Chapter 4: Wild Rivalry

"A Rivalry for...!"

It was a Saturday in the afternoon and Team Omega was enjoying the food in pizza palace. And by that It meant...

"This is the best pizza in the world!" Richard said as he devoured another slice of pizza.

"That makes it...?" Frederick deadpanned.

"I believe number 14," Alice told when she sees the now empty tray.

"HAHAHA! I'm glad that you still like my pizzas Richard my boy!" Said a man vigorously with a satisfactory grin. This man was Nick Pincher the owner of Pizza Palace one of the great pizza franchises in the world. Pincher is a born Italian raced his first 5 years there before moving to Paris where he has lived the rest of his life. He was 34 years old. He was dressed in a white Pizza chef suit, black pants, and boots, his eyes were light brown and his hair was very short almost bald gray. A very happy and vigorous man, that's how people describe him.

"Your pizzas are always amazing Pinher," Richard said as another one this one a large pepperoni pizza was put on the tray. Richard's eyes sparkle before he takes one and eats it.

"15." Both Alice and Frederick counted and the gray-haired man laughed.

()

"So where do you think they are Heidi?" Asked a man to the girl on his left. He was 19 years old and very built. He has black hair, which is tied into a short ponytail and blue eyes. He is dressed in a white martial art outfit. The girl is dressed in cowboy shoes a pink skirt Red thigh shirt that shows her belly button, and a handkerchief from the color of her skirt. She was the same age as Alice an inch less tall than the red-haired girl but weighted eight more pounds yet her body didn't seem to match her weight since she had slightly more curves than Alice. She has long purple hair that is tied in a long ponytail and emerald eyes.

"I think I know where Craig." The girl answered in a Texan accent before pointing to the pizza palace establishment. The place's logo was The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

"Of course if there is any place they will be is the place where their leader loves the most," Craig said to her with a smile.

"To think they would make a team right now, even more, defeat Harry Kishima's team." A boy on the girl's left side said. He is 17 and a bit slim. He has short black hair, brown eyes, and is wearing a long sleeve jacket and blue pants with black boots to match.

"What do you expect Jack...they have a really great cowboy that can ride any wild horse." The girl named Heidi giggled. "I suppose I can snare him from that old priestess. After all...he is all mine."

Richard was going for his 17th pizza of the day before he had to cover his mouth because he sneezed.

"Is something wrong, Rick?" Frederick said a bit confused by the sudden sneeze.

"No. Is nothing Frederick. It is just that I thought someone was talking about me." All of a sudden Alice felt a shiver down the spine.

("What is this sudden feeling of dread?")

"Hey, you over there."

"Huh?" They simultaneously said and turn to see a girl they recognized. Now Alice knows this sudden feeling of dread. Right in front of them was none other than her purple-haired rival Heidi Kitami. And by Rival, she means a rival for the brown-haired' affection. Ever since the single match that Heidi had against him, and the finals against Harry the purple-haired girl began to had a crush on their leader. This put Alice in a very dire situation since Heidi, unlike other girls who see the brown-haired boy attractive was the most persistent person she had ever met. This resulted in many arguments and then she left for her hometown of Texas. Now she has returned.

"You seem to have fun in the rodeo." The purple-haired girl smiled at Richard.

"Oh hey, Heidi." Richard smiled back. Richard has always thought of Heidi as a good friend. Ever since his fun battle with her, she had been very approachable even giving him advice on how to become a better scout to how a scout can defeat a powerhouse. What the brown-haired boy doesn't know is that the purple-haired girl is actually in love with him just like a certain red-haired girl of his group.

"Oh...great. Is you." Alice said annoyed by seeing Heidi. She doesn't like her because Heidi is always trying to flirt with Richard which always ends up with them arguing over who will stay with him.

"Oh...Hello, Alice. Still trying to hook up with Richard dear." Heidi said to her with a smirk. Everyone in Lycée High knew that Alice has a crush on Richard except the brown-haired boy himself since he is...well clueless and oblivious about it.

"I don't...he's...He's just a friend!!" Alice hesitantly answered while blushing which made the brown-haired boy tilted his head confused. This made Heidi's smirk grow.

"Well then. Richard dear, if you like we can watch something after your done eating." Heidi tries to approach the brown-haired boy as she usually does but Alice stood between them.

