As Gabby and Melody retreated into their VR Capsules to begin the third event, Brance fought to keep composed. Although Cynrik explained everything in detail, he didn't like the plan, especially the first part.
However, what deeply concerned him was how terrifying Cynrik's level of foresight was. One of the first things he had told everyone before leaving the SRD event was that there was a 95% chance that the Captain of Romeoville would taunt him.
When that happened, Cynrik planned on, as he said, "Establishing Dominance" with Romeoville and striking fear in their hearts. Fear of how unpredictable he was.
[[Cyn, are you sure about this? If Gabby and Melody do what you asked, it will make many people uncomfortable, and we have no way of foreseeing the potential consequences until they show up at our doorstep.]] Brance asked while watching his girlfriend appear on the screen.
[[What? Would you rather I had gone with the route of "guaranteed" victory? Let me remind you, Brancie, Gabby herself isn't confident securing a Record Break in her event. You know her better than me, but I know her body language better than you.]]
[[Playing with her hair and fingers, kicking the ground, she was the picture-perfect example of someone not confident in their words. Is it possible for them to easily sweep Romeoville by crushing more targets? Sure, but what kind of statement does that make?]]
[[You need to keep in mind, little brother, we have a lot of people gunning for our heads now, and all we can do is put on a spectacle that presents the image that we aren't to be fucked with. What was it that Earth Dad always used to say about bullies?]] Smirking at the memory surfacing in his mind as he brought up another quote from Earth, Cynrik paused and waited for Brance to answer.
[[Sigh…If a bully doesn't stop messing with you when using words, punch him in the nose hard enough to break it. That way, he will think thrice about messing with you next time.]] Heaving a sigh, Brance quoted his Earthling Father.
[[Exactly, bop em in the fooking nose. And that is precisely what we are doing here. If someone wants to use us as a stepping stone for publicity, we will break every bone in their body before shattering their minds. It may be ruthless, but it's necessary if we wish to survive long enough to get old in this world.]] Smirking, Cynrik was about to continue when a slight snort echoed in his head, causing him to frown.
[[What is it this time, Sel?]] Cynrik asked with dead eyes.
[[You guys had a hell of a childhood on Earth; that Dad of yours makes mine look like a fucking puppy. While your Dad taught you to break bullies' noses, my Dad was more worried about which "Girly" sport I wanted to play, like Cheerleading; it was suffocating.]] Standing a few capsules away from Cynrik, Selene shuffled her weight onto her left foot and wrinkled her nose.
[[Cheerleading isn't a sport, and WOE IS YOU; your Daddy loveeed you enough not to beat the fuck out of you to make you a man.]] Snorting into the mind link, Cynrik rolled his eyes, but Selene's following words turned his frown into a smirk.
[[Come now, darling, he was Dad, only you are Daddy.]] Selene responded with a girly giggle and a flirtatious voice.
[[FUCKING KILL ME NOW, STRIKE ME DOWN WITH FUCKING LIGHTNING OH MIGHTY SMITER!]] Brance screamed as he forced back the bile rising in the back of his throat and comforted himself by petting Milo's head frantically. Although confused, Milo was never one to turn down free pets, so he began purring happily.
[[Can you two go one fucking day without this gross PDA bullshit? The event is starting, so shut up.]] Grunting in disgust, Brance looked down at the purring cat in his arms and sighed.
'Why can't everyone be as low maintenance as you, Milo.' Brance thought as he petted the cat and watched Gabby and Melody examine their surroundings.
---
In the VR Accuracy Event World, Gabby immediately tethered herself to Melody with a Psychic link and looked up at the countdown clock, which was set to 10 minutes. The first Targets wouldn't pop up until the clock hit five minutes, so they technically had a full five minutes to set up equipment; unfortunately, it was completely unnecessary.
'Gabby…are you sure we should listen to Cynrik this time? Don't get me wrong, I know he comes up with all the team plans, but this one seems…well, bad.' Feeling the connection between her and Gabby form, Melody started complaining almost instantly.
'Melly, stop; I know Big Bro Cyn scares you still, even though you've been with us for months, and sometimes he scares me too. But if there is one thing I've learned through my years of knowing him, there is a method to Big Bro Cyn's madness.'
'He always has deep reasons for what he does, and this time is no different. I understand your complaints, I promise I do, but now isn't the time to go against him, not when so many people are watching. All I can tell you is bring it up during the next team meeting.'
'We all have our parts to play during the Competition, and I get that you are hungry to show your Mom that you aren't the weakling she thinks you to be, but please, just hang in there, kay?'
Letting her friend's words sink in, Melody nodded her head and sighed before looking up at the countdown clock.
'You know, the way you talk about Cynrik makes me wonder how you ended up with Brancie instead,' smiling teasingly, Melody nudged Gabby's shoulder slightly, startling the younger girl.
'Well… when we were little, I did have a massive crush on Big Bro Cyn; I mean, who wouldn't? He and Brancie saved Benny and me from certain death. Swooping in like superheroes, Big Bro Cyn and Brancie fought our captor and whisked us to safety.'
'But it was a crush shattered by his usual uncaring attitude. In contrast, I fell in love with Brancie because he is sweet, handsome, and the literal knight in shining armor.'
'He was always patient with me, from schoolwork to learning our group's battle tactics. I don't know how to describe how I felt back then, but one day I just kind of knew he was the one for me, ya know what I mean?' Smiling while picturing Brance's goofy face as he tried to cheer her up after getting scolded by Cynrik, Gabby peeked up at the sky, where she assumed a Camera drone was floating and flashed her smile while thinking of Brance.
---
Back in the studio, Roni and Cesar were hyping up the crowd for what was going to be another great event.
Cesar: "Only 30 seconds remain until the Accuracy Event kicks off; what are your thoughts on VSFA's Gabriella Sanford and Melody Garland?"
Roni: "Based on their showing during the last event, these young ladies are high-level ranged fighters, with Gabriella using dual crossbows and Melody being a Mage with a wide array of long-distance attacks. Considering their output during the SRD event, I wouldn't be surprised to see another Record Break attempt out of VSFA."
Ceasr: "Elequently put Roni, then there's Markel Amsterdam and Lanna Faraday from Romeoville, both have Archer Classes and Sub-Classes, and last year they held down the fort by winning a couple of rounds due to their effort alone. Here we go, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ….Huh?"
When Ceasr hit one, he grunted strangely, and even Roni gasped at what she saw on screen. Instead of seeing arrows and Affinity Skills flying from the footage broadcast on the right screen…what she saw were Gabby and Melody pulling out a table and chair set…to drink tea.
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