Chronicle's Eve Stage

"Hey! Wait! Aedindin! Why didn't you join the tournament?!" Aoi shouted, taking a pocky stick, then snatching a bag of cracker jacks without permission. He was here to share, wasn't he? Sharing is caring, he cares. Totally, yep. That aside, the lass was actually a bit miffed with a fellow national champion not joining one of the biggest tournament events in Japan since... ever, really. The Cardfight Association coming together, a new style of tournaments, and reviving Vanguard as a game, not a war. It was all fantastic, and she wished Haruto could've accepted that.

She was nibbling on the pocky.

Rosalia tilted her head for a moment at the introduction, but shook his hand nonetheless. Holy crap, two champions?! "O-oh! You're from Ireland? I-i moved to Japan from there when I was young, so I never really spent too much time there..." Then Aoi swiped the guy's snack. How ironic that he had some crackerjacks when the Chinese Champion was looking for some earlier.. This whole world was filled with irony, to be honest. "A-anyways, it's a pleasure to meet you, Aedan, though I'm kind of with Aoi-chan on this one. If you're a Champion, why not take part in the tournament? I didn't do so great myself, so I bet you would have done better than me," the pinkette admitted, scratching her cheek with an embarrassed look. Not her fault she had to fight against an *sshole with Narukami.

Aedan didn't even notice when it was snatched at first, reaching for it... only to find it was gone. Oh no. Well... Oh well, he'd just suck it up. Had more anyway. "Nah, I think you did just fine. Both of you." he stuck his tongue out at Aoi for a moment, for stealing his snack but whatever. "I didn't join, 'cause I wasn't interested in a second title. ...That and I did find out about it a little late." a rather sheepish admission of his failure to join but... "That being said, even if I did know about it, I probably wouldn't of joined. Like I said, with all that's happened since I got here, kinda not interested in the Champion title anymore." he paused frowning. "Though had I known Cero was in it, I would of probably joined at a shot at fighting him."

"........................................................." was all Haruto could manage as he listened intently to what Seifer was saying, looking back he had not witnessed the loss of his family in front of his eyes like him so that must have felt worse.

It was clear that Seifer could understand how Haruto felt, afterall he had gone through something practically similar but...in the end, Seifer still has his family, while Haruto does not have his anymore....but what really shocked him was that Seifer had tried to defeat Sera but instead decided to let him live in the end.....

"....Why, would you let that person live....because of that I lost my brother...what could have possibly been worth all this...." he thought, as the aura around him began to dissipate and return to a dark blue color.

Seifer wanted Haruto to see something, to talk to Sera properly instead of how he spoke to him during their fight, "....Why would I want to speak with him..." he thought, as Aglovale and Percival began speaking to him in his mind.

"huggghhhh my vanguard, I can see that you're starting to feel less angry, please at least try to consider what he's offering, please..Haruto.." Aglovale was weak from the rush of emotion he could feel emanating from Haruto this whole time, no wonder he was too tired to fight during his cardfights earlier.
"..Sera was honoring your brother, for that you owed him your thanks, instead of doing that go talk to him at least....there is much for u to know about the day your brother fought him, Haruto." said Percival.

"Much to know...." he thought, as he considered the situation in front of him, he felt like he could trust Seifer, he was not trying to make him stop...he was...trying to help him find inner peace with the situation.

"Get some rest Raiden, I appreciate you trying to help but you need to get your rest." he said, getting up from his seat, and taking Seifer's hand. "I'll go along with this...but I can't guarantee that anything will change...Seifer..because of him I am now alone, Tsubasa and I....we were gonna start a new life after being seperated for years and all that was taken away becaase of him...I don't know if I can forgive him." he said, with tears falling from his eyes. "..I have no one...I'm not as strong as you or anyone here! I don't know if I can be...after what he did..."

It's going to be difficult but Haruto was willing to at least try, if it does not yield something then a fight may start, whether Seifer had his back like he asked, Haruto was now interested in knowing what had happened that day and why Sera was honoring his brother even though he was the cause for his death. Depending on what he finds he will continue or re-consider, "Take me to him..."

xat finally had the stregnth to stand up, while shirayuki went back to cray. The wolf helped xat onto its back and headed back to the stands only stopping to watch the matches. She felt ache at seeing him lost and even more so as she came to the relization that he wanted to get revenge by killing. She shook her head and sighed.

