fell slightly at hearing that.
"Don't worry, Doc. I'll still win. Me n' Liger are more than a match for some Ultima Dragon."
"Okay, Bit. Time to go." said Doc as Bit walked to the Liger 0.
"Liger 0 Jager prepared for launch." said Jamie over the PA.
"Goooo JAGER!" Bit's battle cry could be heard over the comm link as he launched in the Liger.
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"The Blitz team has launched the Liger 0. Shinji, it's time for you to launch as well." said Misato. Shinji smiled at that. "They just launched him with the blue armor."
Shinji smiled a little more, before Rei grabbed him by his collar. "Shinji, if you don't beat him into the ground, I will rip your face off and CRAM IT DOWN YOUR THROAT!!!" she screamed in his face.
'She's been hanging around Misato too much.' Shinji idly thought. He continued to walk towards his zoid. Shinji entered his zoid's cockpit.
"Ultima Dragon prepared to launch." announced Ritsuko.
"Let's fly, Ultima."
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The Ultima Dragon stood on the battlefield; it's long, craning neck peering over the field, staring at his opponent. It's purple and green armor glistened in the sun, as the giant zoid's wings cast huge shadows on the ground beneath it. From Bit's perspective, it had to be at least twice as big as an Iron Kong.
"Purple?!? HahahahahahaHA! What kind of idiot paints their zoid purple?" Bit howled as he doubled over in laughter.
"Hey, I didn't choose the paint job." retorted Shinji. After Bit regained his composure, he took one look at his opponent, and started laughing again. Bit managed to regain his composure, only to take one look at his opponent, before he again started to laugh hysterically.
"Stop laughing!" Shinji growled. This only caused Bit to laugh even harder.
"I'll show you." Shinji growled. He fired three of his long-range missiles at the Liger, and then he charged his opponent at full speed.
Bit only noticed the missiles when it was too late, and they slammed into the ground around him. After the smoke cleared, Bit saw that the Ultima Dragon was only 500 yards away and closing. He immediately hit the Jager's ion boosters in order to close the gap, propelling himself in a charge towards the Ultima Dragon. Shinji realized this and stopped, readying himself for Bit's attack.
"Okay, Liger, he stopped. He's just a sitting duck. This'll be over in no time." said a very cocky Bit. Right after the words had left his mouth, the Ultima Dragon turned around 360 degrees and slammed the club-like tail of the Ultima Dragon into the side of the Liger before Bit could move to avoid the attack.
"I've seen your battles, Bit. I know how you fight. That move was predictable."
Shinji had an almost perfect photographic memory for battle tactics, and that memory had saved him many times.
"Doc, Jager's trashed. Only one of the boosters still works. I'm coming back to change. Get Schneider ready." said Bit as he ran back to the Hover Cargo. Shinji noticed this and just stood there, knowing that his opponent would return soon.
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"Liger 0 Schneider armor CAS complete." Jamie's voice sounded over the PA.
"Goooo SCHNEIDER!" Bit cried as he was shot out of the Hover Cargo's launch system.
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"Well now, you're back." Shinji commented on his enemy's return. The Liger 0 was charging towards the Ultima Dragon with all of it's blades extended.
"SEVEN BLADE ATTACK!" Bit screamed aggresively. However, the Ultima Dragon simply flew up into the air to avoid the attack.
"That attack was more difficult to avoid than your last one. I could still see that one coming, though." Shinji gloated as he flew in the air above the Liger 0.
"Doc, I can't hit him with the Schneider if he's hanging in the air like that.
I'm coming back to get the Panzer." growled Bit in frustration.
"Will do, Bit. We'll have it ready for you when you get back." replied Doc. Bit turned the Liger around and ran towards the Hover Cargo.
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"Liger 0 Panzer CAS complete." Jamie called over the PA speakers. The side panel of the Hover Cargo extended and with the Panzer standing on its platform. The platform tilted backwards and the Panzer slid off and onto the sand.
Seeing this, Shinji opened a line to the Liger. "So, you're going to use the green one, eh? Enhances defensive and offensive capacity. Do your best." Shinji taunted Bit with a sneer before closing the line.
"So you want my best, huh? Alright, I'll give you my best." Snapped Bit. The Panzer's targeting recticle lowered in front of his right eye. "Hybrid Cannon," Commanded Bit, and there was a shifting of the air in front to the Ultima Dragon, but Bit dismissed it, thinking that it was an illusion. "FIRE!" Bit screamed in anger. Two twin beams of energy roared in the direction of his opponent. Nothing! The shots hit some kind of barrier and were deflected by some kind of invisible barrier. "N-n-no damage." Bit finally managed to stutter in shock and amazement.
Shinji opened another line to the Panzer. "Are you amazed by that?" he taunted with a smirk of superiority.
"What was that?" Bit stammered, in shock that his most powerful attack had missed.
"That was the power of my mother's final masterpiece: the AT Field!"
"AT Field?"
"An unbreakable wall the no weapon can penetrate." Shinji exclaimed in triumph with a proud smile on his face.
Bit shut the com-line in frustration with a scowl on his face. "That's it!" he growled, as multiple targeting grids came on-line, all locked onto one target- the Ultima Dragon. "BURNING BIG-BANG!" Every missile the Panzer had available was launched at his opponent. As the missiles accelerated towards the target, the Ultima Dragon flew into the sky, missiles following his every move.
