Vera and Miu's Lab. The 37th level of the Galaxy King where Vera perfects the analysis tech while Miu has room to work on her inventions. It also happens to be where Miu can thoroughly examine the more robotic members of the groups.
"Hmm…" Miu said.
"Well…is there a…" Ace said.
"I'll be honest. I've had more experience examining Keebo and Fulgore but the robots on your team are of a different breed. But…from what I can tell, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with Harpuia."
"That's odd. But then why did his thrusters act up like that?" Ace asked.
"Good question. Hopefully a thorough examination of his thrusters will…" Miu began before something twinkled from the thruster. "Huh?" she said as she saw a small hole before grabbing some tweezers.
"What is it?" Ace asked.
Miu reached inside of the hole with the tweezers before she pulled out something. A small bullet that seemed to twinkle in the lights of the examination table.
"So that's what caused it. This bullet went and broke through his thruster and punctured his fuel lines. That's what caused the explosion." Miu said.
"It must've happened when he transformed, whoever did it must've had a silencer so no one would hear it." Ace theorized.
"That makes no sense though. If they wanted to kill him…they would have aimed for his head where the CPU is. Not his thruster. I think Harpuia was an accidental victim." Miu said.
"Accidental? Then who were they aiming for?" Magnamon asked.
"I can't tell for sure. But given the angle…they were up high…aiming from where our groups were sitting and watching." Miu said.
"And judging from the bullet…it came from a sniper rifle." Mukuro said.
"So it was an assassination attempt, and Harpuia just happened to be in the way." Magnamon said.
"Snipers have to calibrate their angles carefully, so they can kill their targets without alerting too many people. During a match was a perfect chance. Even though there are barriers, this bullet was likely made to pierce through and disable it for a few seconds, enough time to get their kill in. But the bullet didn't meet their target. When Harpuia decided to use his transformation, he unintentionally blocked the shot and took the hit himself without even realizing." Mukuro said.
"So he wasn't the target but ended up saving the real one." Leviathan said.
"Isn't there footage from the last match we could look at?" Phantom asked.
"Even if there was, it wouldn't be enough to pinpoint their location or who they were aiming for." Shuichi said.
"There were a lot of people there. They could easily blend in without being noticed." Tanya said.
Meanwhile…
"Come on…where was it?" Michiru pondered.
"I can't believe we got lost." Stoj said.
"Well this place is pretty big." Aelita said. "Maybe we should…"
"Hey. It's me." a voice said as they noticed someone talking on their phone. "Yeah. Just giving my daily update. I attempted to snipe the target but the damn robot blocked my shot."
"This guy attempted to assassinate someone?" Stoj whispered.
"An assassin." Aelita said.
"By now, those stadium officials have probably taken notice of what I tried to do and will reinforce the barrier. Looks like we're gonna have to move to Plan B. Get together everyone from our branch and have them gather around the arena tomorrow. Moment the fights end, we'll run them all down as they're leaving. By the end of tomorrow, Hope the Victor will be a thing of the past." he said.
"*Gasp*" Stoj said before quickly covering her mouth.
"Hmm?" he pondered before seeing nothing. "Yeah…I'm gonna have to call you back. Dragonfly, out."
He hung up his phone as he drew his gun.
"Is someone there? Speak up." he said slowly approaching the corner. He then jumped to the corner and prepared to fire but saw no one there. "Huh….must be the stress of this manhunt getting to me." he said holstering his gun as he walked off.
"We need to tell the others." Stoj said.
"Obviously." Michiru said as they hurried off as quickly as they could back to where the other teams were.
"Dragonfly? That makes sense. He's the fastest shot I know of." Morph said.
"So he's one of those assassins like Armadillo and Mantis?" Connor asked
"Yes. He's from the same organization I used to be part of." Morph said. "His shots with both pistols and sniper rifles are so fast, most people don't even notice when they've been shot."
"And he was aiming for me." Hope said. "If Harpuia hadn't accidentally got in the way, I would've been dead. But why was I his target?"
"I have a theory." Morph said as she grabbed a laptop.
"What are you doing?" Connor asked.
"I'm logging into the Assassin Site." Morph said.
"Assassin Site?" Mayumi asked.
"It's where all jobs are posted for assassins of certain organizations." Kabuki said.
"Talk about a network." Lei said. "Especially for Assassins."
"You would be surprised how big the underground is. I'm in. Whoa!" Morph said.
"What is it?" Spade asked.
"There's a huge job taking up the entire screen." Morph said. "The targets of this job are as follows: Item one: Hope the Victor. Item Two: The Hero Alliance. Item Three: the Ginova Family. There is no time limit and this job is open to every single member of the assassin underground. We do require you bring back something as proof that each of the individuals on the list are indeed dead."
"Whoever posted this must have a grudge against your family, Hope." Ace said. "How much are they paying?"
"No pay…only two words…Reward: For Honor." Morph said. "This…is not good."
"Oh boy, looks like we're in for a hell of a day tomorrow." Mark said.
"Even Dragonfly can't get everyone together. He's likely only going to contact assassins from the Insect Branch. Those who take codenames from bugs and insects." Morph said.
"But how did this job come about? Who was able to get the entire Assassin's guild on board with this?" Brandish said.
"Well…I can think of one person. The number one ranked assassin…the Lion." Morph said.
"Your father." Hope remembered. "Seems like he finally wants everyone under him to regain their pride."
"It doesn't matter who prodded him into doing this. There's no going back on what's already happened. Course given how we've been knocking out assassins left and right, surprised it hasn't happened sooner." Morph said.