"he should not staine his hands with blood." she said to herself knowing once you kill for revenge then you risk of falling into temptation of killing. She had to find Haurto and tell him not to go through with it, to not staine his hand with blood not relizing that he had already made up his mind.

-sighs- "Great, just my luck."

Jellal sat down at a nearby bench with a sullen look on his face. He looked up to see many different matches starting and ending, each one filling him with a bit of depression. He had lost his first official fight in a tournament and nothing could really cheer him up about it. He opened up his deck and stared at Blaster Dark Revenger. He was hoping for something to happen like when he called out to his former master when Jellal and Yukino spoke again, yet nothing happened. Jellal shut his eyes, shook his head, and tried to keep his spirits up.

"I just have to get better." He said. Those words were etched into his very being like a tattoo. His mind was clearer and he found himself surrounded by a calm silence with the monitor playing in the background. He opened up his deck and began to make adjustments for the time being.

Mitsuki left shortly after Seifer and Rosalia's departure, wondering back to her seat with no souvenirs in hand. She noticed a figure who seemed to be down, similar to Rosalia and possibly because the same reason. Without doubt Mitsuki approached the distant bench and soon realized that it was her brother. With the monitor surrounding him and his deck spreaded out on his laps, she was pretty sure it was because of his lost to Cero earlier. "Brother, I've been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been? Please don't give me that look, it was already fortunate enough to be able to challenge such excellent people, you should be less uptight. Also just looking through your deck won't change it, here come to the shop! I want you to pick a deck for me too!" Mitsuki skipped towards her brother, trying to cheer him up then grabbing him tightly and dragged him off to the shops. After all the shops were probably the best place to edit your deck.

"Wait what?" Jellal was pulled by an small familiar force. "What on earth?" Before having time to realize what was going on, Jellal found himself walking past numerous stores. His feel could barely keep up as he was being dragged by the force that was his sister: Mitsuki Kisaragi. Where and how did she find him here? "Mitsuki, wait hold on. Time out!" He tried to think of every word and phrase to stop her but nothing seemed to work. He was a bit surprised and confused to see his younger sister here but also relieved as she is one of the few people who know him and that he keeps close to his heart. His expression showed a soft relief, a pure smile was across his face as his sisters long hair fluttered before his pale eyes. Hearing her interest in Vanguard also gave him hope, as maybe she could assist him in becoming a better cardfight, in anyway possible. He silently agreed to help her select a deck once they arrived to the shop.

Mitsuki skimmed through the glass cabinets, arranged with an array of cards ranging from cheap to expensive, cute to scary. She had no idea what to choose. Knowing the rules does help a lot as this allows her to roughly ballpoint what she wants. She wanted to play something similar to her brother's Aqua Force but then she also didn't want to play something exactly similar. She didn't really care much for aesthetics either. "Brother, what do you think about this one? she asked as she pointed to a clan the shop attendant recommended her, not too cheap not too expensive and excels in attacking multiple times. It was Spike Brothers, a clan focusing on hard offense through a barrage of hard hitting attacks. Despite some of their grotesque units, she found beauty in some of the cards like Bad End Dragger. She eagerly awaited for her brother's decision, and also possibly fund support. They were after all siblings, right?

Jellal took a look at the card. Bad End Dragger and other various units belonging to the Spike Brothers clan. At first Jellal's first thoughts about the clan was that they looked to be too rough for his sister to be playing it. Hulky barbaric demons as football players with overwhelming power supported by female demonic cheer girls wasn't something he thought his sister would be interested in. However, reviewing the clan overall, he realized it was something she could start at. "It's a little...reckless, much like your personality." He said with a sly smirk, teasing her. "Other than that, it looks like a pretty powerful clan. If you like it, then go for it. Don't let your dreams be dreams." He stood up picking up the cards and approached the shop attendant. After a few exchanges of words, he pulled out a wallet and placed a few crumpled dollars in the workers hand. He turned away and walked towards the table, placing the deck in front of Mitsuki. "Here, all yours." he said with the sound of satisfaction of doing a good deed for her.