"No! He would not date you. Just because your father is the owner of Hikami Ranch...doesn't mean that you can have whatever you want." Alice stated. Hikami's Ranch is one of the most famous ranch resorts in the world and his father has thousands of those resorts worldwide.

"Um, Alice? I don't think she was referring to it..." The oblivious brown-haired boy tried to interject but he was completely ignored by the two girls.

"Well how about we make a bet, then?" Heidi proposed to the red-haired light brown-skinned girl.

"I'm hearing." Heidi puts a finger on her lower lip pondering what would be a good proposal so the red-haired would agree to it.

"Um, girls I don't..."

"Oh, nothing just that the winner can date Richard dear," Heidi suggested with a big smirk.

"Er...Girls...?" Richard said but again Alice interrupts him this time.

"Your own!" Alice bluntly said to the purple-haired rival. Richard felt like the third wheel here, so he just hanged his head down before sighing in defeat and just let them solve this on their own.

"Alright, then I guess we will see you in Omega then?"

"Oh, I'll be there...cowgirl," Alice said with a smile. Heidi gets mad at the comment. The reason is that even if she does look like a cowgirl she considered that as an insult to her weight.

"What did you call me you Old priestess!!?" Heidi said mad. Alice gets mad at Heidi's blunt answer. Even if Alice was about 3 weeks older than Heidi that didn't mean she could be called old not to mention her Omega priestess outfit is from the feudal era.

"O...Old P...Priestess!?" Alice quivered in anger, as she gets ready to strike the purple-haired girl's pretty face although Heidi wasn't going to let that happen because she was ready to do the same.

"Girls, Girls." Richard tries to interfere but for his "luck", he gets a punch to the face by both of the girls.

"Oh my god, Richard are you okay? I'm sorry!!" Alice rushed to him as he falls flat on the ground.

"This is going to be one these days, Huh?" Frederick said.

"Yep," Craig said to Frederick.

"So I assume Heidi is creating a team like we are doing, right?" Craig nodded.

"Yes. The name is Craig Veramonte I just got here because I heard how great Paris was...I wasn't disappointed. I might start studying in one of the few universities that they have here." Craig stated.

"Glad to hear that, Frederick Santos." Frederick introduced himself. "The one on the ground is Richard Kurosagi and the one fighting with your I assume core is Alice Hishikawa." Frederick pointed at the spiral-eyed Richard before pointing at the red-haired who is having an argument and blaming Heidi who retaliates by blaming her back for Richard's unfortunate fate.

"Jack Valentine...Wait did you say Richard Kurosagi? As in the previous Omega's Singles Champion?" Jack introduce then asked.

"That's him alright."

"Interesting...Well, then I hope we have a great battle together." Black with a short ponytail haired teen said to the sniper of Team Omega who nodded and shook his hand.

After the incident. Team Omega along with Heidi's team went to the teleporters, which glowed, yellow. The announcer appeared ready to send everyone to Omega.

()

"Okay are all teams ready?" The announcer asked everyone and they nod. "Okay level location Western Omega. Requirements for this battle three classes min." Richard's cheeks were swollen from the punch of the two girls as his and his teammate's circle glowed blue.

"How did I get into this mess?" Richard said to himself while rubbing his right cheek.

"Let's just hope we don't stand in their wrath in Omega remember Alice is our powerhouse," Frederick stated.

"Yeah, I don't want to have an early exit if she accidentally hits me with her pole."

"If you do then we all lose." Richard sighed.

"I know."

"Entering Omega...Now!!" All circles glowed before they engulfed the players sending them to Omega.

()

Richard, Alice, and Frederick land on Western Omega. Western Omega is an old west town with a bar sheriff tavern and few other places like old west hotels. It was very sunny and the sand dust was sometimes a problem meaning you could easily get lost if you went far away to the deserted site. It also has a railroad track not too far from the town. Team Omega appeared to be on the north side of the welcoming entrance and Alice was really mad.

"Alright!! When I find that cowgirl I'll show her a thing or two!!!"

"Um, Alice we should be focusing on the other teams and..." Richard said but before he could say anything else, Alice gave him a glare that looked as if a fierce dragon was ready to burst from its cave and destroy anything that stood in its way. "Never mind." he yelped before he shrunk into a chibi version of himself intimidated by the scary glare.

