The crowd was deafening, still reveling in the excitement of the last match. Fumina and Yuuma looked at each other, suddenly slightly nervous after watching the display from Team Jackrabbit and Arkos.

"That was nuts!" Sekai cried out. "I hope we're next! I totally wanna go out there and fight now!"

Shia chuckled to herself. Watching her partner get so excited was adorable.

She glanced over at her, smiling slightly, which immediately irked Fumina. Her temper flared, and she felt like she could jump at the white-haired girl if it wasn't for the calming hand on her shoulder by Yuuma.

The television showed the display for the next round of matches, and the names began blinking between the six remaining teams. "Who do you think will be next?" Fumina mused. "All the teams seem so unique."

"We may wind up fighting Sekai," Yuuma responded, looking at the ace of their three-man team. The Try Fighters were good individually, but Shia and her brother's team, Celestial Sphere, had almost beaten them before, and it was all because of Sekai and the Try Burning Gundam that they won.

The possibility of going against their best player, and his newer, more powerful machine, was terrifying, truth be told.

The names began to slow down, and the four teens sat on the edge of their seats. Tension filled the air as they anticipated who would be next in line.

And then it stopped. Team Godslayer Vs. Team Try Fighters.

Fumina and Yuuma both inhaled sharply. Their nerves shot up on seeing the matchup. Anticipation turned to fear. Remembering how absolutely dominant Godslayer was in the final match of the last round was enough to cause them to dread this upcoming match.

Sekai saw them tense up. "Hey, relax!" He stood up and got in front of his two friends. "You guys got this! You guys have all the tips and tricks from our last few tournaments to use, so I know you'll win!"

"Besides, from what Wilfrid told me, Team Godslayer actually has multiple fighters," Shia added. "You probably will be going against opponents different from the two who fought before. Which may give you an advantage."

Fumina and Yuuma looked at each other. If that was true, the chance that they might underdog them and use fighters they could take on would increase. They may not take them seriously enough to use their best members.

Yuuma couldn't help but shake his head. "And here, I didn't think I'd ever need a pep talk from the idiot on our team."

Sekai stomped his foot down I protest, raising a fist up at Yuuma. "Hey! What was that?!"

Fumina and Shia both giggled at the display before the former turned to Yuuma. "Come on, let's go win this!"


Cinder twirled her bang around her finger as she watched the proceedings from the sky box. Her amber eyes scanned the crowd, looking down at all the insignificant people below, clamoring in excitement for the next contest.

She heard the door open behind her, and her gaze shifted to the reflection of the room. "Congratulations are in order," she said, her ever-present sultry tone flowing over the words. "That was an incredible matchup, Watts."

Watts grunted dismissively. "I actually was growing concerned about it, to be honest," he replied, sitting down on the couch and setting his briefcase onto the table. "For a moment, I wasn't sure that Team Jackrabbit would be able to defeat Pyrrha. And her partner's remarkable weapon set was, to be blunt, a factor I could never have predicted."

Cinder closed her eyes. "Perhaps, but even still…you've eliminated the most problematic of Ozpin's little group. Two down, two to go."

Watts didn't say anything. He was already thinking about the next two matches. Just because Flower Power and Arkos were eliminated, didn't mean they were out of the woods yet. Bumblebee was almost as problematic as Arkos was, and White Rose did eliminate one of the top contenders for the World Championship in the first round. Neither team could be underestimated.

He opened his briefcase and pulled out his laptop, but stopped. Something seemed off. It was only now that he realized Cinder was alone. "Where's Salem?"

"She insisted on watching the next match personally," Cinder replied. "She's going down there to put a little extra leverage on Emerald and Mercury."

"She doesn't trust them to get the job done?" Watts asked, puzzled."

"Less than, I think, and more that she wants to make sure that they stay focused." Cinder turned around. "Emerald seems a bit distracted, and Salem has never truly trusted either of them. Or Torchwick, for that matter. Unlike the rest of us, Merc and Emerald don't have a personal stake in this. If they aren't performing optimally, she will need to consider a replacement for them."

She smiled devilishly. "Fortunately, Emerald is dedicated to me. She has a desire to please me, so I'm not concerned about her."

Watts uttered a disgusted sound. "I do not need to know that."

Cinder ignored him. "Mercury is a wild card, but he enjoys the thrill of a fight. Or, more specifically, the thrill of winning. So with any luck, that will be enough."

"And Hazel and Tyrion?"