"Sometimes you just gotta do it, y'know?" Jellal opened up his deck and placed Blaster Dark Revenger on the table. "I recently got this deck and only entered the tournament with it. I could've chose not to enter but I went with my gut and threw myself in it. Though the biggest reason I decided to enter was because this card called out to me. I felt a strong connection to him when he spoke out to me."  He pointed back at Mitsuki's new deck in her hand. "Those units must've called out to you too right?" Jellal is usually shy in social gatherings due to his anxiety and often keeps to himself, that much, his sister already knew. However, he felt by sharing his experience it could help her along with himself be able to face any obstacle that should come their way.

Mitsuki sighed and placed her Vanguard onto the center circle, claiming his brother is bullying him. "Stand up, Vanguard!" she declared as she opened up her terrible hand. The game was pretty one sided with Mitsuki drawing into triggers every turn. Silence Joker, Bowelyn, these pair of triggers seem to haunt her until the end of the game. The game was getting fiercer as she hit a draw trigger and a critical with Bad End Dragger but that was about all she could see. With Revenger, Raging Form Dragon's limit break in hand, she prevented the skill by attacking the Rear-Guard each turn but that didn't seem to help since she drove check a couple of extra Grade 3s. Meanwhile her brother hit several criticals, heals and draws which severely whittled down her defense. Being stuck on a skill-less breakride didn't seem to help either, nor did the 'couple of extra Grade 3s' proved to be something she can use. One by one Bloody Ogle dropped to her damage and the sixth damage was taken with Jellal only at 3. Guess what, Bloody Ogle. Once the game ended Mitsuki skimmed through her deck with what left to be half triggers, including all four heals, and half of normal units. What a great impression for her first game, she thought.

Mitsuki sighed as she scooped up her remaining cards. "Good Game.." she said sarcastically as she walked out, raising her back hand signalling her brother not to follow her. "I'll be out for dinner with my friends so I won't be home for that. Don't worry I won't arrive late." she added on as if Jellal was her parent; still slightly mad about the game.

Haruka nodded off to Mitsuki with knowing he had a... sort of fan in the crowd? Someone rooting for him? Amazing! Haruka grinned a bit, hearing the announcer call for Round 3 participants show into the arena. Haruka walked up to the platform beaming, until his very lover was standing ahead of him on the opposite end of the stadium. Looks like he wasn't getting a break now either. Every opponent Haruka was facing seemed to be someone from the Resistance with some credibility of being a powerful entity or having immense reputation backing them.

He took to the stage, automatically hearing flirting coming from Yukino. Haruka had tried to keep straight-faced all tournament so he could finally take a few games in the spotlight. While he admittedly was more excited for this game than anything, because it was a rematch from year's past, and because it was with his lover... He wanted to win too. And to do that, he knew he needed to sack out hard.

Lambros was on the notice, and prepared the Supersonic Sailors to be stationed conveniently throughout the battle, and Marika came to serve Master-- Er, Captain Haruka in his endeavors on the bumpy seas against the brilliant Seekers. Haruka expected the unit he feared most, Thing Saver Dragon. A constant reminder of his fetish of restanding Vanguards to haunt him, but instead a certain someone showed up.

"Alfred... it's been so long."

Haruka hadn't seen the King of Knights in all his glamour for so long. Lambros and Thavas were contented to see him on the grand stage as well, finding the king himself to be the perfect opponent. If anyone could match speed with ferocity, it was Alfred and his troop of Royal Paladins.

The battle waged on, Yukino even mention her... coming, for Haruka. He lit up like a Christmas light as people around the stadium started gasping and covering their children's ears. Might wanna cover their eyes soon too if Yukino wants to have her way here...

He came back with a small witty flirt of his own when it came to his final turn, where he was able to stack a draw trigger's worth of power in tandem with Lambros' restanding skill on a Tidal Assault, with Hermes to boost. Yukino commented on her having fun, and Haruka resonated highly with that. He felt the sparks he did from the year's past, and felt Yukino's heart beat to the drum it had been missing for so long.

