AN: I apologize for the delay on this chapter. Recently, I've been working on a brand new project-A JRPG video game! And because of that, I wound up spending a lot of time focusing and frankly hyper fixating on that project, so my story took a backseat for a few weeks.
The next chapter will be released the weekend of October 1-2, in time for its 3 Year Anniversary! Still can't believe it's been 3 years. Thank you all for sticking around and continuing to follow, read, and support the story! I genuinely am not sure that I would have kept going and gotten this far without all of you!
Hath led the four contestants to the back area just after they left the stage. "Weiss, your Gunpla today was incredible, but far beyond its capabilities," he said, once they were out of the crowd. "What's going on?"
Weiss sighed. So, he saw through her. "I…recently acquired a more powerful Gunpla," she said finally. "It's faster and far stronger than the Gyan Noblesse Oblige, and I'm in the process of customizing it and making it my own. But, although I've built several of these Gunpla before, I've never actually used one, and this one has some complicated gimmicks that I'm trying to understand.
"Before I can even try that, though, I need to get used to its speed and responsiveness. So, I increased the power output of the Gyan well beyond its capabilities in order to have some vague idea of how to control this new machine."
Hathaway tilted his head, intrigued. "Oh? What kind of machine is this?"
"A Sinanju," she admitted. "Specifically, the Weiss Sinanju."
"A bit on the nose, don't ya think?" Jim asked, crossing his arms.
Ruby shook her head. "It's from the G-Quest event. It was developed to use an AI that takes all the combat data from some of the best Gunpla fighters in the world into account. They removed most of its beam weapons and gave it a shield that can transform into a sword and shield, twin swords, or a buster sword. Kinda like the Caletvwlch used by the Astray Red Dragon."
"Huh, interesting," Hath admitted, pondering. "So if it was tuned to be used by an AI, its build quality must be exceptional, with the power to match."
"That's part of the problem," Weiss admitted. "I was pushing my Gyan as hard as I could and then some just to practice, and I still don't know how to quickly switch weapons out with its unique weapon setup."
Hath grew silent for a moment, eyes down at the floor as he thought. He wanted to help…but how?
"If she's having trouble, why not use a mech with a ton of different options?" Jim asked. "We've got time-we could go to a practice room and she could practice."
Hathaway chuckled. "I was thinking the same thing. The question is, what to use?"
His mind went through a variety of options, but then his eyes lit up. He actually had the perfect machine for this very battle. "I think I know what I can use."
He turned to the girls. "Weiss, meet me in two hours at the bottom of the hotel in the practice rooms. I think I can help you get used to your weapons."
Ruby and Weiss exchanged glances. Ruby was mostly surprised, but Weiss seemed more skeptical. "Really? Why?" She asked.
Hath shrugged. "I admit, my motives aren't entirely altruistic. I want to see this powerful Sinanju." He gave her a small nod. "But I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to benefit from this, too. Since Jim and I are now out of the tournament, it wouldn't be a conflict of interest."
Jim nodded. "Yeah. I can grab My Zetamaster Skywarp and we can test your speed and reaction time, and Hath can help you with your weapons."
Ruby nodded in agreement. "That's a great idea! I can fix up Destiny Scythe while you guys practice!"
"I suppose I don't have much choice," Weiss responded. "I can't fix the damage done to my Gyan by tomorrow. The Sinanju is my only option, so I need to get better with it."
"Then it's settled." Hathaway nodded down the hall that led from the arena to the backstage area. "Two hours, then. I'll see you soon."
Weiss nodded. "Okay. And Hath? Thanks."
The man shrugged dismissively. "Thank me by winning with the Sinanju. You've still got your work cut out for you."
Jim and Hathaway headed back to their hotel rooms. Hathaway's approach to training Weiss on such short notice had intrigued Jim, but their discussion was interrupted as the elevator door opened and they saw a tall man with dark hair and white stripes at his temples standing outside with his arms crossed.
Hathaway smiled and greeted the man. "Hello, Captain Ironwood," he said as they approached. "Checking up on your commission, I take it?"
"Partially," he replied. "I also wanted to give you my condolences on your loss."
Jim snickered. "Nah, not much of a loss if you have fun while losing." He shrugged as his cane gently skittered on the ground. "At least then you're getting some entertainment out of it."
