"You stole the design?" Tephe asked in surprise.
"Well, stole is not really the right word, more like copied," Mika replied just before a selection of raised voices interrupted their conversation.
"Ah, it's the Terran Princess, Tessa Terrana."
The group looked over towards the entrance to see Tessa walking in alongside Becky, before a selection of VIPs approached to greet them.
"Princess Terrana, my condolences to you for the loss of your family."
"What those terrorists did was despicable."
"Hmph," Stacey snorted before turning back to Mika.
"Is something wrong?" Mika asked curiously.
"No, nothing," Stacey replied before her smile returned as she asked, "Is copying mech designs allowed? Are they not copyright-protected or some shit?"
"Most, but not all, and the one Prime wanted has never been copyright-protected."
"Why now?" Stacey asked.
"Because no one knows who owns or built it and only they can copyright it," Mika replied with a shrug.
"No one knows who…" Stacey began, but then stopped as she thought of something and said, "Don't tell me."
"Which mech?" Tephe asked curiously.
"I suppose it doesn't hurt to tell you, since you will find out soon enough, and there is almost always someone who enters the charity match with the Black Knight."
"The Black Knight?" Tephe asked loudly in surprise, causing a few people to look at her curiously.
"I knew it," Stacey said with a sigh as she shook her head.
"Why are you so surprised?" Mika asked Tephe curiously before adding, "Like I said, there is almost always someone who enters with a copy of the Black Knight, sometimes even more than one."
"Why?" Stacey asked.
"Why do they enter with a copy of the Black Knight?" Mika asked in return.
"Yeah," Stacey nodded.
"Probably because they want to feel like they're the best in the universe. The Black Knight is the epitome of modern mech design. After its appearance in the Siege of Fenix Nest, mech design changed drastically as every race tried to copy it in order to create the most powerful mech possible." Mika explained.
"Your new young friend is correct," A voice said from behind Stacey, causing them all to turn and find Rowena standing behind them with a smile.
"You know about this grandmother?" Stacey asked.
"Of course, I have a high position in the Nosferatu family after all," Rowena replied before continuing, "Even our own Brood mech mechanics have tried to replicate the performance the Black Knight showed during the Siege of Fenix Nest, only to fail to produce one anywhere near as good as the original."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Diva Rowena. My name is Mika," Mika said respectfully.
"The pleasure is mine, I hope my granddaughter and Tephe aren't causing you problems," Rowena replied.
"Not at all, Diva Rowena, I am glad that there is someone whom I can talk to while I'm here. I was afraid I would have to watch the opening ceremony all alone."
"That's good," Rowena replied.
"Where's Lorelie?" Stacey asked as she looked around, but couldn't spot her anywhere.
"A member of the organising committee came to collect her as she has to prepare for her performance," Rowena replied.
"Well, fancy meeting you three here," another voice suddenly said as a stunning beauty that attracted the attention of everyone in the room approached the small group with a smile.
"Diva Aphrodite? I'm surprised to see her here." A vip said.
"Agreed, though it's known that she likes to sleep with the winners, she rarely appears to watch the competition." Another replied.
"Why are you here, Aphrodite? I thought you weren't interested in the tournament." Rowena asked in surprise.
"I'm not, but the charity match is different as it has someone interesting competing," Aphrodite replied with a smile before giving Stacey a wink.
"Just don't get any ideas," Stacey retorted.
"Hehe, My, aren't we protective," Aphrodite said with a giggle.
"Mind if we join your group to watch the opening ceremony?" A polite voice suddenly asked, causing them all to turn and realise that Tessa and Becky had approached.
"Oh course, Princess Tessa, we would be delighted if you would join us," Rowena replied before saying, "Allow me to do introductions since I don't think you three have met.
Princess Tessa Terrana and her cousin Becky Starlover, this is Diva Aphrodite, Aphrodite, meet Princess Tessa Terrana and her cousin Becky Starlover ."
"A pleasure to meet you, Diva Aphrodite," Tessa said politely as she held out a hand.
