AN: ARC Alpha 12 here, and I just want to say that I AM SO SORRY! A series of unfortunate events transpired, and Kyrus and I were both unable to update the fan fiction.

At the end of July, in an attempt to upgrade my PC, my power supply wound up destroying my hard drives, rendering me completely without a working computer. On top of that, Kyrus wound up getting locked out of Fanfiction, which meant we could not actually upload any chapters!

It took a LOT longer than we anticipated, but as you can see, we finally have access to our account again, and thus the Doubles Tournament can resume!

I'm very sorry for the wait. But we are back, we have access again, and we look forward to getting back on track with our monthly releases. Now, without any further ado, LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!


The roar of the crowd seemed louder than either Blake or Yang had anticipated. They stood in front of the platform, surprised at the energy the stadium was filled with. Although they themselves felt the exact same way moments ago, it was different being the impending source of that energy.

"Whoa, this is intense," Yang commented, her lilac eyes shifting from side to side as she looked around. "This is totally different from Regionals."

She looked to the side, where Sekai's older sister Mirai stood, eagerly waiting to announce the winner. Cameras were set up all around, just like Regionals, but this was a touch more impressive. It was a worldwide broadcast, after all.

Blake looked even more nervous than she was. Yang was already used to being in Regionals. But Blake had only ever watched from either the stands or at home. She'd never been part of this.

"Hey, kitcat," Yang said affectionately. "It's gonna be okay. Win or lose, we're in this together."

Yang's words made her smile. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Right."

They took their places on the cockpit pads as their opponents approached. The blue haired younger woman appeared bubbly to an extent. Overall, it seemed she was generally pretty pleasant. The black haired girl, on the other hand, had a dark and serious expression. Her hands were deep in her black hoodie pockets, and her eyes were locked on the two of them-especially Blake, who seemed to be unnerved by her.

"Gotta say, they don't look tough," Yang mused, a hand on her hip. "But, they're apparently national champs. At least that's what their bios said in the pamphlets. So I guess they're pretty strong."

"Just our luck," Blake said woefully.

Yang turned to her with a grin. "Hey, don't go losing your nerve now. I don't plan on losing."

Blake stared into her eyes, before her smile returned to her. "Right. Me neither."

"Well, someone looks confident." Yang turned and faced the speaker, the girl with blue hair. "The name's Mina. This is Irina. It's a pleasure."

Irina let out a quiet huff, still glaring at Blake. She eyed her like a predator locked on to a wounded animal.

Yang felt her anger grow. "Hey, you got something to say?" She balled her fists up, as if ready to fight Irina directly.

"No," she replied, a curt edge in her tone. "Just disappointed, is all."

Yang gritted her teeth, but Blake put a calming hand on her shoulder. "Yang, it's okay. She's trying to rile you up, so you make a mistake."

Yang looked back at her, staring into her eyes for a moment, before taking a deep breath. She felt tense, but that was probably what Irina wanted.

"GUNPLA BATTLE COMBAT MODE, STARTUP! MODEL DAMAGE LEVEL SET TO B!"

The four fighters withdrew their GP Bases and set them down. When prompted, they set their Gunpla down, each one a unique display of their pilot's innovation.

Mina's Gunpla was a variation of Rising Gundam. Its forearm bow had been integrated into a shield to allow Mina to maintain defensive armor while also firing her weapon, and the glaive the machine normally carried had a beam blade at the tip. In addition, Mina had incorporated God Gundam's backpack on it, to enhance her mobility. On its white chest, where the green jewel normally sat, Mina had painted the symbol of the flag of Korea into the Gundam's chest, with the blue and red yin yang pattern glowing with power as the Gunpla started up.

Irina's Gundam powered up with an icy blue glow. The black and grey Astraea Type X featured the shoulder GN Particle Generators and stabilizer units of the 00 Raiser, in addition to its own generator on its back. The machine held twin GN Sword IIIs from the 00 Gundam, one in each hand, with the left-handed weapon built-in reverse so that it functioned as a mirror image to the right-handed weapon. On its back, Irina carried the same Tachi as the Gundam Exia Repair IV.

Blake's repainted 00 Qan [T] Shia was a masterful work of art. The formerly white, green, and teal machine matched the style and attention to detail Blake put into all of her art, redone in a brilliant black, white, and dark purple tone, with the blue GN bits and 00 Gundam's GN Sword III a new translucent pink-purple mixture. The GN particles it emitted also matched this pink-purple color, giving it an almost ethereal appearance as it started up.

Yang's machine, however, caught the attention of many of the viewers. The machine had been mostly redesigned off of Duel Gundam, like her previous Burning Gundam Echelon, but with many noticeable differences. The shoulders and left arm were that of the Stargazer Gundam. The right arm was a repainted Astray arm, with a skeletal frame and gold armor. The hip skirts, knees, golden inner frame of the Stargazer shoulders, and the two Stargazer forearm gauntlets featured sparkling purple Plavsky Particle reactive plastic pieces, mimicking the blue ones found on the Kamiki Burning Gundam. And the back of the head seemed to house a large piece of the same glittery plastic.

Backstage, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Jaune stared at the two Gundams their friends were using. Weiss looked at Ruby, surprise overtaking her. "Is this why you came back to our room super late a few days ago?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah. Yang and Blake were at her mom's dojo a few days ago, and apparently Blake's ex, that Adam guy she was dating before Yang, and two random people came in and challenged them. Sekai helped take care of the random guys, and Yang and Blake did beat Adam. But Burning Echelon had been beaten up pretty badly, so I helped her make a new machine, one that could give her a little edge."

"The design certainly stands out as a brand new machine," Pyrrha commented. "It seems to retain many of the original's functionality while increasing overall abilities with those Plavsky plastic parts."

Penny tilted her head to the side as she looked at it. "Why did you use the Astray Gold Frame's arm for her right arm?"

