THUNK!

After flying inside the Palace of Emotions, Jason's Mech promptly crashed face-first to the ground.

Now that he was back in an environment with gravity, he immediately noticed the fact that his machine had no legs. The Vampire Brawler couldn't balance itself.

Beside him, Steven laughed loudly.

"Ah. My bad. I shouldn't have disconnected with you. I'll be your legs for this match."

Jason grinned.

"Thanks. I don't think I have the fuel to fly this whole time."

The Vampire Brawler was capable of atmospheric flight, but it was primarily a ground-bound Mech. It wasn't meant to stay in the air for a long time - constantly flying would quickly deplete its internal reserves.

After working with him, Jason decided he liked Steven quite a bit.

The other pilot was soft-spoken but kind.

He did whatever he could to help the team win, and he'd diligently encouraged Jason throughout the match. Even an awkward man like Jason could appreciate that highly welcoming environment. Although Danny seemed like the overall leader of the BAG Guild, Jason understood how Steven had once led a College Cup team.

The O-Flier attached to the Vampire Brawler again, albeit in a different position.

In space, the O-Flier had surrounded Jason's machine in its conventional ring formation.

The defensive system had effectively orbited his Mech.

During the tight clash, Steven had shifted the defensive support up and down to deflect enemy attacks while adjusting the thrusters at the base to increase Jason's speed. His skilled piloting had played an enormous role in their victory. He'd saved Jason from countless enemy attacks.

In this case, the O-Flier had docked onto Jason's knees.

With the ring at the base of Jason's Mech, the O-Flier essentially acted like prosthetics. Rather than stomping through the ground, Jason hovered forward.

Beep.

Jason's control board flickered.

TAKE CONTROL OF THE O-FLIER?

Y/N

He hesitated, but then Steven's face flickered onto his screen via the communications wire.

The Overdrive communications screen only showed a pilot's head and shoulders, but Jason could already tell that Steven was massive. The support specialist's very large head peaked out of a mop of unruly hair. His shoulders were extremely broad.

"Don't worry about it. I give up control all the time. It's the most efficient thing to do - I can't predict your movements in a fight."

Jason nodded and accepted the request.

His control board buzzed as his systems linked with the O-Flier.

The united Mech steadily flew forwards.

The sheer size and scale of the Palace of Emotions were utterly bewildering.

Even inside their machines, the marble columns looked ridiculously massive. Jason's Vampire Brawler was fifty feet tall. That meant that the columns on each floor had to be at least two hundred feet tall. The various statues littered across the building were similarly gargantuan. They were practically the size of Giga Mechs.

The endless red carpet was like an ocean.

If he'd been outside of his Mech, he would have felt like he was drowning. The fur on the carpet was probably taller than an ordinary person. Like most stages in the Overdrive world, the Palace of Emotions was utterly fanciful. Architecture always got weird when engorged to the scale of a Mech.

Steven shook his head as he and Jason continued moving forward.

"Man. Those were some pretty impressive moves. Where'd you learn that last one from?"

Jason blinked, then he remembered what Jason was talking about. The last Mech had tried barreling Jason over with a head-on charge.

Once again, Jason had used a clothesline to halt enemy momentum and throw them backwards. Afterwards, his empowered Mech had blasted through the opponent with a high-speed charge. The combination of Steven's O-Flier and Jason's Blood Transfer ability had been deadly.

Jason laughed.

"It's funny. I learned it from a friend who is a wrestling coach. However, he was clear that the move was from WWE wrestling, not high school wrestling. He said he'd probably get arrested if he encouraged his kids to use that move. After he showed it to me, I just repeated it a bunch of times."

The two continued chatting as they walked through the lobby. According to Danny's instructions, the rest of the group was waiting for them on the second floor.

Jason and Steven took the first staircase they saw. The banister was jet black wood, a stark contrast to the usual marble. Once again, Jason could only marvel at the scale - people would probably have to chop down an entire forest to create this structure in real life.

As it turned out, Steven had actually competed in high school wrestling back in the day.

The other man's very large build had allowed him to succeed in the heavyweight division. However, he'd hated working out and going on a diet to make weight - the highest class was two hundred and eighty-five pounds. Steven had spent most of his life at well over three hundred.

On top of that, he hadn't liked hurting people.

As a result, he'd quit after just two years.

The other man laughed.

"Yeah, blowing people up in Overdrive is about the worst I can do. I don't know any wrestling moves anymore."

Jason laughed along with him. The other player was the definition of a gentle giant!

Of course, the convo soon went to a very different area.

Steven shot Jason a strange look.

"Do you have any idea who those guys were?"

Jason shook his head.

"No idea."

The veteran pilot scratched his chin a bit as he thought for a moment longer, but he didn't recognize any of the players.

None of them had a particularly distinctive playstyle. While all their Mechs were custom aces, none held distinguishing equipment. Rather, they'd all used solid Three Star items.

In fact, their builds were very similar to Jason's Vampire Brawler - they were solid machines, but they weren't main Mechs.

Jason tsked.

A similar build to his Vampire Brawler...

Could it be?

Steven frowned. It seemed like he had a similar thought to Jason.

"Maybe it's a competitor going after you guys. You know? Someone who is trying to keep you guys from reaching Castle Notoria."

Jason had the same thought, but it just didn't make sense.

"Why would someone attack us here? It's only a five-hour trip. It wouldn't be a big deal if they sent us back - plenty of people arrive the day of the tournament."

