Markus makes preparations for the conference room after his trip to Zander’s Training Grounds. He left earlier than the others so he can prepare all the documentations, maps, and the power point presentation for the team to begin their briefing. He looks down at his pocket watch which is showing that it is already 8 pm. The squads have been training since the morning with just an occasional break to log off for lunch and for the occasional bathroom break. Markus has been wearing his VR headset for nearly the entire day. He’s intrigued that his head doesn’t hurt from being in the virtual world for so long. But he’s providing his services to his designated team. This is what he’s being paid for and the moment Armadillo and Longhorn Squad are out of the tournament, he’s out of a job too. He would have to wait for another squad or event to get back to work again. It’s his only outlet to make a living as a NEET. There’s nothing for him outside of his bedroom. To him, he’s ensuring his team is getting everything they need to be as successful. He looks over his tablet, Armadillo Squad has but only sponsorship, their promotional video doesn’t have a lot of views despite the montage having some excellent editing from the Glam Squad twins. They have a generous amount of credits for the entire team, but it’ll only be good enough for this match. Team Lonestar will have to win big or lose everything. He can always hope for the team to try again in the next tournament but who’s to say they’ll do this again? They had already lost a team member who quit earlier. These girls don’t seem like gamers at all. Emi and the others are just college students.
”Everything alright, Markus?” Emi’s voice breaks the silence of Markus moving chairs around the conference room. He looks over to see Emi, standing by the doorway. She’s in her combat fatigues and is walking around in socks which would be humorous if it were not for the tension of the upcoming match next week.
”Yeah, so far so good. Guessing Chiara’s a no-go?”
”Nope.” Emi shakes her head and laughs with a hint of sadness, even if she’s trying to keep her spirits up. “Everything has to be difficult for a reason. Mind if I take my seat?”
”By all means, go for it. Where are the others?”
”On dinner break. They’ll log back in shortly. I wasn’t feeling hungry.”
”You too huh.” Markus shakes his head. “I haven’t had a meal all day.”
”Huh why not?”
”I’m just trying to make sure everything is running as it should be. You know, making arrangements for Zander to use his training facility, getting all of these documents and intel for your upcoming match, analyzing our budget and logistics. It would be nice to have an assistant.”
”Figures. You’re a NEET just like Fio.”
”Well not exactly.” Markus smiles at Emi. “The guys running the tournament pay me a good amount to watch over you. In a way, my income is dependent on your squad’s success.”
”So if we happen to lose…” Emi feels a sense of liability on their part for Markus’ job
”No worries, I could always be assigned to other teams for other tournaments. You shouldn’t worry about me. Even if I can’t find a contract, I have plenty saved to sustain me for a couple months.”
”All the more reason for us to keep trying.” Emi straightens herself on the chair. “I’ve already put a lot of my free time at the range, working on my shooting fundamentals, watching other matches, and running drills at the training grounds by myself. The others have been doing the same on their own time.”
”Seems like your squad has been on the grind.”
”I’m not confident that we’re good enough. Other than buying some ammo and some flashlights, my squad hasn’t looked into any equipment or upgrades.”
”Well I’m happy to report that we managed to get one sponsorship before the match.” Markus navigates to the team’s funds tab. “Your first sponsor has deposited a hefty sum of 30,000 credits.”
”No way! That’s a lot of credits to throw at a team as inexperienced as ours!” Emi’s jaw almost drops in astonishment. “Seriously? Who’d waste money on us?”
”That would be Zander from Kraken PMC. He gave me the heads up that he’ll be sponsoring your team for the upcoming match against Vampire Squad.”
”Zander…” Emi’s voice softens to a whisper. “No…that’s crazy. He didn’t have to do that….why would he…”
”He told me that he believes you have what it takes to take on Vampire Squad. He was impressed by how your squad trained yesterday and from your match against his mercenaries. He feels sorry about you losing Chiara and hopes that his investment would give you the moral and economic boost you need to show Asura…ahem, in his words not mine, that she’s a bad bitch in need of a time out.”
Emi shakes her head, smirking. “Well...I’ll have to get the whole squad to thank him. That was too much for him to do for us.”
”Zander did what?” Mai peaks out from the doorway. Discretely.
