Ascenders Cup (1/2)

[This is it, folks! This is the moment that we’ve all been waiting for. The final showdown between two absolute behemoths of the competition. This is the ultimate climax to an exhilarating final!]

A voice seething with unbounded excitement announced through the speakers. The announcement was like a peal of thunder, enlivening the unearthly silence within the stadium.

[To those of you who have only tuned in just now, allow me to introduce to you the teams competing in the finals.]

A mature voice different to the previous announcer rang out.

[On my left, we’ve got the twisted spawns of the Machine God himself! A team that has made a name for itself through its brutal playstyle and near-perfect execution! Led by the towering giant, Tanka, it’s SONS OF MACHINA!!!]

Along with deafening cheers, a spotlight lit up on the dark stage illuminating the five members of the team. Their bodies stood straight and their expressions rigid. A cold, calculating light glimmered within their eyes. None of them spoke nor greeted the inflamed crowd, Their gazes were focused on the opposite side of the dark stage, peering at their opponent.

[An inhuman display by an inhuman team. But just who could force this indifferent giant to take them seriously? Well, allow me to tell you!]

The flippant, excited voice from earlier returned.

[On my right, is this tournament’s favourites! An unquenchable fire formed from the fiery bonds of a veteran player! A player who is no stranger to this final stage. Led by the game’s greatest Gunner, Phoenix, it’s PHOENIX'S FIRES!!]

A spotlight lit up on the other side of the stage, illuminating the five-member team, Phoenix's Fires. At their helm was a red-haired woman wearing a pleasant smile and waving at the passionate crowd. The other members behind her also held calm smiles while following their leader and greeting the crowd.

[Now, to recount the situation.]

The mature voice from earlier returned.

[The finals with an explosive start with Sons of Machina earning two victories right off the bat. Their aggressive playstyle and perfect coordination left their opponent fumbling, earning them two flawless victories. But, right when it seemed like their explosive momentum would reach the heavens, they met with their greatest opponent yet: Phoenix.]

[Personally entering the field, this veteran player denied her opponents their unstoppable charge, halting their momentum. With a set of exquisite moves and elaborately executed strategies, the heavenly phoenix blunted her opponent’s attacks and cliched the subsequent two victories leading us to our present situation.]

[Both sides tied with an even score of 2-2, the result will now depend on this final match. Who will overcome the other, ascending past the mundane and earning the right to enter Eden?]

[Will it be the sons blessed by the God of Machinery? Or will it be the team blessed with the grace of a Phoenix?]

[The time has come to find out.]

---

On Phoenix's Fires’ side.

“Are you nervous?” The red-haired woman, Phoenix, looked at her teammates with a pleasant smile and asked.

“What? Us? Nervous? Nah~” A young man, eighteen or nineteen years of age, chuckled in an exaggerated reply. He then poked at the red-haired woman’s shoulder and said, “With the mighty Phoenix on our side, what do we have to worry about?”

“The idiot’s right. The presence of a two-time finalist on our side does increase our chances of victory exponentially,” A young woman, similar in age to the previous youth, nodded her head in agreement.

“Hey! Who’re you calling an idiot?”

“You. Idiot.”

“This bitc–” Just as he was about to get into a quarrel with the young women, the stern voice of their captain interrupted him. “Alright, settle down you two. Use your excess energies on your opponent.”

The red-haired woman’s words left the others nothing to say.

“Our next match will be unlike anything from before. Our opponents will no longer underestimate us and will hold nothing back.” Casting a glance at the other side of the stage, Phoenix sighed, “To tell you the truth, those guys are without doubt the toughest team that I’ve ever faced. Especially that hulking captain of theirs. I don’t know which tunnel he crawled out from, but that man is a veritable monster!”

“Can he even fit inside a tunnel thoug–” A punch to his side shut the young man up. “Hey!” he complained, unresigned.

“Shut up and listen,” said his attacker, the young woman.

Ignoring their squabble, Phoenix looked at the two other teenagers standing behind the quarrelling duo. Their quietly smiling faces held an astonishingly similar appearance to each other, giving away their identities as identical twins.

“For this final match, the line-up will be me, Mo’et and Fisticuffs.” Her statement made one of the twins nod his head while causing the squabbling youngster to freeze.

Pointing at himself, he asked, “You are counting me in for this final game, captain?”