"True enough, I suppose." Ironwood pushed off the wall and waited until they had gotten closer. "I did want to check up on your progress, however."
"To be honest, there hasn't been any," Hath admitted. "But now that I've been eliminated, it'll let me focus entirely on the project. I think that you'll find it even more advanced than it would have been otherwise."
He paused and thought for a moment. "Although, I do have to ask for a preliminary test before I put nippers to plastic."
"What kind of test?"
Hathaway gave him a reassuring smile. "A simple one. A one-on-one fight with you using a Gunpla of my choosing that would best represent the abilities of the machine you asked me to build. Using the data from the duel, I can fine-tune the joint strength and resistance and mobility and speed of your custom Gunpla."
Ironwood eyed him but only nodded. It made sense. "Alright. When can we do this?"
"The Battle Royale is in a week." He thought for a moment. "It'll probably be ready in four days. So you and I will test your abilities in two. Does that sound good?"
"Very well. Just message me when you are ready."
"Will do."
Ironwood cleared his throat lightly and tugged on his coat, straightening it. "Well then, if you'll excuse me, I suppose I should prepare. I look forward to hearing from you."
"Always a pleasure," Hath replied pleasantly, before bowing slightly to the captain as he left. Jim waited until the footsteps of the man's boots faded and the elevator dinged.
"Dude, this guy seems way too intent on winning a simple game," he commented.
"Yes, well, I imagine it's just the usual American military posturing," Hath replied. "There hasn't been much international conflict as of late and recruitment is probably down. Having their chosen military men, who are supposed to be top strategists, get schooled by high schoolers is probably embarrassing as hell."
"Speaking from my experience in the Air Force, yeah that checks out." Jim laughed as Hathaway opened the door to their room. "Especially coming from a grunt and a jarhead like Ironwood and Fynn."
Hath shot a glance over his shoulder. "Don't they both outrank you, Lieutenant?"
"It's a military thing, you wouldn't understand," Jim replied with a giant grin.
Kyrus had been wracking his brain about the whole Ozpin incident ever since that night. While he had put it aside for a while, it had become a major focus of his thoughts after the end of the tournament matches once Io pointed out that Teams Arkos, White Rose, and Bumblebee were all sponsored by Ozpin.
Watching White Rose made Kyrus grin; of course, Ruby and Weiss won. They had beaten him, after all.
But now, to clear his thoughts, Kyrus had opted to wander through the city. Hands in his pockets and a sour look on his face, he was doing his best to distract himself so he didn't just call Glynda up and ask her to find Ozpin for him to interrogate.
It had been about an hour since the matches ended, but the crowds were still buzzing about all of the fights. The Gunpla tournaments had really invigorated the entire city, and it was always refreshing to see the enthusiasm.
But one particular individual stood out among the masses; a young, blonde-haired individual leaning against a wall near one of the shops, staring across the street at another shop nearby with an incredibly intense expression on her face.
"Fancy meeting you here," he called out as he crossed the street to join her.
Jack turned, surprised by the greeting, caught unaware by Kyrus. "Ah, indeed. Curious, I didn't hear you approach."
"I'm cool like that," his reply caused Jack to roll her eyes in amusement. "I don't think I've actually had the chance to chat with you since I came to England last summer."
Jack smirked. "You mean when I kicked your arse back to Australia?"
"Oi now," he said warningly, a wry grin on his face. "It was a draw by knockout."
"Heh. Sure, keep telling yourself that."
Sighing in defeat, Kyrus then nodded across the street. "Anyways, you seem pretty intent on whatever you're staring at."
He looked in the direction she had been staring at and was shocked by who she was glaring at.
"Ozpin?" He blurted out loud. He couldn't believe it. Did he manifest the man? He was just trying to forget him! "What's he done to you?"
"Hmm." Jack crossed her arms. "The other day, Hath, Addie, Jim, and I were at lunch. He came over to that rich woman who's running Godslayer, Salem Autry, and they had a rather intense conversation. He mentioned a few things that have been bugging me."
She shrugged. "We all suggested we just drop it, but I couldn't shake the feeling something was off. Same with Adeline."
She looked over at Kyrus. "How do you know him?"
He inhaled nervously. He couldn't just admit that he saw Ozpin just teleport suddenly into a hallway…could he? It sounded absolutely crazy.
