With the selection over, the eliminated teams are led out by the woman in purple. Each and everyone of them receive their own consolation bags from her. Amongst the many souvenirs, coupons to free Onaq delicacies, and expensive candies is a hand-written note from the woman in purple encouraging them to continue trying. It might not be what they wanted, participating in the tournament, but it should at least soothe some of their sorrows.
"I wonder what's in those bags." Lilee watches as team after team leaves the stadium.
"Something stupid. Like a participation ribbon." Dimas says.
The rest of the judges, led by the moustached man, stand in front of the selected teams.
"Congratulations for passing the selection. Now, please step forward and we-" The moustached man points at himself and the ladybug woman. "-will hand you your Fighter cards. Except for Dimas and Lilee, Mr. Hall has yours." He directs them to the cane man who is standing a fair distance away from everybody else.
Dimas and Lilee get some stares from the other teams. Rumors start spreading within the stadium and outside as well.
A large number of the losing teams believe that their chance was stolen by the duo. Disheartened and upset from the selection results, several of the eliminated teams began venting their anger to anyone who would listen. Simply because Dimas and Lilee were picked last. As rumors tend to go, they evolve and change with every exchange. By this time tomorrow, more than half of the tournament's attendees would have heard one rumor or another regarding the duo.
Mr. Hall, the cane man, greets the duo with outstretched arms. "Lilee and Dimas, I was hoping to get a moment of your time."
"Why'd you single us out?" Dimas demands to know. There wasn't any reason for a total stranger to be interested in them, at least to Dimas's knowledge.
"That is a fair question. It's a simple reason really, your teammate." Both Mr. Hall and Dimas look at Lilee. "Correct me if I'm wrong but your father is one of the Final Five, Guardian Angel if I'm not mistaken."
"That's right… How'd you know?" Lilee is surprised to hear Mr. Hall knew about her father. Her dad had actually fought under the pseudonym Guardian Angel because he thought it sounded cool. As a matter of fact, Lilee was also going to fight under a pseudonym as well but couldn't think of anything and went with her name.
"Your father saved me once. I was adventurous in my youth and I would scoff at any challenge. Until one day, a challenge proved insurmountable and I was left incapacitated while at the mercy of a raging river. Just when I had accepted my fate, your father rescued me. Not only did he save my life, he saved my legs. This is a minor inconvenience-" He twirls the cane. "- compared to the alternative."
Lilee's eyes light up with pride for her father. "Wow! My dad never told me that story."
"Sounds like he's still a modest man." Mr. Hall lets out a sigh. "He never accepted any payment whenever I offered it to him. I always thought I would never be able to return the favor." He flashes them a content grin. "Looks like the least I can do is pay it forward."
"Then why'd you ask me if I believed I could take on Alastor?" Dima asks.
Mr. Hall hands the duo their fighter cards. "I was curious."
The duo are once more in the area hidden by hills. After receiving their fighter cards, the teams were instructed to return the next day for the official tournament.
Dimas is testing out his right arm. Almost a week has passed since he pushed his ability to the limit. His arm has slowly gotten better over the days. While it does feel extremely sore today, at the very least he's regained feeling in it.
Lilee hasn't taken her eyes off of her fighter card since she got it. She's currently lying down on the grass while holding her fighter card close to her face.
Seeing Lilee entranced with her fighter card confuses Dimas. He pulls his fighter card out to study it. The fighter card is transparent like glass but made of a strong alien material. Alien to Dimas at least. It easily fits in the palm of his hand. The only information on it is Dimas's name in bronze letters on the top right corner.
"Why are you ogling that card? All it has is our name on it and it's not even centered." Dimas says.
Lilee looks at him offended. "This is our fighter card! Everyone dreams of having one of these." Lilee clutches the card close to her chest. "And I actually have one!"
Her display of emotion annoys Dimas a little.
"Besides," Lilee stands up and walks over to Dimas. "You haven't activated it yet. Hold the card with both hands while at eye level, thumbs on the front and all the other fingers on the back." She demonstrates the position.
Dimas follows her instructions.
"Now, break it in your direction." Lilee says. "Preferably while smiling."
Dimas hesitates but does as he's told except for smiling.
The card splits open for a moment before snapping back to normal. Onaq underneath a clear night sky now decorates the once clear card. A new moon hangs above the city and between them is the word "Preliminaries" spelled out by clouds. "Capricornus" appears at the bottom with an arrow pointing in Onaq's direction above it. Finally, a picture of Dimas forms in the top left corner.
Lilee gives a disapproving look.
"What?" Dimas asks annoyedly.
"You look grumpy in the photo." Lilee says.
"Doesn't matter. As long as they can tell it's me then it's fine."
"Have it your way. We gotta link them, place it above mine." Lilee holds her card out. Dimas holds his card an inch above Lilee's. "Say 'Create Team'."
Dimas nods. "Create Team."
The edges of both the cards begin to flash various colors, out of sync at first, with both of them landing on a light shade of blue.
"That's our team color. It sort of matches your blanket." Lilee pulls her card away. "Now say 'Lilee is my support'."
"Lilee is my support." Dimas's card begins to blink.
"Dimas is my fighter." Lilee's card blinks in confirmation. Afterwards, both cards stop blinking. "There it's done." Lilee presses her picture on the fighter card. Her picture becomes bigger, Dimas's picture appears alongside it, and the background becomes light blue. A star hovers over each picture with Dimas's being larger. "It's official, we're a team!"