Surgeon general warning: If you dislike atrocious grammar, you'd probably found this story rather offensive. If you already read my other stories, you probably understood this well.

If you can tolerate it without complaining about that particular problem, feel free to read and give feedback as you wish.

This stories heavily features OC, just in case you expect something different. I do not, however, accept OC proposal.

Also, beta application is open

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GUNDAM BUILD FIGHTERS

-LEGACY OF ARIA-

Disclaimer:

Bandai & Sunrise


Chapter 01: 25 Years...


The boy sat on the adjustable chair, took a deep breath as particle wall began to form a mockery of a combat vehicle's cockpit, a perfectly spherical monitor engulfed him and his chair, gave him full degree of field of vision. Denser particles gathered even more, mimicking a complex electronic console including another small monitor that show the essential status of his machine, a pair of keyboards of different schematic, a large joystick on his right side and a lever on his left.

Underneath his foot, two pairs of pedals sprung out, ready to be used.

He gulped as the smaller, transparent monitor encircled his head indicated that his machine are on 100% condition and ready to take off, his hand awkwardly reached for the lever-

And push it forward, the front screen blurred a bit partly thanks to the speed of his machine as it took off from the catapult. The midnight black machine howling soundlessly in the vacuum of space, for all the sounds were nothing but simulation of the combat computers.

One-third until he arrive on the epicenter of the battlefield, the enemy greeted him via a barrage of deadly pillars of high energy particle. He softly jammed his feet on the second and third pedal in response, while both his hands manipulated the movement of control stick and throttle. His machine rolled aside smoothly evaded all the attacks aimed at it.

He's afraid, he's too afraid. What to do, what to do...

The target decided that long range gunfight isn't the best course of action; ditched most of its heavy equipment for the sake of speed. A beam axe unleashed ready to carve the black machine.

As if his brain function accelerated, his left hand moved from the stick to the smaller keyboard, typed furiously to insert the necessary adjustment for his weaponry, as he began to recognize the movement pattern of his enemy.

From the various parts of the black machine, 6 remote units deployed, zipped at unpredictable route around the target before it able to reacts.

But instead delivering kill shot immediately, the target was completely disabled; particle beam pierced right through its connector joints around the neck and the knees. The black machine raised its rifle on the target's torso, forced it to surrender.

"[BATTLE END]"

"Eh?" the boy blinked as he came back to his senses, when the fight ended with him as the winner, despite unable to realize what he did.

Every time

"Dang it I lost again" the other boy whined "You're too good Iori, why don't you try a tournament or two if you're this strong?"

"Not everyone fight for dick measuring contest." The Arcade's one and only manager stepped out of his throne, all the while chomping a cigar-shaped candy without giving a single care about everyone's reaction. The eccentric 30-year old man stroked his goatee, before switching his attention to the brunette "But to be honest, I don't think anyone in this region can challenge you anymore. This despite your SD Sazabi being straight up, unmodified repaint, you can accurately shoot the polycaps to avoid lasting damage because their softness and easily disposable nature"

The other boy took his Geara Zulu and left "See you later at school, Iori"

The brown haired boy called Iori adjusted his glasses and took the black, super deformed gunpla back into the container it belongs. "It's not like I wanted a challenge" he shrugged; people can be seriously obnoxious sometimes "What's with people and the rights to brag, people keep asking me to fight with them..."

Store managed just laughed in response, again disregarding the attention of the arcade patron "It's the fighter's pride, boyo. Are you telling me you never fight seriously?"

Iori wanted to say that he always fought seriously, a bit too seriously, and it scared the hell out of him.

Walked out of the lung-crushingly crowded arcade, Iori decided the sky had turned orange and it's time to go home. So he decided to walk faster...

His attention locked on a certain intersection, as if time slowed down, in a blink of his eyes he just noticed-

A little boy are crossing the road on his own, when a speeding car failed to notice the red lights, purely on instinct Iori dashed across the distance while screaming, but even he knew he won't reach it in time.

That is, until a red blur appear from the corner of his eyes, caught the boy out of the danger's reach.