Cinder shrugged. "No clue. I believe Salem mentioned that Tyrion was helping Merc and Em acclimate to their new Gunpla, but once that was done, I have no idea. Hazel has been missing all day, but he's not needed for this round, so I don't care."

Watts eyed the vixen warily but said nothing. He had reservations about relying on Hazel for too much. He held back and almost openly defied Salem, despite the consequences. Even though he showed some innate brutality, the fact of the matter was, it was essentially the bare minimum. He could have crushed both of Team Flower Power in the opening minutes, but instead drug the match on.

It was quite the display, but considering that surprising berserker mode Nora Valkyrie showed off an unnecessary risk.

He turned back to his laptop, which had booted up and was awaiting his input. The final adjustments to the design of Cinder's new Bertigo still needed to be made, and with his latest creations about to enter combat, now was as good a time as any.

His mind fluttered back to Sansoro's Den'on Zon. The boy had inspired Watts. So, it was time to put that inspiration to use.


Ozpin leaned on his cane as he thought to himself. Pyrrha's elimination proved extensively problematic. He had been placing a great deal of hope on her, specifically, to defeat Salem's team, but it seemed that fate had something else in mind.

He heard a knock on the door to his sky box, and he turned around. "Enter."

Qrow opened the door and stepped inside, followed by a young boy with tanned skin, dark hair, and freckles. Ozpin nodded to the boy, who closed the door behind them. "So, what have you found?" He asked.

"I got a couple contacts roaming the area," Qrow replied, plopping down in a chair nearby. "Gunpla bars and the like. Aside from what we already know, I hate to say it, but I got nothing new. Since the start of the tournament, things just started dying down."

"You mentioned that you had a hunch about the girl your nieces were hanging out with." He turned to face the private investigator. "Did that also pan out to nothing?"

"I still only know the basics," he said, shrugging. "She was a thief, was caught by the guy that Yang confirmed was her partner alongside that Adam Taurus boy about a week ago, and they both seem to work as hirable bodyguards. Which I don't believe for a second." He removed his flask from his breast pocket and took a swig. "It's not her I'm concerned with, anyway."

He placed a photo on the table. "It's the pink and brown-haired one that has me worried. I think she was at the cafe area when we were talking to the Meijin and Nils and Ricardo. I could be wrong, but…"

Ozpin nodded. He suspected this would be the case. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility for Salem to have covertly slipped a spy near them. And, in hindsight, trying to convince so many at once had always been risky. Necessary, but risky.

He looked at the boy. "Oscar."

"Yes?" Oscar's eyes flicked to Ozpin expectantly.

"I need you to travel back to Arian and inform Councilor Ambers that I may need to speak with everyone sooner than expected," he instructed the boy. "And please, keep this information from Prince Reiji. If he learns about Salem's possible interference, he may wish to come down to Earth prematurely-without the Council's approval."

Oscar nodded, before tripping a pendant around his neck and closing his eyes. The gem in the pendant glowed, and he suddenly disappeared into a red light.

Qrow shook his head, turning away from where Oscar was standing. "I'll never get used to that." He smirked, and was about to take another drink, but paused as something on the television caught his eye. "Hey, Oz, isn't that…"

Ozpin cocked his head to the side, before turning and looking at the television. He saw the Try Fighters and the two new representatives of Godslayer take the stage, with a familiar blonde woman next to them. Ozpin glared at the screen.

"So. You decided to take a step out of the shadows," he muttered, tapping his cane on the ground in agitation, before looking down at her from the booth's window. She was looking back at him as if she knew he would watch her rather than the match.

And she was smiling. "What game are you choosing to play, I wonder…"


Salem and Ozpin made eye contact only briefly, but it was enough. She was very confident that her presence would serve both as motivation for Emerald and Mercury and as a message to Ozpin and all of his allies.

As she turned back to the young enforcers Torchwick had lent her, she noted that they seemed puzzled. "Don't worry about anything," she said reassuringly. "Cinder and Torchwick both have given you high recommendations. I'm certain you'll do splendidly."

"I'm not meaning to sound ungrateful or anything," Emerald replied, "but why'd you feel the need to come with us?"

"Insurance." Salem smiled gently. "I want to make sure that your victory here is punctuated by my investment in this battle. To highlight exactly what I want-Godslayer's domination. A general who leads from the sidelines doesn't deserve respect. And I'm far too tired of being sidelined."

Mercury shrugged. "Works for me." He grabbed his ear pods and put them in. "As long as we get to knock some heads around."

