Emi and Tomio make their way through a dark forest trail. The old looking fortress ahead of them is clear, that’s where Chiara must be without a doubt. The guard at the checkpoint, no longer allowed to sleep on the job, catches wind of the two approaching the fortress. They are armed with rifles and other tactical equipment. He gets up from his guard post and blocks the path before they can get close.
“This is a restricted area! Show me your proof of invitation and…” Before he can finish, Emi shoves him aside on the road; not caring about showing any form of consent to showing up. Emi’s fury is beyond the point of playing nice.
”HELP HELP!!!! WE GOT INTRUDERS!” He frantically calls through his shoulder mounted radio but Tomio quickly silences him with his FN FAL as he tags along with Emi. There was never any intention of coming in quietly. The bell on the fortress rings and soldiers clad in all black tactical gear take their positions over the fortress walls and open fire on Emi and Tomio.
”Damn, they’re quick to react.” Tomio comments as he hides behind the checkpoint structure with Emi as they receive gun fire from the fortress walls.
”Yeah. Kael told me exactly what we’re going to run into. Looks like he wasn’t lying after all.” She hears a truck approaching from the fortress gates. The truck comes to a halt and soldiers disembark in the dozen to put a stop to their assault. Tomio throws a fragmentation grenade towards the truck with Emi and the explosion takes out a couple of the troops. They charge helplessly towards the two but are gunned down by Emi and Tomio.
”Now’s our chance!” Tomio orders Emi to follow him when he makes a dash for the truck’s driver seat. Emi hops into the passenger side and reloads her M4A1 with a 30 round Pmag and loads one in the chamber. Tomio sets his rifle by the driver seat, shifts the truck in reverse and uses his side mirror to navigate the truck towards the opening of the fortress gate at full speed. That way the rear of the truck will offer some protection from the incoming fire.
”Hurry, Tomio! They are trying to shut the gate!” Emi can see the fortress doors are closing in from the side.
”Not on my watch!” He keeps the transportation truck going and forces the vehicle to smash through the closing gates, knocking out the soldiers attempting to close it. Tomio steps on the breaks and shifts it to neutral. “Nice! We’re in! Oh crap!” The fortress bell is still being rung and now soldiers from all sides gather in the masses to surround the truck.
”Shit…maybe this wasn’t the smartest idea, Tomio. We’re not going to fight our way out of this one.” Just as Emi and Tomio are expecting to be fired upon, the soldiers surrounding the truck lower their weapons and kneel as the bell too comes to a halt.
”What's going on? They are not attacking us.” Tomio says to Emi as he was expecting to go out in a firefight. “What gives now?”
”Intruders! Step out of the vehicle, now!” A commanding and harsh female voice shouts from a nearby intercom in the fortress courtyard.
”What do we do now, Tomio?”
”We don’t have much of a choice. We better introduce ourselves.” With Tomio’s word, Emi joins him and exits out of the vehicle. They are surrounded by kneeling soldiers whom seem to answer to the voice in the intercom system.
”I must say, you both have a hell of a way to make an entrance…Emi Cadieux and Tomio Uberti.” The female voice chuckles through the intercom. “At last, I finally meet the real squad leaders of Armadillo and Longhorn Squad.”
The fortress courtyard falls eerily silent as the soldiers remain kneeling, their weapons lowered but still at the ready. Emi and Tomio exchange a glance, their fingers hovering near their triggers, unsure of what comes next. “And you must be Asura.” Emi reponds to the intercom. “What’s the matter? Too ugly to show yourselves to us?”
The voice behind the intercom takes the insult lightly and laughs it off. “Oh my, you both really are bold. It takes a lot of guts just to barge into my base without my permission. Too bad your squadmates don’t share that same boldness from my experience.” She sneers over the intercom. “Speaking of which, I believe I know why you are both here.”
”You have one of our squadmates, Asura! What did you do to Chiara?!” Emi yells furiously at the intercom.
”Nothing! All I have done is offer your dear friend a once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of an elite and worthwhile squad. An opportunity to be greater than anything she could ever dream of imagining.
”That sounds like a load of crap to me, Emi.” Tomio suggests to her before speaking to Asura. “Is that what you also promised to Kael Valorheart?!”
”Not quite my little pizza boy!” Asura replies teasingly. “Kael was just an end to my means. A temporary stop gap for my ultimate goal in this tournament.”
”Well it not because of your uniforms. Sorry to break it to you but I think your whole early 2000s gothic aesthetic is incredibly lame!” Emi snaps back at Asura.
”As if I care what a bland excuse of a tomboy has to say about my squad's aesthetics.”
”Hey! Don’t you dare insult Emi like that!” Tomio shouts back. “You got a lot of nerve to be acting like this. You really are the scum everyone claims you are.”
”Did you expect anything else? Hm?” Asura attempts to poke more at Tomio and Emi.
”You really pissing me off! I didn’t come to speak to you! I’m here for my friend!”
”Your friend, Emi?” Asura laughs maniacally. “I’ll tell you what. Since you’re so eager to speak to her, why don’t I let her lose on you and see what she thinks about you now? Ha!” The soldiers make a clear path from the barracks. “Chiara Lorenz! Report to the courtyard! You have visitors!” The barrack door opens and Emi and Tomio look in utter shock.
Gone is the warm, timid girl they once knew. Instead, Chiara strides forward with cold precision, her movements sharp and calculated. Her usual vibrant eyes are now dull, almost lifeless, hidden behind some bangs from her hair. She wears the same black gothic clothing and gear as the kneeling soldiers, Vampire Squad’s insignia displayed on her shoulder.