"Anyway, it is better if you start scouting Richard that way we can cover more ground." Frederick pointed out.

"Yeah let's hope they don't find each other before I do." They both look at Alice who is still yelling her anger aloud.

"I'll tear her apart!!" They sighed.

()

Meanwhile, on the west side of western Omega Heidi's teammates, Craig and Jack have the same issues that Richard and Frederick had with Alice. Craig was dressed in a black belt karate outfit. From the looks of it, Craig was their powerhouse. Jack was dressed in a black tuxedo with a white shirt underneath said tuxedo, Black pants, and black shoes to match. He also has a pair of knives in his tuxedo pocket along with a white rose attached to the front left side of his tuxedo meaning that he was Heidi's sniper. Finally, their core the purple-haired girl was dressed in a brown cowboy leather jacket, purple blouse, brown leather pants, and brown leather cowboy boots along with a stylish brown leather cowboy hat. Her weapon that is attached to her left side of her waist is a light brown cowboy rope that looked like a horsewhip.

"That old priestess!! How dare she call me a cowgirl when I get my hands on her...!!" Heidi said in a fit of rage.

"Uh, Heidi you should start scouting for..." Craig said before he receives a glare from her. Craig just sweatdropped.

"You better leave her Craig you don't want her to vent her rage on you now, do we?" Jack wisely said to Craig if there was something he didn't want to deal with more than anyone in the world was a rampaging purple-haired girl who happens to be their leader.

"I guess I can agree but we need her calm she is our scout meaning..."

"I know." Jack nodded in acknowledgment a scout needs to be calm and concentrated in order to be able to focus on the coordinates that way they can clearly inform, or warn their partners of danger.

"Team NCXS Core is defeated...Team NCSX is eliminated."

"Looks like they have started," Jack said.

"Then we should too," Craig informed adjusting his black belt before looking at three boys with weapons in their hands. However, the boys' attention was on the beautiful purple-haired girl.

"Hey, guys look at that cutie!"

"Don't worry we'll go easy on you." The other boy who had a rapier said to Heidi. The purple-haired girl calmed herself down. She will unleash her wrath on Alice Hishikawa later, right now...Her teammates need a focused scout.

"So what do you...?" The boy with the rapier got snag by the rope whip before she snares him with said rope. Then with amazing speed, the purple-haired girl just ran dragging him to the sandy floor before jumping high in the air and slamming him hard on the floor before stomping on his back hard. The purple-haired then gracefully landed on the other side after some flips in the air where her teammates were currently looking amazed.

"Team Elegante's scout is eliminated." The other two teens were stunned in twelve seconds the purple-haired girl just defeated their fastest player meaning that she was also...

"Craig, Jack I'm scouting ahead." She then looks at her teammates with a polite smile. "Can you please take care of them, for me? I have...unfinished business to attend too, don't worry I will find Richard dear, and Frederick." with that the purple-haired girl just disappeared with a swooshing sound.

"Well, you heard her," Jack said as he shook the shock of their leader single handling their scout. Craig cracked his knuckles.

"D-Don't underestimate us." One of the remaining boys said having a large red sword with a gold handle before charging toward the unarmed. As he swung his sword the big man just blocked with only his right arm that had an invisible field cast on it.

"W-What?!"

"You must be surprised, you really thought I was a Powerhouse, am I correct? Well, you could've been right...if not for what you're seeing right now. You see I'm...A Wall." Craig said before unleashing a powerful kick, despite being a wall due to his psychical body the kick was still powerful.

"Larry!!" The other boy was distracted that he didn't see a rain of knives coming his way until it was too late.

"You know, you shouldn't have let your guard down," Jack said as he twirled with a knife on his hand. "You really chose the wrong day to mess with our core," Jack said before he reveals that behind that knife they were two more.

"Team Elegante Core was defeated...Team Elegante is eliminated."

"Wow, business is starting to pick up."

"Richard are you there?"

"Loud and clear Frederick."

"How's your side buddy?"

"Well, I have passed a group that was heading your way a couple of seconds ago so you better be careful."

"Copy that."

"Is Alice...?" He heard Frederick sigh before something loud that made him fall face-first into the dirt screamed.