He grinned, exiting the stage for a long water break... If rumor had it, his next opponent was Cero Kirguis, the dreaded reaper of thunder and lightning. His stomach turned at that.

Match Results
Haruka Nakahara vs Yukino Espoir
Winner: Haruka Nakahara
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Sera approached Mizumi in the stands watching Haruka's fight, with her legs curled up on the seat and sandals neatly tucked under. She wasn't exactly in the best mood, after Satoshi was dealt a swift exit from the tournament. She was excited to finally be that one girlfriend who got to scream for her lover in a big event and embarrass him, but she only got to do that for all of 10 or 15 minutes before his game was ended.

He slid next to her, glimpsing down and throwing a thumbs-up and a holler to Haruka as he left the game with Yukino, only catching the latter half on a screen inside the stadium building. The Nakahara kid was building credibility in the Vanguard community rather quickly, and people were already talking about him potentially taking the tournament. He was an underdog competitor, after being dealt a swift exit from the World Circuit last time. Already making it to semi's set people on mini hype-train for Haruka, and the two relatives were eating it up.

Sera turned to some random guy with a makeshift Lambros poster, yelling over the crowd,

"THAT'S MY BROTHER DOWN THERE, WE'RE TWINS, Y'KNOW?"

Mizumi cupped her face in her hands, feeling decrepit next to this fool.

-----------------------------------

Haruka stepped up to the stage once more, roughly a few hours later. He was allotted a nap and some break time due to some scheduling eras in the other half of the bracket, giving this side a little bit of free time. He stepped up and lo and behold, stood the King himself. Haruka puffed up his chest a little, nodding as he trekked out from the black hole of the stadium and into the bright lights of the arena. People with posters of Haruka's name and his units gave him morale as he stepped onto the battle platform. He asked the King if he remembered Haruka... apparently not.

"I expected my rival here, instead some wannabe got her spot."

Haruka became venomous. Lambros was beyond ticked that the Aqua Force was getting some secondhand backlash. Thavas just grinned. His eyes piercing.

He wanted a field day with the King.

Haruka set up a board early, checking critical triggers from the very beginning. Lambros spent no time in sending 3 of Haruka's 7 Critical Triggers to perfectly positioned stations on the battlefront. He scooped them up, sending Cero straight to 4 damage by Grade 3 turn. The legion turn didn't go as quickly as planned, only pushing the King an extra damage when it was meant to end the game. However, they pushed out his own front row and made it only Crimson and Vermilion standing alone up there. They cleared the whole front row and sent a Critical Trigger right back into Lambros' face, as if spitting upon the image of the Aqua Force and crushing them down a notch. Now he was more than pissed.

He was livid.

He was annoyed.

He was---

Haruka stood and drew, seeing Thavas open into his hand, nearly icy cold upon contact.

"Captain. Call me down now."

Haruka blinked, calling a Michael to the right, and Thavas with a Marika powerboost to the left, boosted with Hermes. After swinging at the Vanguard with both his avatar and Michael, the legion attack happened. It was a 1-pass. Haruka thought that it would simply end with no triggers, and Thavas would dish the finishing blow. But it was the rear-guard Thavas that wanted this kill. No.

It was the Legion Mate who had set this up. A critical opened immediately from the first check, instantly shutting the last damages onto Cero's board. Haruka's rush outlasted what could've been an enormous war of attrition, and possibly depleting the Aqua Force of all rear-guard pushback. Lambros and Thavas shared this icy hot passion of curb stomping their opponents with immense sack. Haruka called it "skill," but he knew just as well as anybody that his deck was resonating perfectly with him and the triggers were in sync.

He stepped off stage, not even realizing how loud the crowd was that Haruka Nakahara, one of the bottom bracket underdogs, filled with legends and entities to the brim... just made it to the finals!!

He walked off stage, stretching and listening as Lambros and Thavas began to get really hype over their consistent victories. There was one left, undetermined until the final bracket of the top half was determined. Haruka was... ecstatic. The spotlight was on his now... but he couldn't let it get to his head any further, or his cockiness might be his downfall. Keeping a cool head is what he needs right now.

He also has a few important things to explain to a certain someone, a promise to keep. He has to find Okuri rather soon.