”You heard me, Mai.” Emi’s laughs and shakes her head when hears Mai. Your former squad leader is sponsoring us. You’re going to have to thank him now.”
”That’s no fair…” Mai comes to join Emi on the conference table. She starts to speak begrudgingly under her breath. “Who does he think he is? First he fired me and now he’s supporting my new team.”
”It was very generous of him to do that, Mai. Zander was already nice enough to let us use his training facility.”
”Oh sure…I guess.” Mai says enthusiastically. Markus brings his tablet over to Mai so she can see how much he has donated. Her eyes scan the tablet in silence and she lets out a whistle. “Phew…that’s a lot of credits I guess. But we’re going to have to split it up with you, Hikari, and the rest of Longhorn Squad.”
”And we can’t just spend it on whatever. We’ll use what we can to help us for the upcoming match.”
”So in other words…”
”Yes, Mai. We’re going to invest in night vision gear. We have the funds now.”
”Ah jeez, my brain is already hurting from how much I'm guessing it’s going to cost.” Mai groans humorously.
”We don’t have a choice, Mai.” Emi reiterates. “This is one area we cannot cheap out before the next match. Our adversaries are entirely reliant on fighting in the dark. You don’t want to get obliterated by them again, right?”
”Of course not, Emi.” Mai slopes her head and arms on the table, looking like a sad puppy as she speaks. “But we are investing so much into this tournament. It seems so reckless, Emi. What if we…”
”I refuse.” Emi says staunchly, glaring at Mai. “We cannot be defeatests. Not like Chiara. Asura told her our team will never stand a chance against her squad. We’re going to prove to Chiara that we don’t have to take the easy way to succeed.”
Emi tones down her voice with more sympathy. “Mai. You’re a mechanical engineering student. You have it harder than any of us. You’re frugal, cautious, and maybe a bit sleep deprived, but you’re putting your all into your studies. Your spirit is broken no matter how hard things get.” Emi shakes her head and smiles while chuckling. “Honestly, you’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Mai.”
”Ah shucks, Emi.” Mai places her hand on Emi’s shoulder. “That’s too generous for someone like me. But thank you.” She lets go and crosses her arms in silence for a moment. “You know, I miss Chiara. I wish she’d come to her senses and hang out with us again, Emi.”
”I think about her everyday.” Emi confesses pulling Mai for a hug on their chairs. “Chiara and I go as far back as high school. Just like you and Hikari. She was always a bright girl with a lot of talent. Chiara would stammer a lot and would have trouble saying what’s on her mind most of the time. But eventually she got used to me and there was nobody else she could ever speak her mind to other than me. Not even her parents received that honor.”
”She was bullied too, wasn’t she?” Mai asks.
”Vicky must have told you, huh?” Emi lowers her gaze. “A lot of the so-called nerds in high school would make fun of her for being so quiet and antisocial. Sometimes they would sneak into the music room and purposely mess with the piano’s tuning just to mess with her when she would practice after school. I swear some people are just straight up assholes. Especially nerds.” Emi shakes her head and chuckles to herself. “Nerds think they know it all.”
”Listen to Emi here, spitting some facts!” Mai remarks enthusiastically. “You catching all this, Markus?”
”Huh..what?” Markus is caught off guard from Mai’s comment. He was busy pretending to be busy with his paperwork which was already organized and ready for the presentation briefing.
”You’re part of the team too, even if you don’t shoot guns. You have to admit, we’re a good bunch of girls. Right.”
”You know, I don’t have my doubts with your squads.” Markus sets his paperwork aside and joins the girls at the table reluctantly. “I don’t want to make any assumptions but if you all manage to win this tournament, I’m going to be set for life.”
”You’ll be a celebrity in Mil-Sim Story!” Emi explains excitedly. “Think about it, you’ll be the guy who managed our team to victory. A bunch of nobodies that took down the best of the best.”
”And to do that…” Mai interjects. “We’ll have to pull off a miracle.”
”You don’t believe in miracles, Mai.” Markus asks.
”I don’t believe they can happen without a purpose or reason.” Mai looks down at the map layed on the table before them. “Maybe Chiara leaving our squad is a trial for us. It’s like we’re being tested by forces beyond measure.”