"LET ME AT EM!!!" Alice screamed.

"Should I..."

"No Frederick, just...be careful." Richard sighed before scouting.

()

Meanwhile in Kishima's Corp. Leos was watching once again a match instead of doing his work.

"Sir have you...?" Inès asked before she saw the pile of papers laying on the desk and her boss watching something in the monitors. "AHEM!" this caught Leos' attention from a now scowling Inès.

"Oh! Inès I didn't see you there, what brings you here?" Inès sighed before adjusting her glasses.

"Sir may I need to remind you that the papers for the updates are due to today...in two hours." She said signaling to the full stack of papers in front of him.

"Oh...that, well can you re-schedule them for a bit later?" Inès raises an eyebrow before she goes to his desk. As she approached she sees that her boss was watching a match with Team Omega in it.

"Sir I know that you must... "test" them but could you please do it after your done with work," Inès informed him before she signals to the pile.

"I promise you once this fight is over I will quadruple my efforts to finish this," Leos promised before Inès sighed again. Ever since the discovery of two of the twelve pieces her boss has been looking at this team like a hawk. The question in her mind though is: How did her boss manage to have one of the twelve legendary pieces and what specifically can that piece do...maybe she should find if there's a copyleft of that story maybe her father still has it somewhere. Until then she will have to remind the black-haired his due up papers.

()

So far four of the six teams were retired so there was only Team Omega and Heidi's Team left.

"Anything on your side, Rick?"

"No nothing...Hmm, do you think they had a scout? I mean that guy that was with her you know the one with the long sleeves."

"Hmm...It could be, I mean Jack seems to be the type to be of speed."

"Wait you know the guy?!" Richard said surprise.

"Oh, yeah they introduce themselves to us...you know when you were down for the count."

"IT WAS HER FAULT!"

"Right..." Frederick deadpanned knowing full well that the red-haired was as much at fault as the female opponent of the group.

"Well, I...WHOA!" Richard said as he dodges an incoming barrage of knives coming his way with his speed.

"Rick! What happened?!"

"Er...I think I found two out of our three opponents." Richard said as he saw Craig and Jack who was juggling two knives in symmetry.

"Where?!"

"Right in front of me." the brown-haired boy responded before he uses his speed to dodge the knives and attack Craig who simply blocked his dagger sword with an invisible wall before trying to strike with a devastating kick only for Richard to jump out of the way and use his speed to back away from them. "Frederick, they don't have a powerhouse!"

"Huh?"

"There's a guy with a black belt, at first I thought he was a powerhouse I used my speed to my advantage but it turns out he isn't...he is a wall."

"If one of them is a wall then that means..." Before Frederick could say anything else something snares Alice.

"What...?! HYAHHHHH!!!" Alice screamed as someone drags Alice away from Frederick.

"ALICE!!" He then out of the corner of his eye saw a pint of purple that he could only recognize from someone. "Rick, Their scout was never Jack...It was Heidi!!"

"Heidi?!" Richard said...so all this time they were deceiving them, no wonder he couldn't find her.

"I'm on my way to your location where are you?"

"What about Alice?!"

"Heidi got her, even I couldn't react fast enough to at least try to stop her movements."

"Great well I'm at the center north of the bar in the town," Richard informed him.

"Got it! I'm on my way." The static faded.

"Alice...hope you're okay."

()

Alice was struggling to get away from the rope that snags her and her anger flared as she knew who was the only person that could have this rope.

"LET...ME...GO YOU, COWGIRL!!" Alice yelled.

"GLADLY YOU OLD PRIESTESS!!" Heidi responded before she throws her violently making Alice spin like a rag doll before abruptly stopping on the hot sand. Alice gets up with spiral eyes before she shook her head and glared toward her opponent who was smirking. "Hello, you dirty old priestess."

"I'll show you dirt you...! RELEASE!!" Alice's pole splits and the red-haired swings to her left to try and snare the purple-haired Texan girl. However, the core leader uses her scout speed to dodge that with ease by jumping gracefully into the air and then landing on top of a barrel.

"Your age is catching up with you." Heidi taunted.

"WE'RE ONLY THREE WEEKS APART!!"