Except Glynda seemed to know he could do that, and actually scolded her boss when he did. And she wouldn't talk to him about it. Which only raised more questions.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he admitted. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around it myself."
Intrigued, Jack turned to face him fully. "Do tell, and I'll be the judge of if it's believable."
"Suit yourself." Kyrus took a deep breath before he continued. "So, a couple of nights ago, I decided to hook up with an old friend, who works with Ozpin-"
Jack scowled and held up her hand. "Stop. I know I'm an adult now, but I don't need to hear about your snogging sessions."
"We didn't go that far… Okay, it was supposed to go that far, but Ozpin interrupted!" Kyrus shot back defensively.
Jack raised a skeptical eyebrow. "What? So you've got a bone to pick with him about that?"
Kyrus rubbed the back of his hair in frustration. "Yes, but no. Glynda, the friend and I just saw him appear. Like, out of thin air. Bright red light, and then boom, he was there! Felt like something out of a bloody Star Trek episode."
Jack's eyes grew wide, but she didn't say anything immediately. She turned back to Ozpin, who was still shopping.
"Glynda yelled at him like she'd seen this a hundred times," Kyrus continued, "and Ozpin just kinda brushed it off, and sort of told me he'd explain things once I sobered up. Glynda wouldn't tell me anything, so I've been debating on if I should actually ask the man himself."
He shook his head. "Sounds crazy, doesn't it."
"Not as much as you might think," Jack said, measuring her words as she thought. "When Salem and Ozpin were speaking, they mentioned 'Arian,' like it was a country or something. Adeline did some digging, and it turns out the only thing we could find out about the name was the failed Mara colony ship from over a century ago."
Her eyes flicked sideways to look at Kyrus. "And then, when you mentioned that he just kind of appeared in a red light, it reminded me of the Seventh Gunpla Tournament. Reiji and Sei were against the Meijin, but Reiji, Chairman Mashita, his assistant Miss Baker, and Aila Jyrkiäinen all disappeared in a glowing red light. We never got any explanation for that, ever. And there has been no record of them since.
"Skip forward a bit, and apparently, Salem just pops up without warning. Her record goes back only about five years, though her name seems to have appeared a few years before that. No birth certificate in any public record. Same with Ozpin-just arrived a couple of years ago, with teaching credentials, and last year became principal at Benjamin Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon, but no birth certificate or records going back more than five years outside of a couple that could have been forged. Curious, isn't it?"
Kyrus's eyes lit up. "Well well…"
Jack continued "As far as we know, the Arian didn't have matter-energy conversion transporters when it launched, and we assumed it was destroyed, but what if it survived? It may have been able to develop those as a necessity. As far-fetched as it sounds…"
Her eyes traveled back to the shop Ozpin had been in, thoughts swirling in her mind about the implication. But her eyes widened when she realized he was gone.
"Quite the deduction, Miss Ivory."
A calm and pleasant voice sounded behind both of them, and they turned to see Ozpin, casually standing in the doorway to the shop at their backs. Jack spun around, fists raised instinctively.
Kyrus's eyes widened in shock. How in the bloody hell did he-
"How did I do that?" Ozpin asked, a chuckle in his voice as he tapped his cane on the ground. "It's a bit of a secret. And I can't tell you."
"How long were you there?" Jack asked cautiously.
"I've been here for about as long as you had taken your eyes off of me," Ozpin admitted cheerfully. "You really should be more subtle if you're going to stake out a mark, Miss Ivory."
"Jack, please." She lowered her fists. "And considering what Mr Alexander told me and what you aren't telling me, I can only assume I'm correct. The Arian survived, and both you and Salem-and Reiji and, I am guessing, Chairman Mashita, Baker, and Aila, are from the ship."
"Partially correct," he replied. "Aila and Theresa Baker weren't supposed to make the journey, but wound up there just the same."
He glanced around. "Follow me. It's not wise to speak out loud about such things."
He turned and headed down the street, leaving Jack and Kyrus reeling. They looked at each other but decided to follow him. With more questions than answers floating in their brain, they had little choice but to follow him or have their questions remain unanswered.
They traveled a few blocks in silence, Jack warily watching Ozpin and Kyrus getting antsier by the moment. Neither of them had any idea where Ozpin was leading them, and when he turned down a darker alley, they hesitated.