”Ch…Chiara?” Emi mutters in disbelief. “What the hell is this? What happened to you?!”
”It’s none of your business, Emi!” Chiara snaps back at her. It’s very clear something in her has changed. In the way she spoke, it almost seems as if she adopted the mannerism and harshness of the one who remodeled her.
”None of our business?! Chiara, I am your friend! Did you forget about me? Hikari? Mai?”
”Of course I didn’t. I’m not stupid, Emi. I can remember things.” She crosses her arms and stands firmly several feet in front of Emi. “I had to move on, Emi. I couldn’t be a liability anymore. I’m not weak anymore.”
”You’re in our opponent's team!! What do you mean you’re not weak!” Emi scoffs at Chiara, clearly feeling the disappointment she has for Chiara’s choice in her actions.
”Armadillo Squad was holding me back.” Chiara brushes her hair behind her ear in a dismissive fashion as she looks away. “I was never going to succeed in our old squad…but this is different Emi. I can lead with confidence in this squad. I brought victory to my new family. I even faced off Raptor Squad recruits.”
”Yeah, so?” Emi shakes her head. “None of that matters if you’re not with your friends!” She directs her hand at the soldiers surrounding them. “None of these soldiers are your friends, Chiara! That bitch hiding behind the intercom is not your friend! She’s using you like she did with Kael!”
”Shut it, Emi!” "You don’t get it, do you?!" she snaps, her voice trembling with something between rage and desperation. I’m a lot like Asura in so many ways. You don’t know her like I do! She’s more like me than anyone back in Armadillo or Longhorn Squad.”
”I don’t believe a word of it” Tomio begrudgingly shakes his head. “We never saw you that way, Chiara.”
”I should have known…” Chiara glares at Emi. “You really did replace me with Tomio after all. That’s why he’s here with you, isn’t it?”
”I told you, Chiara. I would never replace you!” Emi speaks authoritatively to her. “Unfortunately, you kept avoiding us while we were on campus this past week. If you keep this up, I’ll have no choice but to replace your role in our squad. Someone will take your role if you don't come back.” Emi makes her ultimatum perfectly clear. “Nobody in our squad buys into Asura’s bullshit. We intend to face off against them and what’s left of Kael’s former squad in next week's match. We’re taking this very seriously after what you did to us, Chiara.”
There’s a dreadful silence between the two. Tomio takes the initiative to try to win Chiara back. His voice is low but firm. "Chiara, please, you and Emi were inseparable. Losing that practice match was not the end of the world. Longhorn Squad isn’t letting it demoralize them. Emi’s Armadillo Squad isn’t going to back down. We still have a chance against…well all this. You don’t have to throw us aside just because you think you’re going to win easily with someone like Asura.”
"No. All that got me was failure. Asura showed me that sometimes, I have to take another path to get what I want from life. I don’t have to listen to someone like you, Emi, my professors, or my parents from letting me live the way I want to live.”
“Chiara!” Emi retorts back furious before sighing heavily. “You know what. You think you’ve changed for the better. Like you’re somehow better than you used to be because you found an alternative and damning way of approaching life…and this stupid game. I’m going to tell you the truth, Chiara. You’re not going to like this but I don’t care anymore. You never stopped being a coward. And siding with these freaks against us doesn’t cut it as self improvement. You’re scared of losing, instead of being brave and getting back up like the rest of us, you ran away from your problems like a coward!”
Chiara flinches from Emi’s harsh words. She’s never spoken like this before. It hits incredibly close to her ego. To her one character flaw that has haunted her for most of her life. It almost gets to her to crack but Asura interjects. “How pathetic. Do you really think you can guilt her from her own choices?”
”You think you know everything, Emi.” Chiara's voice darkens. “You’re just a college student. Just like me. You don’t know how the real world works.”
”Yeah, but it's not like you know any better how the real world works, Chiara.” Emi shakes her head. “If that’s how it’s going to be. So be it.” Emi speaks with harsh determination. “Next Friday, I’ll make sure Tomio and my squad will make it clear that you'll feel what it’s like to lose again.” She steps back away from Chiara, clearly upset that she wasn’t able to change her mind. “Come on, Tomio. We’re done here.” She says in a solemn and cold tone.
”Emi…we can’t just abandon Chiara like this…”
”It’s no use, Tomio. We’re going to have to try again the hard way.” Emi looks over at the intercom and speaks to Asura. “And that goes for you too. You have some serious problems and I’m going to make sure our next match will force you to face that reality.”
Asura is taken back by Emi’s threats. It takes a while for her to speak in regards to her comments. “That’s really cute. The tomboy thinks she’s a psychologist!” She says in a mocking crackle. “You really think you’re going to lecture me? Hah!”
“No. I’m going to show you.” Emi turns away with Tomio as they both walk unintended out of the fortress. Chiara just stands there in silence as she watches her former friends depart from her. Her hands clench into a fist but she desperately wants to cry. It’s like watching a part of her old identity leaving her. But something in her causes her to call on Emi once more before she parts from the busted gates.
“Emi! You don’t know what you’re going up against! You’re making a mistake!”
Emi turns her head when she hears Chiara one last time. “Oh yeah? I was about to say the same thing to you.” She looks away and walks with Tomio out of the fortress, disappearing into the fog and smoke left behind from the earlier firefight.