"The pleasure is all mine, Princess Tessa," Aphrodite replied politely.
As they reached out and the two shook hands, Aphrodite's eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment before returning to normal.
"A pleasure to meet you also, Becky Starlover," Aphrodite said as she once more held out her hand in greeting."
"Diva Aphrodite," Becky said as she also shook hands, only to feel a strange tingle as she did, which made her widen her eyes in surprise.
Just as she was about to voice her surprise, most of the lights in the massive stadium went out, and spotlights illuminated the stage while loud music suddenly started to play.
💫💫💫
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's that time again when the UMB Cup is about to begin, and we at Sportscast once again have exclusive footage, so don't even think about going anywhere." A Jagarian male said towards the camera, while behind him was a large window overlooking a massive stadium.
"As I'm sure you're all aware, this UMB Cup is being held in the Felidae Galaxy, and as always, it will start with the opening ceremony, which is one of the most hotly anticipated in recent years, all because of one special guest that the UMB Cup committee announced only a couple of short weeks ago.
You all know what I'm talking about. Diva Lorelie will be performing live at the opening ceremony, and I, for one, can't wait and in fact neither can my guests, who will be joining me for the opening ceremony, I'm sure.
"First off, allow me to introduce our expert who will be advising us on the mechs we see in the charity match, Dulaebella Leadborn," The presenter said as he indicated a female Dwarfinian who sat beside him.
"Happy to be here, Honcho, leave all the mech explanations to me," Dulaebella said proudly.
"We certainly will, Dulaebella," The presenter said before indicating a Sirinian who sat on his other side as he continued, "Next, allow me to introduce Raella. As I'm sure many of you who watch Musicast are aware, Raella is a retired professional musician who regularly appears on Musicast to give her professional opinion on new songs."
"Thank you, Honcho, I'm happy to be here and hoping that we get to hear another new song from Diva Lorelie," Raella said with a smile.
"Haha, aren't we all," Honcho said with a laugh before continuing, "With that out of the way, the opening ceremony will kick off with a greeting from the representative of this year's host galaxy, Matriarch Maiya, who, as we can see, is coming up on stage." As he finished, the screen for all those watching switched to show Maiya standing at a podium on the massive stadium's stage.
💫💫💫
"How are we looking?" Adam asked as he watched Sportscast on the mess hall's large holographic screen and Maiya begin her speech.
"Spector Unit Six is ready to go with the UMB Cup specified training settings installed," Spector replied.
"I still can't believe live fire is not allowed in the charity match," Adam said in disappointment before asking, "Is everything prepared for Lorelie's performance?"
"Affirmative."
"Ok, launch stream."
[Launching stream.]
[[Stream description below:]]
[[Stream Title: UMB Cup charity match.]]
[[Mission Parameters: The UMB Cup opening ceremony has begun, and you have been allowed to enter the charity match under Diva Lorelie's sponsorship.]]
[[Missions Goal: Compete in the UMB Cup charity match and don't embarrass your girlfriend slash sponser.]]
[[Syncing Stream with The UMB Cup main system.]]
[Forever1stCommenter (Earth): First.]
💫💫💫
"Ladies and gentlemen, with most of the opening ceremonies formalities out of the way, the time has come for the moment that I think I can safely say we have all been waiting for," Honcho said with excitement, something the guests sitting next to him obviously shared as they all stared towards the stage, which Lorelie had walked onto.
As Lorelie walked towards the centre of the stage, thunderous applause rang out all around the massive stadium as her outfit started to change before everyone's eyes, until she was wearing a long black coat with a belt over it.
"And there it is, Diva Lorelie's famous outfit change happening before our eyes," Honcho proclaimed loudly.
"It looks like it's a new song; we haven't seen this outfit before," Raella said in excitement just before something no one expected happened.
As Lorelie came to a stop in the centre of the stage, a holographic projection suddenly started to materialise next to her of a strange triangular object none of the three had seen before.