"Hold up," Jack called out, stopping short of going down the alley. "I think you owe us some kind of explanation before we just blindly follow you down there."
Ozpin turned and gave them a pleasant smile, before looking at a door to his left. "There's someone you should meet, on the other side of this door."
He opened the door and walked inside, leaving it open for them to come in if they wished. Kyrus looked at the small sign above the door; it was one of the shadier-looking Gunpla bars. He'd visited a few around the world, including one that the famous Blue Giant, Ral, frequented, but he hadn't been to this one.
"I think it's safe," he said.
Jack looked at him suspiciously, but before she could say anything, he walked forward. She pursed her lips in mild aggravation and followed him, her gloved fists balled and ready for a fight.
Inside the club, a battle was going down between three men in a ZAFT, Titan, and New United Nations Earth uniforms, and a young man. The team of three were using a ZAKU Phantom, Galbaldy Beta, and a Dautress, and were fighting against the lone pilot, who was schooling them in what appeared to be a rather average quality Ball.
In fact, he wasn't just schooling them, he was completely thrashing them.
Jack watched as the Galbaldy rushed forward and tried to fire its beam rifle at the Ball, but the mobile pod boosted backward and grabbed the scope of the rifle with its manipulator, forcing the weapon down as it fired, which struck the ZAKU Phantom in the left arm and severed its shoulder shield from the Gunpla.
Its 180-millimeter cannon spun around and the back end slammed into the Galbaldy's face, crushing it like a hammer, before it shot upwards and opened fire, striking the Gunpla center mass and destroying it. The Ball barrel-rolled sideways to avoid the Dautress trying to stab it with a beam saber, floating around it and grabbing its backpack.
It then flipped around and used the Dautress like a shield to intercept the beam machine gun of the ZAKU Phantom, firing over its shoulder with its cannon and blowing off the right and left legs of the ZAKU.
It discarded the Wombat and rocketed forward, approaching the spiraling ZAKU, boosting over it as it tried to fire on the pod. It flipped behind it and reached out, grabbing the severed shield that floated in space to defend itself from another barrage of beam shots.
The Ball grabbed the beam tomahawk that was inside the shield and did a front flip, letting the weapon fly, which struck the right arm of the ZAKU at the elbow and cut it cleanly off.
It then shot forward, dodging a punch from the ZAKU's left hand, flipping above it and removing the beam tomahawk from its intact shield, before bringing it down on the Gunpla as the Ball rotated and cut straight down from head to crotch, cleaving the machine in two.
"BATTLE OVER!"
Jack and Kyrus watched in stunned silence, too shocked to speak for a moment until finally Jack found a small collection of words.
"Did he just-"
"Mmhmm," Kyrus affirmed.
"In a bloody Ball?!"
"Yup."
They looked at Ozpin, who was clapping lightly in approval as the cockpit fell. "Well done, Your Highness."
Jack and Kyrus both noticed that Ral was standing next to him. Neither of them had noticed the man at the bar at first, but it was hard to mistake him once they saw him. "It seems the years haven't made you the least bit rusty, Reiji."
Both of the national champions were floored. "Reiji?!" They exclaimed simultaneously, eyes drifting back to the young man who had been piloting the Ball.
The man that stood there was tall, lanky, with swept-back red hair and brilliant golden eyes that peered over a pair of aviators, a charming and slightly smug smile, a thin mustache, and a tiny triangular soul patch.
He nodded to the three pilots he had just obliterated. "Hey, good game, guys! That was fun! It's been a while since I had the chance to play a team match."
"The honor was ours, Mister Reiji, sir!" The ZAFT pilot replied gratefully.
The bartender leaned over the bar between Ral and Ozpin. "I must say, this proved to be quite the shock, having him come in here and basically clear out the bar."
"Yes, indeed," Ral replied. "Thank you for notifying us of his arrival, Kali."
Ozpin nodded to the pilots. "Remember, not a word about this to anyone," he told them. "Once the Doubles tournament is concluded, meet me back here for your payment. Until then, it's imperative to keep Reiji's arrival a secret. For the fans' sake, you understand."
The Titans pilot nodded enthusiastically. "It would bring great dishonor to the entire Gunpla community if a surprise this large was leaked."