"Actually, that was Yang's request," Ruby explained. "During the fight, Adam almost cut her right arm off, and she had to use a holographic M1 Astray arm to replace it that was just lying around during the Battle of ORB scenario they were at. When she redesigned her machine, she asked me to add it. She said it would help her remind her that she wasn't good enough yet, which I thought was kinda weird."

Penny looked at Ruby, confused. "But her odds at winning the Regional tournament you defeated her in were very high. I estimated seven thousand and sixty-two to one. Your unexpected skygrasper modification to Crimson Strike Noir was the equalizer. She clearly has the skill to take on opponents of greater caliber."

Ruby, suddenly hurt by the assessment, looked away. "Yeah...I know… I got lucky."

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Penny responded. "You clearly had tactical superiority at the range, with enhanced speed and agility. Your intelligent decision to eject when you did not only won the match but also wound up proving you were just as skilled as she was. Your trap with the Gouf Custom heat rod was also ingenious, allowing you to outperform her stronger but more limited and rigid martial arts style."

The unexpected praise surprised Ruby, and she looked at Penny as the table yelled out the type of field they would be in. Field Six, plains.

The holographic display abruptly shifted to a large meadow of wildflowers, surrounded on all sides by a forest. The field of colors looked gorgeous.

On the other side of the stadium, the Tri Fighters, Shia, Shimon, and Gyanko stared at the television. Shia looked at the field happily. "It's beautiful. Like Blake's Gunpla."

Gyanko raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Did she copy your 00, Shia? That looks almost exactly like your Gunpla, but monochrome."

Shia shook her head. "I gave the original 00 Quanta Shia to Blake for letting me stay at her house for my five months overseas. She adopted it and repainted it in her colors."

Sekai was grinning upon seeing Yang's Gunpla. "That's new and so cool! I can't wait to fight her with it!"

Yuuma frowned. "Calm down, Sekai. You might hurt yourself."

He glanced at the television and studied the new machine. He could understand Sekai's excitement; this Gunpla clearly was inspired by the Try Burning Gundam. Yang or her sister must have invested a decent amount of effort to develop it.

As the field finished forming, Blake frowned. No good spots for cover. This was going to get rough in a hurry.

"BATTLE START!"

"Mina Seung, Gundam Rising Star, launch!"

Irina tensed as her partner shot off. "Gundam Astraea Ubiytsa, go!"

Yang grinned. "Yang Xiao Long, Blazing Gundam Echelon, let's do this!"

Blake inhaled slowly to calm her nerves. She gripped the control orbs with tense hands. "Blake Belladonna, Gundam 00 Quanta Bella, go!"

Team Bumblebee landed first, Blake hovering above Yang as their opponents descended. "Let's try not to split up," Yang stated. "We can take them together if-"

A pink energy blast interrupted her, and she and Blake scattered as the Astraea shot towards them. Irina's twin GN guns alternated a barrage of incoming fire, pushing both girls back.

"Damn! She came out blasting!" Yang cursed, reuniting with Blake just long enough to be forced to break from her again. She inhaled sharply and focused, landing into the flower bed near the edge of the northern tree line, and responded with several Blazing Shots from her wrist gauntlets.

The Astraea Ubiytsa easily rolled to the side, dodging the incoming shots left and right with little effort.

Blake circled her wrist on her control orbs over to her mobile GN bits, but an alert sounded that caused her to look up before launching them. "Yang! Look out!"

Yang turned as the Rising Star shot from the trees, beam glaive swinging down at her head. She caught the polearm right below the beam blade, yanking it with her right hand to bring Mina closer. She scored a direct hit with a left fist to the face, but Mina twisted as she was hit and used the impact's momentum to swing to the side and ram a sidekick into Yang's midsection.

Yang hadn't assimilated with her machine, so the blow only staggered her from the platform shaking, but it was enough to distract her enough to ignore Irina for a second. She stood upright as Mina fell back, just as a proximity alert behind her lit up. She turned and ducked as Irina extended both of her GN blades and slashed at the Blazing Echelon.

The first swipe was missed by a narrow margain, cleaving the tip of the right tip of her V-fin off. She took a step to the side as the second blade came downwards. She swung an elbow up at the abdomen of the Astraea, but Irina danced around the blow and delivered a spinning roundhouse kick to the side of the Blazing Echelon's head, continuing to move as she dodged a retaliation strike from Blake.

The 00 Bella missed the Astraea by a mile, with Irina retreating back and upwards and returning to a ranged assault with her twin GN guns. Blake activated a particle shield as the beams landed, deflecting the attacks and scattering them around the two machines as Yang shook off the onslaught.

"Yang! Are you okay?"

Yang gritted her teeth. "Yeah, I'm fine. These two are tough."

Mina grinned and extended her bow. "Gotta say, they're a lot more fun than I expected."

"If you take out the yellow one, the purple one will be easy," Irina stated plainly. "I'm going in. Cover me."

Three beam arrows formed on the energy string of the Rising Star's bow. Mina closed one eye and entered a kneeling sniper stance. "Got you covered. Go!"

Irina shot forward, flying in front of Mina's line of fire as she launched her arrows. The three-beam shots flew around and past Irina, slamming into the ground and exploding into a dirty smoke screen.

Yang narrowed her eyes and spun around the 00 Bella, lowering her right fist and leaping into an uppercut. She couldn't see or really hear the Astraea, but as she launched upwards, she expected a connection.

However, she was met only by empty air, as the Astraea was nowhere to be found. She looked to her left and spotted the Gundam, twisting her upper body to avoid being skewered by one of the blades. Igniting her thrusters, she spun into a partially upside-down kick that caught the Astraea in the hip and hit it with such incredible force that the machine shot down and slammed into the ground at high speed. It was dragged by its momentum across the flowery field and hit a tree, snapping it in half as it tumbled to a stop.