"Humph." Heidi disappears and then reappears behind her before whipping Alice in the back following it with a speedy kick to the left ribs to the red-haired girl who hissed in pain as she's reeled to the right. "Aw, did that hurt?" The purple-haired mocked and her only response was a glare from Alice.

"Shut up." Heidi laughed.

"This will be the easiest bet I have ever win in my life."

"DON'T COUNT ME OUT YET!!" Alice tries to snare Heidi but the fast Texan scout proves to be too fast for the red-haired powerhouse of the team.

"This is way to easy, maybe I should replace you in that group, I would say join but then I will have to see your ugly face every day."

"You talk...way too much cowgirl." That seems to anger the purple-haired a bit.

"I can't wait to tear you to pieces for that you old priestess."

()

Despite having difficulty Richard was having the time of his life. The charismatic brown-haired boy was stalling for time as well as distracting them just in case Frederick his sniper could take at least one of them undetected...not to mention that if he is defeated then is game over for his team. Even if that's the easiest way out of whatever he was put through he wasn't going to do it because that would disappoint his friends and it would be an insult to not only his opponents but every player in Omega. With that in mind, Richard used his scout speed and wait for the right moment to Core Shift into a powerhouse that way he could defeat Heidi's team Wall. Each time he tried to get through their sniper, the wall always seems to block with a barrier of his own or bravely take the hit. Since he was a wall not only it did little damage despite the scout having the highest percentage to give max damage in order to balance its lack of strength but it gave him an opening to counterattack something that Richard had to be careful every time the scenario happened. The brown-haired boy dodged yet another close call from the wall by sidestepping to the left to dodge a well-induced aura thrust from Craig. Jack took this opportunity to reload his hand with more knives before throwing two more to the speedy scout who with swooshing sound dodged the knives.

"This...is taking forever. Come on Frederick I don't think I can keep this up forever buddy." Richard said.

"Just hang in there buddy I'm almost there."

"Hey, Craig, if we take him out, is game over, right?"

"I believe so Jack. But don't underestimate him...after all, he was last year's Omega's Single Champion." Craig reminded the tuxedo knives, juggler.

"Looks like I'll have to burn my Core Shift sooner than I expected," Richard said to himself. Just when Jack was going to throw his knives again the tall muscular man of the team sensed someone and the next thing that happened he stopped two incoming arrows with both hands that were going directly to Jack's head.

"Whoa...that was close. Thanks, Craig." Jack thanked their wall.

"As I said before..." Craig looks to see the elf archer with an arrow ready to be launch toward them. "Don't underestimate them. You take care of the sniper...I'll take on Kurosagi."

"Are you sure? He is their core remember if he Core Shift into a powerhouse even your Aura barriers would fail to stop his attacks." Jack said unsure to leave the wall unprotected.

"Don't worry. Just make sure to defeat him...I'll stall for you if I must."

"Alright if you say so," Jack told his black belt buddy before switching places.

("So...Jack is their sniper. This should be fun.") Frederick thought as the knives juggler approach him.

"I never thought I will fight a fellow sniper."

"Likewise." Jack nodded before he quickly launches one knife quickly in which Frederick rolled out of harm's way before launching an arrow. Jack using his other knife threw it and both weapons hit with a clanking sound before spiking in the dirt. The two of them dodge, duck, shoot, and block each other's weapons very well making both teenagers have a great feeling inside them. Could this be the adrenaline of facing someone with the same class? If so...they would give it their all.

()

On the other side of the battle, The brown-haired boy and his strong wall opponent continue to take its toll. Richard tries to twist his arm downward to hit the black belt man but this one using his wall abilities blocks it easily with his palm before trying to deliver a kick. Richard ducked the kick and went for a sweep that got his opponent off his feet and landing on the ground. Craig wisely rolled out of the way of the incoming dagger that would've plunged on his chest before standing up.

"You're indeed a worthy opponent, Richard Kurosagi," Craig informed him.

"Thanks. Same goes for you...Er..."

"Craig Veramonte." Craig introduces himself. "I must say when Heidi told us about you when you entered the Omega World Tournament Jack and I was curious about how your skills were."

"By Jack, you mean Mr. Tuxedo?" Craig nodded.

"Yes. Your skills are quite unique and watching the videos of your previous battles in Omega we were quite impressed by how agile you were compared to now. However, I as Team Rodeo's wall I cannot allow you to go near our core." Craig stated.