Match Results
Haruka Nakahara vs Cero Kirguis
Winner: Haruka Nakahara

"Stand Up, My Vanguard!" Jellal and Mitsuki's cardfight began. He rode his Blaster Dark Revenger and began an early assault on her Spike Brothers. When she rode Bad End Dragger, Jellal knew that something huge was coming so he guarded as much as he could until he rode Raging Folm Dragon. He slowly kept pushing his sister to four damage despite knowing that he could be walking into a dangerous position. Once he touched four damage, he unleashed a devastating limit break, minimizing Mitsuki's resources. She was unable to pull off her own combo which made Jellal feel a bit sad but he continued anyway and sealed the game with a critical trigger.

"Good game, Mitsuki. You're pretty good." he said with a excited tone. He was very appreciative of his sister cardfighting him at the shop, giving him new idea's to change up his deck. He saw his sister leave out the store as he went to purchase more packs before he left himself back to the house, himself.

As the fights continued Okuri would wander about the stadium's premises, searching for what exactly he couldn't have said. He would wander back into the stands when he heard announcements for fights involving people he knew or interested him. The Haruka and Hikari fight and the Bashiro and Cero fight being two that stuck out in particular. Bashiro lost and seemed a little relieved to be out of the tournament. Not surprising given his hesitance to join in the first place. Meanwhile Haruka beat not only Hikari but Cero afterwards. He was going to the finals. Okuri was glad to see a friend doing so well. Other fights had to wrap up in the first bracket before the finals could be held so Okuri went back to wandering the halls of the building.

What was he hoping to find? Something about the dragon who had visited him perhaps. There hadn't been much of anything going on other normal fights. He had expected some sort of unusual circumstances given the news of the tournament had come almost out of thin air. Without thinking about where he had been going he walked close by where the fighters could enter and exit the stage. Even while not directly inside the noise of all the people was unsettling. He considered stepping out for a bit but didn't want to miss the announcement of when the final match would be held. He paused for a moment, pondering the choice and the tournament itself.

Haruka dipped and dashed around corners. It was taking an extremely long time to spot Okuri in the area, despite knowing exactly what he looks like in both... forms. Maybe it was just the fact he was finally getting exhausted after so much tournament time being spent on and off stage without getting to go home.

It wasn't until he passed by the entrance of the stadium (twice) that he caught a glimpse of Okuri making what looked like a life or death choice. Maybe he really spent lots of time on his decisions? Haruka sluggishly trudged over to his pal and Round 1 Opponent, tapping his shoulder.

"Okuri... whatcha' up to pal...?"

Haruka was a bit dizzy in the head.

While in the middle of thinking Okuri felt a tap at his shoulder and almost instinctively snapped around to see who had touched him, his teeth bared in the process. Though he quickly gathered it was a rather tired looking Haruka and relaxed, his tails beginning to sway a bit upon seeing a friend. Haruka managed to ask him what he was doing but seemed a bit out of breath.

"Just thinking, a bit of a habit of a mine. Never mind me though what about you Haruka? You look like you've been running for a while now. Is something the matter? I thought the finals weren't starting yet." he questioned.

"I may or may not have been searching for you before the finals started was all. After all, I promised to explain my disappearance after our fight it's just been... hectic. You know how it is."

Haruka put his hands on his hips confidently, hearing the sound of another match ending in the arena. He wasn't paying any mind to the sound of the announcement, too worried about properly getting his somewhat out-of-breath words to Okuri.

"So, you wanna know?"

So Karin Ouriel defeated Solis after he displayed such irritation with her? While he lost his bet with Harbinger like this, perhaps... the two of them... This girl before me especially...

Fuki, the leader of the Reaper Drones and most notable horror of Chronicle's Eve fought against Karin. They were the two last drones in the tournament, and while that was a massive hindrance to the mission, she had an idea involving the two Kagero players. The winner before her of the last round... the blonde would judge her herself. Team mom knew that a battle against Perdition was a grinding game, similarly to the duel with Seifer when rearguards weren't appearing in surplus. As usual, she was no distraught. Truly, a "Star-vader" in essence - very rarely do the forerunners of Void have emotions. Naturally, this would apply to her as well. Kagero played a safe game, as did she. The two of them lacked offense until Karin started calling victims for Locks. This was mildly problematic, as Fuki didn't see a safe outcome in throwing her entire hand for the sake of offense.