Mina watched this in a mix of surprise and excitement. "Huh...she's got good instincts. Alrighty then. Hey Irina, you good?"

The Astraea pushed up onto its hands and knees. "Fine. Minor damage only."

Yang twisted in her descent and landed on her feet, with Blake coming to her side. The two stood side by side as Mina leveled her glaive.

"Feeling a little feisty, KitKat?" Yang asked. She fell into a fighting stance, left hand forward, body sideways and low, right arm raised up by her head. "Let's take out the Rising Star before Irina gets back up."

"Right!" Blake and Yang both launched themselves at Mina, who dropped low, the blade of her glaive low with her left hand forward, the back end high with her right hand near the end.

As Yang charged and went in for a punch, Mina Mina quickly stepped forward and shot the glaive out towards her like a pool cue. Her right hand met her left as the staff slid in her grip, and Yang had to move to the left to avoid getting impaled.

Blake circled around Mina and swung her sword at her, but Mina ducked and, as she turned with her body low, immediately swung the extended glaive in a sweeping side motion that caused Blake to back off. The follow-through pirouette swings the blade back around as Yang went in for another blow, again forcing her to back off. As Mina spun on her heel, she moved her glaive down and planted the beam blade into the ground, before jumping and using the pole to catapult her up into a handstand on the pommel of the staff.

She lowered her body down by her arms, then pushed off the staff, grabbing the pommel as she jumped with her arms into the air. The Rising Star's agility and grace carried it over Blake before Mina suddenly ignited her backpack and rocketed down at the 00 Bella. Blake brought her shoulder shield over to defend against the attack, but Mina simply landed feet first against the shield and springboarded off of it.

Blake was pushed onto one knee from the force of the Rising Star's jump, and Mina twirled into the air, aiming and firing a barrage of five beam arrows at both Blake and Yang while upside down, before landing a dozen meters away. She fell back into a defensive stance with her glaive, just as the Astraea emerged from the trees and stood with her.

Blake looked at Yang as she stood up. "These guys are too good," she commented, disheartened. She felt out of her league, her movements sluggish compared to Yang's and their opponents. She was reacting on instinct alone, trying desperately to not get cut in half with each swipe from either Mina or Irina.

Yang clenched her fists and fell back into her fighting stance. "They are good, but we can beat them. Remember how hard Raven pushed us when we were training all last week? You can keep up with me. You can keep up with them."

"But Yang-" she tried to argue, but turned just as Irina took off and flew straight at her. She raised her GN blade up and blocked a cross slash from both of Astraea's weapons. She tried to push back against the other machine, but the three solar furnaces of the Astraea overpowered the 00 Bella by a significant amount, and both machines were pushed into the tree line.

Yang turned and cried out for her partner, but the moment she did, Mina rushed, forcing Yang on the defensive while her guard was dropped. Yang twisted and spun to avoid a slash with the glaive, then gritted her teeth in anger as she swung a backhand blow at the Rising Star.

Mina lifted her glaive upright to bring her left arm and shield forward, blocking the blow, before she lashed out with a midsection knee that hit Yang's center mass and staggered her. Mina then helicoptered her staff, creating a vortex of dangerous slashes as she wheeled it to the left of her, then over to the right, then back to the left again. The rapidly spinning beam blade came exceedingly close to Yang's shoulders with each pass, nearly cleaving her arms off.

After the third switch back to the right side of the Rising Star, Mina shifted her grip and let the glaive slide in her hand to the pommel as the weapon hung behind her before she rapidly brought it down in an overhand slam. Yang jumped backward as the weapon hit the ground with such force that a plume of dirt erupted from the superheated beam blade and the impact of the staff's emitter, sending glassed shards of earth flying outward in a shower of debris.

Yang brought her arms up to shield her vision, allowing Mina to jump up and deliver a kick to the Blazing Echelon's chest. Yang stumbled backward as Mina reared her glaive up and began a diagonal slash, which Yang turned to avoid before retaliating with a barrage of Vulcan fire from her forehead that sent Mina back on the defensive.

Mina's grin broadened. She hadn't had this much fun in a while. "Nice, Xiao Long. You keep impressing me."

Yang felt toyed with, but her mind wasn't fully on Mina. She looked around. She could hear the battle between Irina and Blake in the distance, the rustling of branches and the toppling of trees mixed with beam attacks and sword clashes.

"Blake! What's going on?!"

The tree canopy erupted as the two Gundams shot above it, Irina still pushing Blake back. Blake's blade bits were circling the Astraea, but Irina kept either dodging them or projecting a particle shield before getting hit.

Blake grunted after Astraea slammed into her, sending the 00 careenings to the ground. She shifted her shield's sub arm to move it behind her, allowing both GN drives to keep her afloat and avoiding a hard impact, and she used the burst of speed to ascend and try to open fire on Irina's machine.

"Heh, too easy," Mina commented, aiming her bow up and opening fire on the 00 Bella. The powerful beam arrow launched from the Rising Star at incredible speeds, and Yang watched in horror.

"Blake! Behind you!"

The 00 Bella twisted to look at the incoming attack, fear crossing her eyes as the arrow closed in.

In a panic, Yang shot off, pushing her machine's thrusters to the absolute limit. The Blazing Echelon managed to catch up to the arrow, and Yang crossed her arms and intercepted it a second before it hit Blake. The beam exploded, shrouding both of Team Bumblebee's Gunpla in dark smoke.

Mina smiled proudly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually sad we won that fight already."

Irina scoffed. "Focus on the rest of the tournament, not one fight."

Mina stood up from her kneeling position, waiting for the battle table to call the match. But after a couple of seconds, nothing happened, leaving her confused.