("Believe me, right now...If I wanted to look for her...I would end up getting the receiving end of a pole or...whatever Heidi has as a weapon.") Richard thought a bit dreadfully. "Well as the core and leader of Team Omega I cannot let my friends down!" Richard felt something familiar inside him it was just like when he faced Harry a few days ago. ("This is the same feeling I had before I used the move that defeated Harry.") Richard thought he only had one shot and in order to take down a wall, someone needs to sacrifice his speed for power.

"I have only one shot at this."

()

Heidi has had the upper hand as her speed has proven to be far more superior than Alice's newfound strength, although this is due to the fact that Alice rarely played the game, and most of the time she was more of a supporter than a powerhouse. Not to mention that Heidi has had more experience despite them being of the same age to make matters worse she is a scout, a class that is superior to powerhouses even if you had a lot of experience you still will have difficulties defeating them. To be more specifically she had only a 12% chance of winning in this battle.

"You should give up by now...This is really pitiful." Heidi told her red-haired rival who was wincing a bit. Alice has been hit by the rope whip from her right shoulder to her back. In actuality, she was kind of surprised that she wasn't taken out already.

"No...way." The red-haired replied as she glares toward the purple-haired girl who huffed and was ready to attack her once more.

"Fine. Just don't complain when I get to date Richard dear." Heidi uses her speed to try to snare and throw Alice into the air just like she did against her previous opponent.

"He will not!" Alice grabs Heidi's rope whip with her right hand.

"What?!" Heidi tries to tug the rope away from Alice but the red-haired powerhouse got a good grip on it.

"Let's see how you like to be thrown!" The red-haired girl with her strength threw the purple-haired straight into a pile of barrels breaking them as soon as she landed hard on them. After Heidi got out of it the purple-haired girl rolled sideways just in time to avoid Alice's pole. Alice tilts her pole catching Heidi square in the stomach making the purple-haired girl gasp for air while sending her some feet away from the red-haired girl's position.

"You...You'll pay for that!" The purple-haired girl sneered after coughing and gasping air to her lungs...she was actually surprised that she didn't have any trouble breathing considering that a blow like that would've broken at least a couple of ribs. Shaking her head out of those thoughts Heidi went offensive and used her speed to her advantage. Dodging Alice's pole elegantly she paid the red-haired back with a mid-kick right to the midsection followed up with a hit in the lower part of Alice's jaw with the butt of her rope whip reeling the red-haired back. Alice splits her pole again and tries to snare Heidi which she does. However, Heidi uses her speed to drag Alice away before this one puts her feet solidly to the sandy ground and tries to stop the purple-haired girl from gaining any momentum. Heidi tries to drag Alice any further but knew this wouldn't last long and decided to go after her and try to use her kicks in order to hit her. Alice dodged each of them but maintain her grip on her pole knowing that if she even let go of it she would be in a world of trouble. Duck, left, right, duck jump, block with your left leg, retaliate with your right...movement after movement the two girls battled out in the desolated ghost town. Suddenly both girls heard the sound of the wind blowing hard and the next thing that happened got both girls to back up and Alice to release her grip on Heidi.

"A sandstorm?" Alice said surprised to see one of the many phenomena of Omega coming to life. With the sandstorm at her advantage, Heidi uses her speed to hide in it. Alice growled in frustration knowing that at this rate she will never defeat the purple-haired Texan and if that happens... ("There's no way I will lose to her!!") the red orb starts to glow.

()

"Hmm, Interesting." Leos was quite impressed, to say the least. From just this battle Alice orb started to glow. ("It seems that one of the pieces will awaken soon.") he looks at his Hexagon piece. ("Oh, do you want to be reunited with it? Hexagon of Fate.") The only response he got from the piece was a seemingly buzzing sound followed by a gleam.

()

Meanwhile, on the other side of the map, the boys were having the fight of their carers.

("Man facing walls are really a pain.") "Whoa!" Richard managed to dodge a roundhouse kick from Craig. "For being a wall he sure moves pretty quick."

("As expected of him. He is very agile and fast...But...")

