The Same Night After Guel's Duel

You were walking around the hangar in your sleepwear of grey pants and a white shirt and dragged and whilst walking through the large building, you came to a atop in front of your Unicorn as you stared at it deep in thought.

"The only way to defeat a Gundam...is with a Gundam." Those words echoed through your thoughts as you glanced over at the Aerial across the hangar as it was the next mobile suit to face the Pharact Gundam.

"Three Gundam-Type mobile suits are stationed here at the school. Just what kind of events are going to occur before we reach the climax of this mission?" You muttered to yourself as you turned away from the mobile suits and headed to the exit to get some fresh air.

After shutting off the lights and walking out of the hangar, you headed off for a midnight stroll to try and clear your mind of all the things that had happened so far. While you were out for a midnight stroll, you wandered into the garden area of the academy as you walked along the path in silence as the small lights that ran along the sides of the walkway lit the way ahead. You couldn't get over the fact that Suletta now had to duel against Elan and his Pharact Gundam. That gruesome battle Guel went through constantly replayed in your head as you imagined the defensive measures you'd need in order to battle such a machine. Just as you were deep in thought, your attention was caught when you saw someone ahead of you and walking in your direction as you were surprised to see it was Guel, and he was holding a drab duffle bag of sorts with his head down.

"Guel...?" You said in surprise as he finally noticed you ahead of him.

You and Guel stared at one another for a few moments as you saw the troubling look on his face. Guel had a look of someone who had just been betrayed and lost everything and the way he dragged his legs as he continued in his direction further reinforced that assumption as he walked pass you without saying another word. You contemplated letting him go or saying something to him, and eventually chose the latter as you turned around to call out to him.

"Where are you going?" You asked as he stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn to face you. "There shouldn't be anyone out here this late...Not unless you don't have anywhere to go..." You said as you saw him clench his hand around the strap of his bag that he hung over his shoulder. "...They cut you loose, didn't they? If you need somewhere to stay, then you can--." Your words were cut off when Guel suddenly spoke up.

"Keep your nose out of it." Guel said in a fierce tone as you were taken aback from his voice as he clenched his other hand into a fist. "This is a family issue...Outsiders shouldn't stick their noses into other families problems..." He said as he continued ahead into the night, leaving you with a level of concern for his well-being.

"Guel..." You muttered his name with a concerned tone as he disappeared from sight and you put your hand to your chest, feeling the pain and emotional turmoil coming from him. 

After failing your attempt to console Guel and his troubles, you finished your night stroll early and headed back to the Earth House to get some rest that would be needed for the coming days. Once morning had come and both parties were free from any school activities, you and Suletta made your way back to the dueling committee's gathering place as Suletta and Elan stood in front of one another as Shaddiq stood between them as witness. You were stood behind Suletta with your arms crossed and stared at Elan cautiously as he kept his same emotionless face on while looking Suletta eye to eye.

"Both parties, deposit your souls on Libra's scales. The duelists are Elan Ceres and Suletta Mercury. The location will be the airspace outside the front." Shaddiq announced the battle zone as you and Suletta were confused by this.

"Outside the front?" Suletta muttered in confusion as she stared at the ground.

"You mean outside in space?" You said in disbelief.

"Elan Ceres, what is your stake in this duel?" Shaddiq asked the first duelists.

"If I win, Aerial will be mine." Elan said as this unnerved Suletta.

"Suletta Mercury, what is your stake?" Shaddiq asked the current Holder as she stared at Elan with unease and unsureness.

"I..." Suletta muttered in confusion as Cecily seemed amused by this situation.

"Shall we take it that you have nothing to gain from this?" Cecily said with a smug grin on her face.

"There's no need to rush. Just decide by the day of the duel." Shaddiq said to reassure her before turning to Elan. "You don't mind, do you?" He asked him.

"Whatever." Elan said before walking away from the conversation as you and Suletta stared at him in wonder.

"His walls are even higher than unusual. Did you do something to him?" Shaddiq asked in wonder of how Suletta got Elan so riled up.

"You mean it's my fault?" Suletta reworded his question.

"Who know. But since you arrived, both Guel and Elan haven't been themselves. Even I want to know more about you now. Mercurian Miss." Shaddiq said with an interested smile on his face.