"Wait…"

She gripped her polearm and took a defensive stance, just as a bright yellow bloom emerged from the clearing smoke. The purple reactive pieces of the Blazing Echelon were glowing gold, and the Gundam's violet eyes had changed to an ominous red, just as yellow flames erupted from the new glowing pieces. The back of the Blazing Echelon's head emitter a sea of golden flames, which settled into a beam mantle that looked like a mane of hair, similar to the Nobell Gundam hair Yang used for the Burning Echelon before.

The amount of Plavsky particles Yang was emitting had skyrocketed. She clenched her fists and screamed, and the flames flared with intensity.

Irina stared in bewilderment. She'd seen this before, on Sekai's Kamiki Burning Gundam earlier, but watching it and facing it were two different feelings. "Mina-"

"I know." Mina wore an incredible grin.

Blake smiled at Yang. "Thank you."

Yang nodded. "Don't worry. I have your back."

Blake, reassured by her partner's words, decided to join in, activating Trans-Am. The 00 Bella began flowing with power, a deep maroon hue settling in over it.

Irina responded with her own Trans-Am. "I suppose it cannot be helped." She glanced at Mina, who had begun to shine a brilliant gold as if painted in gold plating, as she entered Super Mode.

The audience went crazy as the four machines began to glow. The friends of the combatants backstage all sat on the edge of their seats, waiting for the first move to be made.

Sei and Nils stared at the Blazing Echelon. "Sei, that mode…"

Sei nodded. "Yeah. It's an attempt to recreate the RG System in the Build Strike, and the adaptation that China's brother Yuuma made for the Try Burning Gundam. It's not a perfect recreation, but its power output is superb, for being an imitation."

He closed his eyes and chuckled. "First the Absorb System gets reverse-engineered last year, now the RG System. The youth of today sure do have talent. To recreate something they've only ever seen before…"

Yang's new mode did not go unnoticed by anyone. Sekai pumped his fists in excitement. "Go, Yang! This is awesome!"

Fumina blinked as she stared at the scene on the television. "I'm surprised that Yang and Blake have held out this long. Blake told us she wasn't very experienced in Gunpla Battle, right?"

Yuuma nodded. "Yes. But I imagine that between her painting skills, and the fact her Gunpla was built by Shia, means that she's taking advantage of the performance. And she did train with Sekai and Yang at Yang's mother's dojo, so she probably has improved tremendously since she got here last week."

Sekai nodded. "Yeah! Blake got really good. She wasn't quite keeping up with us, but she was close! And that was with a different kit."

Shia smiled happily, beaming at her friend's performance so far. "She trained with a normal 00 Quanta she herself built for practice. The build quality difference between her kit and mine boosted her improved skills to be roughly on par with Sekai and Yang now, it seems."

"So," Mina smirked, "now that we've all entered Super Saiyan mode, what next?"

Yang glanced back at Blake. "You okay?"

Blake, sighing in relief, nodded. "Thanks to you. So, what next?"

"Follow me." Yang looked back at Mina, keeping Irina in the corner of her vision. The Astraea hung just slightly below them in the air, her GN Blades open and ready.

In the blink of an eye, the Blazing Echelon took off with the 00 Bella behind her. Team Bumblebee rapidly closed the distance between them and Mina.

The Rising Star moved into a defensive stance, raising its left arm and shield up. This seemed too easy. Mina kept her eyes and ears open, expecting Yang to be a distraction and Blake to quantum teleport in from behind or the side.

Irina expected this too, and teleported down to Mina's side, the Astraea disappearing in a brilliant explosion of sparkly GN particles and reappeared close to the ground as Yang reached striking distance. Astraea's right arm was raised horizontally to lash out at her.

Yang smirked and, as the GN sword swung out, she thrust her fists forward. A powerful fireball shot from each of her flaming gauntlets, which altered her course and let her corkscrew over the sword strike. She tightened her body up like a gymnast twisting in the air after a jump, and as she came out of a full revolution, her right leg shot out and connected with Irina's cheek. The Astraea's combat visor shattered on impact, and Irina was sent stumbling from the blindsided strike.

She looked up, the momentum from her own swing spinning her around, just as the 00 Bella materialized. Blake brought her weapon down and cleaved the extended right GN sword of the Astraea in two with a solid blow.

Yang landed and her left fist slammed into Irina's left GN Sword's hinge, disabling the retracted blade and knocking Irina away. The Blazing Echelon then twisted and chose to restart Mina, throwing a right backhanded blow out that connected with Mina's shield and caused the Rising Star to skid a few meters backward from the impact.

Mina grunted as her thrusters slowed her knockback. A flash to her right caught her attention, and she ducked just as the 00 Bella reappeared there and struck out with her sword. Mina planted the pommel of her staff into the ground and jumped, tightly spinning on her glaive and slamming a rotating sidekick into Bella's side as Yang rushed again, forcing her to back off.

"Irina! You good?!" She asked as she landed from an athletic jump away from the Blazing Echelon.

Irina scowled at her amber-colored HUD. She dropped her GN Swords, now more or less useless, and reached behind her to pull out the Exia Repair IV's GN Tachi mounted on its back. "Fine. A setback, nothing more."

She clicked on her left orb and cycled over to her third weapon slot. She turned and took off, charging at Blake. The 00 Bella backed up and flipped her blade back to open fire with her beam rifle. Irina countered by cleaving each shot in half with her tachi, before blinking out of existence and reappearing directly in front of Blake.

Panicking, Blake tried to back up, but couldn't avoid the thrust Irina made that cut the barrel of her rifle across the top of the weapon, damaging it and forcing her to drop it as it exploded.

Blake clicked on her right orb and called her GN Blade Bits back to her from the tree line. Irina had knocked them away earlier and Blake hadn't brought them back, hoping to use them for a trap. They came flying through the trees and soared to her, which sent Irina on the defensive and gave Blake a chance to recuperate.

