Four thousand kids scrambled back into their mechas and switched them back on.

VRMMMMMM!!!

All four thousand mechas rumbled to life.

The damage threshold had been switched off, and all of the mechas which were still physically mobile were able to move once more.

"FORM UP INTO ONE LINE!" Bruce Pang roared as he pointed at a random direction.

Many of them were damaged, mostly by me, and at that moment, a very sorry bunch of mechas started to try their best to get in line.

Being completely undamaged, the Wangs, the Lins and I were the first to form up.

Sherry Lin was among them.

I gave her a friendly wave and only got a loud HMPH! In return.

I guess she was still sour from her spectacular loss and her crownless head.

Those who merely had their arms blown away were the luckiest. They quickly formed up beside us.

Those without legs were less lucky, but still not that unfortunate. They were able to use their arms to crawl their way to the line.

Those without heads were even less lucky. They had lost all of their sensing instruments, and had absolutely no idea where Bruce Pang pointed.

Out of those without heads, the Longs were definitely the luckiest. They only had their necks broken by me, and they still had their instruments physically intact.

A simple electrical bypass was all they needed to jumpstart their basic instruments. Although they could no longer turn their heads, at least they were not blind.

They clambered out of their mechas, did the bypass for themselves and those who didn't know how to do it, and within a few short minutes, the Longs were almost at full strength once more.

Powerful and devilishly competent indeed.

Those with completely crushed heads, however, had to depend on their buddies.

They tried calling out to their friends to guide them to the line, but not many responded.

The most unlucky ones were those without arms and feet. They were utterly unable to obey Bruce Pang's orders.

The girl I had tried to save was one of them.

I quickly noticed her in the distance, and without hesitation, I stomped my way towards her to help her.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

I guided my mecha to go against the wave of mechas trying to get into line and reached her within seconds.

"Hey." I said as I reached her.

"Hey yourself. Why are you here?" She snapped at me. Being unable to obey Bruce Pang's orders and thinking that she would miss out on a valuable first lesson had placed her in a very sour mood.

"I'm here to help you, of course." I said in an as a matter fact voice and grabbed her by her neck.

"You don't have to trouble yourself. My teammates will help me." She said sourly even though it was clear to both of us that none of them were nearby.

They were either completely destroyed as well or were too far away to locate her in the mess.

"Sure they will." I said cheerfully as I started to look around the area to look for Tes. I was wondering what had happened to her.

The girl gave an audible sigh and kept quiet.

There was nothing she could do even if she didn't want to be helped anyway. Her arms and legs were completely unresponsive.

"Tes!" I shouted loudly. "Where are you?"

"Justin! I'm here!" A soft voice located really far away replied to me. "I can't move!"

"Hold on! Don't go anywhere! I am coming to help you!" I shouted rather gallantly but very stupidly.

Of course she wasn't going anywhere. She just said that she couldn't move.

"Uh. Okay!" She replied back good naturedly with a slight tinge of laughter.

"Dumbass. Of course she won't go anywhere." I muttered aloud. "She just said she can't move!"

"Hee hee hee." A cheeky laugh sounded from the girl's mecha.

I don't know if I blushed then, but I sure as hell felt very stupid.

"By the way. What's your name?" I asked the girl and tried to change the subject as I stomped my way towards Tes.

By that time, the arena was clearing up as those who could move had already moved, leaving behind those whose mechas were too damaged to move, and the very rare few like me who were helping out another mecha.

"My name is Olivia Summers." She replied. Somehow, my stupid comment had made her warm up to me slightly. And probably also due to the fact that I had bothered to help her and was on my way to help another person.

Olivia Summers had always admired those who were strong and kind, and my actions then definitely improved the impression she had of me.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Justin from the Whitefrost Clan." I said.

"I know. I also know that you won the Grand Melee. I am a psychic. Fear me." Olivia Summers said dryly.

"Hahahaha! Wow! A psychic! Quick tell me! What colour underwear am I wearing??" I laughed loudly and barrelled through yet another stupid comment.

Olivia Summers didn't say another word for the next five minutes.

The same thing couldn't be said of me though.

"What? You can't see what colour underwear I am wearing today? What about tomorrow then? What colour underwear will I wear?" I asked her gleefully, completely oblivious that she was probably either blushing like a tomato, or stunned silly by my idiotic questions.

Knowing her, it was probably both.

She was blushing and probably racking her brains how an idiot like me could win the Grand Melee.

I cheerfully played on and peppered her with a bunch of questions that would be easy for a real psychic to know.

historical

Will it rain tomorrow?

What colour is Bruce Pang's underwear?

Is he even wearing any underwear?

My many questions about underwears, even though it was very obviously my awkward attempt to be funny, made Olivia think I had an underwear fetish, and she was the one who coined the "Underwear King" nickname for me a few weeks later that would dominate most of my first term in the Academy.

But I have to make it very clear.

I do NOT have an underwear fetish.

Very soon, my large strides brought me to Tes, and I couldn't help but grit my teeth in anger at her pitiful sight.

Like Olivia, she wasn't able to control her four limbs anymore. But unlike Olivia, her four limbs were completely destroyed.

She probably fought so fiercely that her enemies got pissed off and cut off her limbs out of resentment.

But of course, that wasn't the case. Mecha damage management was a very important skill, and Tes happened to be an utter genius at that.

She had managed the damage she received so perfectly that she was able to squeeze every last drop of functionality from her mecha until her four limbs gave out, before finally triggering the damage threshold.

Still, I had no idea at that moment that it was the case. I thought a bunch of resentful kids had tortured her to death.

And so I did what I usually did when I get angry at that age.

"WHO THE HELL DID THIS TO MY FRIEND!!! OWN THE HELL UP!!" I roared angrily!!