Hiya everyone it's been… a lot longer than I intended it to be. Lots of things started happening to me including family drama, work promotions, and potentially moving to a new area soon. Luckily things have settled down and I'm working to get back into writing. I wanted to get something out, so this chapter will be a bit shorter than other ones. But it's still full of Change My Mind Goodness. Enjoy day two of the tag team tournament!
"You know what to do Houki?"
Houki nodded in response before turning to face their opponents. Jayden, Houki, Cecilia, and Rin. All four had gathered in the arena grounds to get the second day of the tournament underway. The arena was filled up even more than yesterday now that yesterday's combatants who didn't make it to the next day came to watch. Each team stood on their respective side of the field. Jayden and Houki made their final preparations, nervously gripping their weapons to try to ease their nerves. Jayden was doing his best to ignore the hundreds of eyes on him as Houki was getting goosebumps about putting their plan into action. All that was left was to wait for the battle countdown to hit zero. Across the field, their opponents were also discussing last minute battle plans.
"Please tell me you don't want to do the same thing as yesterday."
"Endure it Rin. Just stick to our plan and victory will be assured." Cecilia's head turned towards her partner.
"Seriously? Do we even need to do it against them?" Saying Rin hated this plan was like saying making sweet, sweet love to a cactus was a bad idea. It didn't do it justice. This whole strategy of being a human shield for Cecilia to let her fully focus on shooting and drone piloting had Rin feeling less like a partner and more like a lackey. Cecilia didn't say another word, so it was another round of guard duty for Rin. She grumbled some mean words just as the countdown reached its end.
Three…
Two…
One…
The buzzers roared through the arena giving the pilots the go ahead to fight! This was the part where pilots charged, and weapons would clash against one another in a display of combat while the audience cheered. However, rather than rushing in to fight face to face, both teams surprisingly flew back. Trying to put as much distance as they could between them. Each team was now on opposite sides of the arena with their backs practically against the walls waiting to see what the other had in store. Jayden and Houki had their shield and sword up respectively leaving their opponents seemed somewhat perplexed.
"What the heck are they doing?" Rin wondered.
"It doesn't matter."
Blue Tear's drones dispatched themselves via Cecilia's command. From afar they rained down laser after laser. Jayden raised his shield, blocking off the first round of attacks from Cecilia. Not even a dent was made as Jayden's shield energized to life while Houki deflected any attack coming her way via her regular sword. Cecilia tried again from this other side, making him rise up his other arm holding that umbrella of his. With a push of a button, it unfolded itself just like how a regular umbrella would, creating a large cover area to get in the way of her lasers. His grip held strong to defend an incoming barrage. With the distance between Cecilia's drones and Jayden, he had enough reaction time to intercept anything coming his way.
"What the heck is that!?" Cecilia eyes widened shock. The shield was one thing but now he had what she guessed was some kind of umbrella? The thin handle combined with the cone-like shape extended at tip reminded her of one. This was getting ridiculous. Cecilia was starting to believe this kid just picked up all of his IS equipment at a knick-knack store.
Shinonono was no easy target herself. This time she wasn't leaving herself wide open as per their last battle. With speed and precision, she slashed at any laser coming her way. Houki's over aggressive style had been channeled into a defensive technique aiming to make sure nothing reached her. Together the duo was managing to protect themselves from all of Cecilia's drones. No matter what pattern or trick Cecilia tried, her lasers never connected where she wanted them to. Even worse, the duo had gone back-to-back, effectively covering for each other's blind spots. Minutes had gone by and not a single point of shield energy had been lost by anyone.
"This is taking way too long." Rin said. She was getting ready to take aim with her impact cannons, pointing them right at the male pilot. "I've got him!"
"Halt Rin. Don't fire."
"Oh come on! Why not!?"
"That's what they want you to do."
"Huh?"
"I've now figured out their plan and it revolves around Jayden's shield." Cecilia eye's narrowed towards that weapon in his hand. It was glowing a faint white light. Not very bright, but more than it had been at the start of the match. Between Houki and Jayden it was the only unique weapon they had among them. "That shield has the ability to hit us back with anything we hit it with. I've been taking care not to damage that shield too much, but you'll give them everything they need if you fire all willy nilly."
"So, then what am I supposed to do?"
"Hold your position for when case they come after us."
That was a fancy way of saying do nothing. "Are you serious?"
Cecilia didn't say anything else, focusing her efforts on trying to land a hit on Jayden and Houki. Currently her attacks were bearing no fruit as her opponent's defense game was quite impressive. Rin had to clench her teeth to keep from yelling. Once again, she did nothing but remain floating like a pissed off statue. All she did was grind her teeth to force herself to stick to the plan.