Emi rests her palm on her own cheek as she listens. “You’re saying we’re being tested if we're serious about this?”
Mai nods, her fingers tracing the edges of the map absentmindedly. “If we fold now, all of this would have been for nothing. Vampire Squad would move onto the next bracket until Asura gets her ass kicked by Raptor Squad again and this time, Chiara will be there to suffer with her in their defeat.” Mai looks up at Emi with a serious expression. “Emi, we have to defeat Vampire Squad. It’s better for everyone if they lose against us. It’s our only way to win Chiara back. We absolutely deserve to win.”
”You’ve changed, Mai.” Emi remarks, her eyes glancing towards the map. “You said we never stood a chance. But yet here we are, hoping to do something above our capabilities.”
Mai shrugs her shoulders while making a “Hmm” with her voice. “I guess I’m not as stubborn as you think."
”And you’re right, Mai.” Hikari’s voice projects from the doorway. She’s standing there with Ashley and Vicky. “We absolutely deserve to win.”
”You were listening in on us, weren’t you?” Emi smirks at Hikari.
”Maybe.” Hikari walks elegantly to the conference table with the others following behind before taking a seat next to Mai. “So…we’re just waiting for the others?
”Yeah.” Markus fixes his glasses. “It’d be best if we can discuss our battle plans once everyone is here.”
”Joshua and Trevor are coming over in a bit.” Vicky cheerfully remarks. “Joshua was being a silly boy and overslept in the morning. Trevor has to feed his family.”
”Trevor has a family?” Mai asks curiously. “Like siblings?”
”Oh no, he has a wife and a two year old son.” Vicky mentions the conference table.
”Aww…” Hikari gushes along with Emi. “Trevor has a little baby!”
“That’s so sweet!” Emi coos, resting her chin on her hands. “I had no idea Trevor was a dad. He never mentioned it. It's not often people are having kids these days.”
”He doesn’t like to mention it to most people. I have some pics of his son if you all want to see?” Vicky pulls out a tablet from her backpack. The girls and Markus gather around and watch a video of Trevor’s son eating some mash potatoes. They all gush and laugh as they watch the video, not realizing that Trevor and Joshua are about to enter the room. Trevor doesn’t look too amused at the scene.
”What’s going on around here? Is this a serious meeting or are you girls…and guy, obsessing over social media?” He lowers his shades. “So much for professionalism with this squad.”
“Oh don’t worry, Trevor.” Emi regains her cool. “We’re just passing time until everyone shows up. Come take a seat guys.”
“Sorry for showing up a little late.” Joshua rubs his eyes. “I didn’t set up my alarm and overslept.”
“Tsk Tsk. What’s with everyone not getting a good night's rest these days?” Vicky wags her finger at Joshua. “Don’t worry, the party hasn’t started yet.”
”You can't start it without us.” Tomio, Kimberly, Ramirez, and Fio stand by the doorway. Kael Valorheart follows behind, now wearing the Armadillo Squad fatigues but still wearing his red headband from his JarPig Squad days.
“And I’m part of this too, I guess.” He quietly mentions before taking a seat. He receives a skeptical glare from Mai across the table.
”Look at us, we’re like one big happy family!”
”Yeah, you could say that, Fio.” Ramirez says nonchalantly as they finally take their seat.
”Glad you can make it.” Emi smiles especially at Tomio. Her eyes caught his stare before looking away shyly. “So…um…now that we’re all here.”
”Time to lay down the game plan.” Kimberly crosses her arms confidently. “How the hell are we going to win this?”
“Well. Before we can make some plans…” Markus stands up and takes his tablet with him as he makes his way to the front of the projector screen in the room. “We all need a brief overview of the mission for the upcoming match.” His presentation goes through some familiar slides to the team but he goes through them again as a refresher and an introduction for the new members. “Our team’s objective is to defend a client by the name of Mortimer. He is an owner of a multi-generational mansion which sits right above a mountain pass from a nearby European village.” The slide shows a middle aged man with short black hair that has been combed over and sports a trimmed mustache and a Victorian era style tuxedo. “Mortimer has been in a pretty nasty divorce case with his spouse, Bella and he’s now under a court order to forfeit his mansion and his belongings. His wife is employing Vampire Squad and…what’s left of JarPig Squad to carry out this order and escort him out. Our goal is to make sure this doesn’t happen. All parties involved are obligated to minimize any damage to the property.”