"We won't tell a soul!" The United Nations pilot added.
"Perfect. You're free to discuss it with others after the World Tournament begins. Until then, it's our little secret," Ral said, before turning to Reiji. "We wouldn't want Sei or the others to come looking for you just yet."
Reiji simply shrugged. "I'd rather go see Sei and Ricardo and the others right now, but a deal's a deal."
The other pilots squeezed past Jack and Kyrus, not even paying them any kind. Normally, Jack would have found it odd that national champions were not recognized, but right now was an exception.
Reiji turned to face them, an eyebrow lifted in curiosity. "Hey, hey-new challengers?"
"Not quite, Your Highness," Ozpin corrected. "Allow me to introduce you to the British National Champion, Jacqueline Ivory, and the Australian Champion, Kyrus Alexander."
Reiji smirked and nodded. "Good to meet ya. Reiji Asuna, Crown Prince of Arian."
"Oh, we know you," Kyrus replied, starstruck. "You're a tad bit of a legend, mate."
Reiji grinned. His ego was almost visible as he looked up and the ceiling, dreaming of days past. "Legend, huh? I like the sound of that!"
Jack shook her head and came back to a grounded reality. "Hold up-crown prince? Arian?" She looked at Ozpin. "What in the bloody hell is going on here?"
"Prince Reiji is descended from the British Monarchy," Ozpin explained. "As for the rest…you already deduced the remainder of the story."
"Suffice to say, you could call Ozpin a scout for…possible reconnection between the people of Arian and Earth," Reiji added. "Look, it's all long and complicated, and frankly we don't have a lot of time before I gotta beam back and pretend that I never snuck away. But it's like this-Gunpla crystals, the original Plavsky crystals, came from Mars. A real couple of pieces of work, the Mashita twins, stole the crown jewel from our vault, which was a really big crystal that eventually went haywire and did that big space fortress battle during the Seventh Tournament.
"Ever since I came to Earth and started exploring, I wanted to reconnect. Once we knew it was possible to get here, I wanted to come back, but it's been really tough." He winked and made a shushing action. "So, I decided to sneak away for a bit and check things out for myself."
"I have so many questions," Jack stated, staring dumbfounded at Reiji. "Like, I get that the colony ship must have survived, but how do you just...bounce between here and there?"
Reiji frowned a bit. "That's a question that'll take too long to answer. Let's just say those same original crystals the PPSE used to create Gunpla Battle have more uses than just Gunpla Battle. Like letting someone who knows what they're doing bounce from Point A to Point B, as long as they have an idea of where they're going or can lock onto another crystal."
Ozpin nodded but shrugged. "It's best to essentially just consider it 'magic' and call it good, for now." He turned back to Reiji. "If you recall, Your Highness, I mentioned that Mister Alexander caught me when I accidentally came back to Earth by locking onto Glynda's Arista crystal. And Miss Ivory overheard a conversation between myself and Salem."
Reiji gave Ozpin an annoyed look. "You're slipping, Oz. You're never this careless."
Kali looked at Ral and leaned closer to him. "Do you believe any of this?"
Ral crossed his arms and closed his eyes, before nodding. "Hmmm. I admit that it seemed insane to me at first, but after seeing Reiji and the others that disappeared after the Seventh World Tournament, I can't say it's impossible." He looked at Ozpin. "And Ozpin himself has provided plenty of evidence that can't be explained away."
Reiji lazily looked over his shoulder. "Trust me, old man, it's true."
Kali's eyes glinted as she glared at Ozpin suddenly. "Then how did you manage to drum up enough documents to become a high school principal? And at my daughter's school, no less?"
"Miss Belladonna, please-"
Kali's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"That was my bad, miss," Reiji admitted. "I helped get Ozpin the proper documents to falsify some credentials. There's a student at that high school I wanted to keep an eye on."
Kyrus tilted his head. "Who? Are they here?"
Ozpin shook his head. "That, I'm afraid, remains a secret between the Prince and myself. It's not relevant to this meeting, anyway."
Reiji nodded. "Exactly!" He grinned and looked at the champions. "So, you guys wanna throw down?"
"Prince Reiji wishes to practice with an exceptionally strong opponent that isn't within his core group of friends." Ozpin tapped his cane lightly on the ground. "Originally, I was simply going to bring Kyrus here to explain the night he saw me, but since you, both are here…"
An excited glint flashed in Reiji's eye as he held up a small black plastic box. "You wanna go a round?"