With the duel prepared and a date set, you and Suletta returned to the Earth House to begin preparations for the battle and to make sure Aerial was ready to go. The major issue with preparation though was the fact that this duel was going to occur in space, meaning that both suits would need to be capable of flight, which the Aerial unfortunately doesn't have a booster pack for such combat. You were met with the other members of the house as they couldn't believe the setting she was going to have to duel in.

"Airspace outside the front?" Nika said in surprise.

"Do you even have a thruster unit?" Nuno asked in wonder of Aerial's specs.

"No, I don't." Suletta answered with her fingers pressed together and Martin was crouched to the floor holding his head in despair.

"This is bad! Peil House's machines are known for their mobility! On top of that, you're facing a new model." Martin said with a worried breath as he covered his eyes while you looked up and stared between your mobile suit and the Aerial.

"You'll be at a disadvantage with this equipment." Aliyah commented while staring up at the Aerial.

"I'm sorry." Suletta apologized with a nervous smile for having an unprepared mobile suit.

"Don't worry about it!" Lilique patted her on the shoulders from behind as Suletta turned to her. "The conditions of the duel are decided exclusively by the Dueling Committee." She said as Ojelo stared at the Aerial skeptically in wonder of how to make it capable of maneuverability in space.

"So what do we do? This House has no money to buy a thruster unit." Ojelo commented on the reality of how they would ever possibly get a thruster unit.

"Can we borrow one from another House?" Lilique asked in wonder.

"Fat chance getting Spacians to loan one to us Earthians." Chuchu said with no faith in anyone else giving them a thruster unit as she was squat down on the floor like the delinquent she was.

"What if..." You called out while walking up to your mobile suit and patting its foot with your hand as everyone turned to you. "...I let you borrow one." You said as they were surprised by this proposal.

"Your suit has a thruster unit?" Ojelo said in surprise.

"Mine does, but it's probably not up to the universal standard of other mobile suits. However, we do have thruster units that follow this standard, so I don't see why we can't borrow one of those. I have to make a call and ask, but I don't think they'll have a problem with me borrowing it from a mobile suit that we're still running in the testing phase." You said as Nika was amazed by your thinking.

"Amazing, Y/N! You really are dependable." Nika said as you chuckled bashfully from the compliment.

"Ahaha, thanks. However, it'll probably need some tuning and alterations to better suit the Aerial. Think you can do it?" You asked her curiously.

"Don't underestimate Nika. There's no doubt she can do it. Right?" Chuchu warned you as she had absolute faith in Nika who nervously smiled.

"I'll do my best." Nika said as you nodded and turned around to leave.

"Then I'll make that call. I'll be right back." You said as you left the hangar to go and attempt to borrow a booster pack from your parents.

Ten Minutes Later

"No." You sat in the communications room in another building with a nervous smile on your face as your mother bluntly denied you. "Why would you even ask such a thing? The Narrative is in its developmental and testing phases. The booster pack was just finalized and you want to alter its design?" Iilya asked in confusion of your decisions as you bowed your head to the screen.

"I know this sounds crazy, but we don't have the funding to buy a thruster unit and there isn't another House that'll be willing to give us one to use. Please, Mother!" You pleaded with her as she sighed and used two fingers to press them against the temples of her head as she felt her brain begin to ache from stress.

"Me and your father have a situation that desperately needs our attention...I can't just break away from this to help you with your school duels. What is this about anyways?" Iilya asked as you looked to the locked door of the room behind you before turning back to her.

"Is this a secure line?" You asked as Iilya was surprised by the question, but quickly sat up in her chair as she pressed a button on her control pad. 

"It is now." Iilya said as you sighed and stared at her on the screen with a concerning look on your face.

"There's another Gundam in Assticassia." You said as Iilya was surprised by this.

"What? Another Gundam? How do you know?" Iilya asked for certainty.

"Peil Technologies unveiled their newest mobile suit in a duel against Guel Jeturk and his mobile suit. They called it the Pharact, and it's the same as Aerial, GUND was built into its frame and it controlled GUND-BITS just like Suletta's machine." You said to her as Iilya fell back into her seat.

