"What an opener! With one mighty punch, he sends Gecko flying through the air like a ragdoll! Unstoppable, invincible, unassailable – he's a juggernaut of destruction! He is Arman 'The Wall' Kade!"

Gasps and cheers rang out among the cadets at Kade's sudden entrance. The match was heating up again.

Lawson peppered Kade with ordinary bullets, but they just bounced off of him like it was nothing. Kade didn't even look like he was using his field. There wasn't the barest hint of a shimmer around him. Arman calmly lifted his head and looked up high.

The twin flares were still there hanging in the sky. Unfazed, Kade zoned in on the Red home base and strode towards it.

"Hold on to your seats, folks! Kade has his eyes on the prize, ready to end the match in one fell swoop. How would team Red respond?"

A white blur caught up to Kade, leaving behind a swirling void in the snow and dust. Twin blades flashing, Damian crashed into Kade.

The two blades arched through the air towards Kade's vitals. There was a brief flash of light as Arman lit up like a neon sign. His field didn't flare out but remained tight and controlled and hung mere millimeters above his skin, but it was so dense and thick that air seemed to shimmer around him.

Damian's sabers clanged against Kade's massive forearms, and sparks arced in the air as the blades bounced off of him. Despite his lack of speed compared to the Gecko, Kade's reflexes were fast enough to block each and every thrust and slash of Damian.

"Look at our combatants duke it out, folks! The Gecko is going ham against Kade, but the Wall stands strong, deflecting every single attack. The Blue team needs something stronger to crack that iron shell. And wouldn't you know it! Lawson is bringing out the big guns!"

Tara Lawson unclipped her magazine and went back to her earlier armor-piercing rounds. She finished her assembly in mere seconds and trained her rifle on Kade. Sensing the danger, Damian retreated rapidly, and Lawson fired. The air crackled, and there was a deafening explosion. A snow cloud kicked up where Kade had been standing earlier, and bits of concrete rained down from the sky.

The cadets in the watchtower stood stock still as they waited for the dust to clear. Will held his breath as he stared out of the window, and beside him, Remy bounced on his feet, too excited to speak.

A dark form slowly emerged from the dust cloud. Kade was standing there with one arm outstretched, which gleamed in the sunlight. A metal bracer covered his right arm, which extended from his fingertips to his right shoulder and blended seamlessly with his CAD.

Arman slowly opened his smoking armored fist, and a crumpled metal slug dropped onto the frosty road. Steam hissed from the spent bullet as it hit the snow.

"Holy shit! A partial call! We have a battle suit, people! A battle suit in this match!"

The announcer was beside himself, and the cadets, caught in his excitement, broke into applause.

"So this was what you were talking about earlier," said Becca, clapping along with the rest of the crowd. "I'm surprised that they brought it out."

"Yeah," Remy nodded. "Battle suits never appear in sanctioned matches. They are so hard to regulate. Who's mad enough to allow someone to poke around your signature battle armor?"

"This changes things," said Will, stepping close to the glass window as he observed Kade's armored right hand. "Team Red would have to pull out something now, or they are done for."

Everything was still in the arena. Kade seemed to be waiting for something. In the distance, Damian stepped forward, each pace measured. He dropped his blades to his side as he advanced, and a dim glow came from his legs. The light faded, and armored greaves appeared on his legs. Next came armored boots, and soon his entire leg was covered in plate.

"Another partial call! We have two battle suits in the arena! Hold on to your seats, folks. This fight is about to get real!"

"I knew it!" Remy yelled over the thunderous roar of the crowd.

"So it's both of them!" said Victor. "Both of them had it!"

However, Will looked pensive as he nudged Remy. "How do you think Damian got the money?"

Stolen story; please report.

Remy raised his eyebrows. "I think you know how."

"Yes, but this is different," Will shook his head. "He can't possibly make enough to afford a battle suit. Not to mention the maintenance and upkeep. It's a money sink."

Remy clicked his tongue and nodded in agreement.

Battle suits were insanely expensive to make since all their components had to match the user's psion signature. The material costs were sky-high, and not to mention, it took forever to make. The manufacturing failure rate was ridiculously high, and any contamination of its signature could backpropagate towards its user.

The high risk and low reward had many considering it a mere vanity purchase, but there were positives that only a battle suit could bring. Since it matched the user's signature explicitly, it could be powered by the user's own internal reserves, making it hyper-efficient. It also could be stored in the user's subspace channels and summoned at any time. If it weren't for its many drawbacks, it would be considered the best and ultimate expression of a mech.