As time flow returned, a loud shriek courtesy of the car's emergency brake hit echoed across the street, followed by the sound of it crashed into safety fence.

But Iori paid no attention to it, instead he approached the boy, still stunned and shocked, in the safe embrace of a red haired girl about his age.

"Don't worry, kiddo, you're alright" she cheerfully said.

And then it kicked.

The little boy began to cry in response, it doesn't last long however, as the girl patted his head soothingly "It's okay to cry, but there are many things in the world that can make you sad and angry, and crying is not always the best answer. So Kiddo, what do your parents tell you if you're caught in a dangerous situation?"

The boy wiped the snot off his face as the gingerhead dropped him "If the police ask something, answer it"

"Police huh, then please do it" she nodded before waving her hand "Because I'm leaving"

Well, that's really cunning of her. Decided to leave the crime scene when everyone's attention struck at the smoking car is clever, so he'll do the same, feel glad that the boy at least unharmed.

Still, that's one weird girl.

As he walked across the mostly empty street, his mind wander around instead of focused on the road, caused him to trip on a pebble and got shoved onto the dirt of the park. Patted his precious school uniform out of dust, he cursed to no one and still feel annoyed.

There, he saw that girl again, slumped on the swing like a dead person. Concerned, he carefully approached her. Looking left and right, he prayed no one mistaken him as a creepy stalker.

"Excuse me, miss…" he asked as politely as he could.

Waited a few second, there's no reply ever come. "Hello?"

He waved his hand in front of her face, there's no response. Instead, she lifelessly slid down ever so gracefully, forced him to catch her instead.

"…so hungry…" she whined, he's not even sure she's conscious, what with drool streaming from her lips.

"Man what." he was completely flabbergasted, her appearance doesn't even hint that she's poor, let alone homeless. Looking at her clothes up close, her white dress felt so smooth that carrying her to the nearby bench are kind of embarrassing, all things considered. It reminded him of the expensive party get up his mom had. Not to mention, possessing a pair of regal-looking golden earrings, complete with small marble-like green crystal that shine under the sunset.

Feel obligated, he decided to run across the street, found the closest Convenience store and brought a pair of warm bento. His decision was right, she was awakened by the smell of food, and she literally flipped midair and land on her feet like a gymnast. Feel threatened, he quickly hand her the plastic bag forgetting all sort of manners.

"Uh... by any chance, you mean it was for me?"

He blinked in confusion, until it dawned to him that strangers shoving food to her would be rude and suspicious.

"Ah, my apologies..." he fixed the position of his glasses again; gleaming ominously due to his awkward posture."I found you unconscious and heard... it…"

The girl turned crimson, so red that Tabasco sauce would be envious. Waving her hand in panic, she took time to compose herself and coughed. "I'm truly ashamed, how unladylike of me."

"its okay!" he sat on the bench, "its human nature to help others in need"

"Even so-" she awkwardly sit aside him, plastic bag dividing them. "I'm truly grateful…" she nodded as she took one box and open it. It was simple, really, 1000 yen bento with obligatory serving of ume, egg roll and salmon.

But to her, it was nothing but lifesaver. The way she ate it, it was strange, the gesture of her hand, it was very smooth and gentle. It was as if she treated the bento as pinnacle of elite cuisine. And that doesn't miss his attention.

She put the plastic spoon, finished her meal in no time and wiped the leftover around her lips with a handkerchief made of silk decorated with embroidery made of golden thread. It was, he recognized, similar to the logo of Zanscare Empire.

Truly hardcore, this girl is.

Stood up and stretched her body, she turned back to him. "In behalf Arian Nobility, I thank you for saving my life."

He stiffened again. "That's... kind of exaggerated."

"No!" she plucked one of the gems on her earring, and put it on his hand. "Papa and Mama always told me to give this if I owe someone, until I can repay them back for real."

Riiight, this girl came as weirder and weirder. Did God just shove him into romantic comedy manga or something? It freaked him truly. "But I can't accept this, this look expensive!"

She shook her head in response "It may or maybe not expensive, but I won't take my words back!"

Clenched his hand in confusion, he sighed. "Iori."