"We had our suspicions but we didn't have enough proof to confirm..." Iilya said as she closed her eyes in thought for a few moments before sighing as she stared at you. "...I'll send a ship carrying the booster pack and other supplies you'll need ASAP. Don't make too many alterations if you can." She said as you were relieved and bowed your head once more in gratefulness.

"Thank you, Mother!" You said to her as she put on her mask and prepared to leave.

"I never thought there'd be two Gundams we would have to worry about, but we can't let them both exist. Find out whatever you can about that machine and if possible, during the duel, ensure that it's destroyed." Iilya said as you were surprised by this last order. "We can't let this mobile suit drag our attention away from the problem Elnora created. Deal with it swiftly, understood?" She said as you sat up nervously in your chair. 

"Y-Yes, ma'am." You responded to her.

"Good luck." Was all Iilya finished with as the connection ended and your time was up in the communication space.

After successfully managing to get your company to send over the booster pack needed to outfit the Aerial with a proper flight combat system, your days were spent with the others engineering and configuring the booster pack for optimal performance for when Suletta took flight. During the process you made sure that they didn't expose or discover any of the parts of the booster pack that were related to the system that was used to activate the Psycho-Frame within the booster. For safety measures, you made sure the limiters on the booster pack were always activated and that disabling the limiters were impossible. After about two days of preparing and reverse engineering with Nika, you and her were sat together in a box ship as you were assisting Suletta in a flight test, watching as she flew around outside the academy with the new booster attached to her Aerial. You watched closely as Suletta pulled off a few tight turns before straightening out as the system vitals for the Aerial and the booster pack were reading all in the green.

"Next we'll try a variable thrust test." Nika relayed to Suletta.

"Right." Suletta said as she burned the thrusters and sped off at an incredible speed, flinching from the sudden boost as the booster pack from the Narrative mobile suit you borrowed this thruster from was much stronger than they anticipated.

"Once you stop the engines, reactivate immediately." Nika advised her as Suletta looked to the small screen on the right of her cockpit.

"R-Right." Suletta said as she tapped the right button on her right joystick twice.

The booster pack shut off in response to the setting selection before roaring back to life and pushing the Aerial at great speeds once more. You scrolled through the booster pack's data readings and found nothing unstable within them as you recorded the data for later analysis.

"All functions are nominal and stable." You relayed to your co-pilot.

"Okay. Your propulsion is stable. The combustion control functions are working, too. Shall we head back, Suletta?" Nika asked the young pilot.

"Right." Suletta responded to you two as she toned down the thrusters and flew at a slower, more comfortable speed.

"Tomorrow..." Nika muttered into her comms as Suletta looked down at her console in wonder.

"Yes?" Suletta said in wonder.

"Will you be ready to fight? With Mr. Elan..." Nika asked her as it took a moment for Suletta to respond to the question.

"....Mr. Elan was only kind to me...because that was his plan. And yet, I was really happy. I feel so dumb." Suletta admitted as she had a sad smile on her face.

"Exactly. It was dumb." Miorine's voice chimed in as she had also accompanied you on this flight test, but remained silent for the most part until now as she floated between you and Nika and surprised Suletta. "In fact, Elan's right about you. You really are annoying." Miorine said bluntly.

"Hey, isn't that too harsh?" You said to her while looking at Miorine with a baffled look in your eyes.

"Miorine..." Nika muttered for Miorine to be more considerate to Suletta.

"But that's just who you are. You annoy me by meddling in my affairs and act on your own without listening to me...Move forward gain two, right? So how could you run away here?! This is not time to feel sorry for yourself. Get out there and move forward!" Miorine yelled into the comms as she scolded and encouraged Suletta to fight on without regrets as Suletta was stunned by her words, but accepted them wholeheartedly as she dawned a determined look in her eyes.

"Right!" Suletta said as she tightened her grip on her controls. "I'm on my way!" She said as she fired up the thrusters once more, heading towards the academy while you and Nika sat with smiles on your faces and Nika couldn't help but giggle.

"What?" Miorine asked in an annoyed tone while her arms were crossed.

"You've already forgiven her, haven't you?" Nika asked her as Miorine avoided eye contact.

"If she loses, I'll be in trouble as her bride. That goes for all of you as well, doesn't it?" Miorine asked you two.