“Can I not?” asked Phoenix, annoyed. “As much as it pains me to say this, you are the most talented Brawler that I’ve ever seen. You will be playing this final match.”

Hearing the captain’s compliments, the young man wore a smug smile while shooting a glance at his female counterpart, seemingly saying, ‘Hear that? I’m basically a god before scrubs like you. Kneel and worship me.’

The young woman rolled her eyes and turned away, not engaging this childish idiot.

“Is that a wise choice, captain?” asked the young woman, worried.

Wearing a confident smile, Phoenix replied, “From what I’ve seen of our opponents so far, that towering giant, Tanka, unlike his looks, is an extremely cautious player. His playstyle is an odd one that seeks to ascertain victory.”

“Isn’t ascertaining victory the instinct of every player?” asked the young woman, unsure.

“You’re not wrong in saying that but this guy is different. While ascertaining victory is the motive of every player, it is certainly not their entire playing style. Take me for example. I’m the type of player that can catch minute discrepancies and flaws in my opponents and exploit them to the fullest.” Pausing for a second, she then continued, “Tanka, on the other hand, aims to create a situation that is supremely advantageous to him and his team, forcing his opponents to show flaws that otherwise do not exist. He’s a dangerous fellow.”

While she said this, her eyes flashed with excitement. Similar to how their opponents had met their match in them, Phoenix too had met a match in her opponent. The two victories prior were brought about by exhausting her skills and ingenuity to their limits.

Taking a moment to calm her mind, she finished, “Having said that, if my considerations are correct, this final match would see us facing a PeaceKeeper, a Modder, and a Cursemaster or Virtual. Our lineup, the one that I had announced just now, is to counter this.”

“With me controlling the field, our genius Brawler throwing everything into chaos, and Mo’et acting as a check against Tanka’s PeaceKeeper, we’ve accounted for the majority of the situations. Of course, by no means will this be an easy fight. Just as we counter them, they also similarly counter us. Modder counter Brawler, Cursemaster/Virtual compete with me over field control, and Tanka is a walking death machine. In the end, it boils down to our individual skills and game mechanics.”

“What about the stage, captain?” asked the genius Brawler. The stage refers to the virtual stage where the battle would commence.

“Randomised, I’m afraid,” Phoenix shook her head. “We can only cross our fingers and hope for the best. Or in the worst-case scenario, something that doesn’t favour our opponents.”

Just as she finished saying this, a mechanical voice announced within their ears.

[Phoenix's Fires, please enter your pods. The game will be commencing shortly.]

All members sobered up and looked at each other with solemn expressions.

“Let’s do our best,” Phoenix succinctly said. She was a woman who was not fond of overly flowery words and grand speeches.

Being familiar with their captain, the others nodded in unison. It was as their captain had said. Having come this far, they were only to do their best to proceed further.

Victory would mean a chance to leave this hellish place and enter the blessed land of Eden.

Defeat would mean… a lifetime in hell.

Walking up to their egg-shaped pods, the participating members entered the capsule, just in time to hear the hosts announce.

[...to enter Eden and attain endless wealth, boundless honour, and unsurpassable status? Or to sink further into this murky, poisonous hellscape?]

[The Ascenders Cup will decide your place.]

–--

A feeling of weightlessness overcame Phoenix as she woke up in the familiar blank space. Pure weight light flooded the space around her creating an infinite expanse of white nothingness.

Reflexively, she looked at the upper-right corner of her vision.

[Substantialization in progress. Please wait…] Underneath that message, lettered in neon green colour, was a progress bar. As the veteran player watched the progress bar load, she could feel herself gaining weight and substance.

[Substantialization Complete.]

A quiet chime alerted her to the message. Averting her vision from the upper-right corner, Phoenix moved to inspect her newly formed body.

Hard black boots, long legs that were fitted with closely fitting armoured leather pants, a crimson-coloured double-breasted long coat that occasionally flashed with electrical circuits, and a helmet that covered her face. This was the avatar that Phoenix had seen and knew more about than her original body.

[Player Fisticuffs has joined the game.]

[Player Mo’et has joined the game.]

Alongside the arrival of those two messages on her HUD, were two pillars of light. The two pillars receded just as quickly as they had arrived, exposing the figures behind.

