Just as the Hades' blast had struck the Zero so destructively, the bazooka shell from the weapon formerly belonging to the Einenlancer struck the Hades just as it was stopping from its boost, though with nowhere near the effectiveness. The armor was dented and torn in places, and the outer armor of the cannon was somewhat damaged, but it was only a weakening of the incredibly advanced mech, not a crippling or incapacitating like the two opponents had suffered. Inside the skybox, Jess winced as the Zero was taken down and shook her head, turning off the siblings' SATCOM system that had long been silent, anyway.<br/><br/>Once the shock of the defeat had settled, there was an uproar of both cheers and jeers, some angry at the famous brother and sister for having been defeated quicker than they had expected, though most excited to have witnessed an explosive battle involving such new and powerful technology. As the smoldering metal strewn about from all three competitors cooled and the teams of all four pilots came out to recover them, a message for Mira came through from Alex: "Whatever happens, don't let them blame you for this loss."<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Anastasia didn't know Jillian walked home from work each evening, so she was expecting the arrival of a car in the driveway to at least give her some warning that she was arriving. Instead, she jumped when the redhead suddenly appeared in front of her on the porch, smiling nervously and standing. "Oh, hey, Jill. H-how was work?" she stammered out, wringing her hands. As sensitive and self-conscious as she was, these parts of relationships were always difficult for her, especially when she considered herself to be the one who was wrong. Without waiting too long for a response, she sighed and tucked her hands behind her back, avoiding eye contact.<br/><br/>"Listen, I, uh...I know I acted really stupid the other night, and I'm really sorry about that. What happened was completely my fault, and I shouldn't have thrown you out over it, so if you're mad, I get it."