"I know you're upset but this is for the best Rin. Houki chose a sword for her Uchigane, and Jayden has no ranged weapons. As long as we keep our distance, they're unable to harm us. If we stick to this plan victory is guaranteed." Cecilia promised as she fired a shot from her star mark rifle only to have it meet the front of Jayden's shield.
It made enough sense that Rin reluctantly nodded. Cecilia wasn't wrong. All those two had was a shield, a sword, and an umbrella. As long as they were over there and they stayed over here, they had no way of retaliating. So as long as they didn't give Jayden any power to use, there was little they could do. And sooner or later they'd be bound to mess up. It didn't make her feel any better by practically being Cecilia's lackey but at least it would get her one step closer to a date with Ichika. Still… Rin had a bad feeling about this. Something was totally off. Were those two seriously planning on winning by hiding across the arena? She could see Jayden doing something like that, but definitely not Houki. Just like her, that samurai girl had a short fuse in combat and anger. So, what the hell was Houki doing staying back? Rin folded her arms, one eyebrow raised as she tried to figure out just what the heck their opponents were thinking.
/-/
As the pilots continued on with their shoot out, the staff were busy monitoring the fight from the main staff room. Everyone was ready to make sure today's matches ran smoothly. Although at this rate some of them wouldn't have minded a little chaos to break up this pattern of shooting and blocking. Technically the battle was close so far, given how no one had lost any shield energy yet, though that didn't make things any more exciting. When it looked like things wouldn't be changing anytime soon, everyone was attending to their own business shooting the breeze or partaking in the doughnuts Maya had delightfully provided everyone. Except for one man, who was staring deadpanned at the screen like a gambling man hearing the lottery numbers be read out.
"Come on. Fight back! What the heck are they doing?" Gelimer's foot was tapping the ground anxiously, watching his favorite pilot and least favorite pilot defend against a nonstop barrage of projectiles. A barrage that they we're doing nothing to stop. Just taking every attack that came their way. Granted, they're doing a really impressive job at playing defense. But you don't win a battle without an offense. Did the stress of the tournament finally get to them and strike them with fear? The man was praying for those two to finally act or do something. He really needed a-
"Doughnut Mr. Brighton?" Maya offered.
That wasn't what Gelimer needed but he happily took the sugary pastry, if to at least try to calm himself down. Glazed chocolate did little to ease his nerves. "I know Jayden and Houki are stupid but they're not this dumb. What the heck are they planning to accomplish from all the way back there?"
"It appears he and Shinonono are taking defensive measures." Maya finished off the rest of a Boston crème doughnut, a favorite of hers. "It's…. well, it's unique."
"It's boring, that's what it is." Olivia said when it became clear Maya was trying to phrase it the politest way she could.
Gelimer had no arguments with that. "I don't get it. They can't win if they don't fight. So, fight back Jayden!" Gelimer had seen plenty of battles, but never one as unexciting as this. He was mentally shouting for Jayden to do something. ANYTHING! When nothing changed in the next thirty seconds, Gelimer's head fell into his hands. Thanks to this nightmare, he doubted was going to remember the battles his IS took part in. Just the battle where the pilot played chicken the entire match. And despite the horrendous mistakes being made, Gelimer could do nothing but watch as all his hard work get flushed down the toilet. "It's official. They're lost it."
From across the room Chifuyu made her way over, having overheard the conservation. "Actually, I believe they've got it."
"Huh?"
"If the battle continues like this, Shinonono and Sylvan will be the winners." Chifuyu spoke in a way that didn't sound like she was making a joke. Then again, Chifuyu never told jokes. Ever. "If they're doing what I think they're doing, they may just win if it goes according to plan."
"But they're not doing anything!"
"On the contrary it's more about what their opponents are doing. Or rather what they aren't. It's only because Alcott and Huang are playing to not lose that their plan can work"
"Not to lose- Is that any different from playing to win?"
"There is a difference. Playing to win means taking the initiative to try to get ahead of your enemies. You do that by reducing an opponent's shield energy and outmaneuvering them in combat. Essentially you try to be better by beating them. On the reverse side playing to not lose means keeping your opponents at bay so they can't fight back. Usually by keeping them locked down to a specific area or preventing them from using certain tactics. Right now, Alcott and Huang are fighting to not lose by keeping their Shinonono and Sylvan at a distance with long range attacks and a formidable defense to take advantage of their lack of range capabilities. In a regular battle, that'd be the best way to win. But this is a tournament match. One of many." Chifuyu hinted. "They haven't realized it yet, but Alcott and Huang's strategy are going to cost them the match at this rate."