”So if we break anything fancy…” Mai asks.
”It’s coming out of our credit savings.” Mai nods her head to Markus’ answer. “We should all take into account the safety of our client. If he’s injured in any way, we’re going to pay severely for it. If he’s extinguished, it’s an automatic defeat for anyone who’s responsible from our team or the enemy team.” Markus cuts to a next slide showing the layout of the mansion. The map is similar to the one laid out on the table.
”Wah! Mortimer has a pretty big mansion.” Fio comments. “Almost as big as my family estate.”
”My family home isn’t multi-story like this.” Hikari mentions to Fio. “Are wealthy western homes usually this big?”
”Hm…depends. Some people are more humble about their wealth.” Fio shakes her head and laughs. “Not mine. Haha!”
”Mortimer’s mansion can be divided into three levels.” Markus scrolls through three different slides for each one. “The first level is the main hall. There’s a dining room, guest rooms, and living room area for said guests. There’s two entrances from the outside and there are large glass windows we should be aware of. Visibility is the clearest in this area. There is also a stairway leading to a basement down below. It’s been said the basement has a pathway to the village’s catacombs which are part of this map but are not mapped out.” He moves onto the second slide showing the upper floor. “The second level or floor is the main living quarters. There’s a few private bedrooms, bathrooms, and the master bedroom. The center of the room is the family living room, equipped with a fireplace, love seats, expensive decorations, and exactly where our team will be spawning in. Armadillo Squad: Emi, Mai, Hikari, and Kael will be joined by Longhorn Squad: consisting of Tomio, Fio, Ramirez, and Kimberly. You’ll speak to the client Mortimer in this room before the start of the match. The rooms will be partially lit with the mansion’s electrical system but the windows in this level will be less if not absent. The final level…” Markus progresses to the next slide. “...would be the third floor. These rooms will contain various family heirlooms, a private library room, and even more bedrooms with some closets. There is a ladder in one room on the right which leads to the mansion’s attic. There are some look out patios which overlook the front and back yards of the mansion.”
”Looks like our team is going to have plenty of rooms to work with.” Ramirez remarks.
”Yes, but that also goes for our opposing team which I’m sure you all are familiar with.”
”They like to fight in the dark.” Mai brings up. “They use suppressed weapons, night vision gear, and are ruthless.”
“But they also operate with Asura’s authority.” Kael speaks up to the group. “And they don’t like to split up as a group unless it’s necessary. Asura doesn’t trust her squadmates or her teammates to be efficient without her overlooking every little action. JarPig squad never got to operate on our own terms.”
“And we know your former teammates from JarPig Squad have a thing for throwing grenades.” Kimberly speaks up. “Even more so than your small arms.”
“We actually called them spells in our squad.” Kael’s comment gets a hearty laugh from Trevor.”
“Ahahahah man! Phew. That’s the dumbest shit I’d ever heard so far. That’s even worse than anything suggested by Joshua…well no offense Joshua.” He nudges Joshua on the arm which makes him sigh.
“Well that’s interesting…” Joshua mentions. “So you operate like a fantasy role playing party?”
“Exactly!” Kael is pleased with Joshua’s statement. “Our squad is arranged in a way we’re we use our knowledge of MMOs and Japanese Role Playing Games to function. We figured out explosive grenades have a pretty good splash damage effect and the different types of grenades allow us to take on different situations first before using our blades and firearms. I don’t think my former teammates are going to change their strategy if I’m not in the picture.”
“Under Chiara’s command?” Emi asks.
“Asura was using my team to throw off our adversaries from the start.” Kael recalls. “When we went up against The Agency and Bronco Squad, my team would ambush and spam grenades until the opposing teams would split up in a panic only for Asura’s squad to hunt them down one by one. She likes for us to take captives so she can use them to emotionally manipulate our opponents by tormenting them or killing them in creative ways to demoralize the survivors.”