Emerald looked over at Fumina and Yuuma, who were approaching their side of the table. "Alright. Let's see how we do with these new Gunpla."

"GUNPLA BATTLE COMBAT MODE, START-UP!"

Yuuma and Fumina placed their Gunpla on the table, gripping their hardlight orbs. Their confidence was unwavering. After their victory against Team Shingyo, the two had a renewed vigor in their hearts and smiles.

"You ready, Yuuma?"

Yuuma pushed his glasses up. "Yes!"

Mercury and Emerald also set their Gunpla down, revealing them to the world for the first time. Mercury wielded a redesigned Varguil. The machine that served as the design prototype of the Sazabi and the body of the Moon Gundam had been transformed by Watts.

Painted in the familiar Full Armor Thunderbolt Gundam's deep blue, red, and white colors, the back pods that normally held the funnels the machine used had been removed and replaced with the backpack of the Thunderbolt Gundam, with sub arms that held massive versions of the shoulder shields from the Nu Gundam, complete with the Jagd Doga funnels. The backpack also housed a large beam cannon and missile pod, mimicking the Thunderbolt Gundam's offensive potential. This, combined with a double-barrel beam rifle and a Nu Gundam shield on either arm, left little doubt that this machine was meant to appear to function as a powerful variant of the machine Mercury loved so much.

Emerald's Gunpla, however, was vastly different in design. Metallic green and white in color, it looked like a taller, slimmer Qubeley fused with the Sazabi, with a variety of similar aesthetic parts from both machines. It also held a large rifle normally used by the Gerbera Tetra.

The appearance of Emerald's machine sent a wave of curious murmurs through the crowd and the contestants backstage. Ruby and the others around her stared at the odd green machine, surprised and confused.

"Interesting," Hathaway commented. "The Shanal…I've seen concept art for it from the Meaningless War story, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone ever try and pull it off before outside of resin builds."

"Its legs look like they are based on the Gundam Kiramis," Ruby pointed out. "I wonder if that means it'll be able to use the hidden boosters in the Kiramis's legs?"

"Possibly," Hath replied. "The design is clearly modified using pieces from other kits."

They watched as Yuuma and Fumina prepared to launch the Lightning Zeta and Star Winning Gundam. Mercury grinned and grabbed his own control orbs, leaning in. Emerald wore a look of determination, though she did glance slightly to the view screen on her HUD that showed Salem staring up at them. She couldn't get the thought that the woman was judging them for something.

"BATTLE START!"

Merc clicked play on his phone, jazz music flooding into his ears at a low volume. "Mercury Black, Varguil Black Thunder, hit it!"

"Shanal Jade Shadow, Emerald Sustrai, launch!"

The two machines launched into the sky, which consisted of a field of floating rocks hovering around aimlessly among the clouds.

"Heh, lots of places to hide," Mercury noted, scanning the area. "This'll be a fun spot to set up some ambushes."

Emerald nodded. "Cloaking."

The Shanal shimmered and vanished, leaving the Varguil Black Thunder as the main visible target.

On the other side of the map, Yuuma and Fumina traveled forward, both of them transformed in jet mode. Fumina scanned the area, trying to spot movement among the rocks. "I don't like this."

"Both the Varguil and Shanal are built for all range attacks since they were prototype Sazabi models," Yuuma reminded her. "We may get shot at before we even see them."

Almost immediately after saying that, however, he spotted the Varguil. "Fumina, ahead!"

The Varguil veered to the left and fired its large shoulder beam cannon, forcing both Try Fighters to swerve in order to dodge. Yuuma returned fire with his sniper, but the surprisingly agile Varguil dipped low and hid behind some rocks to avoid the shot.

Fumina gripped her control orbs and pushed forward, accelerating towards where she knew Mercury was hiding. Yuuma followed, but a shimmer to his left caught his eye, and he transformed into mobile suit mode just as a gold beam saber swiped down where his Gunpla's jet mode's nose had been a moment ago.

The Star Winning Gundam converted into SD Gundam mode and turned as the Shanal shimmered again, disappearing into the wild blue yonder as Yuuma lashed out with a beam saber slash of his own. "Mirage Colloid?"

"This is bad," Yuuma commented before an alert pulled his attention. He rapidly spun as a trio of small yellow beams lanced forward from the rock Mercury had been behind. Funnels from the Varguil began to spiral and corkscrew in the air towards them, firing repeatedly to force the two Try Fighters on the defensive.