One of the GN bits came to Blake, and she took hold of its back end to replace her weapon as Irina came back at her. She glared at the Astraea as the 00 Raiser wings on its shoulders rose, and suddenly ten white feather-like bits shot from them and began to swarm her.

Irina smirked. "Your bits are nothing compared to my fangs. Now, die!"

The fangs darted around the 00 Bella as Irina used her wrist-mounted beam Vulcans to destroy the rest of the blade bits' GN condensers, dropping them uselessly to the ground.

Blake deflected each fang as it came at her, using her shield or swatting them away with her sword, but the small and fast-moving mobile weapons persisted. She struggled to keep up with them, dashing sideways and up or down to avoid them, trying her hardest to keep Irina in view. Her twin drives were rapidly depleting in energy; she couldn't keep this up forever.

Yang watched helplessly as Blake was assaulted, but she had her own problems to deal with. Mina was pressing the assault, putting Yang on the defensive. A thrust, followed by a small jump backward and then a second, deeper thrust, forced Yang to dodge to the right. Mina tilted her beam blade down and again planted the glaive on the ground, running and standing it upright to give her a pivot point to jump and spin on the pole, nailing Yang with a rotating kick to the side.

Yang winced as she felt the pain of the blow as solidly as if she had taken it. Assimilation's downside, once again at work. But her anger built up, and she lashed out as Mina landed, landing a hard left fist to the gut, followed by a ducking right hook that nailed the Rising Star in the eye and finishing with a left uppercut. The final blow knocked Mina into the air, but the Rising Star ignited its thrusters and used its momentum to backflip.

The beam edge of the glaive came up and grazed Yang's left shoulder pauldron, leaving a decent cut on it. Thankfully, the pauldron wasn't an area on the Gundam that would affect Yang; she missed the shoulder joint, so she felt no pain. But the cut did leave the joint exposed. A solid blow could cripple her left shoulder if she wasn't careful.

Yang fell into an open palm defensive stance, her right hand forward and left back up near her head. She had to play this smarter. Mina was gaining an advantage and, despite several powerful blows that had damaged the Gunpla, the Rising Star was more or less still in good condition.

'I gotta get to Blake,' Yang thought. She took a slow, calming breath, before clenching her fists and opening them again.

The energy built up in her fists, and she slammed them together, which focused and intensified the fire around her machine. Her knuckles began to burn intensely now, as well, and her hands radiated the same yellow power as her flames.

"These hands of mine are blazing gold!" She roared loudly.

Mina cut her off. "What do you think this is? This is no anime!"

She lunged forward and tried to skewer Yang, but her glaive was easily knocked to the side and countered with a kick to the midsection. Mina took the blow but retaliated with the pommel of her staff to the cheek, which made Yang stumble.

Her cheek throbbed. The impact chipped some plastic off of Blazing Echelon, leaving a mark on Yang's left cheek in the same spot. But the pain only fueled her, and she planted her left foot behind her to steady herself as she ducked another swipe from the glaive.

Her fist became engulfed in flames, and she threw a right hook at Mina. The Rising Star's shield took the impact, but the force of the blow and the intensity of the fire left a melted dent in the shield and buckled it slightly, preventing the bow arms from extending.

Mina scoffed and discarded the shield. "You're really good and really irritating," she commented. The Rising Star slid the glaive backward, grabbing it near the beam emitter at the tip, before plunging the beam glaive into a slot on the bow on her arm.

Detaching the bow from her left arm, it opened up backward and formed a trident-like weapon, the beam string crossing into the glaive's beam blade and causing it to roar with incredible power.

Unphased, Yang shot forward. She launched a right fist at Mina, but it missed as the Rising Star ducked and twisted to avoid a left knee Yang had ready in case the punch was avoided. Mina spun around fully and slammed the back end of her glaive into Yang's back, knocking her down to the ground.

The Blazing Echelon bounced once, before catching the ground with both hands and springboarding upwards. She manipulated the Plavsky particles being projected from her machine to push off the air, as if propelling herself off of a solid surface, leveling an open, glowing right hand at Mina as she did so.

Mina smirked and twirled her staff until the exciting beam blade pointed at Yang in the air. "Try dodging this!"

The radiant glaive blade erupted, growing in size as it fired a titanic beam at Yang. Unable to avoid it, Yang stuck both palms forward and caught the blast, holding it at bay with all the energy she could muster.

Mina smiled confidently. "Rising Star's only getting started, you know. If you're struggling now, wait till I turn it up!"

The energy attack increased in intensity, forcing Yang backward a bit before she regained her traction with her thrusters. The sheer, overwhelming power of the beam attack was causing massive alarms to sound as her hands and arms began to strain to their limits.

Yang winced. She felt the strain. Her muscles were screaming, and her elbow joints and wrists ached as she held the large hardlight orb that formed to represent the large energy blade she pushed against.

Seconds passed like hours, and she could feel the heat on her palms. Her flesh felt like it was burning, and she clenched her jaw, one eye closed in pain. Was this it?

Every time she activated her thrusters, it only increased the pain, as her machine futilely pushed back against Mina's attack.

"This blade can get up to the same power output as a Wing Gundam buster rifle," Mina proclaimed. "And I'm only getting started!"

The energy blade increased its output even more, and again Yang cried out and struggled. She couldn't take much more. Any second, her arms would buckle, and she'd be consumed.

Then, a scream was heard over the comms. She looked over as Irina pinned the 00 Bella down, a knee planted in its gut. The Gunpla had dropped out of Trans Am, its energy mostly expended, though it looked like Blake had deactivated it herself, from Yang's HUD readings. Irina's machine was still a raging red.

The fangs the Astraea had launched cut deep into Blake's Gundam, and sparks began coming from its midsection and knees.

"Pathetic," Irina commented derisively. She stood up and looked up at the power struggle.

Yang closed her eyes. She knew what was coming. And, as expected, the Astraea quantum leaped beside her, in an instant hovering just above the Blazing Echelon. She brought her tachi to bear. "This ends now."