"I have faith that Suletta will win." Nika said with a faithful smile as Miorine just huffed an annoyed breath while turning away, but you caught her cute little reaction to Nika's answer.

"Huh? Miorine, are you perhaps a tsundere?" You said before gasping in shock as she twisted you arm in annoyance while you were still strapped in your seat. "AHHH! I-I get it! I get it! I'm sorry!!!!" You cried out in pain as Nika couldn't help but smile awkwardly as she piloted the ship back to the academy.

"Huh?" Nika spoke up as you two turned your heads to look at her staring at the map of the academy, and on it was a blip that marked where the Aerial was. "What is she doing at Peil House?" She said as you and Miorine rushed over to her side, shocking Nika as you two got up close to her screen and crowded her space.

"That idiot! Why the hell did she go there?!" Miorine said in annoyance as your ship had already entered the docking bay of the school.

"Testing...Testing..." Suletta's voice suddenly sounded off not only in your ship's communications relay, but over the entire school as Suletta connected herself to the P.A. system from the Aerial. "Mr. Elan, can you hear me? It's Suletta!" She announced in an attempt to contact her opponent.

"She's trying to talk with Elan?" You said in surprise as everyone in the academy stopped what they were doing to listen in wonder.

"Mr. Elan! Why did you say that to me? Why do we have to duel? What do you want with Aerial? Please tell me! Do I really annoy you?" Suletta asked as she was sat in her mobile suit while inside the hangar of the Peil House and on her console, two operators from the Peil House who she pleaded to for permission to talk with Elan, appeared on her screen.

"See? We told you so. Now go home!" One of the operators said to her as they didn't want her anywhere near them or their property, but Suletta was determined as she had one more trick up her sleave that she thought would work.

"Happy birthday to you." Suletta suddenly began singing over the entire broadcast of the school as you and everyone were left stunned by her actions. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, happy birthday..." She trailed off as you suddenly felt a small sensation of sorrow from a part of the school before it suddenly disappeared. "Happy birthday to you." She finished the song with a little smile on her face, and once it was over, Suletta heard her handbook go off and looked down at her console to see Elan was calling her as she disconnected from the PA system and their call was kept private.

"Go home. I told you, I don't have a birthday." Elan reminded her of his previous answer to a question she asked him before on their 'date'.

"That's why. What if we made today your birthday? Don't you feel empty without a birthday? That's why..." Suletta explained, but Elan cut her off.

"You really do..." Was all that Suletta was able to hear before the call ended as Elan, who was located in his room, sat on his bed with a emotionally tired look in his eyes. "...annoy me." He muttered as that was the last set of words he had for her.

After that little incident and completing the necessary flight checks Aerial needed before the duel, it was finally time for their match to begin as Aerial was loaded onto a launching catapult ready to be dropped into space. You and the rest of the Earth House stood in the hangar wearing Normal Suits as it was finally time to drop her into the battle zone.

"Open Gate No. 6!" Nuno called out to the engineers in charge of the catapult launchers as the gate underneath Aerial's feet slowly opened up.

"No anomalies in catapult superconductive storage." Till reported on his end.

"No error warnings on any components of the flight unit! No problems with INS alignment!" Ojelo called out as you walked closer to the Aerial and watched as its head slowly passed you and disappeared into the catapult launcher below.

"Y/N..." You heard Chuchu call out from behind you as you turned to see her pointing to another catapult bay next to Aerial's. "Why is this thing here?" She asked in wonder as you turned back towards Aerial.

"Shaddiq granted me permission to escort the loser of this duel off the battlefield and drag in their mobile suit for repairs just before we started." You said to her as you walked over and looked down at the Aerial as lights turned on along the walls of the catapult bay the Aerial would fall down from.

"Suletta?" Aliyah's voice came over the comms as she wanted to talk with Suletta as she, and some of the girls along with Martin, were riding in a box ship outside the academy for monitoring. "Were you able to speak with Mr. Elan?" She asked her.

"No. But...I did decide what my stake is in this duel." Suletta said as she had a determined and strong look on her face as she prepared to face Elan and his Gundam as you watched the catapult door close over her before walking over to your Unicorn to remain on standby.

"No obstacles in launch direction. We're ready." Till said in confirmation.