"Huh?"

"The name is Iori, what is your name?"

She smiled brightly, "…Aria von Reina Jyrkiainen."

What a weird name, but either way, not his problem. At least now he can safely conclude that this girl's not Japanese, even though it was obvious from her appearance and manners. "I'll take care of it then" he assured her.

Then, something happened. Both the gem remaining attached to her earrings, and the one on Iori's hand began to emit unearthly lights. It was bright, and beautiful, surpassing that of the light from the setting sun.

Then, a wallet dropped on her head, a paper slipped on it.

Her eyes widened, and then she went to check the content.

"PAPA YOU ASSHOLE~!" She screamed with the voice that can send insect swarm dead silent and heard across the city block, and yes, it scared Iori halfway to death, as if he had seen Medusa's eyes and become the victim of stone curse. Meanwhile, the girl, Reina, decided to leave... grumbled angrily while occasionally screamed at the darkening sky.

After recovered from his shock (and disturbed hearing system), Iori Asuka finally managed to reach his home with his body and sanity intact. That was one of the weirdest hour he experienced in his fourteen year life, and that despite his eccentric parents. He slid the door open, for a while thinking why his parents still kept paper mache door in 2055... And decided to ignore that thought, blamed his inherent attention deficit.

He was greeted by large holographic screen portraying a gunpla battle between the winner of eighth Gunpla Battle World Championship, also known as Meijin the Third - Yuuki Tatsuya, versus the tenth GBWC winner, Ricardo Fellini. Asuka could even see his father and mother's younger selves sat amongst tens of thousands spectators, cheering his comrades.

The patron, as expected, enjoyed the scene very much. This cafe, despite not official was inherently gundam themed, as shown by multiple old... no, ANCIENT movie posters covered the upper walls of the cafe.

Twenty years ago... huh, surely the world had changed a lot, and yet, the people remains the same. Or rather, the changes were so gradual that people tend not to realize what changed until it's told.

"I'm home!" he said a bit loudly.

"Welcome home, Asuka." dark brown haired woman cheerily answered as she carried a tray full of coffee cup, despite shared the habit of having her glasses gleaming ominously, one can tell her mood was rather good. "How was the school today?"

"It was fine…" he said nonchalantly, his mother of course understood, when he say fine, he usually means 'bland and boring'. So, it was his question that actually matter "Why so cheerful, mother?"

Iori China, 38, most definitely doesn't look her age at all, despite being de facto working mother for her two teenage children. The youthful woman just rested her chin on her clasped fingers. "Father will return this week, and your big sister also said she'll take a visit, it'll be merry weekend for sure!"

He blinked, before screamed his lungs out and surprised the cafe patron. "EEEEEH? REALLY?!"

"If things went smooth, that is…" she nodded as he grabbed a chair and sat in front of her, while taking the obligatory teacup and then poured hot water on it.

"Well that's good I guess…" he muttered "What about Keiko?"

"Keiko-chan is spending a night at grandma's…" China smiled "She really loves Rinko-san, doesn't she?"

Ah yes, grandma Rinko. Although her husband Takeshi no longer travel around like when he was young, Asuka's little sister Keiko always speed her time in their house whenever she can, even helping them with the shop.

Speaking of shop, Iori Models became #1 to go gunpla shop in this district, thanks to Asuka's father and grandfather's reputation. Day to day, Rinko and Takeshi always been busy handling the numerous customers attending the shop.

Asuka was never been an overtly expressive person, people even joked that he has dull affect at times. But deep down, even he admit he missed those two, his father's working demanded him to go around the world and his big sister currently living in a boarding house, attending college.

Curiosity kicked in again as he took the green marble out of his pocket, letting it to refract the light from plavsky display screen and shine.

That didn't missed China's attention, her eyes looked wide and she almost dropped the tray she's holding "Ri-Asuka... that... where you got that?"

"Eeh? This" he thought for a while before giving it to her "Someone gave this to me as a thanks... do you know what kind of gemstone this is?"

She carefully plucked it from his hand and look at it intently; her surprise didn't even end there. However, her mouth, formerly left agape, now turned into the widest smile as of yet. For what it's worth, Asuka has a bad feeling about it.