“Sup, Captain,” A young man with a blue-coloured mohawk wearing a frayed, sleeveless jean jacket and close-fighting leather pants greeted her first. This was the avatar of the talkative youth from before and the team’s only Brawler.

The other entrant looked strange compared to herself and Fisticuffs. His avatar was translucent and entirely blue. Digital lines and numbers appeared and disappeared throughout the entirety of his humanoid figure. His head was bald and his legs ended at his knees, missing the parts that came after. His ethereal figure floated in the air, looking both real and illusory.

This was a Virtual, one of the playable classes in the game and the avatar of the younger twin, Mo’et.

“Fisticuffs. Mo’et,” Phoenix simply nodded to her teammates in reply to their greeting and waited. She played a Gunner in the game.

Their wait was not long for after a few seconds the system chimed three more times.

[(PeaceKeeper) Tanka has joined the game.]

[(Modder) F1rstS0n has joined the game.]

[(Cursemaster) WizardSkeddadle has joined the game.]

[All players have joined the game.]

Seeing her opponent’s lineup, Phoenix unconsciously clenched her hands. An excited smile appeared on her face.

“Whoa, Captain! It’s just like you sai–,” before the Brawler could complete his statement, he was elbowed on the side by Phoenix. She then stared at the nearly 8 feet tall, heavily armoured person carrying a massive full-body shield on the other side and greeted, “Hello, Tanka.”

Tanka, the behemoth of a man playing the PeaceKeeper character, replied to her greeting with a nod. Phoenix was unable to catch his facial expression as the PeaceKeeper’s face was covered completely with a helmet.

The two other characters, Cursemaster and Modder standing behind the PeaceKeeper, weren’t revealing either as their faces too were masked from view.

[Map selection will now begin.] The system chimed apathetically following which a screen appeared in the air between the two teams. The screen flashed with images at incredible speeds alongside the words [Randomising] plastered across its surface.

Phoenix watched the flashing screen in quiet anxiety, desperately praying within her mind for a favourable outcome. The stage was a very important facet of the game for only on a favourable stage will a character be able to show off their individual perks optimally.

Just as the veteran’s heart was leaping out of her chest, the flashing screen froze and landed on a singular image.

[Stage: Fallen Towers.] The image showed two, spindle-shaped skyscrapers standing tall in a decrepit condition. The background was dark with stormy clouds filling the distant sky.

Seeing the chosen stage, Phoenix’s heart skipped a beat and an almost audible cry escaped her throat.

Her prayers had worked! This was an ideal stage that allowed her team to fully showcase their abilities while having a restricting effect on her opponents!

Turning her head to face her teammates, she noticed their looks of joy and excitement. Mo’et, the Virtual, was smiling from ear to ear while Fisticuffs, the Brawler, was repeatedly muttering with a blank stare. “Lucky… So, so lucky…”

“Looks like Lady Luck has decided to favour us in this final game. Let’s not let her down and do our best,” Phoenix resolutely stated in the calmest voice that she could muster. She then turned to face the floating screen and spoke, “We will enter.]

[Team Phoenix's Fires has entered the stage. The Match will begin in thirty seconds.] The system announced, following the disappearance of Phoenix's team.

The Modder, Cursemaster, and the giant Peacekeeper, who were now the only residents of the white expanse, continued to calmly stare at the floating screen that had decided their stage. Their bodies did not show an ounce of their inner reactions even though they clearly understood that the game favoured their opponents.

Seeing the digital timer tick down into the final seconds, the giant Peacekeeper, Tanka, calmly announced, “Follow Set-12, Provisional Strategy-X.”

His two teammates did not seem surprised or confused at his words and calmly nodded their heads. When the timer reached its final second, Tanka whispered, “Enter.”

Light flashed once more leaving behind an empty white expanse.

---

[Game: 3v3, Tiebreaker. (No resurrections, sub-ins, and extra time allowed.)]

[Game Length: 30 mins]

[Stage: Fallen Towers. (Ideal Field for Gunners and Cursemasters. Unideal Field for Virtuals and PeaceKeepers.)]

[Restrictions: Decreased Communication Range. Decreased View Distance. Reduced Stage Durability. Intense Electromagnetic Storms will affect certain abilities.]

[Participating Characters: Team Phoenix's Fires- Gunner, Brawler, and Virtual. Team Sons of Machina- PeaceKeeper, Crusemaster, and Modder.]