"Open hatch! Transferring launch authorization to pilot." Nuno announced as the launch path illuminated underneath Aerial.

"Go get him!" Chuchu yelled aggressively to Suletta.

"Right!" Suletta answered as she tightened her grip on her control sticks and was ready to go. "LP041, Suletta Mercury...Aerial, taking off!" She announced as the catapult anchors released and she plummeted in a controlled fall before she was launched off the catapult and plunged into space outside the academy.

Switching on the booster pack, Aerial flew ahead armed with its beam rifle as the thrusters on the booster pack adjusted to the controls and direction Suletta wanted to fly in. You sat in your cockpit in silence as the duel appeared on your console and all that was left was to wait and see what would happen.

"No problems with effective exhaust velocity." Suletta informed you all as her crew.

"Suletta, Peil House's academic vessel is ahead on your course." Nika informed her as Suletta turned her suit and zoomed in on a ship in the distance as mobile suit launching catapult was being loaded with the Pharact.

"No hazardous objects including interplanetary matter. Ready to launch. Transferring authorization to pilot." Peil House's pilot informed Elan who was sat in his mobile suit, ready to claim Suletta's Gundam.

"KP002, Elan Ceres..." Elan spoke as the rear wings on his Gunda opened and his machine was ready to go. "Pharact, launching." The Pharact's thrusters came online as he launched off the ship and the two duelists were on course to intercept one another as Shaddiq's voice came on to act as the observer and commentator on today's duel.

"With mutual consent by both parties, we will now begin the duel. As always, victory will go to the first one to break the blade antenna of their opponent's mobile suit. The observer shall be the leader of Grassley House, Shaddiq Zenelli. Both parties, face off." Shaddiq said from the comfort of the Dueling Committee's lounge as the two pilot's appeared on one another's H.U.D's.

"Mr. Elan..." Suletta muttered in wonder before hearing someone connect to their communication channel and looked down to see it was Shaddiq.

"Mercurian Miss, have you decided what your stake is in this duel?" Shaddiq asked her.

"Yes, if I win. I want Mr. Elan to tell me all about himself." Suletta announced her stake in the duel as this was a perplexing one for everyone to understand.

"Huh? That sounds like..." Martin said in confusion as he looked to Lilique and Aliyah.

"A love confession." Aliyah assumed as Lilique squeaked in excitement while clinging onto Aliyah.

"She's really an annoying girl." Miorine said in the co-pilot seat as she couldn't help but crack a smile from Suletta's nature.

"Well then, let's begin." Shaddiq said as this was a signal to both pilots to begin the final steps of starting a duel as Aerial and Pharact floated some meters away from one another. 

"Victory is never decided by mobile suit performance alone." Suletta started the pledge as it was Elan's turn to continue.

"Nor by the skill of the pilot, alone." Elan said as there was only one more thing to say before this bout was to begin as indicator sensors lit up around the dueling zone as perimeter sensors to keep them in place. 

"The result itself is the only truth!" The two pilots announced it was time to begin.

"Fix release." Shaddiq announced as the duelists wasted no time waiting.

The Aerial was the first to make its move as Suletta entered a spin before boosting speed and flying closer to Elan, locking onto his mobile suit as she took aim and fired a few shots. The Pharact maneuvered with ease around the shots as Elan fired his own attacks, beginning an epic long range battle. Almost with just her thoughts and slight movements of the controls, Suletta could feel just how much more movement Aerial was capable of with the booster pack you provided her with.

"Ms. Nika, this is amazing. At this rate..." Suletta said in amazement as she soared through space with ease while firing shot after shot towards Elan as the Earth House crew that was in the box ship a distance away monitored things on their end.

"Machine load is within acceptable limits." Lilique reported.

"Nice work, Nika." Aliyah praised their best engineer.

"N-No...We should be thanking Y/N and his company. The booster pack he provided was far more incredible than anything I've ever seen...and I only made small tweaks in order to make it fully compatible with the Aerial. That booster pack is something that I think most companies would die to get their hands on." Nika said in shock of how much more performance the Aerial was squeezing out of thanks to this inclusion.

