Chapter 8: Grand Arena Tournament

"Awwwww! Wind, tickets? And your asking me out on a date? How sweet!" The Raven known as Sara said with a mysterious look in her eyes.

"Bought…right…yeah, whatever!" the brown haired man known as Windbreaker said. It had been 2 weeks since the argument between Sara and Windbreaker. Having taken the advice that Vanguard had given, he quickly apologized to her. Fortunately for him, she was an easy-going person and not one to hold too many grudges. Over the many weeks they had accepted missions, coincidentally both Ravens seemed to keep meeting at their missions. The young female had grown fond of the veteran despite his attitude towards her. Windbreaker sat down on the soft white bed. "Are you ready yet? We're going to be late for the Arena battles," he said as he looked at his watch.

"But I need to get into something that looks good for my first date!" she said in a mysterious manner. Windbreaker had been waiting for her over half an hour because of the dressing crisis she was having.

"Just pick something casual and lets go, I never said this was a date! I…just happened to have two tickets in my pocket…" he said staring at the two green and white paper strips in his hand.

"Yeah! Whatever, I think you bought em on purpose just to impress me Wind!" she yelled out of the bathroom.

"…okay…whatever…yeah, I bought em to please you…"

"See? Ha! I knew it."

"…" Windbreaker did not say anything as he hadn't actually bought the tickets, he had beaten them out of Carom when he saw two tickets in Carom's hand. He thought back to when he threatened to shove Carom into a locker if he didn't hand over the tickets. Windbreaker had intended to sell them at a high bid for some extra cash but he never got around to actually doing it. The Raven ran his bandaged hand through his brown hair, What the hell…might as well use em anyways…he thought. The silver reflective door of the bathroom slid open. Revealing a slim figure with a white blouse with a pink shirt worn on the inside and a white dress.
"So? How is it?" she asked in a shy manner.

"…its fine…I guess…" he shrugged.

Wow! It must really be good! She thought to herself. Over the past weeks that she had gotten to know Windbreaker, she had deciphered many of his gestures to be lower than that of most. Usually when he holds something as average looking, it really means its really good.

"So…all set?"

"Yup! We're gonna have a fun time right Wind?" she said smiling brightly at him.

"Sure…" he shrugged again. The Arena Dome was massive and huge, equipped with state of the art technology, it was designed to hold against even a missile salvos. At the entrance, Windbreaker handed the tickets to the entrant manager.

"Thank you. your in row number 3," the manager said.

Windbreaker raised his eyebrows, how does Carom do this? Everytime I beat a ticket out of him its always one of the front row seats!

"Whats wrong?" Sara peeked in over his shoulder.

"...we're third row from the front…"

"Oh! Wow, Wind! You must have done a lot of pushing and heaving for these tickets….your so sweet!" She said hugging him softly.

"Uhhhh…okay….can we go in now?" he said as he flushed a light red. A helluvalot of pushing and heaving! He thought in his mind. They walked into the colossal building, inside of the dome, a glass dome could be seen. The glass was reinforced with neo-tricarbonate steel and a tick layer of the new polymer glass. It was built to withstand anything that ACs put against it so that misfire could not injure the crowd.

"Wow! Its so big!" Sara said, wide eyed.

"Is this your first time watching the Grand Arena Tournament?" she nodded back at him, "Heh…the Arena can switch environments, so I'm pretty sure you'll have more than enough entertainment," He gave a small grin. The seats were all covered in leather, and seemed comfortable enough to sit. A pamphlet had been given to them stating which matches were to come, and who was against who.

"Okay, lets see who's in the first matches…" Sara said flipping through the pamphlet.

Probably newbs who can't even fire a rifle properly…Windbreaker thought.

"Hey, here we are…Argus versus Immortal…they sound pretty good," She smiled slightly.

Yeah right…I would be surprised if they finished each other off in half an hour, The first match took more than half an hour to finish. Both pilot's shots hardly ever landed, no, not because they were really great and ace. But because they sucked that much. Windbreaker seemed to have dozed off in a light sleep and Sara had to slap him one to wake him up.

"Hey! The second match is about to start! What are you dozing off for?" He awoke with a startle.

"Ahhhh…damn…and I was getting such a good sleep…"

"I hope the next match isn't as boring," she said, beginning to yawn.

"Don't worry…the next match will be pitting experienced pilots in the rank Cs," Two ACs were released from each end of the gates a couple minutes after the crowd had fit over the first fight being so terribly long and boring. One of the ACs was a tank AC decked out with grenade launchers. It had dual grenade launchers and grenade launcher weapon arms.

"It says here, the pilot is Ace Master…" Sara said, looking at the pamphlet the manager had given her. It had names of challengers in the Arena and showed their AC and picture.

"Ace Master…he's pretty famous…"

"Yeah? Really?"

"Yeah…for damage racing…he doesn't show any maneuvers what-so-ever. All he ever does is just stand there and fire his grenades like a madman." Windbreaker said, crossing his arms.

"Is that right…how did he get up to C?"