[Special Modifiers: Both Teams start with Max-Tiered (Red) Equipment.]

Waving away the screen before her eyes detailing the information about the current match, Phoenix landed her gaze on the broken wall to the right of the stairwell that she was currently on. Painted on the dilapidated wall was a faintly readable sign that read, ‘79th Floor’.

“Oh my god, Captain! We’ve totally got this game! We’re gonna win this tournament and become rich overnight! Holy sh*t, I can’t believe that we lucked out so much…” Ignoring the babbling Brawler who had turned half-delirious from excitement, Phoenix immediately rushed forward. Passing the broken double doors, she arrived on a floor space filled with decrepit cubicles, broken floor tiles, sparking wires, and a plethora of other decrepit items strewn across the floor.

Immediately scanning her surroundings, Phoenix then ran towards the glass panel windows at the other end of the floor. Most of the glass panels had been broken, scattering innumerable glass pieces on the ground. Some panels that hadn’t been broken yet, rattled loudly as winds from the ongoing storm outside battered against them.

Arriving at the edge of the floor, Phoenix immediately took a glance at the stormy sky up above. Swirling black clouds had just begun to gather together while the battering winds slowly grew fiercer. Bolts of lightning flashed infrequently brightening the entire stage for a few seconds before receding into the darkness. However, if one were to note the lightning flashes carefully, one would notice that the flashes were growing more frequent over time.

“The storm is still in its infancy. Only 10% of my stats are currently locked,” Mo’et who had arrived next to the veteran Gunner at some point, spoke with a bitter smile.

“Our opponent mustn't be doing much better either. The PeaceKeeper’s electric shield should be operating at 80% efficiency and rapidly declining. Give it some time and he’ll be exposed like a gas pipe in a sewage plant,” Phoenix cracked a dumb joke, easing her teammate’s mood.

“What’s the plan, Captain?” Mo’et asked, reverting to his quiet calmness.

Shooting a glance at the gradually intensifying storm outside, Phoenix unhesitantly said, “Delay. We delay facing the other team as much as possible. The more time that passes, the greater our advantage.”

“But my stats will grow more restricted with time. When the restriction reaches 60%, I will no longer be able to use my Ultimate Ability,” Mo’et inferred.

“No offence, Mo’et, but if I had to choose between fighting three of you and one of Tanka, I would choose three of you. Yes, delaying a confrontation does weaken one of our team members, but you shouldn’t forget, on the opposing side is a PeaceKeeper and a Modder!” Phoenix explained. “While a Modder doesn’t face as much of a restriction as the PeaceKeeper and the Virtual in this stage, he does lose a few of his advantages such as traps and modifications.”

“Our priority right now is to secure a suitable vantage point and stalk the enemy. We avoid confrontation for as long as possible. If the situation allows, we harass the enemy in the meantime. We shall attack when there are 10-minutes left on the clock. Understood?”

“Understood,” Mo’et nodded his head. The two then turned to look at the delirious Brawler who was talking and laughing at himself on the other side of the floor and spoke in unison, “This idiot!”

---

Having come up with a sound plan, Phoenix's Fires’ next set of actions was relatively straightforward.

After pulling the Brawler out of his fit of fancies and instilling some seriousness into him, the group of three headed towards Floor 87. Being pro players of this game, everyone had more or less memorised each of the 39 Stages present in the game. The stage that they were currently playing in, Fallen Towers, was no different.

Fallen Towers is comprised of two skyscrapers, respectively named Tower A and Tower B. The two towers were diametrically opposite to each tower and were a hundred stories in height. Every twentieth floor had a sky bridge that connected the two buildings together. Some facilities were shared between the two skyscrapers, while others such as the elevators and lobbies were independent.

As for why there was an Electromagnetic Storm outside the two skyscrapers, the game’s setting was as follows; A sudden failure in an experimental test undergoing in the basement of the Wyatt Technological Industries main office has resulted in an explosion. The explosion wiped out the resident population in the two buildings while greatly damaging the two structures. Furthermore, the explosive energies have run amock, resulting in the creation of an electromagnetic storm.

Tower B, which the team Phoenix's Fires were currently on, was the office building mentioned in the game’s lore setting.

The party of three arrived at the nearest elevator lobby. Without any prompt from his leader, the Brawler stepped up and placed his hands on the tightly shut elevator doors.

