Frank smirked, “Yeah, seriously. I am the president of the club and captain of the team. Which means I am in a way, your boss.” Vincent found this new revelation somewhat hard to swallow. Anna observed Justin and Vincent and noticed their anger and depression. She then hit Frank’s arm, “Owww”, Frank said as he placed his right hand on his left arm, “What was that for?” Anna placed both her hands on her hip, “You did it again, didn’t you Frank? Seriously, couldn’t you have gone easy on them. The last guys you did this to, quit the team immediately after joining.”
Listening to the conversation, Justin raised his hand, Anna saw the raised hand and said, “Yes, Justin.” Justin then asks, “Um, what are you two talking about?” Anna released an exasperated breath before hitting Frank's arm again. She then explained, “You see, Justin, Vincent, Frank here was testing you two. He has a habit of challenging his teammates to a battle to make observations on the team’s abilities. From there, he’d be able to identify the areas where you could improve. His intentions are noble. It’s just that he has a tendency to go overboard and actually go all out.”
Anna observed the dissatisfied Vincent and the defeated Justin, and asks, “So how did you lose?” Vincent was still angry and depressed, so Justin shrugged and answered, “He sneak attacked us when we separated. Then he distracted me while he took care of Vincent, before taking us both out with an AOE attack.” Anna cringed, “Ouch. I am so sorry he did that to you, guys. But at least you got some experience out of it.” Vincent grumbled, “I couldn’t even do a thing. What sort of experience could we have gotten from this?” Frank tried to cheer Vincent up, “This is considered a good experience because not all of the opponents you’re going to face will actually challenge you to a face-to-face battle. The more powerful teams will implement a strategy of some sort. And it’s your job to adapt to it.”
Vincent took a deep breath and exhaled, “I guess I can accept your reasons. But was it really necessary to do it like that?” Anna hits Frank's arm again but this time she had hit him even harder, “Vincent’s right. Was it necessary to use Meteor Bomber?” Frank awkwardly scratches the back of his head, “I guess I did go a bit too far there. Sorry, you two. But Anna, that last one, hurts you know. How could you do this to a guy that just got out of the hospital? Don’t you think you should be a little more gentle with how you treat me? After all, your brutality might send me back to the ICU.”
Frank blushed when he looked at Anna as he said it. Anna gave Frank a disappointing look, “Seriously, you’re going there? You hurt your leg, Frank, not your arm. Hitting your arm wouldn’t hurt you much. So, stop exaggerating”
Seeing this, Justin whispered to Vincent, “Hey, is it just me, or do you also see the awkward tension between those two?” Vincent squinted his eyes as he watched Anna and Frank arguing and he whispered to Justin, “Nope, I don’t see it.” Justin then muttered under his breath, “Wow, you really are blind to this kind of thing. I feel so sorry for you.” With the apologies settled, Anna sat everyone down. “Okay, now that everyone’s here. Let’s work on a game plan. I ran into Mister Myers earlier and he told me that our opponents for the next round have been decided.”
Vincent, Justin, and Frank looked at Anna in anticipation, “So, who are we facing in the next round?” Frank asked. Anna reveals the team they will be facing for the next round. “For the third round, our opponents will be Charles Brighton Military Academy, team Brave Berets.” Frank places his index finger on his chin and his thumb under the chin, “If they’re our next opponents, then we really need to work on our teamwork.”
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The team went back to the cockpits. In his cockpit, Vincent complained, “Our teamwork is fine without you. What could you possibly do to make us better?” The mechanical voice announced, “Initiating display. Mission selected: Blizzard Mountain. Simulation difficulty set to B.” When all four frames entered the battlefield, they found themselves on a snow-capped mountain. The entire battlefield was on the mountainside near a ridge. White snow covered the entire landscape with strong winds blowing more snow their way. This situation disrupted their view making it difficult for them to see.
A few enemy frames peeked out of the snow and fired beams at Vincent and his team. All four frames dashed around to avoid the attacks. Frank then gave out orders, “Everyone, spread out, we’re too big a target together. Get into pairs and take a direction. Vincent, you’re with me, we’re going left. Anna, we’ll meet up at the top of the mountain.” Upon receiving orders, Anna nodded, “Justin, we’re going right. Take out as many of them as possible.”
So the team separated into two smaller teams with Vincent going with Frank and Justin teaming up with Anna. Frank and Vincent moved down the path from their initial position. They dashed through the snow with Vincent taking the lead. “Vincent, take out the enemies that pop up closes to us, while I take out the ones in the distance.” Frank raised his sniper rifle and took aim after finding a large rock for him to take cover. Frank activated his radar and his targeting system. His screen zoomed into the distance where he caught sight of several frames hiding near the snow.
All of the frames they were facing were painted white to give a camouflage advantage against players. The designers wanted to give players a real challenge. Vincent agreed to the plan, albeit reluctantly. While Frank was busy scoping out enemy units and sniping them Vincent kept guard, in case a few of the units came in close while Frank was busy. While Vincent was impatiently waiting, three white enemy units jumped out of the snow. They were intent on getting rid of the two intruders that had entered their territory.
Seeing the incoming attack, Vincent knew he could not fire his mega launcher. His enemies were too close, “Ughh, screw it.” Vincent dropped his mega launcher and took out both of his beam hawks and blocked the three swords that fell upon him. Vincent struggled but he was able to push them back. The three frames tried to regain their footing after being knocked back. Not wanting to waste his opportunity, Vincent dashed forwards and cuts down the first frame. The second one was able to regain its footing and was about to charge in for a second attack, but Vincent did not allow it to gain any momentum. He threw one of his axes and it hit the enemy unit in the head before Vincent unleashed the full force of his Gatling gun in a hail of bullets.
The second unit fell, and Vincent retrieved his axe before the simulated enemy exploded. Witnessing its two comrades’ fall, the third unit turned around and ran. Vincent was going to leave it be when Frank contacted him, “Don’t let it run away, Vincent. It might cause us trouble later. Take it out now. Captain’s orders.” Vincent wanted to argue but he accepted his orders. He quickly catches up to the fleeing unit and threw his axe. It struck squarely on the AI unit’s back. Vincent arrives and pulls out his axe before swinging both of his axes and cutting down the fleeing unit. He turns around and leaves as the unit he had just defeated exploded in the background.
Vincent returned to Frank and reported, “All three units have been dealt with.” Frank nodded, “Good. I’ve taken out all of the ones that were in our way. Now we can move forward without any problems.” Vincent picked up his mega launcher and followed behind Frank as they made their way up the mountain. Along the way, Vincent spotted various black spots on the seemingly white snow. At each spot, he saw the parts and pieces left behind when frames explode. There were quite a few of them as they made their way.
Frank stopped when they arrived at the entrance of a large cave. After stopping at the entrance, Frank turned to Vincent, “Vincent, you’re taking the lead on this one.” Vincent did not know what Frank was up to so he decided that it was better to just roll with it. He could argue and comment after the simulation was over.