The cloaked figure suddenly charged for Leonel. But, when many thought the battle would begin, he suddenly enveloped him into a massive bear hug.
The rowdiness of the crowd continued for a while, thinking that maybe this hug was some sort of attack. When it came to the strongest individuals, after all, a bear hug might be among the most vicious ways to kill someone.
But, it became very clear, very quickly that this wasn't a vicious bear hug at all, especially when the cloaked figure set Leonel down, removing his cloak to reveal a beaming smile.
"Hey, Milan. How've you been?" Leonel forced a smile.
He should be happy to see his teammate, but this supposedly good thing was most definitely not one, especially if he was correct. Leonel didn't even need to look now to understand that most, if not all of the 'mysterious' nine geniuses that the three organizations had hidden until now were from Earth.
It might sound like Leonel was angry because he couldn't fight for Valiant Heart Mountain, but this wasn't the case at all. This was much deeper than that. It was the sort of problem that was giving Leonel a major headache just thinking about it.
If it was just about winning, what could be simpler than this? His teammates would forfeit long before he even had to ask. It was just the kind of men they were.
And, even if there were others from Earth that weren't his teammates, that hardly mattered. The fact they were from Earth meant that they had been training for the same amount of time Leonel had, and he didn't believe anyone who fit into such a category could defeat him, at least not in this segment of the universe.
What was the problem, then? It was a matter of flexibility and maneuverability.
Things might have been fine if the three organizations didn't know the relationship between Leonel and the others, but now that they did, it would be impossible to just hide them all away.
Using the snowglobes sounded like the logical answer, but he would need the actual chance to do so first. And, beyond that, who was to say that these nine were the only ones he had to worry about? What about the others that were likely still within those three organizations right this very moment? Leonel wasn't na?ve enough to believe that only nine total had been sent out.
The only potential good news was that Leonel had a feeling that this was done in partnership with Earth. It was unlikely that these organizations would choose to forego this partnership, especially given Earth's potential… At least they wouldn't do so blatantly and without thought. This might give them a bit of breathing room.
However, even with this being the case, Leonel didn't believe that this would be a great deterrence. Not in the face of whatever value Valiant Heart Mountain's territory and the Milky Way Guild could provide, anyway.
Leonel's instincts were tingling all over. He could feel that he had already been found out, that a trap was being slowly closed in around him. He could understand that if the person he thought was behind this was, that this was definitely the approach they would want to take.
They wouldn't want him to die an easy death or be simply captured. They would want something that would help them to vent all the rage and frustration that had been brewing within themselves for over two years already.
Milan blinked when he looked at Leonel's face and scratched the back of his head.
As Leonel's center on the football field, a position that was essentially considered to be Leonel's Head Guard, Milan was quite good at realizing when he had done something wrong. But, usually, it took some detective work. It had never been this obvious before, which could only mean one thing.
He had definitely made a big mistake this time. And, it was a big mistake that even Leonel wasn't confident in cleaning up.
He had all sorts of jokes lined up about everything from Leonel's hair to who that new beauty next to him was, but he couldn't even bring himself to say it any longer.
Milan scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, Cap."
Leonel opened his mouth to respond. But in the end, he sighed a smile and shook his head.
"Forget it. Maybe things will be more interesting this way. How many are with you?"
"There's Joel, Raj and Drake."
Milan's response carried an undertone of seriousness, his cadence even and his voice quite booming. It almost seemed as though he was speaking too loudly, but this was just his natural volume. He was quite used to speaking like this, especially given his original profession.
"Drake? The Rookie?"
Milan grinned. "He's already almost 18, Cap. I dunno if we can't still call him that."
Leonel smiled. "I guess you're right. By this point, he would have already taken our spots, huh?"
By this point, the entire arena had fallen into an awkward lull. The three organization Heads weren't sure how to respond to this sudden situation. This was especially so for the old man of Misty Woods considering Milan was one of his three hidden seeded geniuses.
"What's the problem, Cap?" Milan asked. "Do you need Valiant Heart to win?"
"It would help, but that's not the main problem. It also doesn't mean as much as it would have in the past anymore considering…"
Milan forced a sheepish grin. Indeed, it wouldn't mean as much anymore. Even if Milan was the only one in 'cahoots' with Leonel, the three organizations would still use it as an excuse to void the entire competition.
"Then what should we do?"
Leonel looked around for a moment, his eyes drifting toward a certain section of the arena where a few sat silently, many of whom wore masks. It was difficult to tell if they were hiding something or if this was simply their usual style of dress.
"That depends," Leonel responded, "Who else is here?"
"Everyone is from Earth, I'm not sure if you know them. But, there is that girl that used to follow her around."
Leonel's lip twitched. "'Her'?"
Milan blinked. "Don't worry, Cap. I won't mention her in front of your new girl. Scout's honor."
Leonel touched his hand to his forehead, feeling a headache coming along. How many times would he have to deal with this, exactly?
"That's Aina, you big lug."
Milan looked over Leonel's shoulder toward 'Aina' who still wore her mask, then back to Leonel.
"You met another girl by the same name? Do you have a fetish or something, Cap?"
The wave of dejavu almost made Leonel faint once again.