"You want to know about me?" Elan muttered as he continued firing at Suletta before the GUND-Format in his machine activated and the red lights along its frame shined intimidatingly as reverse thruster ports opened along the wings of the Pharact while it dodged miraculously. "I'm a disposable pawn created for the Gundam's sake. Is that enough for you?" Elan said as he dove down towards Suletta while evading her blasts as the Pharact unsheathed a beam saber from its wrist and he was on collision course with the Aerial as you could feel his rage from where you were. "You're more mean-spirited than I thought, Suletta Mercury!" He yelled at her as Aerial was barely able to bring out its own beam saber as it held it reverse style and a clash of their beam blades commenced. "You have everything. Friends, family..." He trailed off as Suletta was surprised and confused by the words that he was saying to her as they struggled for dominance in this clash. "...A past and a future...A wish list of things to do... Even hope!" He said in a frustrating tone.

"Mr. Elan?" Suletta muttered in wonder and worry of his voice as he spoke in a troubled, shaky, and irritated tone.

"Then why can't you spare me this victory?! Otherwise...it's just too unfair!" Elan yelled as the Pharact kicked itself off the Aerial and flew back with its reverse thrusters while tossing away its saber to take aim with its main beam weapon at the Aerial and began firing long range blasts once more.

"Aerial!" Suletta called out to her machine as the drones attached to Aerial broke away and flew ahead of her to shield itself from the blast, cancelling the energy shot out.

You watched your screen intently as the Pharact flew around frantically while firing shot after shot as Suletta was protected by her drone bits and flew at high speeds towards him. With both Gundam's having their GUND-Format's activated, this was the battle you were waiting for as they moved at high speeds beyond what most normal mobile suits were capable of, and the Pharact was no slouch when it came to maneuverability as it moved flawlessly to avoid the attacks of Aerial.

"Fast..." You muttered as you raised your hand to your chest and clenched it tightly as you furrowed your brow watching the Pharact move. "...but so troubled. When a pilot is clouded bby their feelings and emotions, a mobile suit is like a wild and dangerous animal that needs to be contained. Elan and the Pharact are in pain...What'll you do, Suletta?" You said with worry as you felt the turmoil of emotions coming from Elan as the others watched in shock.

"What mobility!" Ojelo said in disbelief of the Pharact as they watched it fly fast and far from Aerial. 

"It's way too fast." Chuchu commented as the crew in the box ship nearby were also stunned from the capabilities of the Pharact.

"This is why they chose the airspace outside the front." Miorine said in realization as the others watched in worry.

"She'll never keep up using at this rate! The booster pack Y/N gave her are already at their fullest output! At this rate...!" Martin trailed off with worry.

"He'll torture her to death from out of range." Aliyah finished his thought as Lilique was shocked.

"No way..." Lilique said with concern for Suletta's chances.

"Even if she does manage to get close, next he'll..." Aliyah trailed off as Elan readied the next phase of his attack as he had clear line of sight of Aerial and its bits that flew around it.

"Permet score, three." Elan raised the output of the GUND-Format as its lights shined brighter and the GUND bits he used previously on Guel were deployed once more and flew towards Suletta, activating their disruption technology as red beams connected the bits to form a dangerous field.

"There it is!" Chuchu said in shock.

"I knew it!" Ojelo said nervously as Nuno held the touch screen they were watching from. 

"If any of them touch her, even through her armor, her electrical systems will be blown." Nuno said as Nika patched into Suletta's cockpit.

"Suletta, evade it!" Nika advised her.

"Right!" Suletta said as she took control and used the flight pack to avoid the field attack of Elan's GUND bits.

While she was able to successfully evade the electrical disruption attack, her own drones didn't favor against it so well as one of them was struck and came offline for the duration of the attack. Suletta turned in shock as Elan moved in for a shot on that target.

"That GUND-Bit is finished." Elan said as he lined up his rifle for a killing shot and fired.

"Everyone!" Suletta called out as the other bits flew in to protect the disabled drone as two of them destroyed the GUND-Bits that were disabling it, freeing the bit from its prison as it came back online and rejoined the others in formation around Aerial.

"She's better at controlling GUND-Bits than me." Elan said in unease as he unleashed his GUND-Bits at her once more and fired simultaneously at her.

Using the bits to create a shield, Aerial blocked the blast and maneuvered pass the GUND-Bits he sent after her, but Suletta quickly realized that she wasn't going to catch him at this point with the way things were.