"His opponents happen to be some newbie who couldn't even move the AC…" He looked to the other end to see a mid-weight AC that was greenish grey. It was a plain looking AC and it was just a standard AC with upgraded parts. It had an AST rifle and the ELF blade in its hands. On its back it mounted a mid-rocket launcher and a mid range radar. Beside the shoulder of the arms were octagonal shapes that were the rifle reload magazines. "What I'm more interested in is who that is…I haven't seen him around before…"

"Hey! He's from Bayload city! His name is G.Faust. I don't know much about him though."

"From your hometown?"

"Yeah…"

"How did he get up the ranks with that poor design?" he scoffed.

"That's not a nice thing to say!"

"I'm just speaking my mind…"

"How would you feel if somebody else said something like that to you!" she yelled.

"I could care less about what other people think about me…" Windbreaker merely shrugged.

Sara sighed at his remark, Why do you have to be so cold always…its as if your trying to block everything out. Why? You must have a reason for being this way. Even after all that time we spent together, you still seem distant, Sara stared at him, trying to think of some reason. Windbreaker had not noticed that she had been staring at him, his cold dark eyes had been locked on the grey AC that had stepped in. A loud beeping sound could be heard signaling the start of the Arena. G.Faust started fast, the moment he flew in the Arena, Windbreaker could sense that he had much skill. Ace Master merely treaded to the center of the Arena while trying desperately to get a lock on to the grey AC that was skidding along the ground at high speed. Firing a grenade shell, Ace Master attempted to follow up with a retreat from his turn boosters while boosting backwards. The effort had failed miserably as G.Faust faked the grenade shot out and boosted straight at the large tank AC in front of it. The grey AC brought its ELF blade up and slashed in a diagonal direction that left a large indent in the tank ACs core. Ace Master tried to fired another round of grenades but missed once again. G.Faust was a step ahead of him and had flanked him already, delivering a punishing blade wave and followed up with a couple rounds from the AST rifle. Unmounting its dual grenade launchers, Ace Master saw a perfect opportunity to retaliate and fired. Both grenade shots hit directly causing some of the parts to break. The grey AC boosted backwards in shock as its head unit had been blown off. Another round of grenades was fired his way but G.Faust reacted quick enough skidding to the left. The grenades hit the ground causing a black area. The tank AC sat still, seeming to be surprised by his opponent's maneuvers. This left Ace Master wide open and an AC came down firing its rockets and slashed the tank across the core. What was left of the large tank AC was now covered in smoke and black ash. Another loud beep signaled that the battle had ended and it was clear who the victor had been from the beginning.

"Heh...that guy had quite a strategy going on there...he's gonna make something out of himself someday," Windbreaker said with his eyes closed and a smirk.

That's the first time I've heard him complement someone else like that...he must really be impressed, she looked at him, I think he's changed alot since I first met him...but he could still work on his tone and attitude a little.This time, Windbreaker noticed she was staring at him and felt irritated.

"What? Is there something wrong!" Sara seemed embarassed that she had stared at him so long.

"Ahhhh...ahhhh...nothing..." her face went red as she looked the other way.

Whats her problem? Ever since I accepted all those missions with her she's become attached to me for some reason. She seems to portray feelings for me...this could be a serious problem to my mission. I can't let this get in the way. No matter what happens...I must complete my mission...to atone for my sins.

"Oh! Look here comes the challenger...and the Ninebreaker! Oh my god, I can't believe this! I get to watch The Vanguard fight! Your the best, Wind!" she gave him a hug.

I'll never understand women ever...they change their mind so quickly, In that instance, Sara planted a kiss on his cheek and held on tightly around his waist. Windbreaker merely sat there and didn't even attempt to avoid the kiss. Strange...that didn't feel bad at all...actually, it felt pretty good...

"Oh! Look, the challenger!" She jumped up in joy and cheered along with the rest of the crowd. Her companion merely raised an eyebrow at her.

Whats so freakin great! Its just Vanguard's AC...He looked at the navy blue AC with white outline. It had the DINGO2 legs and a linear rifle along with a back mounted linear cannon. Its other back unit was that of the GERYON2 laser cannon. Bearing in its left hand the MOONLIGHT blade that was painted yellow, the QUEEN head made it look very intimidating. Windbreaker switched his gaze to the other end. It was a black AC with the EYE head and SPARTOI missiles. It had a MOONLIGHT as well and carried the SHADE laser rifle in its right hand. It looked up at the crowd with its erie blue eye, to Windbreaker though, it seemed to stare straight at him. Windbreaker's head pounded, That AC...what is he doing here! As Windbreaker stared into the ACs single eye he began to feel his head ache with searing pain. He gripped his head, What the hell! I can...feel something...someone's...talking...

I know you can hear me and I know what you are. I know you know who I am...I'm only here to tell you...of the plan...of the role you will play...of the future that has yet to come! The Raven felt as though his head would explode any minute, various voices crossed his mind, until the pain was too much to bear.

Sara noticed the sudden outbursts that Windbreaker was having, "Wind...a-are you okay?" she asked, extending her arms to help support her companion who continued to shake his head furiously, "Wind, do you need to go to the medical wing...are you okay!" Sara's eyes were wide with fear, at that moment, Windbreaker stopped shaking only to fall down with a loud thud on the floor, "Wind!" She yelled, trying desperately to wake him up, "Wind!" That was the last thing he heard before he passed out.