"So that means my team is winning?"
"Currently no." Chifuyu answered. "But if things continue at this rate they will."
Answers were supposed to give insight, not make you more confused than when you started. Despite all the answers given, he'd have appreciated it if Ms. Orimura would stop speaking all cryptic like. Was this her way of revenge for his alleged tampering with the tournament? Okay he may have gotten about a couple hundred more students involved than these tournaments were used to but wasn't student participation supposed to be a good thing? He deserved a thank you not a cold shoulder. "They're not even fighting back. How does you a fight if you don't fight back!?"
Chifuyu pointed over to the refreshments table, adjourned with high caffeinated beverages and sweet baked pastries. On that same table was a stack of papers, copies of the tournament rule set. Rules that had been made at the last minute due to a certain someone's interference. Gelimer rushed over, picking up a copy of the paper to read. Maya and Olivia shortly did the same. Every section was read over from the introductions all the way to the rules at the end. Once they finished reading the final sentence Gelimer was still left scratching his head.
"Oh. Now it makes sense. They're truly playing to their strengths."
"Taking advantage of Jayden's high natural shield energy." Olivia smiled the smallest of smiles. "Clever. I'll give them that. Though it's a cheap way to win."
Unlike Gelimer, the other two ladies had instantly picked up on what Chifuyu meant. No sign of confusion was left on their faces, and pretty soon they weren't the only ones. One by one the staff members in the room gravitated towards the table to look over the tournament rules sheet. Sounds of realization filled the room along with comments of cleverness and surprise. By now it seemed everyone had figured out the secret to Jayden and Houki's plan. Or rather almost everyone. Gelimer was the only one left out of the loop. It was like being in high school all over again.
"What's the matter Mr. Brighton? Can't figure out what your own pilot is doing? Aren't you an expert in the Infinite Stratos?" Olivia nudged his side playfully with her elbow. While Gelimer was quite knowledgeable about the Infinite Stratos that only reached to the parts involved in research and building. Anything about fighting beyond the basics was out of his area of expertise. Just like how most doctors specialized in a certain field, Gelimer stuck to what he knew best.
"Let's just say I'm having a momentary lapse in judgement. Now tell me! Please?"
Chifuyu motioned for Olivia to knock it off. "Just watch the battle Mr. Brighton. You'll understand soon enough."
He looked around the room for even a hint to help him, but no one was giving any. The man's eyes went back to watch the screens where little had changed.
/-/
It shouldn't have been possible, but somehow flying mecha suits fighting against one another had become dull. The act of blocking or slashing away laser blasts could only be viewed so many times before it started to become repetitive. This had been going on over the last five minutes with little variation and now the entire act had worn out its welcome. The audience had mostly lost interest in the fight, preferring to talk amongst themselves or use their mobile devices for entertainment. Even without the audience's engagement the pilots continued their battle, if you could call it that. The only one among them technically not fighting was Rin, who had her head slumped onto her shoulder, watching the fight play out.
Together Jayden and Houki we're keeping up an iron-clad guard to not let a single laser blast them. The only things those lasers were hitting were a sword, a shield, and some kind of umbrella. They'd committed to total defense and that didn't look to be changing any time soon. Minutes continued to go by with little progress being made on either side. Rin honestly wouldn't mind getting shot at right now, at least she'd get to be part of the action.
"Cecilia- "
"Hush Rin. I need to keep focus."
Rin rolled her eyes, going back to watching Jayden and Houki continue to defend against Cecilia's drones. No matter how many shots they fired those two were already ready to intercept. Not even Cecilia's sneak attacks with her rifle could sneak past their guard. This was supposed to be one of her most important battles and yet, here she was floating around like a glorified mannequin showing off her IS. Only the thoughts of a guaranteed win kept her in place. Just a bit longer and they'd win this fight. If you could even call it a fight. Jayden wasn't even trying to fight back, which she could understand. But Houki? That girl was almost as hot headed as she was. She couldn't see someone like her just hanging back all match instead of bringing the fight to them. Now that Rin thought about it, it was kind of odd that Houki was willingly staying back instead of getting up close. Rin was watching Houki closely, the way she handled her sword to defend to the way she kept her eyes focused on what was coming next. And then they glanced elsewhere. It was brief but every so often Houki's eyes would momentarily look away before returning just in time to see what was coming her way. It was odd. And even odder was that Houki kept doing it every so often. Like she was checking on something.
