The day of the Champions Cup finally arrived, a storm of conflicting emotions swirling over Chukyo Racecourse. Rampage had originally intended to stay home and focus on his own training, but find himself he did, standing amidst the roar of the crowd at the track.
(Easy Goer...)
Sunday Silence had already washed her hands of the matter. Her stance was characteristically cold: if the girl didn't have the will to change herself, then any outside effort was just pissing into the wind. She'd promptly left to go scout out sweets with McQueen, leaving the drama behind. Rampage, however, couldn't quite mirror that indifference. While he agreed with Sunday's logic, the primary emotion bubbling up in him was a biting, uncomfortable pity.
"What's your take on this?" he'd asked his inner self earlier.
"Honestly? I'm leaning toward 'who cares,'" his internal voice had replied. "I don't know what the President is plotting, and since I'm not the one running today, it's not my cross to carry."
"True."
"But... considering she's got a set of parents as rotten as mine were, I figured I'd at least set a few pieces on the board."
From Rampage's perspective, Easy Goer's parents weren't just strict—they were trash. Pure, unadulterated garbage. He'd even go so far as to say his own toxic uncle and aunt were a slight improvement, which was saying something.
"Oh? If it isn't Rampage-san."
"Yo. You girls feeling 'Happy' today?"
Rampage wasn't the one racing, so his intervention would be simple. He couldn't do much about the international pacing partners, but he could certainly stir the pot with his own colleagues.
"Whoa, Rampage-san! Did you come to give us a pep talk?!"
"Nah. I just came to heckle you."
"Then get lost!" Amazing Dyna barked with a grin.
"Haha! Look at you, Dyna. You've grown a spine if you can talk back to me like that."
Rampage turned his gaze toward Lady Sabre and Amazing Dyna, the two pillars of the Japanese dirt scene.
"Jokes aside, your opponents today aren't normal."
"We've run against Fifty Magna and A.P. Indy before," Sabre replied calmly. "We know exactly what they're capable of."
"It's not just the runners. It's the pacing partners. You guys haven't checked the bulletins?"
"I cut off all outside information before a race to focus," Sabre said.
"Same here," Dyna added.
Their trainers had likely kept the details under wraps to keep them from overthinking. A smart move when dealing with legends, but Rampage decided to leak the intel anyway.
"Indy and Magna... their pacing partner is Easy Goer."
"Easy Goer?!" Dyna's eyes nearly popped out. "The one who fought Sunday Silence for the Horse Girl of the Year title? That Easy Goer?!"
"So that's it..." Sabre murmured, a realization dawning on her. "I wondered why my trainer looked so restless this morning."
For specialists like them, Easy Goer was more than just a name; she was a superstar of the dirt and turf alike. But Rampage knew something they didn't—or rather, something they hadn't realized yet. He truly believed these two had already surpassed the version of Easy Goer currently haunting the stables.
"Having a legend like that setting the pace... well, we'll just have to deal with it," Sabre said, her composure returning.
"Yeah. No use worrying about it now," Dyna agreed.
Rampage blinked, surprised. "Well, look at you two. Pretty relaxed, aren't we?"
Sabre and Dyna looked at him simultaneously, their eyes burning with a terrifyingly clear focus.
""Our benchmark for 'the ultimate enemy' is you, after all.""
Rampage felt the weight of their gaze. They had spent months training with one singular image in their heads: the back of the "World Dictator." To them, Easy Goer—regardless of her pedigree—was a smaller wall than the monster standing in front of them right now.
"Easy Goer-san is a legend, certainly," Sabre said. "But the back we've been chasing is just as legendary. We aren't going to be intimidated by a ghost."
"Exactly," Dyna smirked. "Isn't that right, Mr. World Record Holder?"
Rampage rubbed the back of his neck, a wry smile touching his lips. "Guess I was being a meddling old man for nothing."
"No," Sabre said, her expression softening. "Seeing your face actually helped me settle down. I think I was more nervous than I let on."
"It was a nice change of pace," Dyna added.
The two began to head toward the paddock, but before they disappeared around the corner, they both turned and gave him a sharp thumbs-up. Rampage returned the gesture, watching them go.
"Man... they've really got that 'veteran' aura now, don't they?"
"Of course they do. They're the heavyweights of the Japanese dirt circuit," a voice chirped from behind. "The world is watching them."
"Whoa! Lynx! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Armored Lynx stood there, looking amused. This Champions Cup was to be her final race before retirement. She had made it clear she intended to enjoy every single second of it.
"Did you come to cheer for me?" she asked.
"Partly. But I've been caught up in this whole Easy Goer mess."
"Ah, I heard about that," Lynx nodded. "I wasn't there, but my trainer told me the air in the room was so thick with killing intent it felt like a dungeon. What happened?"
"Easy Goer stepped on a landmine with Sunday and me. The vibe didn't just die; it was murdered."
"Pfft. Typical. Sounds like a blast."
Rampage hesitated. He wasn't sure how much to tell Lynx, but then again, Lynx was the type to run her own race regardless of the drama.
"Just keep in mind: the Americans have Easy Goer backing them up today. It's not going to be a walk in the park."
"So, a real fight then?"
"Yeah. Oh, almost forgot..." Rampage reached into his jacket and pulled out a thick, black envelope. "Here. This is for you."
Lynx took it, turning it over curiously until she saw the logo embossed on the back: FromSoftware. Her eyes went wide.
"Rampage... is this what I think it is?!"
"An invitation to the premier event for the new title: ARMORED CORE VI: FIRES OF RUBICON. It includes an early hands-on demo."
Lynx went deathly still. "...I could die happy right now."
"Don't you dare die here, Lynx. You know what you have to do today, right?"
"..."
"I guess words are unnecessary."
Rampage turned and walked away in silence. Behind him, he could feel a shift in the atmosphere. The "Horse Girl" was gone; in her place stood a "Raven," her soul ignited by the promise of conflict and steel. Her body began to tremble—not with fear, but with a primal, ecstatic joy.
Lynx began to laugh, a low, wild sound that echoed in the hallway.
"Ahahaha! I can't wait! Give me... give me more struggle!"
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