Forces to be Reckoned With

[Hunter]

Time may have froze but Aker didn’t flinch, didn’t ease his tense grip on the controls of the Noblesse. He hated the filthy zeke, oh how he hated this particular opponent. “Listen here you pathetic spacenoid. This is far from over… I’ll be coming for you.” He unceremoniously cut the transmission and sat in his cockpit stewing over his lack of performance. “This is what happens when I pull my punches…” Aker mused softy to himself. It didn’t even dawn on him that his team had won, so focused on the match he was. 

The EL diver’s reverie was dispelled when he found himself standing on a victory podium next to Icarus. It was hard to maintain a scowl with the cheering crowd around the duo. “What just happened?” Aker muttered to Icarus as he sheepish raised his hand to wave at the people cheering for them. “Where’s the boss?” He hissed near his teammate as soon as he realized that Wade wasn’t anywhere to be seen. It was hard to concentrate with Sneaker pandering to the crowd and the thunderous echo from the stands. Evidently this had been quite the upset for the match, and the crowd was showing their admiration for the underdog team. All for a performance that was only mediocre, Aker thought. I wonder how the other guys did? He wondered as he kept waving while looking for a way to get out of the situation and find Wade. 

[Judge 221]

“I have you now!” Icarus cried, his sword mere inches from piercing the mechanical heart of the Wyvran. Then his mobile suit ceased to move. In fact, everything stopped in place and for a moment, the world of GBN became completely still.

“Are you kidding me?” Icarus said after a moment of trying to jiggle his controls with no feedback. “Did the damn thing crash? I was so close!” He covered his face with his hand. How would he explain this to the others?

This is so embarrassing…

His moping was interrupted a half second later by Sneaker’s announcement that time was up.

“Huh? Ohhhh…” Icarus let out an embarrassed little chuckle as he reclined in his cockpit chair. “Ah, well…as long as I didn’t cost my team the game,”

He was transported moments later to the top of a winner’s podium, joined only by Aker and the cries of the adoring, if brand new fans. Aker leaned in close and whispered to him, Icarus looking over at his teammate. “If I had to guess, I’d say we won is what happened. Wade must have roasted his opponent if what Sneaker said was true,” he waved to the fans with a big smile before turning back to Aker. “I didn’t even know there were special moves in this game, but it sounds like he used his. I don’t know where he could’ve gotten to though, but for now we just need to worry about the audience. So smile and wave, Aker,”

A little while later, the majority of the audience had disconnected and the festivities had wound down. Icarus and Aker had moved from the podium to a secluded spot away from the podium.

“That’s two of you now who’ve pulled the old disappearing act, huh?” Icarus placed his hands on his hip and looked off into the middle distance. “I wonder where he could’ve gone? Especially after we just won such a big event,”

[FrostyFoster 453]

Die Zeonic Mörder watched as the cheers and hollers came from the crowd for the winning team. Sepp started to hiss, only for his leader to grab his shoulder. “They deserve this.” Leon uttered while Hans grunted. “Having a new team like this win’ll brighten their spirits.” Hans chuckled, although he was still pissed about his exit from the battle. The Zeonic leader meanwhile wondered where Fleur’s was, but didn’t worry too much. “Like Zeon, we’ll always be up for a fight.

The Starshiners had left the stage entirely after their embarrassing defeat. Zander hadn’t said a word while UC-AU logged off completely. As the festivities continued, an alert began to ring near Blaze, causing her to get to a more quieter location away from the battle area. “It worked perfectly, didn’t it?” She spoke into her menu, the picture opposite to her blank. “No darling, Zander and the others don’t know. Did you get him?”

…

SPECIAL MOVE ACQUIRED
(FINISH MOVE 01)

Wade Lincoln stood in what looked to be an abandoned warehouse. Flashing in front of him was a single screen, waiting for a Diver to fill in a new name. “How did I get here?” Wade wondered, realizing how similar he felt to his teammate leaving them. The excitement in him began to build up as he came to terms with the fact that he used a special move. “That’s right! It needs a name!”

(Fleurs Flash)

He felt it worked perfectly with what was created during as battle with Zander. People who had their own special moves said they would correlate with parts of your identity in GBN, so it didn’t surprise the teen how this came to fruition. However, he was surprised by the hooded man in front of him, swiping away both his and Wade’s menus. 

“Y-You’re the guy to started this whole battle! The Fucan…something pilot.” The figure shook his head. “Fucanglong. A mobile suit much better than yours.” Wade shot him an angry look. “Are you kidding me? Did you see how I did? Let’s battle again if you-wha?” The Diver was met with shock as the man removed the black hood. An extremely pale face stared at Wade, with 0’s and 1’s looking to be almost tattooed into the skin all around the head.

“I… I don’t…” Wade stammered while staring. This wasn’t some cosmetic change. Whatever it was, it was apart of him. The Fucanglong pilot remained quiet, only to bring back Wade’s menu with the flick of his right hand. “GBN is more then just a game.” He watched the Diver intently. “I’ll keep in touch with you. Enjoy your win.”

…

By the time Wade had returned to the mission area in his Gunpla, the celebration was over. As he got out of his mobile suit, he carried a large gold trophy shaped like a Dom’s head. “Maybe because it was three teams? I don’t know.” Thankfully, the Diver found his comrades quickly. “Hey!” He yelled out. “Sorry about leaving like that. I didn’t even get to tell you guys how good you did!” He held out the gold head. “They put this in my inventory, along with a nice win to bump up our Force Rank.”

The Fleurs leader watched is the artificial sun began to set. “More than just a game. That’s been obvious for a while, but…” Fleurs De Noblesse made their mark in the game, but it wasn’t over yet for the trio. New challenges were bound to arise in the days to come.