Rin followed Houki's quick glances, all the way to the giant monitor screen displaying the stats of the pilots. It allowed the viewers to know the current shield energy of every pilot and other minor details like who was fighting and the names of there IS unit. Even the names of their personal units were located right under their profile picture. Those who had a unit loaned by the academy such as Houki just had the words Standard Academy Unit instead. The screen was a common courtesy to the crowd to let them know who was winning, as any pilot could look figure that out via their own Infinite Stratos's UI. Rin highly doubted Houki was forgetting names, so what she repeatedly looking at the screen for?
Shield energy? None was being lost. The current round number? Doubtful. Names? Even more so. The timer on the match? Nah. Why would Houki need to look…
Time practically slowed down with the only exception being that timer on the screen counting down. Every second making it a little closer to reaching zero. It was the only thing on the board that was changing. The more she thought about it, the more she had to accept the destination her train of thought was heading towards Rin's eyes widened in realization as her brain finished connecting all the dots.
"THEY'RE RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK!"
All blasting and blocking immediately halted.
"What? Explain yourself Rin." Cecilia demanded.
"It's the tournament rules! When time runs out, whichever team has the higher shield energy total is the winner." Rin stuck out her hand, pointing two fingers. One at each opponent. "It's why they've been defending themselves the whole match and not even bothering to come at us. Their total shield energy is higher than ours, so they win if the match ends like this! That's what you're trying to do, aren't you! Am I right?"
Houki gave her partner a nervous glance who was doing the same thing. The cat was totally out of the bag. Even so Jayden was gonna try to shove it back in. "What? Winning by shield energy? That's a rule!? I'm pretty sure that's not a thing. Right Houki?" She didn't give him a response, too busy trying to hide her embarrassment. The innocent whistling Jayden was attempting only earned a verbal message from Houki w to just shut up already. While that was going on Cecilia adjusted her voice communication to the channel used by the school's staff to ask for confirmation about this tournament's rules.
Normally the channel would remain silent but in a rare occurrence the communication channel from the main staff room hummed to life. "Umm… One moment please..." That sounded like Maya Yamada. On their end a discussion was taking place in the background on whether that could be answered or if it counted as outside coaching.
Winning by time had never occurred to any of the pilots here up until now. There never was a time limit on standard IS battles as they typically ended before things lasted for too long. An average battle lasted somewhere from around three to five minutes. Even shorter if there was a massive difference in skill. The only reason a time limit was put in place was due to the large number of students entering the tag team tournament. And thus, the time rule was born to make sure battles didn't go one for too long to make sure matches proceeded in a timely matter. It was more of a precaution as no match had even come close to using the full ten minutes. At least until now. Jayden felt his blood turn to ice as the speakers of the arena crackled on. No. They wouldn't.
"At this time, we'd like to reiterate one of the sentences listed on the tournament flyers. By the rules stated for the tag-team tournament if a winning team has not been decided when the match time reaches zero, whichever team has a higher total of remaining shield energy shall be declared the victors of the match."
Jayden's whole body went stiff. Much of the audience was looking back at any tournament flyers they had on hand. What was once a deenergized crowd suddenly sprung to life now knowing things were about to get heated up now that the climax was in sight. Houki hissed through gritted teeth.
Cecilia turned towards the arena screen to do some quick mental math regarding everyone's shield energy.
Cecilia: 800
Lingyin: 900
Jayden: 1100
Houki: 750
Quick mental math had the shield energy totals 1700 to 1850. Rin was right, their shield energy total was higher albeit by just a little. And the time left on the clock was just…
60 seconds.
"Remain calm Rin. Victory can still be ours We need to strategize and come up with a plan."
Rin's neck turned towards her partner so quickly it was a miracle she didn't get whiplash. "Plan! After all this you still wanna make a plan!?" Rin roared, angrily pointed at the clock counting down their dwindling time. It was Cecilia's stupid plan in the first place that got them into this mess in the first place. They could've just wailed on them right from the start. But nope! That stupid buxom Brit just had to pick the safe way. At look where they were now. Cecilia was talking but Rin wasn't listening. Every word from Cecilia was just pouring fuel on the fire known as Rin's anger. Screw Cecilia. Screw plans. And you know what? "Screw this. I'm going in!"
Cecilia's outbursts fell on death ears. Rin flew ahead, Scimitars in hand and a fierce gaze directed at them.
"Rin's coming!"
"I've got her." Houki charged in to meet their enemy. Mid-air, both girls clashed with their weapons, Houki's one sword managing to keep two scimitars at bay. They remained deadlocked trying to overpower the other. Unlike Houki however Rin had an additional weapon to use. The two orbs floating above her shoulders glowed to life. There was a brief flash followed by an intense boom that sent Houki spinning back until Jayden managed to stop her.