Complimenting her subordinate's plays, Imaginary Plane was unable to lock again. However, interestingly enough, Sharyu was no longer reliable at that point of the game Fuki assumed. As such, Pain Laser Dragon appeared. So unlike Solis, this one was able to rely on more than Overlord?

"Very good", Fuki spoke.

She accepted a loss with grace and class. However, she did not offer "well played". Instead, she deemed Karin as the one who will carry out the mission.

The boss left to watch over her comrade, and the audience chanted "Overlord! Overlord! Overlord!" in response to Karin's victory.

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"You gotta go fast, dindin." Aoi referred to how slow Aedan was to notice the tournament, and then not thinking Cero would be there. "Also, Rorose, you did pretty good! Don't ever count yourself out!" A cheery, peppy statement came from the lass and she began nibbling on the cracker jacks she had rudely stolen from her fellow champion. If she can't be the champion of noodles and rice, she would be the champion of cracker jacks and pocky sticks. Yes... this is the true goal. Slipping another rod of chocolate away, she mewled happily as sweets overtook her system.

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Moon's bright, city's lively, all is happy. On days like these, kids... shouldn't be outside with massive, earth-shaking shockwaves increasing in magnitude as hope and despair clashed. The Sword of Courage, King of Knights, and Guardian Dragon of the past all fought against the God of Death. It was an emulated cardfight with the Reality Bangle, and even if Harbinger was invincible, the fight itself was still even between the two... Even if only because of Yukino's blessed curse of getting too many grade three units. It was salvation against Delete. Appearing as an entity of blue energy with yellow eyes, Exculpate stopped atop a building's roof, eyes gleaming red only momentarily. Raising an arm to let loose a wave of power in a direction she noticed her foe in, the black and red energy claw gripped at the Chosen Sword, then jabbed the nails into her.

"Aaaugh!!" Yukino cried out, and Harbinger let go, only proceeding to punch Yukino in the direction she was aiming in.

"Too slow, Chosen Shitstain!!" Harbinger appeared in a humanoid shape of black/red energy - void with blue eyes. Exculpate stood, summoning her blade of light in a hand, glaring at the vilest enemy of humanity.

"You're losing this tournament."

"Sucks."

"Your drones losing don't mean anything to you?"

"There's always the easy way and the hard way. Nothing is impossible for me, unlike you."

"What are you planning? What's Gear Chronicle got to do with this tournament?"

"Now now, my dear Shitstain. If I just told you everything, it wouldn't be any fun. Well, it would since you can't stop me, but y'know."

Light and Void continued to confront one another as Chronicle's Eve raged on, Chronos smirking with the pleasant results of humanity's prowess.

Okuri smiled as Haruka explained why he'd been running. Someone looking for him was it? A strange feeling. Usually he was the observer or the seeker. It was interesting that given how busy he'd been Haruka had remembered he'd said he would explain what had happened to him in between the trip to the beach and the tournament.

"You didn't have to go to all that trouble. But seeing as you have yes certainly let's hear it." he said.

Darren was in the stands in amazement. Noel had gotten a lot better as a fighter. He cheered her on as she fought, seeing the Reverse Ashlei come out from time to time as he used his eyes to see the energy that came from it as well as from Noel herself. She had Reverse energy in her but it was strange, it was... controlled. It seemed he wasn't the only one controlling the dark powers of a world that wasn't theirs. Maybe this meant she wasn't human any longer either, just like him. It was something to think about.

"Noel, you're almost there!" he called out to her, as excited as anyone else would be at the matches so far.

That crowned legend rose from his seat first, ready to make another speech - a declaration of war against the evil that taints the glorious competitive sport and spirit shown within this cup. Reaching out his arm, letting his cape get thrown about, his voice boomed: "Hear me, Vanguard Fighters! For I am King Artorigus! I, one of longstanding imperial majesties stand here before you today as we bear witness to the nation's new champion! No more shall we be oppressed by the great wickedness that defiles our Earth, our Cray, and our Cardfighting! Under this full moon, a victor shall be crowned - a guardian chosen to stand with many heroes, leading with ferocious bravery against the gigantic Reapers that threaten to engulf us! Lend them your eyes, ears, voices, spirits! The Vanguard of the Rising Sun shall answer your wishes!"