“Urugh!~” With a suppressed roar and building muscles, the Brawler easily opened the closed metal doors, exposing the dark and empty elevator shaft. Stepping back, he wordlessly made way for his captain to step up.

Nodding her head at the taciturn Brawler, Phoenix stepped up and poked her head inside the elevator shaft. Her digital eye flashed with brightness, as she scanned the shaft’s interiors through her mask. Gunners had excellent eyesight and were skilled recon units.

“It’s safe. No ambushes or traps on the way up,” Phoenix stated. She then turned to look at Mo’et and said, “You’re up.”

Nodding his head, Mo’et soundlessly floated into the elevator shaft and placed his translucent blue hand on the electrical cable connecting the elevator. His body flashed with light and he suddenly disappeared!

A streak of electricity snaked its way up the electrical cable at incredible speeds, sparking out of sight in seconds. Looking at this scene, Fisticuffs muttered with jealousy, “So fast.”

“Why don’t you play Virtual then?” Phoenix rolled her eyes.

“Nah. Tried it once and I hated it. There’s no fun in being a glass cannon,” the youngster with the blue mohawk answered with a full smile.

Ignoring him, Phoenix waited for Mo’et’s response. A few seconds later, it arrived. [Coast… clear…] The message was intermittent and scattered. Fortunately, it was complete enough to be understood.

“Communication is already difficult within a hundred metres. The range will only continue to decrease from here on out,” Phoenix spoke out loud and sighed. She then gestured to the Brawler. “Come on, tough guy. Carry this captain of yours.”

“Aye, aye, Captain!” Fisticuffs replied with an exaggerated salute and walked over. Hooking his arm around Phoenix’s waist, he leapt into the elevator shaft with her. Grabbing onto one of the taut cables, he said, “Take us away, Captain.”

Without a word more, Phoenix grabbed the handgun sheathed at her waist and aimed at the cable. Without the slightest hesitation, he fired.

BANG! The gunshot echoed infinitely inside the elevator shaft. Phoenix and Fisticuff, meanwhile, shot upwards at an incredible speed as the cable that they held onto rapidly pulled them up. Ascending the floors at an incredible pace, Phoenix suddenly shouted, “Now!”

Reacting immediately, the Brawler let go of the flailing cable and leapt forward. His free arm shot out a breakneck speed and punched at the closed metal door in front of him, puncturing the metal! Gaining purchase, he hung on.

“How’s that?” He boasted to his captain, intending on earning some praise. However, a rumbling sound quickly interrupted his words.

The Gunner and the Brawler reflexively looked down towards the source of that rumbling noise. The Brawler saw nothing while the Gunner, with her enhanced vision, saw the cause.

“Oh crap!” She immediately cursed identifying the rumbling noise. “Mo’et! Open this door NOW!!”

“What’s wrong, Captain?” asked Fisticuffs, hearing his Captain’s unnerved speech. The rumbling noise that increasingly grew louder gave him his reply.

An elevator cage was heading towards the duo.

“OH, SH*T!!” Fisticuffs realised the source of the rumbling and screamed, “MO’ET!! OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR! OPEN IT!!” He started kicking at the door, creating a ruckus.

“OPEN IT! OPEN IT!! OOOPPPEENN ITT!!~” Just as he had finished screaming in despair and the elevator cage had neared the dup, the metal doors that he had punctured into gave way causing the two to fall forward. Fisticuffs, who felt his arm being pulled away, reflexively pulled it closer and narrowly escaped the shaft just as the elevator cage brushed past him.

And just like that, Team Phoenix’s Fires narrowly escaped the fate of an early loss.

“That! Was! TERRIFYING!!” Fisticuffs said in trepidation. His chest heaved in fright as he recalled that close encounter.

Mo’et, who was standing beside the metal elevator doors with half of his left hand sunken into the control panel, said in a flat voice, “Our opponents are sure to know our position after all that ruckus.”

“They were meant to know of our position the instant I opened fire inside the enclosed shaft,” Phoenix replied while shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter. Anybody with half a brain would be able to realise what our plan is the moment this match began. Not to mention, Tanka…” She then jumped up to her feet.

Taking a quick survey of her surroundings, she lightly kicked at the sprawled open Brawler and said, “Let’s go. The security office is on this floor.”

---

Meanwhile, Tanka and his team stood within a collapsed office on the seventy-second floor of Tower A.

