Simulation Room, Afternoon. Paladin's Academy.

The friendly mock battle has begun! Dreadnought and Team Red have already devised their strategy to rescue the blue dummy and win the game. But they know that Team Blue won't back down without a fight. As the game progresses, elsewhere, in the monitor room, Streetwise, Sparkplug, and several other teachers watch on, as the students start scouting the arena, looking for their adversaries. Streetwise looks to one of the monitors and notices that the students have begun their assault.

"So, how much do we have on Team Red?" Streetwise laughs as he places a hundred dollars down on a table.

"You're absolutely despicable." Ms. Winter scoffs, as she bets two hundred dollars on Team Blue.

Sparkplug nervously laughs. "Come on guys, this is just a friendly thing!"

"I'll put down fifty on Team Blue." A man speaks up. He has black hair and a muscular build. He sports a blue-tinted visor while wearing a white, blue, and red jumpsuit.

"Fifty against you're own sister? Yikes Glance." Streetwise mocks. Glance laughs, brushing his comment aside.

"Just to even things out, here's a hundred for Team Red." A woman says. She has long black hair resting on her shoulder and black eyes. Her outfit is mainly light grey, with black highlights.

"Of course you would. Wherever Streetwise goes, you follow, Aegis." Ms. Winter comments.

"We're all on the same side here!" Sparkplug says, trying to diffuse the animosity between the two groups. "Look, something's happening!" She says as she points at one of the screens.

"Shouldn't you both be down there monitoring the situation?" Ms. Winter says as she glares at the two incompetent teachers.

"Aaaaand that's our cue. Every party needs a pooper, and that's why we invited you." Streetwise groans as he leaves the monitor room along with Sparkplug. Ms. Winter sighs as she turns her attention to one of the big screens.

Back at base, Sure-Shot plays with his slingshot. Legally, he is not allowed to wield a firearm. Thus, the school has opted to give him an alternative, complete with rubber pellets. As dictated by White Mask earlier, Sure-Shot, along with another girl, must lay down the fort. One could even say they are the last line of defense.

Sure-Shot notices the girl being quiet, too quiet. He does something new and thinks before he acts, maybe because he's talking to a girl.

Okay, no more 'backstory' questions. How about ability evaluation instead? Yeah, that's better. Good thinking Sure-Shot.

"So, Meraxes, right? You control fire, yea?"

"That's right," Meraxes replies. She has long red hair and orange eyes. She's wearing a black spandex costume with her fire-red gloves, mask, and boots. She also has a literal cloak made of flames that burn bright orange.

"How good are you with fire control?"

"Adequate."

"Ah, I see."

Sure-Shot coughs as he leans against the wall. The conversation dies just as fast as it started.

Suddenly, multiple blue portals open around them. Smoke comes flowing out as it fills the entire room. Sure-Shot coughs as he prepares his slingshot. He holds his breath as he scans the area. All he can see is the fiery glow of Meraxes, who isn't moving.

Shit, did they get her? Sure-Shot worries, as he points his weapons around. Out of nowhere, someone grabs his shoulder and says,

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"Don't move~"

Sure-Shot tries to run but his legs won't budge. His arms remain stationary. He can't even turn his bloody neck. He drops his slingshot as someone puts a pair of cuffs on his wrists.

Two other people step out of the portal. Sure-Shot recognizes the girl as Smokescreen, but he has no clue about the guy beside her.

"Great work Abaddon. Get these guys back to base and I'll grab the dummy." Smokescreen says as she reaches for the prize. Unbeknownst to her, she triggers a silent alarm, as a miniature robot sends a signal to the Techno-Knight, Julia.

On the roof of one of the ruined buildings, Dreadnought, Glimpse, and Julia gather their breath as they rest. Dreadnought hands Glimpse a bottle of water, as he wipes the sweat off his face. Julia looks onto the horizon, using her own telescope to try and find the enemy base. Her phone buzzes, as she reads the notification.

"We gotta go."

"Where to?" Dreadnought asks.