”So we better not give her a chance.” Tomio suggests. “If we all stick together, that would just make us a bigger target and expose us to being flushed out.”
”We tried splitting up before, Tomio. We still got wiped out by JarPig Squad.”
”Yeah but we were both short of a squad member and didn’t make sub groups, Tomio.” Kimbery corrected Ramirez. “We have to break into smaller groups. At least that’s what I’m getting from this discussion.” She fixes her hair behind her glasses.
”True.” Hikari adds as she brainstorms some ideas. “We could break into groups of two for each of our squads.”
”And according to our abilities.” Emi thinks about it for a moment before coming up with an idea. “How about this? I’ll send Mai and Kael to the first level to keep guard.”
“Why are you going to make me go with the simp?” Mai complained openly. “We can’t even trust him.”
”That’s why I’m making you group up with him. You two patrol and guard the first level of the mansion. You can set up claymores and won’t have to worry about blowing up holes in the ceiling. Kael seems reasonable enough to be our scout and I need his expertise on Asura and Chiara's Squad to watch for them if they approach from the ground level. Hikari and I will guard the client with Tomio and Ramirez.”
”I can work with that.” Tomio adds.
”My 870 will be best suited for a defensive role.”
”If you don’t mind…” Vicky interrupts. “I could lend you my SPAS 12 for the match. It has some more capabilities you can use.”
“I’ll consider it. Thanks.” Ramirez nods his head at Vicky.
“And we’re going to look after the third floor?” Fio guesses.
“Exactly. You and Kimberly will keep guard on the third level. There’s a good chance Asura or Chiara’s squad will infiltrate from the roof.” Tomio suggests. “It's likely they will want to squeeze us out like a sandwich; giving us no room to retreat.”
”So…in other words, death by snu snu?” Trevor remarks humorously.
”Uh…yeah, something like that.” Tomio scratches his hair not sure if he should be amused or disgusted by Trevor’s comment. “And I’m pretty sure nobody here would find that…a turn on right?”
Markus twiddles his fingers and clears his throat. “So it’s settled. Both squads will split and cover different levels of the mansion?”
”How does that plan sound? I'd like your squad's input." Emi looks over to Joshua, Vicky, Ashley, and Trevor who are not going to participate in the match but will be rooting for them on the sidelines or in the worst case if any of the original members can’t make it next Friday, they'll cover their shift.
”What would you do if you had to lead in the match?” Trevor directly asks Joshua who is somewhat experienced with Mil-Sim Story.
”Well I think their defensive strategy seems reasonable. But we shouldn’t discount the reality that the catacombs below the mansion are also part of the battleground. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to set up motion trackers, claymores, or barricade the basement as an extra precaution.”
”Mmm…good thinking Josh.” Mai’s eyes light up from his suggestion. “The map rules don't specify damage to the village catacombs if we lay a few claymores around.”
”Well, the rules say nothing about damaging other infrastructure.” Markus recalls.
”Great. So we got that sorted out.”
”But what about the roof? They can infiltrate from the attic too, can’t they?” Ashley asks.
”Yeah. They can even come through the chimney like an evil Santa Claus.” Fio chirps.
”Uh…don’t tell me you still believe in Santa Claus?” Kimberly says slightly embarrassed.
”Huh, What was that, Kimberly?”
”Well…nothing like adding a few motion trackers can’t fix, right?”
”Of course!” Fio’s eyes light up. “And you can set up some kind of booby trap right? And I’m not talking about tities here by the way!” The whole roam groans from Fio’s attempt at humor. Poor Fio.
”I can’t set up explosives like our friend Mai here. We’ll just blow up holes for them to jump to the second floor. I think we should set up dummies around the third floor, and use our motion trackers to keep track of their movements. Then, if they decide to clear the second level, we’ll wait for them by the staircase here!" Kimberly points to one the stairway leading to the first, second, and third level.
”The second level will be our safe zone.” Emi notes to the team. “If any of you are overwhelmed by the enemy’s advances, you are to retreat to the second floor where we’ll make a stand if we have to."
“And if they cut out the lights?” Vicky suggests. “That seems like a possibility seeing as our adversaries like to fight in the dark.”