Fear exploded on Yang's face as she prepared for the killing blow, but as the tachi landed, Blake's 00 Bella reappeared, back in Trans-Am mode, to take it. The tachi cleaved through the Gundam, amputating both the sub arm with the shield and second GN Reactor and its left arm cleanly as if it were a hot knife through butter.

Blake, instantaneously, responded with an upward sweep with the GN bit she had used as a sword, cutting off the left 0 Raiser wing from the Astraea, before using her thrusters and boosting forward to tackle the Astraea as the two fell out of Trans Am and crashed headfirst to the ground below.

"Blake!"

Anger welled up inside Yang's chest. The feeling of powerlessness, fueled by rage at being pushed back. It was almost too much to bear.

She wouldn't lose. She couldn't. They had come to this tournament, and they weren't going to be defeated in the first round. They had to continue!

Yang began to roar. The flames surrounding her Gundam subsided, being retracted into her machine as she focused, though the purple Plavsky particle plastic remained a brilliant gold. The Blazing Echelon's hands began to resonate, drawing the power she had been unleashing until a moment ago into a focused point in her palms.

The golden ball of condensed energy pushed back against the massive beam blade. With the pressure off of her palms, Yang's hands started to feel better, but this wasn't time to relax. She drew her inner strength in, pushing it forward in her palms until she let out a vicious roar.

A giant energy blast of her own shot forth from her palms, her burning passion turned into a weapon. The blast easily began to overtake the Rising Star's massive beam glaive, and Mina stared at the move in awe and disbelief. She turned the energy up to maximum, but it didn't make a difference. The energy beam pushed forward unphased.

"Well… shi-"

She was cut off as the blast encased the Rising Star, gouging a massive crater out of the ground where it had been standing. The wave of power washed over the area for what seemed like an eternity.

When the focused attack subsided, the Rising Star was on its back, arms missing and one leg barely hanging on. Its head had been obliterated, as had its backpack. It simply laid in the crater, surrounded by flowers around its edge, useless.

Yang fell from the sky and landed hard on her back. Her Plavsky pieces remained gold, harnessing what little power she still had. It took her a moment to stir and get back on one knee, panting. She was exhausted, her arms hurt, and she barely felt conscious. Her heart was pounding in her ears and adrenaline pumping in her veins.

They'd done it. They'd won.

But wait…

The announcer hadn't called the match.

"Impressive."

Yang's eyes widened in shock as she quickly spun around, just as a green physical blade was driven into her left clavicle. She screamed in pain as she stumbled backward and collapsed, her Astray arm clutching the weapon. A GN tachi.

She looked up to see a damaged, but still functional, Astraea Ubiytsa standing before her. Though it had crashed and one of its GN drives had been cut off, it remained a menacing sight. Perhaps even more so, now that it was wounded.

"A pity," Irina commented. "That would have ended you."

Yang's face was contorted in pain. She looked at the hardlight beam that was sticking out of her shoulder. The beam itself wasn't piercing her, it was just there to represent the tachi, but the assimilation let her feel like it had. She gripped it as she shuddered in agony.

Irina bent down and grabbed the GN katars on her lower legs. "I recommend quitting now."

Yang glared at her defiantly. She tugged on the tachi, wincing as she felt it move. The pain almost halted her, but she gritted her teeth and pulled again, a powerful tug that dislodged the weapon with a shock of pain so great she nearly fainted. She fell to one knee and dropped the sword panting. "I don't think so," she declared.

She reached up to her collarbone. On her own skin, a red mark, like a welt, was forming, though the Blazing Echelon had a very clear gash that went deep into its chest. She was reminded of the fight with Adam, or when she ripped off the armor piece during the Regionals against Ruby, though back then she couldn't feel things like she did now.

"Assimilation is a double-edged blade," Irina remarked coldly. "Best to save yourself more pain."

Yang took two long breaths, covering the mark on her chest with her right hand, before sighing and standing up. She stood sideways, legs apart and bent low, her right arm forward and left arm to her side. She shifted her left shoulder; her body ached, but her adrenaline lessened the pain, and luckily the Gundam didn't quite move like her body. Where the mark shifted on her chest when she moved her shoulder, the rigid Gundam's shoulder didn't affect the gash at all, which she was thankful for. If it was just this much, she could manage.

"I don't run," she replied. "You're going to have to beat this victory out of me."

"As you wish," Irina replied, raising her right katar up near her head and dropping the left one forward and low, aimed at Yang.

Several of the fangs that hadn't embedded into the 00 Bella came up and pointed towards Yang as the Astraea once again activated Trans Am. Yang growled a bit. So, she still had that third GN drive active.

She took one more deep breath and centered himself. No fear. The pain was power. Her dad taught him that and more.

Her eyes snapped open as Astraea reached her. She ducked the first katar blow from Irina'a right hand and caught the follow-up stab from her left. Yang turned and hip tossed her over her shoulder.

The Astraea's GN field caught her as she went flying, and she recovered before hitting the ground. The five fangs scattered and tried to swarm Yang, but the Blazing Echelon dodged and deflected each blow, before ducking low to avoid another swing from the Astraea and connect with a tight left hook that shattered the cheek wing on its head.

Yang turned and grabbed two fangs out of the air, slamming their GN particle flight units into each other to disable them.

The fire from the Plavsky parts ignited again. Yang fell back into the same pose as before, making sure her wounded chest was away from the fight initially as Irina recalled her remaining fangs and recovered. Astraea's right eye was crushed from that last blow. Even with her enhanced speed, Yang was keeping up, and now she was enhanced once more with her fiery power.

Irina dashed forward again, her fangs behind her once more. Yang exhaled sharply and narrowed her eyes. "Laser Bullet!" She cried out. The fire on her left knee subsided as she lashed out a kick. The swinging blow was nowhere near the Astraea, but the yellow arching beam that lanced from her foot closed that distance rapidly.