Fumina deployed her own mobile weapons in response, returning fire to drive the funnels away. The smaller Star Winning Gundam danced around in the clouds, evading incoming lancing energy attacks and trying to shoot the attackers down.

The Lightning Zeta joined her but stopped as a target lock signal sounded. Yuuma turned as the Varguil aimed its back missile pod at the Gundam and unleashed a volley, forcing Yuuma to transform and abandon Fumina in an effort to lead the missiles away.

The Star Winning landed and continued firing its beam sub-machine gun and bits at the Varguil's funnels. Fumina felt pressed as the funnels boosted around the incoming green shots and closed in on her.

She noticed a shimmer to her left and jumped up as the Shanal decloaked with another sword slash. Emerald added to the incoming fire with her own beam machine gun, which kept Fumina constantly moving and prevented her from getting a stable shot to return fire.

"These two aren't nearly as tough as Sekai was," Emerald commented.

Mercury chuckled as he fired off a pair of dual-beam cannon shots. "And these new Gunpla are amazing!"

The Lighting Zeta released flares from its legs, catching the pursuing missiles, then transformed and fired a pair of forearm rockets back at the Varguil. Mercury shifted his sub arms forward, using their shield to catch the rockets and forcing them to harmlessly explode against the reinforced plastic.

"Nice try," Mercury sneered, before launching a shoulder cannon blast at Yuuma, who transformed and banked hard to avoid it. The shot hit one of the floating rocks, boring through the floating boulder, causing it to explode.

The Varguil continued forward, recalling its funnels to have them charge on their shield-mounted rack and launching the other three to harass Yuuma, pairing them with his dual beam cannon. The Lightning Zeta opened up with its Vulcans while avoiding the heavy weapon rounds, but the small mobile weapons nimbly avoided the bullets and distracted Yuuma enough for Mercury to close the gap.

Yuuma twisted around to dodge another shot by Mercury's shoulder cannon, coming around just as the Varguil boosted upwards and lifted its right leg. A small beam saber blade sprang from its heel, surprising Yuuma and giving him very little time to avoid Mercury's incoming ax kick. The saber blade missed contact by the smallest of margins but left the long-range-focused Lightning Zeta open to a knee strike that sent it flying backward.

Yuuma activated all of his thrusters to come to a full stop before he collided with one of the rocks. The damage was minor, but he realized at that moment that Mercury's Gunpla was hiding surprises he wasn't yet prepared for.

A cry sounded from Fumina's direction, and he glanced over as the Star Winning Gundam was pushed against a floating boulder, the Shanal's golden energy blade struggling against Fumina's Mega Blade mounted to her submachine gun. The force of the larger Gunpla's boosters was actually slowly pushing the rock backward as Emerald tried to overcome the high output beam blade of the Star Winning Gundam.

The eyes of the Star Winning Gundam were visibly expressive and strained, and Fumina was clearly losing the battle against her more powerful opponent. She brought back her three funnels and opened fire, but missed as Emerald shifted her body upon being alerted to the approaching devices.

Choosing not to press her luck, Emerald pushed off of the rock and disappeared, and Fumina transformed and immediately darted up and away from her current position, panting hard from nervousness and the exertion from the experience.

Sighing in relief, Yuuma turned his attention back to Mercury, who was charging him again. He had recalled his funnels, likely to recharge them, and was charging his back cannon once more.

Yuuma noticed he was holding a deactivated beam saber in each arm, and growled slightly. He fired his rifle, watching as the Varguil expertly evaded the attacks and returned fire with its cannon.

The Lightning Zeta strafed to the right as it placed its beam rifle and shield onto its back and grabbed its backpack's binders, mounting them to its forearms and extending them like blades to intercept Mercury.

Fumina watched the two collide, the physical blades on the Lightning Zeta catching and parrying the beam sabers Mercury activated once he was in melee range. The Varguil and Lightning Zeta danced around each other, trading attacks to try and eliminate the other.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised these guys should be this tough," she murmured, before resuming her surveillance of the area. The Shanal had disappeared completely. It's Mirage Colliod system was impressive, and she couldn't discern clouds from the machine's light-bending properties.

She flew around an asteroid, constantly moving to try and avoid becoming a stationary target. Emerald kept decloaking, but if memory served Fumina well, in truth she didn't have to do that to attack. Which meant Emerald must be doing it mostly for show.

