Emi and Tomio exchange glances for a moment before sliding down the observation tower ladder with Zander, Trevor, and Markus following right after. From across the field, Andjela keeps her anti-material rifle aimed at Kael but holds her fire. Everyone else from the kill house stops what they are doing and quickly emerges from the entrance to see what all the commotion is about. Mai is surprised to see Kael but has a slight bit of resentment from losing against his squad. She crosses her arms and rolls her eyes.
“You again? What’s with the wailing and tears? Did Asura break up with you or something?” Mai says with annoyance in her voice. “Can’t you see we’re in the middle of training so we can try to win against your squad?”
Kael’s face twists at Mai’s jab, but he doesn’t rise to the bait. Instead, his voice comes out low, strained nothing like the boastful and overly heroic voice he normally speaks with. “She took my squad” Kael says as he falls to his knees in front of everyone. His hands fall onto the ground as he pounds onto the earth with his fist. “That witch! That demon! Asura took everything from me. My squadmates were right about her. She was using me all along.”
“Pfft. Well that’s unfortunate.” Mai says with an uncaring tone. “Didn’t you ever hear the phrase “Bros before hoes”?”
“Mai, cut him some slack!” Emi snaps at Mai who just shakes her head and crosses her arm. “Kael, what do you mean you were set up? Where are the rest of your squad mates?”
“They were absorbed by Vampire Squad! Asura used Chiara, YOUR SQUADMATE, to take EVERYTHING from me!” Kael wails with all of his might. “What kind of fucked up espionage is this?!!”
“Chi..Chiara?” Emi stutters. The truth hits her like a bullet to the heart. “You...you have to be mistaken? Chiara would never...”
"But she did! She challenged me to a duel and rigged it so she would win!” Kael continues to spill out everything to Emi. “They had her all clad up in their gothic tactical clothes and everything. She’s not that quiet scared girl I faced off against! She’s a vampire! A vicious animal like Asura! Do you think I’m making this all up?!”
Vicky, who had just respawned from the training exercise, hears of this and feels like she has to intervene. “That explains why she’s been lacking sleep this entire week.”
“She’s been training with the enemy the entire time…” Ashley’s suggestion gets a nod from Vicky who looks like she’s enlightened by knowing the answer to the ultimate mystery behind Chiara’s behavior but at the same time, her face expresses a deep disappointment in her friend she’s been trying to help.
“Emi, you can’t let this go on anymore.” Vicky says to her as she walks up to Kael to help comfort him and allows him to cry on her shoulder. “Chiara is being manipulated and destroyed by this…Vampire Squad. They don’t have her best interests. It’s affecting her mental health and her academics!”
“Esh…sounds like you have yourself an Anakin Skywalker situation.” Zander adds. “Seems like your op-sec is in ruins now if she gave up all of the intel about your upcoming match. You seriously need to get this sorted out!”
“That Vampire Bitch has broken the last straw!” Mai clenches her rifle tightly. “Emi! Let’s just find Asura, kick her ass on her turf, and get Chiara back!”
“We could give both of them a spanking.” Trevor suggests to Mai cooly.
“That works too, Trevor! Ugh! I can’t believe Chiara! That traitor!” Mai shouts with digusts.
“Nobody is going to kick any asses or give any spankings!” Hikari reasons with Mai and Trevor. “We need to find out why Chiara switched sides like this. All I can think is that Asura is promising her something from doing all this.”
“Don’t count it!” Kael blows his nose with a handkerchief Vicky provided for him. “She’s just going to use her until she gets what she wants from her and then dispose of her from her friends list just like she did with me…and everyone else she uses.”
“She sounds even worse than Zander!” Mai scoffs openly with Zander raising an eyebrow.
“Tsch…come on, I wasn’t that bad. I paid good rates, you know.”
“Everyone…please!!!” Emi shouts, silencing everyone in the whole ruckus that was caused by Kael. Emi does her best to try to stay cool and collected. She wouldn’t want to break down again like she did in front of Hikari and Mai, let alone in front of Tomio, Zander, or any of the others. She looks at Kael who’s now standing before her, a broken man who has fallen for whatever tricks Asura has pulled onto him. It’s only fair she would put her trust in him. “Kael, do you still have Vampire Squad’s headquarters credentials?”
“Yeah, but I’m banished from ever stepping foot in…”
“That’s good enough.” She looks over at Tomio who stands there with worry in his eyes. “Tomio, I’m going to need your help.”
”Take us with you, Emi!” Mai requests with determination.
“No.” She snaps with authority. “Everyone else needs to keep training. We have to redo our entire defensive strategy now that our intel about our match has been compromised. Tomio and I will deal with Chiara ourselves.” Her response gets a frown from Mai and the others. To Mai, it seems like even Emi is starting to lose herself over the game, but she’s not wrong. “Look, I know this is demoralizing but we have to be focused.”
“Emi is right.” Tomio interjects. “We can’t let this bring us down. That’s what Vampire Squad wants us to feel. We shouldn’t give them the gratitude of demoralizing us.” He addresses Ramirez next. “Ramirez, I know your squad was wiped out in your practice match, but I still need you, Kimberly, and Fio to fight without my leadership. I know it’s a big order to ask from you all but I believe in you all to pull it off. You have Armadillo Squad and their new members to work alongside you now. Could you do that for me?”
”We’ll do what we can, Tomio.” Ramirez responds firmly. “We know how they fight. That gives us something to work off.”
“We’re not going to make the same mistake again.” Kimberly makes her oath to the squad. “Especially with our new equipment.” She holds up her AKS-74u which she purchased from Flint’s Gunstore the day before.
“We’re going to turn that Vampire Squad smile on their logo, upside down.” Fio says with a blissful yet firm retort, holding her P90 which has been decked out with a laser sighting module. Tomio can’t help but smile at his squads’ determination to stay the course after all they’ve been through. He looks over at Emi who still seems uncertain about the state of the team, let alone about what she's about to do next.
“We’ll do what we can about Chiara when we confront her.” Tomio attempts to reassure Emi. “We’re not going to lose her forever.”
“But what if she refuses?”
“Then, we’re going to have to win this no matter what, Emi. It's the only way we can get Chiara back.” Hearing those words from Tomio helps Emi feel less uncertainty about their odds.
“So be it then.” Emi walks over to Kael. “And what about you? You don’t have your squad anymore.”
“I know…I just want my squad back.” Kael somberly admits. “If you could somehow win this match against them…I’ll be more than willing to help your team…or maybe...” Kael clears his throat after wiping his eyes. He attempts to stand firm and proud like he once did as the squad leader of JarPig Squad. “You will accept me as one of your own…as an Armadillo.”
“Say no more, Kael.” Emi nods her head as she speaks before receiving the server coordinates for Vampire Squad’s HQ. “What are we going up against, Kael?”