"Thanks." Houki said as both she and Jayden brought up their respective weapons. That last attack had done enough damage to put their combined shield energy below Rin and Cecilia's. They had to take an offensive approach if they wanted to win now. Which meant having to deal damage to two personal IS users.
The phrase no plan survives contact with the enemy came to Jayden's mind. Did that mean it was pointless to come up with a plan in the first place if it was bound to go wrong sooner or later? That didn't seem true considering their original plan had gotten them this far and they were still in the fight. A bad plan was still better than no plan after all. The plan to win with a greater shield energy was still their best option. They just had to adapt now given the circumstances.
"I don't suppose you've got another weird idea Jayden?" Houki wasn't expecting anything, which is why she seemed surprised when Jayden spoke.
"Actually, I do." It was an idea Jayden just came up with this second. "There's no time to explain. Do you trust me Houki?"
Houki nodded. Jayden whispered some words into Houki's ear.
"That's your plan?!" Houki howled.
"You got a better idea?"
As a matter a fact she didn't. Houki didn't bother to ask how Jayden came up with that plan or if it had even been tested before. Houki adjusted herself now floating horizontally instead of vertically, resting the feet of her IS on Jayden's shield.
Whatever they were up to, Rin wasn't going to let it happen. She charged straight at them once more for some slicing and dicing.
"I'm ready," Said Houki. "Do it!"
Houki pushed off just as Jayden activated his shield's special ability, unleashing all the energy he managed to store up from Cecilia's constant barrage of lasers. The resulting force acted like a shockwave propelling Houki forward, much faster than either of them had expected it to be. Houki flew at a speed that seemed impossible for a Uchigane. Rin braced herself for a head on collision. Only instead of a suit of metal she just got a wave of air with Houki flying straight past her. Her real target was right past Rin anyway.
"Cecilia! Move!" Rin warned.
The warning was either too late or Houki was going too fast. Either way the distance between Houki and Cecilia vanished in an instant. The plan was to get into melee range for Houki to attack. She got into melee range and then into point-blank range, crashing and taking Cecilia to the wall before the British pilot had a chance to act. When the momentum gave out both girls dropped on the ground. With that maneuver, Houki had taken out a solid chunk of Cecilia's shield energy. Of the two Houki was the first to recover and used the opportunity to jump into Blue Tears, stabbing her sword into it like she was trying to commit murder in broad daylight.
For the second time in these past ten minutes, Rin had been hoodwinked. Her enemy has just gotten into the melee range of her partner. A.K.A. The worse place for Cecilia. She had to do something; she just wasn't sure what. Dang it, what was the call here? Her head rapidly shifted between Houki and Jayden. Get Houki off of her partner before more shield energy was lost or try to reduce Jayden's shield energy? There was no time to weigh the pros and cons.
She'd just have to go with her gut. As much as she wanted to leave Cecilia on her own after everything she'd done, she needed her help.
Rin charged up her impact cannons, taking aim to blast Houki off her ally. Just before she could fire, a voice came from behind.
"Oh no you don't!" Jayden wrapped his arms around Rin from behind. He pulled Rin back to throw off her aim just in time to have her shoot the sky instead. Rin screamed for him to get off while trying to aim and shake him off. Despite that, Jayden was giving it his all to throw off Rin's aim, making the rest of her blasts so far off the mark they may as well have not even been in the same zip code as her target.
On the other side of the arena, Cecilia was also trying to break out of her opponents grasp to no luck. It was a physical struggle with each girl trying to push the sword where they wanted. Cecilia was gritting her teeth trying to shove Houki away. The only other thing she could do was have her drones set to auto pilot and strike Houki's back. Houki, on her part, remained there taking each blast as they came while she reduced Cecilia's shield energy. If she moved away now, there'd be no way she'd get back in close range towards Cecilia. Her last fight against Cecilia taught her that. Between Houki's sword stabbing and Cecilia's drone laser barrage the two were trading shield energy point for point at this rate
On the other side of the arena, the remaining pilots continued their impromptu wrestling match. The more Rin tried to move forward; the harder Jayden pulled to keep her back. Rin threw herself back, the momentum sending them towards the ground below with a hard crash.
The two broke apart with Jayden now in between Rin and her target. Rin huffed and rose to full height just in time for Jayden to do the same, shield in hand. Once again getting in her way.
"Will you stop getting in my way! You're so annoying!"
"Maybe. But if it means winning, then I'll happily piss you off."
"You call that winning? All you do is hide behind your shield every match like a coward. I had to fight to get here, you played chicken."
"You're the one who stood there the whole match doing nothing. Do you call that fighting?"