She also noticed that the Shanal was actively being sneaky. Twice it had attacked from below or the rear, trying to flank her. But now…there was nothing.

She saw that Yuuma was competing well with Mercury, but was struggling. The Lightning Zeta was faster, but the Varguil Black Thunder was more adept at precise maneuvers, which it exhibited as it circled around Yuuma when he dashed at his opponent, spinning around and delivering a roundhouse kick to the Zeta's backpack, shooting it forward into one of the boulders.

Yuuma impacted the boulder, creating a crater on its surface. He pushed off but was slammed again by a titanic diving kick that shattered the boulder and sent the Lightning Zeta careening off.

Fumina cried out to her partner and transformed back into jet mode, flying towards Yuuma and catching him on her small Gunpla's back.

"Thanks, Fumina," he said appreciatively.

"Are you okay?"

Yuuma took a quick look around his displays. His cockpit was glowing amber, and several messages and damage meters were flashing to his left and right. "Yes, I think I'm-"

Something caught his attention as he spoke, and his eyes locked on the sky ahead of them. There was a twinkling in the light. It reminded him of a starry sky, in broad daylight.

"What's that?" Fumina leaned in, trying to see what was causing the tiny flickers of light, but couldn't make it out.

Yuuma narrowed his eyes. "Careful." He cast a glance over at his radar. The Varguil, Shanal, and all of their bits were nowhere to be seen on the sensors. "I don't like this."

A moment later, an explosion rocked the two machines, throwing Yuuma off of Fumina's back and forcing him to transform to return to her side. A series of similar small explosions followed, causing the two to shake violently as they tried to swerve, only to be peppered with more blasts.

The sky lit up with small fireballs, and Mercury and Emerald watched from a distance as the fighter jets left a visible trail around them. "Heh, so that's why you kept disappearing," Merc commented, impressed.

"Watts told me to try out these cloaked explosive bits, like the ones Team Nemesis made for their Qubeley Papillion," Emerald replied. "I wanted to keep their attention away from the field while I laid it."

Merc nodded, then looked over to the screen that was focused on Salem, who appeared to be smirking slightly. "What do ya say we kick this up a notch?"

"Let's finish this," Emerald agreed, before leading the charge towards their targets.

Yuuma and Fumina groaned, trying desperately to weave between the hidden mines. Aggravated and in a panic, Yuuma transformed and turned around. "They're some kind of cloaked mines," he said. "We need to clear a path!"

Fumina nodded. "Got it!"

The Lightning Zeta mounted its back binders to its arms again and held its shield between them, flying backward and charging its Phoenix Burst attack. Fumina remained in jet mode and began charging its mega particle cannon, and the two counted to three, before unleashing their attacks into the open sky.

The beams detonated all of the mines around them, causing a massive burst of fire that parted clouds and sent a blinding flash through the field. Mercury and Emerald squinted, caught off guard by the flash.

"Heh, nice one," he praised. He again looked at Salem. Her expression, one filled with a lack of amusement and even a little concern, told him that it might be time to finish the fight.

"Hey, Em, what do you say about getting serious?"

Emerald glanced at Salem as well, then nodded. "Alright. I think that's a good idea."

Both the Varguil and Shanal deployed their funnels, the Shanal launching twelve small ones and the Varguil launching its six larger ones, and the two Godslayer machines shot forward towards the Try Fighters.

Fumina and Yuuma received proximity alerts simultaneously, and both turned to see the funnels buzzing rapidly towards them. Golden beams began to constrict their movement, causing both the Lightning Zeta and Star Winning Gundam to return fire while making quick, subtle evasive movements to avoid getting pincered.

"This is crazy!" Fumina cried out. She instinctively wanted to transform into her Real Mode and fire her Winning Beam, but the smaller SD form was easier to move in.

Yuuma managed to shoot one of Mercury's funnels down with his rifle, then two of Emerald's using his Vulcan machine guns. A slight glint on his screen caught his eye, and he raised his shield in time to intercept a mine that closed in on him and exploded. The plume of the detonation obscured his vision, and he backed up to regain visuals, only to get rocked by another explosion.

"Fumina! The mines aren't mines-they're suicide bits!"

Fumina immediately started looking around for the shimmering lights and found one just as it rocketed towards her. She dove and avoided the blast, but was immediately tagged in her right-wing by a beam from one of the funnels.

A second explosion knocked her sideways, and she screamed as the damage alerts blared and her cockpit shifted to a dangerous red.