("I need to finish this here.") Richard was ready to finish this in one swing. If all goes well the attack that he unleashed on Harry will surface and the result could be the same...He just hope it is enough to stop Craig's high defense and defeat him...he only has one shot. As Craig tries to unleash and left thrust Richard backs off and then uses his speed to have a semi-momentum jump surprising Craig. "This is it; Core Shift: Powerhouse." 'Target Class: Wall. Ways of Victory...found, perform WDSF in a diagonal way while augmenting the capacity energy in the slash by 15%.' This was going to Richard's mind before he performed his now signature move. "WDSF!" Richard swung his dagger sword diagonally while listening to the voice and augmented the strength of his attack. Craig tries to block it with his bare hands but even with his strong barrier, he was unable to stop it before his barrier broke.

("Damn!") Craig said before he was engulfed in the brilliant light line and said line went farther away before crashing into one of the taverns.

"Team Rodeos Wall has been eliminated."

("That's not good.") Jack said knowing that they are now in big trouble.

()

Elsewhere Heidi heard the announcement.

"That can't be good, if I don't finish this old priestess soon I won't be able to..." She has the advantage over Alice so if she uses the sandstorm she will be able to finish this fight and if that happens...

("Where could she be?") Alice asked herself the sandstorm didn't help her at all and then this humming sound was annoying her. "Ugh, what is that sound is so ANNOYING!!" It didn't help that the sound became stronger and it was giving the red-haired teen a headache...What the Miko like player didn't know is that her pendant is, in fact, one of the legendary pieces and its ability is slowly awakening inside her.

()

"Sir, what is that sound?" Inès asked her boss.

"Hmm? Oh, that...well is just the effects of The ragging sphere. You see rage is an emotion that we all have to show frustration, hate, or even annoyance to something or someone. The sphere creates a sound that not only annoys the user but awakes their inner rage...it is similar to that American comic superhero that becomes stronger whenever he gets angrier."

"You mean the incredible..."

"Yeah, that's the one!!"

"So the sphere..."

"Is provoking little Alice on purpose in order for her to unleash her inner rage...well I feel sorry for the opponent that is facing her right now." Leos was in deep thought while explaining the ability of The Ragging Sphere. If the Ragging Sphere was responding along with the Hexagon of Fate...Why haven't The Dragonite Diamond done the same? It was still sleeping. This is a very intriguing mystery that he was about to find out and the only way to do it is by creating this upcoming event...the event that will reunite all of the owners of these pieces that are currently living here in France...At least the ones he has found and gave the invitation to come. ("This will be very interesting indeed.")

()

The annoying sound was getting worse and worse and Alice was getting tired of it. All of a sudden a strange red aura was covering the Miko like female player.

("Now is my chance!") Heidi was getting ready to attack Alice while she was blinded by the sandstorm. She uses her scouting speed to her advantage. "Gotcha!" The purple-haired girl tries to hit Alice with her rope whip but then the red-haired girl stopped the attack with her right arm. "Wha...?"

"You're annoying," Alice said a bit pissed...The sound wasn't stopping and she was reaching her limit.

("How did she...?") She had the advantage there was no way that the powerhouse girl has the speed to stop this nor even the senses for that matter. "Let go, you old priestess."

"JUST SHUT UP!! That Shrill noise you make...ANNOYS ME!!" Alice with all her strength took not only the rope whip but the purple-haired girl and then slam her near some barrels destroying them on impact.

"That hurt," Heidi complained before dodging a very powerful pole slam. The attack was so powerful that it made a small magnitude and the results were wood splinters all over the place. Heidi didn't even have time to react to the next attack and was hit by the swing of Alice pole on the left side. The blow was very powerful that it made Heidi skit twice before stopping face first in the dirt. Heidi coughs a bit before glaring at the red-haired girl. "You'll pay for that, you old priestess!" Alice all she heard was a shrill sound with a similar annoying chipmunk voice...which made her even more annoyed.

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP ALREADY!!" Alice extended her pole but Heidi at the last second dodged it with her speed and then used her Core Shift to go Powerhouse. Her Rope transformed into a black nine-tailed spiked version of her rope but on the other side of the handle, it was a silver blade long enough to be a dagger itself. With the blade, she deflected the chain that was coming her way before swinging the spiked whip which the red-haired priestess dodged making a whishing sound as it landed in the sand. Alice tries to punch the purple-haired girl but missed allowing Heidi to deliver a slash on her that made a minor cut on her right arm.