Jack shook her head. "I'd love to, but my Gunpla got thoroughly trashed in my fight today." She glanced at Kyrus, who seemed to almost be vibrating with excitement. "My compatriot here, on the other hand…"
"...Hell, why not" Kyrus reached behind him and withdrew a leather-wrapped box, extracting his Unicorn Gundam Chimera from it and carefully getting his GP Base ready.
"I thought you retired that Gunpla?" Jack asked, looking at the Unicorn with curious interest.
"I did-from official tournament play," Kyrus replied. "But Io and I aren't done making my new Gunpla just yet. Besides, I won't use that one until Battle Royale." He turned to Jack with a wide grin. "I've been wanting to test myself against Reiji for some time. I'm sure Chimera and I still have a few good fights left in us."
"Don't get your hopes too high," Reiji stated humbly while placing his own GP Base and Gunpla down. It was a Beginning Gundam, with some obvious flaws in its build. The model looked old and well-used. "I'm nowhere near as good a builder as Sei, and most of my performance came from his Star Build Strike, back in the day. I might disappoint."
Ral grunted. "I think you sell your abilities short, Reiji. I can tell you've improved considerably since I last saw you fly the Beginning Gundam."
He approached the table and eyed the model. "Your attention to detail still needs a bit of work, but you've gotten much better at cleaning and sanding down imperfections in the plastic."
Reiji smiled affectionately at his old mentor. "Heh, thanks. That means a lot, coming from you."
Ral was taken aback by the emotional statement and stood up straight. He stared into Reiji's eyes. Gone were the naïve and rash teen he had met, years ago. Before he stood a man, still brimming with energy and recklessness and compassion, but tempered from life experiences that he could only dream of. "Reiji…"
Reiji nodded to him, before shooting a confident look back at Kyrus. "Alright. Show me what the new generation of Gunpla Battlers can do!"
Ozpin walked over to the battle table's controls. "Because we are short on time, Your Highness, I'll set the battle system for three minutes, and open space. Is that satisfactory to you both?"
Kyrus nodded in affirmation. "That should be fine. Even if we don't make the time limit, well… I'm sure it'll be entertaining one way or another."
Reiji slammed his fist into his palm. "Bring it on!"
As the two were enveloped in the familiar holographic cockpit, Reiji took a long, nervous breath. His first actual challenge aside from Aila in seven years. He and Aila had gotten so used to each other that they could read each other perfectly. But Kyrus?
He could tell the muscular, excited man was going to be a completely different monster than he was currently used to.
And that invigorated him more than anything had since he first played Gunpla Battle.
"You know, The battles you and Sei fought against Ricardo and the Meijin inspired me to start competing in Gunpla Battles," Kyrus said, "Thanks to you, Ricardo has become a good friend and my greatest rival. It wouldn't have been possible without you."
He grinned excitedly. "So as a gift, I'm going to give you a thrashing of a lifetime!" The tall man roared as he pushed his control orbs forward to launch himself into space.
Reiji nodded and joined him. The thrill of fighting someone actually potentially on his level again had his heart beating and adrenaline pumping. It felt like it had been so long since this urge, this feeling, had come over him. He was going to savor every second.
Jack walked over to Ozpin as the two started their battle. She shoved her hands into her vest pockets and watched him out of the corner of her eye, weighing the questions in her mind.
"You're free to ask," Ozpin said, unprompted, which Jack had readily expected. "You want to know why now, of all times, is Reiji wanting to come back to Earth."
"Among other things," she admitted, "Though I sense you're not likely to actually give me straight answers."
"For some things, I can." He looked at her. "For others, it's best if I don't. Plausible deniability, on both sides."
"Which tells me that someone from where you're from isn't exactly approving of your people and Earth reconnecting."
Ozpin nodded with a sad smile. "That's correct. To be frank, however, ever since the prince first arrived on Earth, and was subsequently pulled back to Arian, he has wanted to coexist with you all. He genuinely loves it here, and the summer where we could not actively find him when he was here fighting in the Seventh Tournament, was perhaps one of the most rewarding experiences he could have had. Almost like an unapproved summer camp, of sorts, which helped him mature. He even fell in love and found a wife, which was something the council back home honestly never thought would happen."