"Shut up!" Rin roared, rushing in. A scimitar in each hand was slashed at Jayden forcing him to defend at the last second. Even though Rin was angry, she wasn't letting that cloud her judgement this time. As she'd learned from their previous battle, the best way to get to Jayden was to get past that shield. She swung from the left. Then the right. The real trick was to knock that shield out of his grip. An upwards slash struck Jayden's weapon, knocking the shield out of his hands and into the sky. He fruitlessly reached out, watching his best tool go up, up, and away. In front of him, Rin was ready for her next attack.
A kick flew, knocking Jayden onto his butt.
"Now you're gonna get it." Rin flashed forward. Her blades swinging towards his stomach, the sunlight reflecting off them to illustrate how sharp they were. His hands reached out to defend himself. Something must've heard his prayers for defense as Jayden's new umbrella shaped weapon deployed in his hands from the panic. Jayden reached for his umbrella clutching it in hand. When his fingers tightened, his index finger unintentionally pushed into some sort of trigger on the umbrella. The device made a clicking sound as the tip of the umbrella opened a secret hatch.
BANG!
A bullet flew right out of the umbrella, hitting Rin nearly point blank. The shot resulted in Rin staggering back, not even realizing what just hit her. Each of them locked eyes with the other before lowering their gaze towards the umbrella and back at each other.
"That thing's a gun!?"
"This thing's a gun!?"
"D-Do you seriously not even know what your own equipment does?"
Jayden slightly shrugged.
"What the hell even is that thing!?"
Good question. It was totally a gun that just happened to look almost exactly like an umbrella. "This… Is the Gunbrella!" Jayden declared.
…
…
…
Rin looked at Jayden like he was speaking an alien language. "What?"
"Oh hey." Jayden looked at the arena's monitor. "Ten seconds left!"
"Rargh!"
He didn't think he ever seen Rin look in control than she was right now.
Rin attacked with her impact cannons like her life depended on it. There was no way she could let herself lose to this. All she had to do was reduce his shield energy. Fast! She didn't waste any more time or words.
Jayden's umbrella unfolded just in the nick of time to block two explosive air-like blasts courtesy of Rin's impact cannons. Hanging onto the Gunbrella like his life depended on it, he blocked explosive after explosive. In between rounds of fire he'd press the trigger to try to shoot back. Jayden knew he had a lot to catch up on when it came to firearms. He never had a good reason to since he didn't own one until now, and honestly it sounded extremely complicated when Ms. Orimura went over the science of long-range projectiles. Something about factoring in wind resistance, velocity speed, rate of fire, and so many other terms that had tried their best to remain in his head before eventually moving out the opposite ear they first entered. But the basics didn't seem so tough. All he had to do was point, click, and shoot! Granted he wasn't hitting Rin but any time she had to dodge was time not spent getting hit.
Rin forced herself to stay ahead of the line of fire. How was she supposed to have known he now had a ranged weapon. Not even the owner of said weapon had picked up on that until now. She moved ahead taking a shot along the way to shoulder check and knock him straight to the ground. The sudden fall knocked the gunbrella out of his hands. Before he could even reach for it Rin Jumped on top of him, sitting on his chest Her scimitars raised up high looking to tear apart his shield energy. She raised her weapons in an X shaped pattern like a guillotine for execution. Which seemed quite fitting given the expression on Rin's face. The two scimitars came down, taking aim for his head.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
The scimitars stopped a few inches shy of Jayden's face letting him see his own reflection.
A loud buzzer sounded out, unlike the one that played when an IS's shield energy dropped to zero this one had a higher pitch to it. It was a rare sound that many students had most likely never heard in their time at IS Academy until now. That was the sound of the time's up buzzer playing.
"No…" Rin's face was starting to look pale. There was no sign of that anger or fire burning bright in her, just a blank expression of horror. "No no no no no no no…" She brokenly repeated that one word.
Cecilia: 534
Lingyin: 914
Jayden: 922
Houki: 552
A total of 1448 to 1474.
"That's impossible" Rin's hands trembled. So did the rest of her body. With the match over, all pilots returned to their IS units to stand by form except for Houki who had to remain in her training unit.
Many girls and officials and the stands were applauding the two for their victory. It was an unusual victory combined with a lackluster battle up till the very end but as always cheering and clapping came to everyone for the battle they just watched. The surprising turn around at the end made up for the boring parts beforehand, especially to see an upset like this.
Rin couldn't understand how this had happened.
"You!"
"Me?"
"Hiding away for almost the entire match. Rocketing your partner across the field. Even acting like you didn't have a ranged weapon. You planned all that right from the start, didn't you?"