She opened her eyes in time to see Emerald decloak in front of her. She raised her Mega Blade to again catch the Shanal's beam saber but was surprised when Emerald instead raised her rifle and fired. The Star Winning Gundam had just enough time to evade the rapid flurry of bolts, responding with a kick to the Shanal's head, which sent Emerald reeling.

Now, free of the explosions and bits, she activated her special slot, recalling her own bits and combining them with her Gunpla's body to transform it into Real Mode. The bits attached themselves to the Star Winning Gundam's limbs, extending them to the size of a normal High-Grade Gunpla's legs and arms. Her W fin detached from the SD Head and combined with the HG head that appeared underneath it, and once combined, Fumina immediately launched her Winning Beam from it.

The W-shaped beam cannon caught most of the cloaked mine bits and several of the funnels in its blast, which made Fumina smile. That should give them a little breathing room.

"Fumina, look out!" Yuuma cried out over the comm.

As the Winning Beam dissipated, Fumina turned, finding the Varguil bearing down on her with malicious intent. She backed up just as Mercury flipped feet first into her, kicking the Winning Gundam backward as he somersaulted in the air.

Igniting both of the sabers on his hand, Merc proceeded to hack at his target, forcing Fumina onto the defensive with her bayonet. He swung his right foot towards her on a sweeping kick, a beam saber blade springing from the toe of the Varguil. Fumina was forced to disconnect the bit forming her left leg in order to avoid having the piece cleaved from her Gunpla, and she withdrew it and reconnected with it once she was out of range.

Yuuma aimed his rifle right at Mercury and fired, but the blast was intercepted by his right shield. Annoyed, he prepared to fire again, this time aiming lower, looking to pierce his backpack's fuel tank.

He pulled the trigger, right as a golden blade suddenly sliced through the rifle's long body. Dropping it as it exploded, he looked up to see the Shanal appear before him, fending him off with beam gunfire.

The Lightning Zeta backed off as the Shanal charged, meeting the blade of her beam saber with his shield. He shrugged the attack off and ignited his own weapon, slashing at Emerald, who boosted up to avoid the attack.

Three of her remaining funnels converged on Yuuma, who began evasive maneuvers once more to avoid their attacks. He tried his best to return fire with his Vulcans, periodically charging his mega cannon in his shield and taking aim at Emerald, to no avail.

She returned fire with her beam machine gun, forcing him back and further away from Fumina. "You're good at dodging, I'll give you that," she muttered.

Yuuma kept backing up until a small explosion rocked his backpack. Shaken, he gritted his teeth and transformed, flying under the attacks of the Shanal and its funnels in order to jet past Emerald and rejoin his teammate.

As he got closer to Mercury, who was pressing the attack with missiles and his shoulder cannon, he selected a hidden weapon-a pair of beam cannons that popped out of the large calves of the Lightning Zeta-and fired, trying to take pressure off of the Star Winning Gundam.

Mercury growled and spun around almost ninety degrees, his shields shifting forward to block the attacks. The first two shots were stopped dead, but the third one, which impacted his left shield, cut through it and the sub-arm it was attached to. The beam severed the shield and sub-arm from the Varguil, sending the piece flying off.

Seeing an opening, Fumina rushed, igniting the Mega Blade again and charging. Roaring with purpose, she moved to finish a stunned and defenseless Varguil off, approaching from its now-exposed left side. Yuuma had drawn Mercury's attention.

A proximity alert flashed on Merc's screen, causing him to instinctively lash out with his left beam saber and slap the Star Winning's beam blade away. His left leg shot upwards, boosting him up as a beam saber cut through the left arm of the Star Winning, who was still recovering from the deflected blow. The blade tore through the shoulder of Fumina's machine.

The Varguil front flipped up over the Star Winning Gundam and fired its cannon, which pierced the modified SD Gunpla, obliterating it in a single shot.

Yuuma's eyes grew wide with shock and fear. How did they even manage to do that?! "Fumina!" He cried out, barely hearing his own proximity alarm.

He turned and dodged a slash from the Shanal just as the Varguil opened fire again, peppering the space with missiles. The Lightning Zeta transformed back into robot mode and connected his shoulder binders and shield once more, unleashing another Phoenix Burst at the two assaulting Gunpla.

A small energy shot pierced his right shoulder as the attack launched, and he turned to see one of Mercury's funnels circling him. A second was coming in from below, and three more of Emerald's were closing on his position fast.