"I can't catch him at this rate. Please, everyone! Give me your strength!" Suletta said to her drones as they broke apart from a shield and reattached themselves to the Aerial's frame as she sped off, unaware of the red glow that shined in the booster pack as she increased her speed, feeling the pressure that this booster pack was capable of.

"Her annoying behavior is as tough as the hardest alloys." Elan said with heaving breaths as the Data Storm was taking its toll on his body. "Permet score, four!" He pushed it even farther as he and his GUND-Bits flew faster away from Aerial and towards the perimeter of the dueling zone, but Aerial was catching up while avoiding the attacks from his GUND-Bits.

"She's really pushing it." Lilique commented on how hard Suletta was trying.

"She's forcing it too far." Miorine said in frustration of Suletta's stubbornness.

"But she's definitely getting closer." Nika said before an alert went off on Aliyah's data monitor.

"Huh?" Aliyah muttered as Lilique and Martin turned to see she had a look of disbelief on her face. "The limiters on the booster pack...they're reading higher than they're spec'd for...!" She said as they looked to see the output of the booster pack increasing further than the rated output you had previously told them about.

The Pharact and the Aerial both flew at high speeds through space before they both eventually reached the perimeter of the zone and flew out of it, going out of boundaries set by the Dueling Committee.

"Rouji?" Secelia asked the young boy next to her as he was the monitoring the boundary of the duel.

"They've passed the border lights." Rouji said before your face appeared on the Committee's large screen as you placed your helmet on and strapped into your seat.

"Shaddiq, I'm bringing them in. They've gone pass the zone they were supposed to remain in. That fine with you?" You asked him as he stared at you on the large screen.

"Yeah, that's fine. However, don't bring them in until it's over." Shaddiq said as you were caught off guard by this request. "After such a spectacle, it'd be a shame to see it brought to an unsatisfying end." He said as you remained silent for a few moments.

"Understood." Was all you said before Shaddiq saw your camera disappear off screen as they watched Suletta and Elan fly on course into an asteroid field.

Elan was huffing pained breaths and found it hard to stay focused on anything due to the pain that was overwhelming his body. Only after and alert sounded in his system did he notice the giant rock that he was about to fly into and barely avoided it by firing his thrusters upward, making him dive under the asteroid. This mistake though was enough to close the gap for Suletta as she realized this was her chance.

"Deploy!" Suletta deployed her bits as they detached from Aerial and fired consecutive blasts at Elan and his GUND-Bits, destroying them all and landing a shot on his main beam rifle which exploded and sent him into a spiral.

Just when things seemed to be going Suletta's way, the feet of the Pharact clamped shut and aimed at the Aerial, firing two beam shots towards her that caught her off guard. With instinctive reactions, Suletta maneuvered Aerial to dodge the right beam, but as she turned it exposed the booster pack to the other beam as a shot went right through one of the left thrusters, causing it to blow as her thruster went offline.

"Suletta!" Nika yelled with worry.

"There's damage to the flight unit's left wing." Lilique reported catastrophic damage.

"Wait!" Aliyah called out as they turned to her and she flipped her touch pad to show them the booster pack's energy output. "Why is it still climbing?" She said as the others were confused by the increased output coming from the booster pack.

The booster pack on Aerial's back began shining unbeknown to Suletta as Elan sat in his cockpit writhing and fighting through the pain to win the duel and Aerial. Elan's thoughts were filled with frustration over the diagnosis he had received about the Data Storm from the scientist who was handling him and the Pharact.

"Belmeria Winston...Your diagnosis missed the mark." Elan muttered in anger, but his determination to finish this duel overruled that feeling. "But even so, I'll at least deny your worth, SULETTA MERCURY!!!" Elan yelled as he unleashed the last of his GUND-Bits towards her for a devastating attack.

"Get out of there, Suletta!" Chuchu yelled as the Aerial's bits fired and defended against the swarm of GUND-Bits, but a few electrical shots managed to land on Aerial's frame, locking her up.

"She's trapped!" Elan yelled as he instantly dove in for the finishing blow.

