Upon defeating Bart and Yolanda, the Jakqoo drifted towards the colony because of the resulting explosion, “We did it. We won!” Justin looked at his screen, “It worked. It actually worked.” Anna nodded, “Uhm, we won.” Mister Myers and Frank watched the screen displaying the match, “No, not yet. The match hasn’t been called yet.” Just as the three were celebrating their victory, a frame appeared on the colony. It was half destroyed. Mark glared at the Jakqoo from his cockpit and howled, “It’s not over yet. IT’S NOT OVER YET! As long as I destroy your frame, we’ll be the ones going forward."

The Leomightas was partially destroyed with its left arm missing and its body full of cracks Part of its left leg was missing and the entire body had electric currents moving all around it. The frame inched closer and closer, ever so slowly as it drifted towards Vincent’s Jakqoo. Inside his cockpit, Vincent was panting as he watched the Leomightas slowly advancing on his position. His cockpit was blinking red lights signifying that he had sustained great damage from the clash. It would be easy for Mark to destroy his frame considering he was now completely defenseless.

“I threw away my pride by asking for a favor and having her assemble a frame for me. Using another person’s machine is considered disgraceful in higher circles. But I did what I did for the sake of victory. I don’t care what I had to do. I just wanted to fight there again. I just wanted to go to NATIONALS!” The thrusters of the Leomightas flared up and quickly pushed it towards the Jakqoo V. Listening to Mark’s rant, Bart and Yolanda closed their eyes. They understood what he was feeling. Seeing the approaching frame, Vincent willed his Jakqoo V to turn and face the Leomightas head-on.

“You’re not the only one who wants to go there. WE ALSO WANT TO GO TO NATIONALS!” Vincent pulled every ounce of his strength and willed his Jakqoo to face the incoming attack. Unarmed, the Leomightas punched out with all the strength that it could muster. Vincent reciprocated by having his Jakqoo do the same. The Leomightas’ fist hits the face of the Jakqoo. When the fist connected, Vincent’s fist also connected with the Leomightas’ face. The attack sent the Jakqoo crashing onto the exterior of the destroyed colony while the Leomightas started drifting off into the vast sea of stars.

Everyone was shocked and awed to see this development. The Jakqoo just laid there, without an ounce of energy, with parts of its head, slightly damaged. The Leomightas on the other hand, drifted away. As it drifted, its right arm began to crack, before it broke into tiny pieces. As it drifted, it lost the light in its eyes. Then, the end of the match was announced when the mechanical voice spoke, “Battle Over!” displaying the name of the winning team ‘Battle Over. Winner: Miles Massey High Team Silver Vanguard.’ When the battle came to an end, everyone cheered. It was the most exciting match they had seen at this level.

The announcer then made an announcement, “In the WARFRAME Battle Tournament City Qualifiers final match, the winning team is Team Silver Vanguard from Miles Massey High School.” In the stands, JoJo almost broke into tears of Joy. As the teams exited their respective pods, Justin and Anna ran up to Vincent, “We did it, Vincent. We’re going to state. And when we win at that level, we’ll go to nationals.” Looking at Vincent, Anna and Justin were surprised by how tired and ragged he looked. He looked like a sleep-deprived zombie. Vincent smiles, “We won. We’re going to state. I need to rest now.” Vincent yawned and fell forwards. Because Justin was standing in front of him as he fell, Justin caught the tired winner. Anna pats Vincent on the back, “Rest up, Vincent. You deserve it.”

When the announcement was made, Mark looked at the ground, defeated and dejected. Despite his efforts, he lost in the end. He then heard the sounds of whimpering and tears being shed, not too far away. He turned in the direction of the sound and saw his reserve teammate, Rick. The guy was kneeling on the floor, sniveling, trying to hold back his tears. Mark walks up to the crying Rick and places his hand on the guy’s shoulder, “Stop crying. We don’t regret our loss. We gave it our all. That means something.” Rick stared at Mark, still shedding tears, “Ma…Mark.” He nodded enthusiastically, “Uhm, we gave it our best.” Watching how Mark was comforting Rick, Bart turned to Yolanda. He noticed that she was looking away, “Yolanda.” “What?” she growled at him as she turned to face him. He could see the tears swelling up in her eyes. Bart smiles and pats her on the shoulder, “It’s going to be okay. We just have to work harder next time.”

With Vincent completely tuckered out, Justin handed him over to Mister Myers and Maya, who happily took him home to rest, while Anna, Justin, and Frank joined in the awards ceremony. After the day’s events had ended, the trio visited Vincent and Maya at their home. Maya opened the door and led everyone to Vincent’s room, “I’m sorry that everyone came just to visit Vincent. You see, he is still asleep at the moment. Maybe you guys can come back when he wakes up.” Anna shook her head, “Nope, this is fine. We just dropped by to give Vincent, this.” Frank brought out the trophy the team had won. “Yeah, we just want to give him this.”

Maya was surprised to see the trophy, “Are you sure? I thought everyone worked for it. Shouldn’t you be the ones to keep it?” Anna shook her head. “It’s true that we all worked for it. But, if it weren’t for Vincent, we wouldn’t have even won. We owe our victory to him. We talked it over and agreed that it was best left with him.” Maya nodded and entered the room with Anna, Justin, and Frank in tow. She places the trophy on Vincent’s desk. The group watched as Vincent slept. Frank smiled and took out an air horn. But before he could press it, Anna elbowed him and gave him a sour expression. She whispers, “Read the room. This could be one of the reasons why he doesn’t like you.” Frank slumped and left the room dejected. Anna, Maya, and Justin followed behind him and closed the door.

Anna hits Frank on the back of his head, “Don’t you ever try that again.” Frank tries to defend himself and Anna and Maya scowled at him. Frank rubs his head as he makes his way to the door. “I’m sorry for his behavior Maya. He can be a bit playful sometimes.” Maya shook her head, “I’m just glad Vincent has friends that he can pal around with.” Justin nodded in agreement, “Leave it to me. I can be his best pal.” Maya gives him a charming smile, “Please do.” Justin blushes and smiles in glee. Maya then asks Anna, “So, what now?” Anna answers, “When Vincent wakes up, we’re going to train and get ready for state. Once we win there, we can finally battle it out with the other teams at the national level.” Maya smiles, “I’ll be cheering for you when you get there.” Anna and Justin spoke in a tone brimming with confidence and conviction, “We’ll get there. That’s a promise.”