“That’s where we’ll all have to opt in on buying our own night vision equipment.” Emi borrows Markus’ tablet for a brief moment. “We have enough savings in credits to afford night vision goggles for our team.”
“That’s assuming you don’t cheap out.” Hikari interjects. “From what Trevor told me yesterday, we are going to need third generation night vision goggles or better. No cheap digital goggles either.”
“What’s wrong with previous gen gear?” Mai asks disappointedly. “I don’t want to spend a fortune to see in the dark. I’d rather eat carrots.”
“Carrots aren’t going to save you from state of the art night vision equipment.” Trevor replies to Mai with a smirk. “I betcha they are probably running thermals too. You don’t want to settle for subpar equipment. First and Second gen NODs have poor resolution, weaker light amplification, and a shorter battery life. Do you really want to fight with a resolution of an Atari game?" He lower his shades at Mai. "Listen kid. We're not in the 20th century anymore. Digital night vision won't cut it either. Maybe for an airsoft match. They only work with some ambient light. The digital signature of the nods will make you glow like a star to anyone with a proper pair of analogue NODs. Trust me, I worked with this technology in my field.”
”Jeez….fine. We’ll buy some Gucci NODs.” Mai pouts and crosses her arms like a spoiled child. “Anything else we have to dump money into?”
”If we can also afford it, laser aiming modules would be a good investment. It’s not easy to aim down sights with night vision goggles on your face in most cases.” Tervor advises up to the team. “Suppressors are a must so you don’t blind yourself from the muzzle flash or give away your position. Oh and just in case, you’re probably going to want some flashlights too. In case your night vision fails or if you have the opportunity to blind them.
“We got some weapon lights from the last match. But we really didn’t put them to good use.” Hikari mentioned.
“What if we invest in something like speakers?” Fio suggests. “We can use them like decoys to fake footsteps, gunfire, or something silly like that. I mean, all we really need is a couple of bluetooth speakers to pull that off.”
“Hah! That’s a brilliant idea!” Tomio pats Fio on the shoulder. “Think we can have them trigger with your motion sensors?”
“That won’t be difficult to program at all!” Fio admits gleefully. "I can work on it before the day of the match!"
“I dig it.” Mai taps the map with her fingers. “We can set up those decoys around the mansion and throw them off. They can be our audible cues when they are close by. Is this all plausible with our budget, Markus?”
“It’s going to eat up almost our entire savings but it could be worth it if you win the match.” Markus makes notes on his tablet. “The only thing we won’t be able to make expenses for is body armor?”
“So we have to try and not get shot. It’s that simple.” Kimberly says confidently.
“Vampire Squad is rich enough to afford level IV body armor for Asura’s squad.” Kael brings up to the team. “They can stop some pistol and rifle rounds from penetrating if they decide to implement them.”
“Shot placement is going to be critical then?” Tomio asks.
“Pretty much. I don’t think my former squadmates from JarPig squad will be armored. Our armor doesn’t really do anything other than look good.”
“So we have our strategy down?” Emi looks over to Markus who is making notes of everything discussed from the meeting to transfer to the team’s virtual HUD database.
“Everything is in order. Assuming you all don’t faint or bail on me, your team will be ready to take on Vampire Squad this upcoming friday. You’ll still have to train and work on your individual skills with your gear and weapons until then.”
“Sounds perfect!” Mai yawns with her arms stretched out.
“I hope you weren’t dozing off, Mai.”
“I am listening, Emi. We’re splitting up into groups, buying expensive gear, and have time to train until Friday. So…” Mai ponders to herself, rubbing her chin before asking: “What are we going to call our operation?”
“What about Operation Helsing?”
“What’s a Helsing, Vicky?” Hikari asks. “Does it have something to do with Vampires?”
“That’s correct. It comes from a Dutch vampire hunter from Bram Stoker’s novel.” Vicky smiles and shrugs. “We might not be literal vampire hunters but who’s to say we can’t larp as one.”
“That’s awesome.” Ramirez is enthusiastic about the name. “It makes everything we’re about to do seem more badass.”
“I’d never thought I’d see Rami approve of something so willingly.” Tomio smirks and nods his head. “I have to agree. In fact…” He looks over at Emi. “Why don’t we temporarily call our team after our operation name?”