He transformed and blasted off, escaping a pincer move by the funnels. Emerald's red eyes locked onto him, and she reared her control orbs back. "I got him."

"You sure about that?"

Emerald scowled. "You took out the other one. Leave the Zeta to me."

Mercury shrugged and landed on a nearby rock. "Alright, have fun. Go show off for your girlfriend."

Mercury's words irritated Emerald, and she snorted. She wasn't doing this for Cinder. She was doing this for herself, to prove that she wasn't a liability.

Pushing forward rapidly, the Shanal Jade Shadow's ankle and calf armor opened up, revealing large thrusters underneath, taken from the design of the Gundam Kiramis that her machine was partially based on. Her shoulder wing binders folded down, turning her Gunpla into a bullet that propelled itself across the sky, dodging the floating rocks in its way with grace and precision as it closed in on the Lightning Zeta Gundam.

Yuuma's eyes flicked nervously to the rear view screen, and he banked hard around another rock to break visual sight with Emerald. But her Gunpla twisted and she too banked before reaching the rock, still in hot pursuit.

Clearly, both he and Fumina had drastically underestimated the capabilities of both the Gunpla of Team Godslayer and their opponents. As he came back around, he watched as Emerald effortlessly did the same, keeping pace and gradually closing in on him.

A rain of beam attacks crashed down on him, and he slowed himself enough to weave between them, dodging the funnels that had followed him this far from above. He spotted his target dead ahead-Fumina's beam submachine gun and the destroyed wreck of the Star Winning Gundam, which was falling towards the ground rapidly.

He rushed forward to match speed with the descending wreckage and transformed, grabbing onto the SMG and freeing it from the Star Winning Gundam's dead grasp. He then used his special slot on his left orb to activate a link process, which immediately detached the Star Winning's surviving bits from its limbs, allowing him to take control of them as if they were his own weapons.

The bits opened fire on the incoming funnels, downing two of the larger ones from the Varguil while flying backward and encircling him to protect him as he flew around another rock.

Emerald recalled her funnels. "Wow…didn't expect that."

"You having trouble?" Merc asked sarcastically. "Want me to take him out?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not a chance."

Yuuma cradled the SMG in his hands, grabbing one of the bits and attaching it to the front of the gun. He was more accustomed to long rifles, so this felt more comfortable.

His eyes were locked on the scanner as the Lightning Zeta pressed against the rock, letting him catch his breath. He could see the Shanal circling around his left side, and he slowed his breath down as he watched.

Predictably, it disappeared, cloaking again. He knew she would come around from a different direction. Going left was a feint.

The bits twitched as he looked around, waiting to detect and attack any movement. The blue sky made seeing the shimmer of the Shanal's mirage colloid difficult, but not impossible. And, unlike in space, she did still need to use powerful boosters to keep herself airborne and mobile, fighting gravity, so he switched to thermal sensors as well.

Movement caught his attention from the left, and he turned as a pair of funnels fluttered just into view. He opened fire with his Vulcans, exploding both of the mobile weapons, before spinning around as the Shanal decloaked from above him. He angled the makeshift rifle up and fired, connecting with Emerald's left arm and destroying it and her beam saber.

The Shanal boosted backward and peppered the Lighting Zeta with her machine gun, trying to fend Yuuma off as he again fired his rifle.

A warning sounded to Yuuma's left, and he began to turn. Another funnel.

Emerald smirked. She launched two more funnels at Yuuma, distracting him further, before cloaking. He spun around, firing both the bits and his Vulcans at the small mobile weapons, destroying them in time for the Shanal to once more decloak, this time directly in front of him.

No warning. No gloating. No intimidation or time for Yuuma to react. Just three-beam shots, straight to the chest of the Lightning Zeta.

Yuuma watched in horror, the world seeming to slow down, as the battle ended. The defeat had been quick and decisive. The crowd, whipped up in a frenzy, cheered for both teams, who had put on a tremendous performance.

It was Salem, however, who wore the biggest smile. Emerald and Mercury both could see it; she was very pleased. They may be the weakest of the competitors in the roster of Team Godslayer, but it seemed they had officially earned their keep.

She turned back towards the skybox, where she saw Ozpin, still watching her. She wondered if he even bothered to take his eyes off of her back if he had seen even a small portion of the fight at all.

The idea that her presence on the floor unnerved him delighted her. And as she turned and headed back to the back area with her fighters, her smile never left her face.