"Oh crud… I just remembered something." Mayumi said. "While we were in Glenwood helping Alisha, I think we ran into some of them, though they did end up helping us out later on."
"It was likely for a different job. There's a chance they didn't know you people were priorities for this one." Morph said.
"Well, can't you take it down?" Hope asked.
"Unfortunately, I can't. Neither can Firefly, the one who manages the site. The only ones who can resend a job like this are either the client or the Lion." Morph said.
"Fat chance of either of those happening without a fight." Kabuki said.
"So they're just gonna rush in?" Hope asked.
"No…they wouldn't risk exposing the underground. More than likely, they'll wait outside of the arena and prepare to shoot as we're leaving for our ships. Less chance of a panic." Morph said.
Shuichi thought this over carefully. "Okay…understood." Shuichi said as he headed off.
"What the…where are you going?" Kaede asked.
"Preparing our exit for tomorrow of course." Shuichi said.
"Okay, just be careful, Shuichi." Keebo said.
"Don't worry. I will. Sorry if this inconveniences your own plan." Shuichi said to Reformed Society.
"Hey, don't worry about it. It's more than likely the Hawk omitted us when he sent his report. As long as he does, they won't notice we're here." Nesma said.
"Got it. Just… Don't take too long against Terry once this is over alright? We'll need all the help we can against those guys." Shuichi said.
"Don't worry. We'll be right behind you." Agursu said.
Amber gave a thumbs up as she smiled.
At another part of the stands, David and a few other members were conversing with some of the Smashers, even in the vicinity of Dark Samus and Ridley of all people.
David lets out a sigh. "It sure feels nice to do stuff like this, doesn't it?"
"What's wrong? You seem a little sad." Francisca said.
"Well, it's just that tomorrow is the last day of the fights already. The week just flew by so fast." David said.
"True but even so, there were a lot of good fights." Francisca said. "But we both knew this fighting festival wouldn't last forever."
"Yeah. I know. Not to mention that we already have a lot on our plates already. Orochi, Kaido, the Beast Pirates, the Assassin Association… It feels nice to just…forget about it all every once in a while, even if it is just for a little bit." David said. "There were so many Smashers here too… I don't think it'll ever be this big again. That's how a lot of fighting series tournaments are. Some old fighters would have to be cut just to give new ones a chance."
"Yeah…so for tomorrow…everyone should give it all they got and give this festival an ending these fighters can go out on." Francisca said.
"You're right. I bet that's what they would want too. Well, I'm pretty sure most of them got that already, in their own ways." David said. "But…yeah. This is the last reprieve we'll get. So, we should make some lasting bonds with them. Or…in some of their cases, try to."
"That's the spirit." Francisca said.
"Heh. I didn't think you of all people would try to talk me into doing that." David said.
"Well…just thought you should cheer up. Besides, it's always nice to bring up that you and I are not alone in any of this." Francisca said.
"Yeah, you're right. We have our own crew, as well as Jexi, Hope, Theo, and everyone else. We all support each when needed most. I just get so stuck in my own head that I need to be reminded sometimes." David said. "Will I count on you and everyone else in Beijing when the Winter Olympics come up?"
"And everything that comes either before or after that." Francisca said.
"I think I trained you a little too well." David laughed lightheartedly.
In another part of the stands…
"So, Jexi. You said you've been saving yourself for tomorrow, have you? Any hopes on who you'll be paired up with?" Alphamon asked.
"Think it's Mr. Videogame Himself?" Ace asked.
"It would be interesting but I doubt it. No…the one I'm going for…is Kirby." Jexi said.
"Kirby, huh? It's kind of ironic now that I think about it." Sectonia said. "After all, he was the only Smasher that wasn't caught by Galeem's blast."
"There's that for sure…" Hope said. "But I've come to know something about our Pink Puffball. Normally when trouble arises on Popstar, he's always the last to know about it, and he throws himself into danger without knowing what exactly is going on. He was like that with the Dreamstalk, Haltmann Corp, and the Jamba Hearts. Kirby's been on so many unexpected adventures that've taken him all over his planet and beyond."
"I can vouch for the Dreamstalk bit. Taranza couldn't believe it either." Sectonia said. "But it doesn't change the fact that when push comes to shove, he's the one that gets the job done. If he didn't escape Galeem, all hope would've been lost."
"He's a hero through and through. No matter what challenges lie ahead or what odds are stacked against him, he charges on to protect the planet and people he loves." Ace said.
"I'm sure there are lots of reasons to fight Kirby. But Jexi, what's your reason to fight him?" Hope asked.
"He is basic. Like me. Meaning we both have unlimited possibilities for us. I wanna see how far I've come." Jexi said.
"Oh yeah, that's a good reason." Mark noted. "Although… if Kirby inhaled you, would he get Color Fighting?"
"No, Kirby's move set depends on the type of fighter he inhales. And he can only use one type at a time." Sectonia said.
"Yeah, and if he's dealt a critical hit, he loses the ability." Roy added.
"It's just like me and Yoko when we copy other people's powers. We can only copy so many techniques at one time." Zenji said. "I think people who play a lot of RPGs call it Limited Move-Slot Syndrome."
"It's like with Pokémon too. They can only learn four moves at a time." Simon said.
"Either way…it'll be a heck of a time." Jexi said.
"Yep. Tomorrow is the last day. And the last few fighters left are gonna be coming full throttle." Dynasmon said.
"And so will we. Bring em on." Ace said.