"I'm very impressed, I must say I'm shocked that no company has scooped you up, considering how obviously talented you are," Rowena stated as she studied Mika closer.
"Yeah, well," Mika replied in a tone that obviously said she didn't want to discuss it.
"Does it have the ability to transform like the original?" Becky asked with interest.
"I wish, as far as I'm aware, no one had figured out how the Black Knight transformed and fired off a planetary annihilation beam. It's theorised that its ability to absorb energy attacks was the key; however, no one has figured out how it absorbed those energy attacks either." Mika replied.
"I'm sure it will soon be figured out by someone lucky," A voice suddenly said, which caused everyone in the VIP box to turn towards the entrance since they all recognised it as belonging to Diva Lorelie.
"Diva Lorelie is back."
"Welcome back, Diva Lorelie. You put on a great show."
"Your performance was exceptional as always, but pray tell, who was that in the holographic projection?"
The other guests of the VIP box once again approached Lorelie, who smiled and answered a few questions while dodging others before saying politely, "If you don't mind. I would like to join my friends for the charity match."
"Of course, please excuse us," The VIP's responded as they allowed Lorelie to pass them and approach the group before sitting down next to Stacey.
"So who is your new friend?" Lorelie enquired as she looked at Mika with a smile.
"This is Mika, Lorelie. Mika meet Lorelie," Tephe said excitedly.
"A pleasure, Mika," Lorelie said.
"The... the pleasure is all mine, Diva Lorelie," Mika replied in surprise. She couldn't believe that she was so fortunate as to sit with not only two divas, but also the Terrana Imperial princess.
"Why didn't either of you tell us that he would be appearing on stage to play the piano?" Stacey asked.
"We wanted it to be a surprise," Lorelie replied with a smirk.
"Well, it certainly was," Rowena replied with a smirk.
💫💫💫
"Our next arrival appears to be the contestant representing the Universal Bank," Honcho said as a blue mech with a strange logo painted on many different parts of it approached the meeting point. It carried a large rifle in one hand with a shoulder-mounted cannon and what appeared to be a missile rack on its back.
"It's kind of obvious with how they have plastered their logo all over the mech, not exactly very subtle," Dulaebella said scathingly.
"I take it you don't think much of their mech then?" Honcho asked.
"Nope, it's a standard run-of-the-mill model from Dwarfinian Military Tech Incorporated; all they have added is their logo."
"So you don't rate the mech produced by your own race?" Honcho asked curiously.
"The mech itself is fine, it's the lack of effort and funding that Universal Bank has clearly not provided in order to customise it at all that annoys me, they're basically just using this charity match to advertise themselves, as if they even need to."
"True, Universal Bank is the biggest and most well-known bank in the universe after all," Honcho agreed before he noticed another mech approaching at a speed that seemed far faster than what the others had shown so far.
"Oh, here we go, the Speed Stone mech is here," Dulaebella said as her tone changed from scathing to interest and excitement.
"Speed Stone? You must be referring to the Gargolian, Nanack, the only competitor in the charity match who is both sponsor and pilot," Honcho replied.
"That's correct, who is sponsoring Prime then?" Dulaebella asked curiously.
"Didn't I say? That would be his aunt, Leonian Councillor Aimi."
"The perks of having rich and powerful family members, I guess," Dulaebella stated with a frown.
"Don't we know it," Honcho said with a smirk.
[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): Who's Nanack? Why is their mech called Speed Stone, and what's a Gargolian?]
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): Nanack is a wealthy Gargolian who is also a mech fan; they always compete in the charity match every time the UMB Cup comes around.
They called their mech Speed Stone because their mech is always built for speed. You can see how much faster it's approaching compared to the others, which is strange because a Gargolian is a race that can not move very fast.]
[Superhearofangirl (Earth): Why not?]
[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): Because they are made of stone, or to be precise, the element that was around them when they were born. I guess being naturally slow gave Nanack a love for moving fast.]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Something tells me the host doesn't like Prime much.]
[AlamoMatador4thewin (Earth): Ya think, maybe the fact that he waited until a Prime moment that he and the Dwarfinian chick could insult him.]
[Prestigious3horns (Vinox 2): Ha, I see what you did there.]
[Emojisonly (Earth): 🤣]
"It appears our next contest is arriving, and according to the information they are not only the last to arrive but also the last to enter," Honcho said as he read the information the committee were sending him.