Geysers of flames shot out of the ground for show, fireworks already blasting into the sky.

"Playtime's over", Harbinger told Yukino, smashing her into the Earth, then warping away.

The white-haired woman leaned against her sword, stuck into the floor by her side, and let out a long, purposely drawn out sigh. "I understand keeping public appearance, but must you be so gratingly emphatic?" She ran a finger over the small indent in the edge of her sword's hilt, looking out over the stadium with a bored expression. "Really, it's all such wasted effort... Why we're even bothering to try and help those fools is baffling by itself."

---

Karin fell back onto her seat in the waiting room, letting out a big sigh. "Wheeeeeeewww... What a tournament. And I still got that guy coming up next for the loser's bracket..." She took a long drink from a bottle of water she had picked up from a vending machine on her way back to the waiting room, before wiping her mouth. Looking over at the waiting room's television just in time to see the result of the final match- Haruka pulled through and won. Karin smiled to herself. "Heh, did my job well, didn't I, 'Boss'...?"

She leaned back in her chair, feeling a little more content that, even if Harbinger had some sort of trick up her sleeve (which she likely did), she at least wouldn't have the easiest solution to Humanity getting Stride back. "And good job to you too, little bro. Big sis is still rooting for you..."

Rosalia scratched the back of her head when she was told she had done well during the fight. Here she was, having lost the second round, but was told she wasn't bad by both the Irish and the Chinese Champions. Did that really make a difference? Probably not, but the pinkette only shrugged and nibbled on her own pocky stick. However, when she heard the announcements for the final round, her attention was immediately diverted to the closest broadcasting board. "Awesome~ Noely made it to the finals! Go Noely!" she cheered. She was almost glad she wasn't in a stadium chair right now, because there was no way she could remain in her seat with the fight. Noel versus Haruka? Well that could only end in the Resistance's victory~

"Look man I'm not Sanic." Aedan spoke back to Aoi, but she was right. He needed to be quicker on the uptake at least. Oh well. It sounded like the tournament was nearing it's end anyway. Noel and Haruka took first and second place. Nice. "Told ya you could do it Haruka." he'd gotten a bit better about his speech lately.

Seifer wagged his finger at Haruto. "Now's not the time. When it is, you have my word, on my life... That you'll get to hear and see everything. Right now, I need to find Rosalia so we can go congratulate our winners. ...And you should do the same." the brunette smiled before turning on his heel and heading into the lobby to find... Aoi, Rosalia and Aedan. ...And the last time he'd seen Aedan was... Right, he was a bad guy. That put Aedan on the defensive when he saw the towering man show up, walking into the group of three while scratching the back of his head.

I was so close!! Ugh!!! Soooo clooooose!! Noel thought to herself as she looked at her field. The hype this tournament had made Noel bring out her super competitive spirit. Winning or losing honestly didn't matter, as long as the drones were all wiped out and prevented from entering the finals. Noel saw to that as she knocked out the last drone before moving on to the final match vs Haruka. That fight was nothing else but amazing. It went from 0 to 100 in an instant. Noel unleashed her Jewel Knight's rush potential to their maximum. Full powered columns that were very threatening to end a fight if her opponent didn't have the ways to guard it all. Haruka also did his deck justice and brought out the potential of the Aqua Force clan to its fullest.

The tension of the fight was extremely high. Air felt thin, every drive check carefully flipped in since they would decide the fight's outcome. Unfortunately, Haruka's multiple attacks resulted to be too much for Noel. Had she checked a critical on her powerful grade three ride, she would of most likely had won it but it seemed like Lady Luck didn't want Noel to win. The crowd was exploding from excitement from start to finish. Noel certainly made a name for herself throughout Japan as the strongest Jewel Knight fighter despite not being crowned the champion. Noel could live with that, as long as she did her best.