“Team Van Helsing?” Emi looks at the rest of her team. They seem to agree on the name. “We can go back to Team Lonestar after this, right?”
“Teams are always changing their names.” Markus amends. “It’s not unexpected at all.”
“Just wait until Vampire Squad hears about our new team name.” Mai chuckles and smirks to herself. “Asura is going to have her feathers rustled.”
“Vampires Hunters huh?” Fio starts to daydream about the match. “You know how they like to intimidate us with their logo on the walls and stuff? Do you think it’s okay if we toy with them in the same way?”
“You can leave crucifixes, stakes, or maybe bits of garlic around the mansion.” A grin forms on Vicky’s already excited expression. “It would be very cute for our team.”
“I’m already loving everything we can do to tick them off.” Ramirez remarks.
“It’ll get under their skin.” Kael mentions to the team. “Asura takes pride in her vampire aesthetic of her squad and seeing something like that would really piss her off.” He sighs and rubs the back of his head. “Believe me, I’ve made the mistake of being critical of her bat earrings before.”
“Uh…just remember everyone. We can’t vandalize the mansion but feel free to use whatever is at your disposal.” Markus fixes his glasses on his nose one last time. “So we’re all in agreement with our battle plans? Emi? Tomio?”
Emi and Tomio nod in agreement. After exchanging a smile with each other, Emi speaks up to the team. “That concludes our battle plans. You heard it here, vampire hunters.” Just saying it is enough to make Emi grin from how cute it sounds. “Our operation will take place Friday afternoon, standard tournament time as before. Tomorrow is Sunday. I don’t expect any of you to train for the event. You all have worked really hard and should give it a rest. But come the weekdays, we need to be on our A-game!” She glances over at Vicky, Joshua, Trevor, and Ashley. “And just in case something happens to one of us before the tournament, you should be ready to take our spot.”
”You’re also welcome to fight with my squad and fill in our ranks.” Tomio adds. “So how about we slay some vampires and get Chiara back!”
“Yeah! Let’s do it!” The conference room breaks out into cheers with Markus nearly dropping his paperwork from the table in shock.
It’s starting to get late as some members of the newly formed Team Van Helsing log off to get some rest. Some like Hikari and Mai stay behind to do some weapon maintenance in the armory. Emi is alone in the conference room, looking over some of the equipment they’ll need in order to make preparations for the upcoming match. As Emi is crunching the numbers, Tomio steps in to check in on her. “Is everything alright, Emi?”
“Oh Tomio. I was just about to finish up here. I think we got everything we need to fill out an order for our equipment. We should be getting everything by Monday once our credits go through.”
“That’s good to hear. Hey, how’s your leg doing?”
“It’s still sprang but it’s not going to affect me in VR.” Emi leans back on the conference chair. “It would be nice if it could heal soon. I really miss my morning Jogs. I’ve been stuck in my dorm doing nothing but playing this VR game. I don’t know how Fio and Markus can handle it.” She shakes her head and laughs out loud.
“Well, unlike those two, you’re still in Uni. That’s not giving you trouble is it?”
“Not really, but I wish I could see Chiara again…well the Chiara I used to know.”
“Hey, Emi. Since we’re going to be on break tomorrow…I was just wondering?”
Emi’s eyes perch up and look over at Tomio. He’s standing with his hands behind his back, almost like he’s hesitating to ask her something.
”Well, you know how there’s a zoo that’s not far from downtown. Maybe you and I can take our mind off all this and uh… hang out and see some animals if you can limp.”
”You’re asking me out, aren’t you?” Emi says with some sas despite the fact she’s failing at hiding her own blush on her cheeks.
”Uh…well…I…uh…I guess I am.”
”You know what, Tomio.” Emi’s eyes warmly greet Tomio’s. “It’d be nice to be out of my dorm room. I’ve been dying to check out the zoo again. It’s been years.”
”Hah…well I’m glad you agree, Emi. Don’t worry, I can drive you there. It’ll just be the two of us.”
”So it’s a date then?” Emi smiles and blushes.
”Is that what we’re going to call it?”
”Uh…yeah. That’s exactly what we’re going to call it, Tomio. A date!”