"You mean?" Dulaebella asked with interest, while Raella's eyes also lit up with interest.
"That's right, the mech sponsored by Diva Lorelie herself, and if rumours are to be believed, is in fact piloted by her new boyfriend."
"Wait, isn't that?" Raella asked in surprise.
"It certainly looks like it," Dulaebella replied in a surprised tone.
"It appears that Prime isn't the only one copying the Black Knight. I wonder if Dive Lorelie's boyfriend is a fan," Honcho remarked as a mech that was nearly identical to Prime's appeared.
[NonpareilRaphilia (Aaru): A Black Knight replica?]
[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): So it seems, honestly, I was expecting more from the streamer.]
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): I was expecting you to do something better, streamer, come on. Why are you being a Prime MK 2?
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): I'm disappointed in you, streamer. I was looking forward to something new and super high-tech.]
[MercheadAnderson (Palaxia): Maybe Adam is also a fan of the Black Knight.]
[Lizziethetruepower (Palalxia): That makes no sense, idiot, the streamer is from outside the known universe, there's no way he could have known about the Black Knight for long.]
[MercheadAnderson (Palaxia): Then why do you think he's piloting a Black Knight replica like Prime?]
[Lizziethetruepower (Palalxia): Maybe Diva Lorelie's the fan? She's the one sponsoring him after all.]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): She's never mentioned it in the past.]
[Prestigious3horns (Vinox 2): I bet it was the only one they could get hold of in time.]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): What do you mean?]
[Prestigious3horns (Vinox 2): Well, we know that Diva Lorelie only entered the charity match as a sponsor last minute, and she's never mentioned owning a mech. I bet it's one she's just borrowed from someone, and it was probably the only one available.]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): That does make sense.]
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): No, it doesn't, this is a mech battle competition, it's full of mechs they could borrow.]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): You idiot, a team is not going to lend them their competition mech in case it gets damaged or destroyed, even if it is Diva Lorelie asking.]
[Handsome3horns (Vinox 2): It's a charity match, how's it going to get damaged or destroyed when they aren't using live fire?]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): You see those big floating rocks out there called asteroids? That's how. Also, there's always the possibility for the mechs to collide with each other if they enter melee combat.]
[Whostolemyduck (Earth): How does melee combat work if they're not using live fire?]
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): Their beam sabers and other melee weaponry are set to a level where they won't damage the mech, but the computer can still register the hit.]
[SciFifanboy (Earth): Beam sabers? That's so Sci-Fi.]
[Animefangirl (Earth): Beam sabers? That's so Anime.]
[Beinglittleisnotadisadvantage (Strathorp 7): Still, I was hoping the streamer would show us some super advanced mech in this match, even if he can't use his weapons.]
[Phoenixempress (Fenix Nest): Hehehe.]
[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): What do you find so funny?]
[Phoenixempress (Fenix Nest): I just can't wait to see all your reactions.]
[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): Reactions to what?]
[Phoenixempress (Fenix Nest): You'll see.]
[DeverinianLordMalacoss (Deverinian 9): ??? 😵💫]
💫💫💫
"A Black Knight replica? Why is Adam piloting a Black Knight replica?" Aphrodite asked in surprise as she saw the mech's information on the holographic screen, and that it was sponsored by Lorelie.
"Where did you get that Black Knight replica, Lorelie? It looks really well made," Becky asked as she inspected Adam's mech.
"Indeed, it's just as well made as the one Mika here made for Prime," Tessa remarked.
"It's better," Mika said as her eyes studied the mech closely.
"Sorry?" Tessa asked.
"I don't know who made this Black Knight replica, but it's better and more exact than the one I made."
"Really? How can you tell?" Aphrodite asked.
"As I said before, the Black Knight is the epitome of all mecha, and it's standard study material for anyone who wants to be a mech engineer. Even the major mech universities use it as an example and have their students research it and take tests on it.
You all may not be able to tell the differences with your untrained eye, but I can see the subtle nuances that make it a much better replica than the one I built. If I knew it wasn't impossible, I would almost say that this was the original Black Knight."
"Is it that good of a copy?" Tessa asked in surprise.
"Indeed…. Well, the external shell is, we will have to wait for the match to begin to see how well its internals were replicated." Mika said with excitement.