"I'm guessing that was because of his hard-headed and brash behavior?" Jack mused.
"That, and the fear nobody on Arian would ever match his boundless energy or his enthusiasm for mischief. Ironically, they were correct-it was Aila Jyrkiäinen who finally tamed his wild side…mostly."
She pondered his statement for a moment while Kyrus and Reiji danced in the glittering starscape before them, sizing each other up and testing each other's mobility and firepower. "So, I wonder. How many people are aware of you both and your origins?"
Ozpin shrugged. "A small but substantial collection of Prince Reiji's personal friends here, including Sei Iori and his father, the Meijin, everyone in this room, Nils Yajima, Ricardo Fellini, and a few others. People the prince himself insisted know."
"And what about Salem?"
Ozpin's look hardened. "Fewer than that. And only a couple know the exact reason why Salem is here."
"And that would be?"
Ozpin shook his head. "My apologies, but that is beyond what I can disclose."
That response worried Jack. "If she's here for something nefarious-"
Ozpin looked Jack dead in the eyes. "Miss Ivory, you are an incredibly intelligent and naturally curious individual, and I both respect and admire that. However, as I said, there are things I am not authorized to discuss with outsiders. Consider the matter with Salem an internal affair."
Jack's brows furrowed. "Those who use that term often have something unsavory to hide."
"Quite so." He sighed. "For the time being, until I get approval to brief you, just know the matter is being handled."
Kali shot Ral a concerned look, and Ral shook his head. Considering that he knew the actual reason, and he knew how protective Kali was of Blake, if Ozpin had mentioned the actual reason Salem was here, it might cause a wealth of trouble for him and his attempt to subtly subvert Salem's plans.
"Oi! Stand still!" Kyrus shouted, drawing the attention of the room. Reiji's Beginning Gundam was circling the Unicorn Chimera, its snub-nosed beam rifle's yellow shots forcing Kyrus to block with his beam-resistant back shields.
Reiji laughed. "Your Gunpla moves well, but that big gun you use needs too long to fire!" he shouted, changing directions suddenly as the Unicorn's beam magnum launched one of its obscenely powerful attacks.
The energy crackled around space as the shot missed the Beginning Gundam entirely, who then returned fire with a barrage of its forehead beam Vulcans at Kyrus's left side, forcing the Unicorn to turn.
"Bloody things too fast," Kyrus muttered, before cycling over to his NT-D mode. " I wasn't expecting a substandard Gunpla to be this much trouble." He laughed heartily. "But what else should I have expected from the champion?"
The Unicorn Chimera's Banshee-colored body began shifting to expose the red psycho frame underneath. Reiji hung in space, watching as his opponent grew in height and power. He growled in anticipation. "Finally getting serious, huh? Good!"
He launched himself forward at Kyrus, who aimed his beam magnum at him and fired the underslung rocket launcher at the Beginning Gundam. Reiji dodged to the left, convinced he had avoided Kyrus's attack but was shocked to see that the magnum had already swung around and opened fire.
He realized Kyrus had charged the rifle while firing the rockets in order to better track Reiji, and the Beginning Gundam was slammed full force with the beam attack. Reiji cried out in fear, seeing the massive energy blast hurtle at him faster than he could react, but was surprised to find that the Beginning Gundam had survived the shot, though its paint was peeled off from the heat.
"Tch, of course. I-Field propulsion," Kryus remarked. "Looks like beam attacks won't work here" He fired off a couple more rockets and his Vulcans. "Plan B it is! "
The Unicorn Chimera ignited its thrusters and shot off after Reiji, who was using his Vulcans to intercept the missiles. He watched as the Chimera's left forearm armor folded forward, creating a massive claw. "If that's how you wanna play it…" Reiji placed his rifle on his hip and reached behind him, grabbing all three of the beam saber hilts and igniting them in a fan-like fashion between his fingers.
He charged at Kyrus, ducking under the Chimera's claw and slashing at his beam magnum, cleaving it into three neat pieces while peppering the midsection of the Gundam with Vulcan fire. Kyrus threw the beam magnum's back end at Reiji, who dodged it as it exploded.