"He got only his legs covered," said Remy. "Maybe it is not a full suit?"

"Maybe," said Will, slowly, still not satisfied. They watched Damian make his way towards Kade. The two regarded each other for a moment before bursting into action.

Damian was moving so fast that he was nearly invisible. Will only spotted him right before he struck. Damian vanished and reappeared around Kade, his blade pointed at his vitals. A metallic screech rang out as the blade struck Kade. Small cuts started appearing on the Wall as the blades found their mark.

Unable to compete with Damian's speed, Kade resorted to pure power. Shockwaves burst forth with every strike of his fist, and Damian had to keep well away from even the backwash of such powerful jabs.

The ground tore up around them, and the sidewalk cracked as they fought their way up the main highway. They were slowly but surely making their way closer to the Red team base.

Tara sent heavy fire at Kade. Bullet after bullet found their mark, but he was able to shatter each of them to dust with a swing of his fist. Most of them didn't even reach their mark before breaking apart.

Just as Kade reached the foot of the Red team base, Damian went into overdrive. His blade was so fast that afterimages were left in its wake. It looked like the strike was coming from every angle.

Such violent attacks gave even the Wall pause. A millimeter-thin field encased his large body, and he struck out with a fast jab. The speed was so great that it created a vacuum in the local region, and Damian's hands were violently jerked into the void. His many attacks became one, and Kade easily defended against the strike.

Kade reared in for a second strike when Damian retreated quickly. The sudden movement surprised Kade since the rapid departure left the base completely defenseless. He never considered that the Red team would make such a choice. That was when it struck him: there was one more person on team Blue.

His head snapped to the roof of the building where Tara Lawson was perched, looking down on him clad in her pristine white mech. She didn't have her gun this time and had her palm out in front of her, braced with her other hand.

Her field flared, and a massive pulse raced from her down the building. The drifting snow got blasted away as an invisible force slammed into Kade.

The Wall broke.

Kade staggered as he was forced down. The ground underneath him cracked, and the air around him seemed to solidify.

The pulse didn't stop there, and all the way up the watchtower, Will felt something wash over him.

"What the?" Remy gasped. The rest of the cadets nearly fell over as the pulse continued.

"Is that a disrupter grenade?" Becca spoke through gritted teeth.

Will braced himself against the window. The force felt the same as one from a disruptor. It was the same trick she used against the Daggers, only this time on a much broader scale. What they were feeling was just the residual effect of the attack; Kade was facing a whole another beast. The air around him seemed to solidify and crystallize.

"The subspace," Will muttered as he watched the air around Kade grow hazy. The rest of the class had gotten themselves up as they fought off the effect of the pulse.

Kade slowly straightened up, and Lawson's arms shook as she tried to keep up the pressure.

"Hold on to your seats, this ride is far from over. Kade is not one to stay down for too long, oh no! He's getting back up on his feet, ready to continue the battle. Lawson might have done the impossible, but the Wall is a force of nature. A few more seconds and he would break the stalemate. This might be Blue team's only chance for victory! The next few moments would decide the final battle!"

Damian skidded to a halt just outside the range of Lawson's attack. His twin blades sang as he swung them to his side and flared his field.

"Look out now!" Remy exclaimed. "Damian is going for the kill!"

The snow exploded from under his feet as Damian charged, but Kade was already moving. Before Damian had even started running, Kade had spread his feet apart and taken a wide stance. He held his arms wide open like he wanted to grasp the entire arena, and his muscles rippled. It started from his feet and traveled up his spine to his chest. When the force reached his arms, he brought both of them forward and slammed his armored gauntlets together.

A bomb went off underneath the Red team base. The clap was so loud that the cadets up the watchtower had their ears ringing. The solidified air around Kade broke apart, and the ground shook. All the force accumulated by Lawson was torn asunder and struck the nearby structures. Cracks raced up the sidewalk, and the building sagged. The whole Red team base came crashing down along with the beacon.

"Oh my word!" Becca gasped. The entire arena rumbled as the building was reduced to rubble. The dust slowly cleared, and the trio became visible to the class, and deafening cheers erupted in the watchtower.

"Winner! Team Blue!" yelled the announcer. "What a finish! An incredible end to a fantastic match!"

The cheers continued, and Will grinned as he whooped with the rest of the class.

"What a match!" Remy yelled.

Will smiled grimly as he stared at Damian and his armored legs. He had lots of questions for his cousin. A lot of pointed questions.