"Damn, those missiles just don't give up. They follow me wherever I g-. Wait I have an idea." Shinji's frown turned into a confident smile. He then nudged the joystick and the Ultima Dragon banked, turning in a wide circle so that it was now headed towards the Liger 0 Panzer.
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"I wonder what he's doing?" Jamie wondered out loud.
"He's going to lead the missiles right into Bit so they hit the Liger instead of himself. Rather ingenious, if I do say so myself." commented Doc Tauros with a lazy and bored expression on his face while he picked his ear clean with his pinky finger.
"I wonder why nobody ever bothered to try that?" responded Jamie. "Wait, with all that armor, Bit's not going to be able to get out of the way!" he exclaimed in horror.
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Shinji led the missiles close to Bit's zoid. Once he had neared the Panzer, Shinji pulled up sharply and hit the afterburners, leaving the Liger to suffer the impact of the missiles alone.
"FUCK!" Shinji shouted in frustration, as he looked behind him and saw that a few missiles were still following him. A flash of inspiration suddenly washed over him as he flipped a switch on the controls. Sparkling clouds of silver trailed behind him. The missiles followed into the cloud. Wavering and faltering, the missiles slammed into each other, detonating on impact.
"Doc, I can't maneuver out of the way of any of his attacks. I'm dropping the Panzer and coming back for my regular armor."
"Don't worry Bit. The armor will be ready and waiting for you when you get here." the Doc said with a reassuring smile on his face.
"Thanks, Doc. I'm coming back now." Bit said as he dropped his armor and ran towards the Hover Cargo. 'Damn, I'm going to have to stay on my toes if I wanna have a chance to beat him.' Thought Bit.
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"Liger 0 CAS complete and ready to launch." said Jamie over the PA system.
"Goooo Liger!" cried Bit as he was launched through the air and onto the battlefield.
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Seeing the Liger 0 catapult itself out of the Hover Cargo, Shinji wore a hearty smile on his face and he opened a line to the Liger. "This is how I wanted to fight; no extra help, just skill against skill alone."
"Well, you got what you wanted." Bit replied with a smile that looked more like a smirk.
"Indeed I have." retorted Shinji with a smirk of his own.
The Liger began to run at his opponent, and the Ultima Dragon did the same. Liger leapt upon his opponent and started to bite on the arm of the Dragon, but the Dragon craned it's long neck around and grabbed the Liger on the back before deftly removing the Liger from it's shoulder. With a toss of its head, he tossed the Liger, with it landing some distance away. The Liger slowly got back on its feet, and charged at the Ultima Dragon, using it's most famous move, the Strike Laser Claw. Shinji noticed this move and readied his own attack.
"Strike Laser CLAW!" Bit screamed in anger.
"Magnum Laser CUTTER!" Shinji screamed.
The Strike Laser Claw and the Magnum Laser Cutter impacted each other, neither giving his opponent an inch. Suddenly, the two attacks moved to the side, giving each other a path for which to continue the attack. The Magnum Laser Cutter moved along the inside of the Liger's front-right paw, along the leg, all the way to the shoulder. Shinji's attack made contact with the Liger's almost unprotected shoulder, rending the limb from it's body. The shriek of metal rending under the tearing power of the Dragon's Laser Cutter sliced through the Liger's metal body. The solid sound of metal falling onto dirt accompanied the soft beep of the Liger's computer that signaled the stall of it's control system.
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"BLAIRRRRRRRRR!" went the horn, signaling the end of battle. "The Battle is over. The battle is over. The winner and still S Class champion is: the Penguin team."
Upon hearing this, the Ultima Dragon reared his head back and let out a mighty roar, one that could be heard for miles.
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"'System Freeze', huh? My first real defeat. I guess I'll just have to work harder next time, eh Liger?" Bit said happily, reflecting on a battle fought long and hard. The Liger softly roared in agreement.
Shinji panted heavily and waited for his heart to slow down before he did anything. After his heart calmed down, Shinji activated his com-line with the defeated Liger. "That was the kind of battle I have been waiting to have for a long time. Thank you, Bit. If you fight like that in our next battle, I'll be looking forward to it." he said with a happy, satisfied smile on his face.
"Next time we're going to beat you into the ground. We'll be back. Count on it." said Bit, a slow smile appearing on his face.
"See you around, Bit." replied Shinji as the Ultima Dragon walked away.
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"Oh my. We-we lost. Hey, Doc, how much money did we lose to them, anyway?" asked Jamie, already dreading the response.
"We'll have to sell your Raynos to just barely break even after paying the Penguin team, and then there are the repair costs, not to mention the regular expenditures.
Jamie groaned in defeat and exasperation.
"Don't worry, Jamie. Once we battle a few more times, we'll have enough to get by." replied Doc.
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"Yay, you beat him!" exclaimed Rei as she wrapped her brother in a crushing hug.
"Can-can't breathe." Shinji gasped out. Rei let go of him immediately.
Misato came out to greet him and wrapped him in ANOTHER crushing hug.
"Gaaak." Shinji croaked before going limp.
"Misato, if you're not careful, you're going to break him." complained Ritsuko.
"Say, how much did we make from that battle?" asked Asuka.
Ritsuko looked over her figures and wore a big smile on her face. "We now have enough so that we wouldn't have to battle for quite some time AND have our usual level of luxury."
"It's time to celebrate." said Asuka.
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Next chapter: Surprises and Revelations. Ready, FI...oh, wait. You don't have to.