Thinking that it was the end, Suletta was left confused on what to do, but there was a strange reaction as she felt a violent vibration from her machine. Looking to her back and seeing what was going on with her mobile suit, Suletta and everyone watching was shocked when they saw the damaged booster pack suddenly open up hidden ports and slots, releasing two more thrusters as red shining lights appeared all over the booster pack. In an instant before Elan could finish her off, the Aerial's GUND-Format shined brighter along with the booster pack before suddenly flying off and out of the field of attack at unbelievable speeds. Suletta held on as tight as she could to her controls as the booster pack sped her off so fast, a red trail from the lights was left behind her. The Aerial and its Bits flew towards Elan at shocking speeds as a strange field was released from Suletta's mobile suit, creating a strange electro-field that affected all machines in the vicinity, jamming and interrupting everything around it. The Pharact's GUND-Bits were completely shut off line as Elan was left in disbelief of what was happening.

"Nothing's move. What did she do? What is that light coming from its back?!" Elan said in confusion before the disruption field finally reached him, causing a reaction to the GUND-Format and the Data Storm as a surge of pain ran through his body. "GGAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" Elan groaned and yelled in absolute agony, but once he was able to raise his head, what he saw outside left him frozen.

In his eyes, there was a strange light that appeared in front of him in the shape of a child like figure. Elan began hearing strange voices and laughter as he felt a completely different presence surrounding him.

"You're..." Elan muttered in wonder as multiple child-shaped lights circled around him while seemingly pointing in his direction.

In reality, the things that were surrounding him were the GUND-Bits from Aerial as they surrounded him in a circle while his Pharact was left standing still from the reaction before. The last thing Elan heard was the sound of a child's laugh before he gasped in shock as the GUND-Bits opened fired, blasting off multiple parts of his frame before the antenna blade was shot off its head, putting an end to this dramatic duel. You were sat in your Unicorn floating a few meters away as you couldn't believe what Aerial had just done, and the awful feeling you felt from her machine.

"It can't be...She activated the Psycho-Frame?" You muttered in disbelief of how the Aerial was capable of such a thing, knowing that you deactivated the systems from doing so, as the booster pack's hidden thruster retracted back inside the unit and the exposed Psycho-Frame was once again hidden.

"Phew..." Suletta sighed with relief as she relaxed into her chair. "Thank you. Good work, Aerial." Suletta said with gratitude as she smiled happily at her machine. "I feel like I could hear your voice more than ever today." She said before noticing what was going on with the Pharact in the distance as her display locked on and zoomed in on the machine. "Mr. Elan..." She muttered as the armor around his cockpit was melting away and revealing the main hatch to his Gundam.

Your Unicorn made its way to the Pharact as you were going to uphold your end of the job so that you could hurry both machines back to the academy and take back the Narrative's Booster Pack. Just as you were nearing Elan's position, you locked onto something that had landed on his mobile suit and saw that it was Suletta who had exited Aerial and forced open his hatch.

"Mr. Elan! Mr. Elan!" Suletta called out to him as she forced open his hatch and reached out to him as he was coming back out of his trance as he remembered a woman who handed him a birthday cake in his memories. "Mr. Elan!" Suletta grabbed onto his wrist as she pulled him out of the cockpit and they floated out into space while she held onto his hands. "Mr. Elan?" She called to him as she noticed he finally woke up fully. "I'm really sorry. Are you hurt?" She asked worriedly as you and everyone watched in silence of the two of them.

"Your stake was to learn about me, wasn't it?" Elan said in a more calm tone as he seemed different from earlier. "I did have someone. Long ago. Someone who would celebrate my birthday. All this time, I thought I had nothing. But..." He trailed off as he lifted his head to look at Suletta as the light from the sun shined behind them to paint a more intimate scene for the two as they shared this moment. "...it wasn't true. It wasn't true!" He repeated twice.

"You've got it all wrong." Suletta said to him.

"Huh?" Elan huffed in a confused tone.

"There are people who will celebrate your birthday. I'm one of them." Suletta said as Elan watched how sincere she looked while talking to him. "It's absolutely wrong to say you have nothing, Mr. Elan!" She said as Elan was surprised by her words, but gave her one of his rare smiles in reaction.

"That's true. I've had it wrong." Elan admitted as he felt a little closer to Suletta after this battle, and things came to a quiet end as one of the Gundam's in this academy was defeated by another.