"How do you like that?!" The purple-haired taunted just before her answer was deliberate to her courtesy of a fast headbutt in her nose by Alice who did something that made Heidi ballistic. As Heidi clutches her nose she sees that it was bleeding and it hurt like hell, but that was not the important thing there...the important thing was.

"You...YOU OLD PRIESTESS!! LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO MY FACE!!" Alice, on the other hand, was mad because the more Heidi talked, screamed, or yelled the more annoying the sound was becoming.

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP ALREADY, YOU COWGIRL!!" Alice swings her pole hard unleashing a wave of sand. Heidi having no choice, used her last Core Shift to go back to a scout and got out of the way fast before snaring Alice. Despite being snare Alice struggles to get free and after a few tries knowing that she was going to pull off Heidi used her speed to do the same thing that she did to the scouter from the other team and slammed Alice as hard as she could to the sand below.

"I...I did it." However, her celebration was premature as Alice snared her with her chained pole. "Just...What the hell are you?!" Heidi asked a bit frightened, she just took a slam like that as if it was just a mere bouncing landing...What is giving her this motivation to beat her? Is it Richard? Is it the power of love?! In reality...It was neither Alice just wants...

"Just go away already...YOU ANNOYING SOUND!!!" And with that Alice slammed Heidi to the ground so hard that it created a big hole in the ground followed by an earthquake.

"Team Rodeo's Core is eliminated...Game Over." As soon as those words came out the sound was no more and the sphere stopped shrilling and glowing. Hearing this Alice just gave a sigh of happiness.

"Peace...At last." With that, the adrenaline died down and now she was feeling all the pain including the last one. "Ow, Hurts, Hurts, HURTS!!" those were her last words before everyone was teleported back.

()

"Well, that was fun." Richard concluded while stretching."

"Too bad I didn't get to finish my match with Jack here," Frederick said...It was actually a back and forward match, even more, Jack managed to dodge his explosive arrow. Jack, on the other hand, demonstrated why he was a great Sniper the way he threw those knives was a reason that Frederick will put him in his top 10 opponents that he has ever faced.

"Yeah, I would like to have a rematch though," Jack responded it could've gone either way and when he heard that Heidi was defeated he was a bit disappointed but nevertheless...he had fun.

"Same here I have to admit you have proven yourself to be a very tough opponent to defeat Richard Kurosagi."

"You're not bad yourself, Craig, it is the first time I fought a Wall one on one and I'm glad I was able to pull it off." Craig nodded in agreement a Core must overcome the odds even if they're stacked against him/her and this was a test that the brown-haired boy passed with flying color. They could have talked some more if it wasn't for...

"You cheater!!"

"Huh?" The boys look at the now arguing girls.

"What is it this time?" Richard sighed and shook his head.

"Huh? How did I cheat? I beat you fair and square!" Alice argued back.

"How were you able to survive my attack, it even unfazed you!"

"That's...Wait what attack?" Alice couldn't remember anything but the shrill sound and the way the match ended...She didn't even realize that during the fight, she was cut and slammed very hard which usually would have depleted her points to 0 but the results showed that she had 80 points left in her plenty to fight another opponent and maybe win.

"What do you mean what attack?! I slammed you completely to the ground!" Heidi was flustered not only she lost to her rival but now she will not have a chance to have a date with her one true love.

"You did? I don't remember that."

"ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME?!"

"Huh? I don't...it just."

"Just knock it off you two," Richard said to them.

"Richard."

"Richard Dear!" Heidi quickly hugged Richard with fake tears.

"H-HEY What do you think you're doing?!" Alice asked.

"Um...Heidi."

"You still will go out with me, right?"

"Huh?!" Richard was very confused.

"Hey, what happened to that..."

"DEALS OFF! Besides, you cheated so that doesn't count."

"THAT'S..."

"Girls!" The other boys sighed.

"Should we help him?" Jack asked.

"And lure those ragging girls to us? I think not!" Frederick stated.

"I agreed...As a leader, he must overcome all odds...Including feuds with fangirls." Craig sagely said.

"Richard!"

"GET OFF HIM!" Richard sighed.

("Why me?") And so the feud between the two girls that are in love with the same guy rages on!!