The Two teams lined up at the starting positions. The arena was set. Suri looked at her target with unmatched focus. She had something to prove here today. The announcer spoke,
“Ready, get set…. GO!.”
And with that the match had begun the Koi Pond team fanned out and encircled Natnet. Their leader Saber Leo fired a net capturing Tatsunoryu. Jessie struggled to break free as one of the enemy S.S.R.V. close in River Dancer intercepted and hit the opposing S.S.R.V. with a right hook. Suri followed it up with a left hook and a right and then another left. River Dancer was absolutely wailing on the S.S.R.V. as Suri continued to let out her frustration.
She was so focused on the enemy in front of her Suri didn’t notice another S.S.R.V. had come up behind her. The S.S.R.V. fired some dummy torpedoes aimed squarely at the back of River Dancer. Fortunately for her Elvis had seen the S.S.R.V. moving into position and got between the two and intercepted the torpedoes. Blocking the barrage Scrapper returned fire and then moved in to engage.
Tatsunoryu finally broke free of the net and moved in to attack Saber Leo. Saber Leo was quicker and hit Tatsunoryu with its wristblades. Slashing away at Tatsunoryu who’s armor was holding steady. Tatsunoryu coiled its body around Saber Leo and proceeded to squeeze which was a bad call as Saber Leo discharged an electrical current stunning Tatsunoryu allowing Saber Leo to slash the head off Tatsunoryu. Natnet was down a S.S.R.V.
In the stands Natalie, Jamal, Burt, and Mickey watched the monitor as Jessie went down. “Oh no, now its three on two.” Mickey remarked Natalie waved him off “they can still turn it around.”
As Natalie said that Suri was still preoccupied with her rival. They two were locked in a hold that neither were making headway. River Dancer launched flares blinding Suri’s opponent. River Dancer then delivered a kick to the midsection of the opposing S.S.R.V. before firing some dummy torpedoes. The S.R.R.V. was downed.
While that was going on Saber Leo and the remain S.S.R.V. were double teaming Scrapper. Saber Leo fire a net which Scrapper dodged but was hir from behind with some dummy torpedoes. Saber Leo took the opportunity to close the gap and tried slashing Scrapper with its wristblades. Scrapper blocked the wristblades with its forearm and returned with a piston punch. The punch landed and knocked Saber Leo away allowing Scrapper to turn around and fire a barrage of dummy torpedoes at the other S.S.R.V.
Unfortunately, the S.S.R.V. dodged and grabbed Scrapper holding it in place. Saber Leo moved in for the finishing blow but was hit from behind by River Dancer. River Dancer grappled with Saber Leo allowing Scrapper to finish off the S.S.R.V. Saber Leo stabbed River Dancer thru the chest disabling it. It was a mutual elimination as River dancer released a torpedo barrage to Saber Leo’s head. They had taken each other out leaving Scrapper as the sole S.S.R.V. still standing. The announcer chimed in.
“And that’s the match folks, Natnet takes the win!”
After the Match
Suri was sitting in the Natnet lounge. She felt down about the result. A double elimination, that was a harsh blow to her ego. Suri prided herself on being the best, when she first started she had a 10-match win streak.
Her first defeat was something she took hard as she felt it was beneath her true skill. Suri wanted to be the best diver of all time. She always did things 110 percent, so she took failures of any kind as a setback to that goal.
Mickey came into the lounge and saw that Suri was sulking. He didn’t understand what her problem was. Because of her Natnet won the match. Yet here she was feeling sorry for herself. Mickey felt Suri was being too hard on herself and he wanted to cheer her up. Forgetting all about the fight they had Mickey sat down next to Suri.
“You did good today.”
Suri looked at Mickey incredulously.
“Don’t patronize me, I’m not in the mood.”
Mickey replied, “I’m not patronizing you. You did good today. Saber Leo is a tough opponent. You should be proud you did as well as you did.”
Suri sighed “I know, I just feel like I should have done better. I’m supposed to be one of the best. If I don’t prove it I can’t forgive myself.”
It was Mickey’s turn to be incredulous “you don’t expect to be able to win every single match do you? Even the best diver in the world can’t do that. Forget what Hedeki said. You’re a great diver and anyone who doubts your ability is a fool.”
For once Suri listened to what someone else said. “Look Mickey, about earlier I’m sorry for what I said. It was uncalled for.”
“Don’t worry about it for what its worth I could have handled it better. I’m sorry too.”
A few minutes of silence passed between the two of them before Suri asked, “Where do we go from here?”
Mickey sat in thought for a moment before saying “How about we picked up where we left off and pretend it never happened.”
“Sounds fair.” The two then lean in for a kiss. It was short but sweet. The two of them had made up and Suri had something to take her mind off her injured pride. They were sure they would have more arguments in the future, but that could wait. For the time being they would enjoy the time they had together.
Meanwhile at Antosphere Works
The crew for Nemesis were testing some new field equipment. Nemesis darted around the obstacle course with practiced ease. Von Karne was unstoppable as he piloted Nemesis with perfection. Von Karne mused to himself what a pleasure it will be to finally face off against the legendary Scrapper.
He had conquered most of the challenges that had come his way. Von Karne has been so successful he considered retirement from competitive diving. Yet fate has given him one final challenge with the unexpected news that Scrapper was competing with that small time outfit Natnet. He grew up watching Scrapper dominate the international circuit. Now it was his turn to dominate the greatest S.R.R.V. ever built. Von Karne was looking forward to it.