Irina put up a GN Field that absorbed the blow, but the power of it shattered the barrier instantly, and the crescent wave destroyed her remaining fangs. The brilliant light from the beam blinded her for a moment, and she almost completely closed her eyes and shielded her face from the light with her right hand.

As her vision cleared, she looked up and saw the Blazing Echelon dominating her vision. She rapidly put her hand back on her control orb, bringing a wild and uncontrolled swing up to catch Yang's face with her katar.

Yang blocked the attack with her left hand. "Zero Impact!" She yelled, her right fist, engulfed in flames, slammed into the midsection of the Astraea, striking the armor strut surrounding the large clear cap that covered the back of the GN Drive.

The blow sent Irina hurtling into a large tree behind her, impacting hard GN drive first. The shock of the blow caused the GN drive to buckle and explode, knocking the Astraea out of Trans Am. Irina fell to her hands and knees, dropping her weapons as she struggled. She was still recovering from the violent shaking of her simulated cockpit. Her eyes went wide-she never had such a powerful strike hit her center mass before.

She looked up as Yang extended her limbs out like a starfish, palms outstretched. She brought her arms forward and her wrists slammed together, forming the same shape they had when she was holding Mina's beam blade back.

Jaune instantly recognized that and stood up rapidly from the couch as he watched the television, startling Pyrrha and Penny both. His eyes were wide with surprise. "Is that the Final Flash?!"

Sekai, in the other backstage area, did the same thing. "Go! Do it, Yang!"

Yang focused, her fire retracting from her Gunpla's exterior, a yellow energy ball forming in her hand once more. "I don't have much left, but then again, neither do you now. So yeah, let's end this!"

She roared a little as she charged her attack. After a second, she yelled, "Jīnlóng bàozhà!"

The ball of energy expanded, before becoming a super laser that rushed at the Astraea. Irina struggled to get to her feet, just as the blast consumed her. She tried to use her thrusters to avoid the attack but failed.

The beam tore through the forest, decimating everything for the several seconds it lasted. The light consumed everything it touched. When it dissipated, the Astraea, paint burned away, missing its other 0 Raider wing and its left arm, and the damaged part of its head torn away still stood a defiant and lifeless statue.

It toppled after a moment, making a groaning sound in protest as it did. It crashed to the ground with a hard thud.

Yang panted heavily, the golden glow from the Blazing Echelon fading to a dull, mostly inactive purple. She fell to her knees as the battle table announced the battle had ended, completely spent.

As the cockpits faded, Blake immediately rushed over to Yang. The blonde had a glazed-over look in her eyes. Blake nuzzled her forehead gently. "Yang! Are you okay?!"

Despite her fatigue, Yang managed a weary smile and gave her a weak thumbs up. "Yeah. Hey...I think I need a nap…" she said, before slipping into unconsciousness.

Mina and Irina looked at each other and sighed. "Well, that's the way the cookie crumbles," the blue-haired girl noted. She turned to Blake and Yang. "When she comes to, tell her that was an amazing fight! If we're going to lose, then that's the way we would want it to be-to some Dragon Ball Z crap."

Irina nodded, before looking at Blake. "I am impressed," she told her. "Forget the taunts I made-you kept up with me to the bitter end. You should have no regrets. I would be honored for a rematch, should you desire it."

Blake stared at her, dumbfounded, before nodding. "Maybe one day, yeah."

The crowd was going absolutely ballistic. The fight had clearly incited powerful energy in them. Summer and Kali were happily cheering along with the rest, in their seats, and declaring how proud they were of their daughters.

Qrow shook his head and crossed his arms. "Heh. Good job, Firecracker."

The only one not smiling was Raven. Her eyes were locked on Yang. "Tai," she said coldly, before turning to him. "My Mandarin is a little rusty, but that last move she used roughly translates to 'Golden Dragon Blast,' if I'm not mistaken. And the way she used it...that's a chi-building technique used by your family's martial arts style, correct?"

Tai chuckled. "Right on the money. It seems she used the dragon roar, which is the chi gathering motion she used, to create a massive energy beam, redirecting her chi flow-or Gunpla power flow, maybe?-into her palms and unleashing it in a massive blast."

Summer sat back down and looked at them. "It reminded me of the Sekiha Tenkyoken from

G Gundam to me." She smiled happily. "Maybe she parodied it using Tai's martial arts technique."

Raven shook her head. "That's not the issue I have." She looked back to Tai. "The way she did it, while assimilated, means she was using her own chi to power the move. Not the Gundam's. The Gundam has no power of its own-assimilation allows the user to essentially become the Gundam. Using G Gundam as a reference like Summer did, think of how Master Asia can pilot his mobile suits without the combat suit."

She nodded to Yang. "That's basically what Yang is doing. So by using her own chi, she is expending her own energy to create that blast."

Tai's eyes immediately lit up. He now understood what Raven was getting at. "Oh…"

A look of concern crossed his face. "That sounds more dangerous than Gunpla Battle should allow. How is that possible?"

Raven glanced at her brother. "Assimilation. It's still unknown how extensive the connection is. But we should be wary of Yang going too far."

She looked at Tai. "You trained her to use your style. As her master, you are going to need to work with her to harness that power safely. Or else, she could wind up hospitalized."

Tai nodded. "Okay. I'll begin training her to better use that move starting tomorrow since they will have a day of downtime before the second round."

"Come to my dojo in the morning, then. You can use both the Battle Table and the training room." She turned to the others. "You're welcome to come as well if you wish."

Ghira and Kali nodded, though Summer and Qrow had to decline. "Sorry, Ray. I've got business to get to," Qrow explained.

Summer gave her a sympathetic look. "Sadly, Takeshi and I also have something to do. But I'm sure that between you and Tai, Yang will be in good hands!"