While the Beginning Gundam was distracted, Kyrus unleashed his right arm's claw and boosted up underneath the Beginning Gundam. Reiji backflipped out of the way and severed the right shield from Kyrus's back, but took a brutal blunt force hammer punch to the face from his opponent's right claw, which sent him spiraling wildly.
The power of the blow jarred Reiji, who winced as he struggled to regain attitude control. As he righted himself, he looked up. A dark shadow had closed over him as the Unicorn Chimera's menacing red glow on its midnight blue and gold paint job obscured all light in front of the prince.
Reiji swept his beam sabers up as Kyrus brought his left claw down around the torso of the Beginning Gundam, claws both on top of and underneath its shoulder joints.
"OVER THE TIME LIMIT!"
As the Chimera's claw closed on Reiji and the beam sabers almost touched Kyrus, the table shut down. Both model kits fell to the table, stuck in their embrace, held in what could have been a kill shot for either machine.
Kyrus and Reiji stared at each other from across the table. They had forgotten about the three-minute time limit entirely, and both busted out laughing.
"Bloody hell that was fun!" Kyrus let out. "You nearly had me there!"
"I need to come back down here again!" Reiji clapped his hands together excitedly. "I haven't had that much fun in ages! That was amazing!"
"A draw, huh?" Jack looked at Kyrus. "You must have been taking it easy on him."
Kyrus scoffed at Jack's assumption "A little bit I'll admit. Although I don't think this would have been a contest if his Gundam had been tournament ready."
Ral nodded approvingly. "Impressive, Reiji. Your skills in battle seemed to have only improved, despite your lack of constant competition."
Reiji nodded. "Thanks, Mister Ral."
He turned to Jack and Kyrus. "Now, can I trust that you two can keep this a secret? At least for a few more days?" He gave them a hopeful look. "I wanna see the actual shock on Sei and Yuuki's faces when I see them for the first time in so many years. And the crowd! It's gonna be amazing!"
Kyrus nodded. "Fair enough mate. It's not my place to say anything."
"I don't snitch," Jack added. "I won't even tell my friends. Though my sister might get a bit nosey."
"Without evidence, she won't really suspect anything more than what you've already found out," Ozpin said confidently, "And there's no actual proof beyond mysteriously missing certificates and rumors. Just tell her her patience will be rewarded in a little over two weeks' time."
"I'll see what I can do to placate her curiosity," she responded. "It shouldn't pose an issue."
Reiji nodded. "Cool!" He grinned, before noticing his bracelet flashing. The aqua-colored, sparkling gem inside was emitting a rather brilliant glow, which then quickly shifted to orange once he noticed it. "Ah….time's up." He gave Ozpin a disappointed look. "At least they let me finish my battle."
"Indeed." He nodded to his prince. "I'll return to Arian in a few hours. Until then…try not to get into trouble, Your Highness."
Reiji grinned. "No promises! See ya!"
He waved as a bright flash of red light encompassed him, and he suddenly vanished. Everyone aside from Ozpin and Ral went slack-jawed for a moment before Kyrus pointed at where Reiji had been standing. "That's it! That's the light I saw"
"Bloody hell," Jack muttered. "And here I thought the idea was crazy."
Ozpin merely smiled to himself. Their reactions were priceless, and he wished he had gotten them on camera.
REIJI'S GUNPLA
Beginning Gundam
The very first Gunpla Reiji ever built, the Beginning Gundam is a stock, out-of-box straight build based on the Gundam of the same name from the anime Gunpla Builders Beginning G.
The machine carried a pair of beam emitters in its forehead, which it used to fire the V-fin-which itself was made of small beam sabers-at its target with the same speed as a normal machine gun. It also held a small beam gun and three saber hilts on its back, which it held traditionally in a "Wolverine Claw" pattern between its fingers.
One interesting thing to note is that the Beginning Gundam used an I-Field propulsion system, which acts both as its mobility and a defensive screen. During the time Reiji first built the Gunpla, the older Plavsky Particle System did not take this into effect, but the newer system does, perhaps far more than it should.
While the Gunpla has been updated with paint, more skilled cleaning and sanding, and overall a more experienced touch, it is, at its core, the exact same Beginning Gundam that Reiji built during the Seventh Gunpla Tournament. As such, many of the imperfections he left are still there, weighing down its performance. Reiji compensated for this with superior piloting skills.