F1rstS0n, the Modder of Sons of Machina, had his eyes closed and head plastered against the wall within the office. “Elevator shaft. Going up,” he firmly stated.

The 8-foot-tall giant carrying the giant tower shield calmly analysed, “They are heading towards the security office on Floor 87. They are securing an advantageous vantage point.”

The security office was located on Floor 87 and overlooked a majority of the two derelict towers. As one might infer from its name, the security office had access to all the cameras, motion detectors, proximity alarms, and other security features scattered throughout the two towers. Of course, the electromagnetic storm outside had rendered over 80% of these features useless. However, the ones that DID work were enough for a team to get a sense of where their opponents were and what they were doing.

Additionally, it was also an excellent sniping spot for an experienced Gunner.

“It would be troublesome if they manage to secure that place,” the Cursemaster, WizardSkeddadle, intoned.

“It matters not. We stick to the plan,” Tanka flatly replied. He then turned to look at the Mooder who had at some point returned to tapping at the floor underneath their feet and asked, “Are you done?”

Not replying immediately, the Modder continued with his odd actions. After a minute or two, he rose to his feet and replied, “I’m done. Provisional Strategy-X is feasible.”

“Proceed with it. We will act when the timer reaches the 10-minute mark.”

---

Time continued to unceasingly tick by while Phoenix increasingly felt a sense of ominousness grow within her heart. Her fingers nervously tapped against the body of the sniper rifle in her hand while her eyes remained glued to the digital screen in front of her.

Fisticuffs, who lay sprawled over the desk in front of him, suddenly let out a frustrated groan while clutching onto his hair. “Arrgh! What are these losers doing!?” He pointed at the blinking dot of light that moved from point to point on the digital screen.

‘What were the Sons of Machina doing?’ was a question that resounded in the minds of each of the Phoenix’s Fires’ team members.

A full twenty minutes had almost passed and their opponents had not once appeared anywhere near them. Hell, they hadn’t even left the building, Tower A, that they were in!

For twenty minutes, the Sons of Machina had seemed to randomly move through Tower A. Sometimes they appeared on the 31st floor. Another time they appeared on the 94th floor. There was no rhyme or reason to their movement patterns.

At least, not any that Phoenix could make sense of.

While it certainly helped their cause in prolonging their moment of confrontation, the veteran Gunner felt something being off from her intuition.

“Are they perhaps setting up traps?” The Virtual, who now had 50% of his stats locked, spoke out loud the only thing that he could think of.

“Why would they do that? Don’t they know that traps are ineffective at this stage?” Fisticuffs replied, his tone slightly mocking. “Also,” he pointed at the digital screen, “why the hell would they set their traps in the other building!? That makes zero sense!”

Mo’et did not reply to the Brawler’s words but quietly turned to face his captain. Phoenix, having thought of that scenario a long while back, shook her head. Not in denial, but in uncertainty.

“I honestly have no idea what they are doing. Sons of Machina’s playstyle is very precise and curt. None of their previous matches had any delaying tactics. In fact, it is quite the opposite. They have always finished their matches as quickly as they could, wasting no time at all. What they are doing now is honestly beyond me.”

“Argh! I hate complicated things like this!” Fisticuffs yelled in frustration. Bumping his two fists, both of which were outfitted with gauntlets, together, he continued, “A fight shouldn’t be complicated! It should be two people going against each other and one beating the other up!”

“If only it were that simple,” Phoenix sighed, not intending to get into a debate with the simple-minded Brawler. Just as she was about to vocalise her own theories, the system announced.

[10 Minutes Remaining. The Storm will reach its peak in 2 minutes.]

“In other words, in two minutes, the PeaceKeeper’s shields would have run out and the Virtual’s stats will be restricted by 60%. Gunner’s shooting trajectories will be altered depending on the bullet’s proximity to the centre of the storm, while 2/3 of the Modder’s Special Abilities will lose effectiveness,” Phoenix calmly evaluated.

“Shortly put, our team will gain a massive advantage.” Mo’et summarised her thoughts.

“Indeed,” Phoenix nodded her head. “So, if I was Tanka I would…” Just then, the digital screen showing the approximate position of the opponent team suddenly blanked out!

“Did anyone see where they were just now!” Phoenix jumped to her feet and anxiously asked.

“I did!” Fisticuffs replied. “They were in…”