Raven nodded. "Alright. Then tomorrow, we get her ready."

YANG'S NEW GUNPLA

Blazing Gundam Echelon

A heavily modified machine based on the Duel Gundam like the Burning Gundam Echelon before it, the Blazing Echelon was a design Ruby created to perfectly optimize Yang's fighting style. Ruby even optimized her right arm-which, unlike her left, is built from an Astray Gold Frame arm that had its colors inverted to deliver devastating punches. The Blazing Echelon is the perfect amplification of Yang's abilities and highlights her drive and motivation in addition to her fighting skill.

The reason for this is, primarily, the Radial General Purpose System Kai (RG System Kai). Originally pioneered by Sei Iori in the Star Build Strike Gundam, and perfected in the Build Burning Gundam, the RG System Kai is Ruby's variation on the original RG System. Using the various points on the Blazing Echelon's body that sparkle a brilliant purple normally and glow gold when charged, Yang can channel Plavsky Particles stored in the machine to amplify her combat abilities in every way.

Due to Ruby having to craft the system based on what limited information publicly exists and what she has watched countless times both from Sei's fights and the fights of Sekai Kamiki, whose machine also uses a variant of the RG System II from the Build Burning Gundam, the RG System Kai is not a perfect replica. Ruby created a siphon system to collect wasted Plavsky particles from the Battle Table and use them as fuel. The chest vents normally meant for expending heat in a mobile suit (in most Gundam anime) act as the collectors, granting Yang essentially a limitless supply of power, though its power output is lesser than machines using the RG System II by a noticeable degree. This system, like the RG System II used in the Build Burning Gundam and its successors, can allow the Blazing Gundam Echelon to manipulate the Plavsky Particles on the field and create "platforms" or "launch points" in mid-air to change directions as if it pushed off a solid surface, simply by channeling its stored particles into its feet and pushing off as if an object were there.

This system also mimics the Burning Burst system Yuuma Kousaka created for the Try Burning Gundam. The purple bits across her body, just like the Build Burning Gundams and its successors that Sekai uses, can change color and release these stored Plavsky particles as potent fire. A beam mantle in the form of flowing golden hair also emits from the beam generator on the back of Blazing Echelon's head. While in this burning state, Yang's attacks can gain even greater heights. Yang can use the fire in a variety of attacks, including the Blazing Shot, a fireball that replaces her Shining Shot, the Laser Bullet, a crescent wave of energy fired from her foot, and the Zero Impact, which engulfs her fists in flames to deliver crippling blows that explode and send opponents flying.

Yang's ability to channel her inner chi, taught to her by her father Taiyang, grants her access to creating a massive energy beam similar to G Gundam's Sekiha Tenkyoken. Named the Jīnhóng Bàozhà, or "Golden Dragon Blast," it is a weaponized variant of the chi channeling martial arts move called the Golden Dragon Roar (Jīnhóng Hou). Styled after the Final Flash from Dragon Ball, the attack is capable of heavily devastating anything in its way but severely drains Yang in the process.


BLAKE'S GUNPLA

Gundam 00 Qan [T] Bella

Blake's machine was the original 00 Qan [T] Shia used by her friend Shia Kijima in the incident involving the Scramble Gundam and has seen very little change since that battle. Blake opted to use a normal 00 Gundam's flip-out GN Sword III, but otherwise maintains every item Shia included into it. This includes the other Sword Bits Shia added to it.

Blake has opted to change only a few things cosmetically. The sky blue bits have changed to a brilliant purple. The seafoam green, yellow, and white color scheme has been replaced by black, white, and purple. Blake kept the cat ears, which was the initial reason she fell in love in Shia's Gunpla in the first place. She also used her options to change her GN particles to a glowing purple.

Blake is still learning to control the massive power output of her machine. But she is steadily improving, both in building and piloting skills. With Yang as her partner, she will only continue to improve.


MINA'S GUNPLA

Gundam Rising Star

The winner of both the South Korean National Championship and the Joint Korean Nationals, Mina's Gundam Rising Star is a powerful upgrade to the standard Rising Gundam. Using God Gundam's backpack for greater speed and agility, and a shield that was integrated into her bow (though it could be detached if needed), the modifications to the Gunpla were simple, yet effective.

Rising Star's primary weapon was a white-handled beam glaive, as well as a forearm-mounted bow capable of firing yellow beam arrows at opponents up to at least three at a time. Mina's own acrobatics gave her a wide range of techniques to engage in both short and mid-range combat. She is adept at using the standard control system to execute effective martial arts moves, controlling Rising Star as a character in a video game.

While in Super Mode, she can combine her bow with the tip of her glaive and channel the immense power of the Gundam into her weapon, giving it a titanic beam blade that could cleave battleships in half. At full power, this blade has the same power output as a Wing Gundam buster rifle, though it drains her Gunpla's power drastically.


IRINA's GUNPLA

Gundam Astraea Ubiytsa

Literally translated to "Gundam Astraea Assassin," Irina's personal mobile suit has been a proven killer in the Russian circuit for two years running. The teen has optimized the machine to maximize both power output and damage potential, outfitting the Astraea with the back-mounted sub arms and GN drives of the 00 Gundam and the 0 Raiser's wings, and adding elements of the 00 Gundam Seven Sword and Exia Repair IV's weapon set, as well as a second, reversed GN Sword III to use in the off-hand. This impressive range of offensive options allows Irina to operate with impressive versatility in combat. To add to this, she also has several custom GN fangs for mobile weapons, giving her an all-range mode to pair with her rapid close combat fighting style.

The Astraea Ubiytsa has exceptional agility, mobility, and power, and thanks to having three GN drives, can use Trans Am and still operate at a decent level once the mode expires, unlike single or double GN drive machines. This gives her a tactical advantage and has proven to be the ace in the hole she needs in many situations.