Steven scratched his scraggly beard as his voice trailed off.

"Yeah, good point..."

Then the big man shrugged.

"Well. Owen is sending a report. The action was pretty quick, so we couldn't identify any of those guys, but maybe the bigger organizations will look into it. Hopefully, they get those guys."

However, Steven had one last observation.

"The thing is...I wonder who has enough clout to bring so many decent pilots together? Those guys weren't great, but they were still pretty dang good."

Jason nodded, and then it was his turn to trail off.

"Yeah..."

Jason soon lost himself in thought.

The pilots with the black Mechs had been pretty good.

They were worse than the BAG Guild's best players, but they were a good deal more skilled than the average player. Compared to the different players he'd battled as a One Star Boss, Jason would have rated the Black Mech pilots around a six or seven out of ten.

None of them were super impressive on their own.

However, finding a lot of those players at once was challenging. Training them all to work as a coordinated team was even tougher.

The united colors felt like they were meant to send a specific message.

In the end, Steven's voice shook Jason out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, if I had to guess, it's probably a competitor for you guys. They might have hired some mercenary Mechs too."

Then the other pilot shrugged.

"Good thing you and Danny are using fake Mechs. Just plow forward, you know - your new builds will catch them totally off guard."

Steven smirked.

"This attack probably will end up hurting them."

Steven's personality was totally at ease despite his roughshod and unkempt appearance.

It seemed like his previous experiences in the College Cup had given him a calm and zen-like approach to life. The other pilot hadn't managed to win a single battle despite his individual skill. Rather than growing angry, he'd become even more level-headed.

However, Jason didn't mention his observation.

Instead, he kept his mouth shut and just thanked Steven for cheering him up.

It seemed too personal - he didn't know Steven well enough yet. It seemed like the kind of thing that would make someone mad.

Jason was socially inept, but he learned from his mistakes!

The rest of the group was waiting for them on the second floor.

Only seven machines were waiting for them. Wendy's Dehua was missing.

If Jason had to guess, Wendy's highly damaged Dehua had burnt up during atmospheric re-entry. She'd been in horrible shape. Like the Mechs Jason destroyed, her battered machine probably didn't have enough thrust to make a safe landing.

Danny greeted them warmly. The BAG Guild's leader quickly confirmed Jason's suspicions before going into his plan.

"Steven. Jason. Good to see you guys. Unfortunately, Wendy didn't make it through the atmosphere. I tried my best, but she veered off course at the last second."

The other pilot shook his head.

"I probably should have just grabbed her. Then again, she probably couldn't have done much anyway. She was horribly beat up."

Steven cut in.

"Is she going to join us for the descent?"

Danny nodded.

"Yes. She and Owen will lead the other members who want to take a second go at it. We'll link up the day of the event and try the landing at full force."

Steven pumped his fist.

"Nice. With all of us there, we should be able to land safely. That last ambush was pretty tricky. It's tough that we lost so many guys, but it's also good practice. There will be more challenges like it if we want to help you and Jason win the Tournament of Assassins."

An appreciative murmur went through the other six players. The beginners had known they were in for a tough fight, but Steven's words helped recontextualize their failure. Before, they felt like they were facing an impossible task.

Now, they felt better prepared.

Danny turned to Jason.

"Thanks for watching the rear for us. Normally, I would have wanted to do it myself, but I felt like I had to prioritize defense."

Jason considered the other man's words for a moment.

Truth be told, he'd simply done what Danny had told him to do without thinking.

He felt like that was a natural part of being on a team. That was how teams worked - they consisted of several disparate pilots working together.

When Jason was a One Star Boss, his role had sucked. However, his role in the BAG Guild had been fun and enjoyable - he'd loved throwing himself into that storm of opponents.

"Yeah, of course. Everyone was doing well, and I just wanted to fit in."

Jason smiled.

"Besides, I feel like that was a good split. I wouldn't know how to defend other Mechs. My Vampire Brawler is pretty bulky, but I mostly feel comfortable fighting by myself. It's better to let you focus on that."

Danny smiled.

"Alright, that's good. It feels pretty bad when someone tells you to watch the rear as they escape. I just wanted to make sure you felt cool with the job I was giving you."

Jason thought for a moment before responding.

Danny took great lengths to make sure everyone was comfortable with their in-game role. It was only respectful for Jason to consider his own words carefully.

"Honestly, just use me where you think is best. I don't like leadership...I would rather just accept missions and do them. If you think it's best, I'll do it. I feel like I'm your guys' guest here."

Danny smiled.

"Alright. Then I've got a mission for you."

He turned to the overall group.

"I'm going to go after the Searing Anger. I want to use that Mech in my heavy assault build. So I'll stay here and roll until I get an item that can deal with it quickly."

Solo-ing a Five Star Boss was difficult.

However, Danny's item gave him a huge benefit in this situation.

The Emotional Paragons wouldn't attack until he challenged the stage. Just like during the first round, Danny could wait until he had the perfect set-up.

Then he pointed at the remaining players.

"Alright. I want Steven to act as the leader, but Jason will be the carry. Everyone support him, got it?"

The rest of the group responded immediately.

"Yes, sir!"

"Let's do it!"

"We got this!"

Together, they left Danny behind and stepped up towards the top floor.

The legendary Paragon Green Envy was waiting for them in the penthouse.