Sekai, Gyanko, and Shimon sat with Yuuma and Fumina as they mulled over what had happened. The two were happy for a good fight but clearly disappointed.

"I can't believe we let them overtake us that quickly," Yuuma mused sadly. "We should have instantly realized they intended to divide us and use their funnels to-"

"Yuuma."

Sekai's voice was lower than normal and caught him by surprise. The normally bright-eyed boy seemed very serious right at that moment. "You guys did great. They were just better. It happens." He grinned and pumped his fist out. "Now, you know. And next time, you'll be ready!"

He stared at Sekai briefly, then closed his eyes and smiled. "Wow. Since when did the idiot become such a good motivational speaker?"

Sekai growled and confronted Yuuma. "What did you say?!" The explosive red head's temper was on full display, and it made the others laugh. The joy broke the tension they all felt.

"Well, you can still win for us," Fumina commented. "You and Shia can get a win for the Try Fighters and move on in the tournament!"

"There's only two matches left," Shimon said. "You guys ready?"

Sekai nodded excitedly. "Shia's tuning the Kamiki Burning Gundam and 00 Shia now. We'll be good to go!"

Fumina glowered at the mention that Shia was handling Sekai's Gunpla. She disliked that the girl had scored Sekai as her partner even more than before, but she did her best to hold her animosity in check. She saw that Gyanko was in the exact same boat.

"You should go check on her," Shimon suggested. "They'll be announcing the next match soon. Better to get ready now."

"Good point. Alright, see ya!" Sekai took off down the hall, leaving the two groups alone. A slow silence fell over them before Yuuma broke it.

"Fumina…did you notice anything weird during the fight?"

The three of them looked at him confused. "Uh….no?" Fumina answered. "Why?"

Yuuma paused. He felt like the enemy machines were…

Shaking his head, he shrugged. "Never mind. It's probably my imagination."

But he didn't believe that. Something had happened partway through the match. And he had no idea how to explain it.


EMERALD'S GUNPLA

Shanal Jade Shadow

The original concept of the Shanal (sometimes spelled Chanel) comes from the Gundam: Meaningless War 0091 story, but was never actually recognized as canon or developed into any kind of official model kit. The Shanal was essentially a "female" version of the Sazabi, built using the Qubeley as a major design inspiration.

To make this design a reality, Watts used the Gundam Kiramis, Sazabi, Gerbera Tetra, and Team Nemesis's design of the Qubeley Papillion from the Seventh Gunpla Tournament as building blocks. The Shanal Jade Shadow incorporates many features from these units, such as the larger lower legs of the Kiramis that could open up for additional boosters and a larger funnel capacity from the Qubeley Papillion.

Armed with twenty small funnels, a wealth of explosive "hide funnels" taken from Team Nemesis's blueprints (which were essentially mobile hide mines that Emerald could control), and a Gerbera Tetra beam machine gun and beam sabers, Emerald's Gunpla was exceptional at baiting hit at run tactics. To further enhance this, the machine featured superb mobility and incredible speed, and the addition of Emerald's favorite Gundam ability, the Mirage Colloid system she used on her Bawoo Mirage.


MERCURY'S GUNPLA

Varguil Black Thunder

The successor to Mercury's Gundam Vidar Black Thunder, the Varguil Black Thunder is based extensively on a hybrid of the Varguil, the unit that served as the prototype for the Sazabi (and eventually the body of Moon Gundam) and the Full Armor Thunderbolt Gundam. Its backpack is essentially identical to the Thunderbolt Gundam's, but with several noticeable differences: the inclusion of several additional built-in thruster nozzles ensures the Varguil is far more agile, and its six-pack missile pod has been replaced with a nine-pack, multi-level micro missile pod, increasing the number of projectiles in it from 12 to 27.

The most noticeable change, however, is the addition of two Nu Gundam shields on its backpack's sub-arms, each equipped with several large funnels normally seen on the Jagd Doga or Sazabi. Mounted on the back side of the shields, Mercury can use these mobile weapons for fire support to get in close and attack opponents directly, aided by his over-the-shoulder beam cannon.

Watts created two additional Nu Gundam shields for the Varguil's arms and a double barrel beam rifle for the Varguil. However, Mercury carried them into battle mostly as a precaution, intending to use his melee weapons for much of the fight. Due to this, the Varguil is is equipped with the expectation of close range combat for its primary method of attack, armed with two hand held beam sabers, two beam daggers on the heels of his feet and two shorter beam saber emitters on the toes of the Varguil.