"Sorta." That was half true. Once Rin had figured out their plan they had to improvise on the spot. The whole idea of launching Houki via using his shield slam was an idea of his that sounded good on paper that could've backfired just as easily. Thankfully though that gambit paid off to let Houki get into close combat with Cecilia. As for the Gunbrella Jayden had no idea that thing could function as a gun. When Gelimer talked about it using fire maybe he meant firearm. A flamethrower sounded much better, but he'd take what he can get. Note to self, ask for a flamethrower. The only part they did plan out was to defend against their long-range assault and they'd only learned about that thanks to Natasha giving him last minute advice.
Rin hated this. This was a battle that should've been their victory. With her and Cecilia they had the experience, skill, power, and practically every advantage she could think of. And now they'd managed to snatch defeat right out from the jaws of victory. And now her date with Ichika was off the table. She wasn't mad that she lost. Okay that was a lie, she was furious. But rather, it was how she lost that ticked her off. It wasn't because they were outplayed or that their opponents were better. She knew for a fact she was a better pilot than those two. The only reason her and Cecilia wouldn't be moving on was because of a stupid rule normally not in an IS match. A rule her opponents exploited so they could win.
"It was a good fight Rin. We were just the better team today."
Rin stomped her foot, leaving small cracks in the ground. Not that it did anything to soothe her anger. It took all the restraint she had not to drive her fist into his face.
"Let's get one thing straight. You didn't win because you were the better team," Rin emphasized. "You won because you abused the rules." She turned her back to him and stormed off towards the arena exit. "Good luck. You'll need it."
Jayden tried calling out to Rin but she didn't seem to care for whatever he had to say. He just sighed. It was pretty cheap the way they got the win, Jayden would give her that. They only did that not because they wanted to but because they had to. Their loss would be guaranteed if Houki and him went for a straightforward fight. No sense in feeling guilty about it now that it was over. Maybe one day he could have a rematch with Rin in a battle where he'd be strong enough to fight back. He owed her that.
"Jayden," Houki called out, motioning towards the exit. "We have to leave for the next battle."
Jayden pushed his thoughts to the back of his head. Their next fight would be coming up soon after all.
I know it's been a long time but Change My Mind is back from hiatus. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to read my work and being an Infinite Stratos fan. This chapter was a battle focused chapter showcasing the heavier detail fights will have in the tournament. Not all of them will have this level of detail but there's going to be more strategy, tactics, and combat involved. I've had this battle in the works for a year now. A battle that ended not because a team's shield energy reached zero, but the timer did instead. I figured I could mix it up and show how defense can work towards an alternative win condition. In games with a timer, I've won and lost due to stalling until the clock times out. Sometimes its cheap and unfun but it can be the best/only way to win at times.
Next time, the rest of the first-round battles of day two commence with fights from all your favorites. Place your bets on who else will be making it to the semi-finals. Leave a review to let me know what you think or if you have any comments.
Keep your sense of wonder and I'll see you next time.
Reviewing Reviewers
Magi Mari: Thank you for at least giving my story a try.
MegaCheese445: Thanks for understanding. I got a partial rewrite but left some things as they were.
Gerald Cheatwood: Right now. Sorry for the long wait.
TheImmaniac: No worries, mistakes happen to everyone. Thank you so much for your review. I'll be sure to take a look at your fanfic and offer my thoughts when I'm done. I'm not too familiar with Tron but I' sure I'll still enjoy it. The omakes were something I wanted to add just cause I got so many fun ideas that wouldn't work if they were part of the main story. As for whether the omakes are canon or not… that's up to the reader. The tag team tournament arc is giving me a lot of chances to improve battle writing and show off my writing style. As for the archetype breakers, I added them to make sure the original story didn't go stale with so many fanfics following the IS canon. Something I'm also doing. Vishnu and Rolan are currently in the story, and if you've paid attention you may find some others AB characters named / mentioned. As for the flaws, I'm working on addressing Jayden's poor characteristics and working to have him grow and develop. There's no wrong or right way to write so long as you're enjoying yourself.
Zhorvak: Who knows, you'll just have to see. You can never know how far one will go on their work, especially when they're dedicated to their craft. Though I honestly never expected how popular Gelimer was going to be. He's become many people's favorite character in the fic.
Omake
Gelimer settled down into his seat looking to be nothing but smiles. He honestly hadn't expected Jayden to win a round on day two, but once again the boy surprised him. This time for the better. The more fights he won, the better Edel Gleam looked and the more popular he'd get as a result. Oh he could see it now. Magazine covers, talk show interviews, applicants for assistants. Come to think of it, he never had filled that vacancy since Irene quit after that kidnapping attempt. Meh, he could do that later. On top of all that, he had some alone time with Maya to just chat with. After that date, they'd gotten to know each other pretty well beyond standard work stuff. Everything was looking up for this scientist.