"Our base, they're going for our dummy."

Dreadnought reactivates his demon form as Julia builds a jetpack for her and Glimpse to fly with. The three start soaring as fast as they can, rushing back to base. Dreadnought arrives first as he crashes through the window. He uses his wings to redirect the smoke outside. As the area clears, he sees Smokescreen and one other person leaving through a portal with their dummy. He grabs a pair of bolases and throws it at the two of them. Smokescreen pushes the guy and the dummy into the portal as it closes, leaving her behind. She smiles at Dreadnought as she puts both her hands in front of him.

"I know how this fight ends, so why don't we skip all that hm?" She says, inching closer to him. Dreadnought hesitates as he steps back and reaches for the cuffs, but not before Smokescreen sweeps his legs, causing him to fall. Before he could get up, Smokescreen sits on top of his stomach and pins his arms right above his head. She leans in close to his face as she applies the cuffs right around his wrists. Dreadnought looks away as he struggles to remove the cuffs.

"Gateway, do you read? I need a portal back." There's no response.

"Gateway, this is Smokescreen. Do you copy? Hello?!" Smokescreen says, visibly frustrated. She stands up and looks through the window. She squints her eyes as she sees something flying right towards her. She raises her eyebrows and then ducks for cover as Glimpse and Julia come crashing down.

"Ouch. I never want to do that again." Glimpse says as she wipes her head.

"Maybe next time, bring a jetpack of your own, kay?" Julia whines as she brushes her bruised knee.

The two see Dreadnought on the floor with handcuffs, visibly flushed, and Smokescreen barely hiding behind a table.

"Hehe, maybe we can talk things out?" Smokescreen asks, as Julia creates a sonic cannon to fire right at her. Smokescreen kicks the table right at her, but Julia blasts it away. Using this opportunity, Smokescreen tackles Julia to the ground, trying to restrain her with her own cuffs.

"Glimpse~ are you just going to stand there? Or are you GONNA HELP ME!" Julia screams as she tries to push Smokescreen off her. Glimpse's legs shake as she watches on.

Julia kicks Smokescreen away, as this time, she creates a net launcher to capture her. Smokescreen shoots smoke directly at Julia, causing her to stagger, and filling the room with mist. Julia builds a helmet to filter out the smoke and scan the area, but she can only see heat signatures. She sees a silhouette running around as she activates her guidance system.

"Gotcha!" She screams as she shoots the net right at her. The figure slumps down, as Julia creates a fan to clear the fog.

"Look Smokey, you were good, just not on my level." Julia laughs as she walks over to the net. Her eyes widened as she saw that the net had captured Glimspe instead! She turned around and saw Smokescreen swinging a broken table piece right at her.

"Funny, I thought the same thing about you." She says as she wacks Julia right across the helmet, dazing her momentarily. She uses this opportunity to make Julia wear her own cuffs. She walks over to Glimpse and does the same. She then drags the three of them to the wall as she tries to radio in her teammates.

"Great work you two, real Paladins material." Julia scoffs. Glimpse remains silent.

Smokescreen repeatedly attempts to recommunicate with her teammates, but they're radio silent. She grabs a few chairs to barricade the doors and chooses to stay and wait for further instructions instead.

A few minutes earlier, Gateway and the dummy were pushed through the portal. They both landed right outside Team Blue's building. Gateway is a young man with dark blue hair and eyes. He sports a white and yellow jacket with black pants.

"Fortune, I'm here, Open the doors." No one responds.

"Fortune, Snooze, Monopole, Anyone copy?" Gateway sighs as he stays outside the building.

"Sorry, but it seems like they're all busy." A girl responds.

"Who the hell is this?!"

"The hero who will stop you."

Gateway looks on as the automatic doors finally open. A girl walks out of the lounge, carrying the blue dummy in hand. Her fog-grey eyes stared right at him.

"You"

"That's right."

Matter faces off against Gateway in a battle that will determine who wins the game! Find out how the fight ends next time at Paladin's Academy!