"Hello everyone." Principal Kutsuwagi popped her head in, taking a quick scope of the room. No Chifuyu Orimura present. Perfect. "Good work holding down the fort, you're all doing an amazing job. I just came by to say hi. Don't mind me." In a surprise to no one, Kutsuwagi started typing on the main computer as she inserted a familiar looking flash drive into the terminal. Maya and Gelimer shared a concerned look, knowing what was coming next. It seemed their boss hadn't learned anything from yesterday despite Chifuyu's scolding. But she was still their boss technically, so they couldn't stop her.
"Another advertisement?" Maya asked. "Ms. Kutsuwagi. If you don't mind me asking, just how strapped for cash is our academy?"
The principal lightly pressed her fingertips together. "Well, let's just say that someone… and it could be anyone!" Ms. Kutsuwagi emphasized. "Tried to do a selfless and generous act of earning money for the school by investing the academy's funds in other forms of currency. The ones that are really popular with young kids nowadays on the web. And she…. Err, that person did everything right and earned a lot of money. But the world colluded against her because it was jealous, and she lost all that hard earned money that was totally going to be used for the academy in just an hour."
"Other currencies? The web? You mean those digital coins?"
"That dog was just so funny…. I mean digital coins? What's that?" She yelled. "Hey look! It's starting!"
The screen turned black, before showing one Ichika Orimura sitting on the couch at the longue area of IS Academy. His teeth grinded while acting overly irritated trying to watch television with a screen that kept glitching out and turning into static way too often to watch what was going on.
"When your cable doesn't work right, you get angry." A narrator spoke in a monotone voice.
The scene then cutaway to the school's dojo where Ichika was now engaging in a kendo session with Houki Shinonono.
"When you get angry, you go blow off steam." The two were aggressively clashing as their wooden swords struck the other. Locked in fierce combat, the childhood friends continued to match each other blow for blow. Gelimer watched with wide eyes as Houki looked to be swinging with all her might to finally knock the sword out of his hands and smash her sword into the side of Ichika's face close to his eye. He winced seeing how Ichika dropped to the floor. The boy was left clutching his eye trying to soothe the pain. "When you go blow off steam, accidents happen."
Now Ichika was in the school's infirmary office with a nurse strapping an eye-patch over the impacted area. "When accidents happen, you get an eye-patch."
Maya and Gelimer shared an odd look trying to figure out what was going on before returning to the screen.
"When you get an eye-patch, people think you're tough." One-eyedIchika appeared to be minding his own business when he crossed paths with Laura Bodewig. The one visible eye from each of them locked onto the other. Her expression seemed to say: "First, you've stolen my mentor and now you're stealing my look?" Anyone watching could see Ichika's legs shaking as the little girl began cracking her knuckles.
"When people think you're tough, they want to see how tough." Laura was chasing after Ichika with killer intent. It wasn't long before she got in range to leap onto Ichika and give him an intimate relationship with the ground. And just to drive the message home Bodewig proceeded to raise and lower her fist onto Ichika. Multiple times. Thankfully he was just offscreen enough, so the viewers didn't have to witness the victim of the brutal beatdown.
After that supposed beatdown, the screen cutaway to a ditch-like area on the island with Ichika lying face down. When he didn't move for some time, some of the audience began to wonder if he was really all right. "And when people want to see how tough, you end up facedown in a ditch. Don't end up facedown in a ditch. Upgrade your cable today!"
The screen flashed back a moment later, with much of the crowd slowly or rather awkwardly clapping. Like if most of them weren't sure if they were supposed to or not. Not many people watching felt like upgrading their TV plan after watching that. Maya though
"You got Ms. Bodewig to star in one of these things," Maya was more amazed than shocked. "How?"
Nadeshiko Kutsuwagi sighed. "Not really sure. Bodewig herself volunteered once she learned about the role and what it entailed. And wouldn't take no for an answer." After hearing the German girl's case for why she had to have the part, she just had to give her the role. Apparently, Laura Bodewig could be quite convincing when she had a knife in hand. The two teachers looked at their boss like she was insane. Nadeshiko shrugged in a way implying it was him or me "She just needs a creative way to work out her anger. Actually, the same could be said for a lot of our personal IS users… But I bet with some time and effort we can turn her into a real TV star. And don't worry about Ichika. He's recovered for the tournament… mostly."
Here ya go, based off the direct TV commercials I remember seeing as a kid.
They're available on youtube if you wanna check them out.