She recognized it clearly, memories from twenty five years ago returned to her mind full force. "Someone... when did you two meet?"

"An hour ago I think"

She grabbed his hand and shook it "Asuka, you're a good boy that listen to Mother's words right?"

Called it, he shouted mentally. If she's did this, that means something weird will happen soon, very soon. And as very rational and calm person, Asuka really don't like that. "Yes?" he answered weakly, unable to defy the honest feelings irradiated by his mother's misty eyes "What do you want?"

"I want to meet that person" she told him, choking on her own tears by holding them back "Mother and Father would like to meet that person"

His eyes sharpened, took a sip from the cup, and stood up "I understand"

"Wait, Asuk-"

He ditched his bag and ran outside despite his mother called him, hoping that she still somewhere outside. Deep down, he probably can't find her right now it was dark, she probably returned home, hotel, or whatever place he deemed safe. However, it's not about that at all...

He just wanted his mother to feel happy, and with that purpose in mind, he couldn't give up just yet.

Sweat drenched his white shirt, he never been much of athletic person, though it wasn't as bad as his past sickly self. Even then, his burning heart kept telling him to go forth and explore every single inch of the town for her sign. He returned to the park, front of station, and even passed across several shady hotel suite, and almost running into several people.

After one hour, he gave up, for her mother sent him a message to go home asap. Disheartened, he walked back home with slumped shoulder, feeling tired but more than that, he feel ashamed.

"Hey!" a soothing female voice called him.

The dim light seeping through the paper door made it a little unclear, but it was her. Her short and fiery red hair, that pair of piercing gray eyes, smooth casual mini dress, and asymmetrical earrings hung from her earlobes. There's no mistake, it was none other than the same weird girl, Reina Jyrkiainnen.

Asuka dropped on his knees. "You... what are you doing?"

"I don't know, I feel something is waiting here…" she crossed her arms and tilted her head in confusion "Weird, right?"

Asuka chuckled a bit, letting the pent up burden went out with the deepest sigh he could deliver before stood up again and grinned weakly as he open the door, welcomed her presence with a polite gesture "Welcome to Iori Cafe, Miss Jyrkiainnen."

When Reina walked into the building, all she saw... it was unreal.

The floors are covered by vast amount of desert, with large rivers dividing the area into three sections. Around the virtual diorama, tables are densely packed, but people sitting on their chair don't seem to mind. In fact, they're visibly anticipated something to happen soon with smile carved on their expression.

She had seen something like this at her home, but this... this just way beyond it, there's no longer need for bulky, table-shaped electronic implements. Looking on the eight corners of the room, she saw multiple devices, each emitting massive amount of 'magic particle' and shaping them into miniature world, where mechanical dolls made of plastic will fight each other, their controller standing just outside the field.

"Gunpla battle...? Are they're going to fight here?" Reina asked eagerly, her sharp blue irises looks even more brilliant with her unbridled enthusiasm.

The boy looked at her with newfound curiosity "That's our cafe's tradition" he told her "At this hour, adults will gather to fight in a large scale gunpla battle"

She gulp a little, feeling hot and bothered. Her hand itched to pull it out of her bag and jump into fray, but... she kind of forgot to bring it…

She suppressed the desire, for it wouldn't be improper. She is, after all, Arian royalty.

"Do you want to join?" A friendly woman's voice approached her from behind. When she turned her back, she saw a beautiful woman with shoulder-length, silky smooth brown hair. Her glasses reflect the light of the particle ominously, and yet, her smiles were gentle. The apron with cat logo fit her modest but shapely figure.

"Ah, my apologies" the boy, Asuka, took initiative to ease Reina's confusion "This is my mother, and owner of this cafe, Iori China. Mother, this is Aria von Reina Jyrkiainen"

The woman, Mrs. China wasn't it, subtly nodded in acknowledgment. She turned her attention back to Reina, and suddenly said "Miss Reina...then, you looks just like someone I know..."

"Pardon?" Reina inquired, now that caught her interest.

"By any chance, are your father Aria von Reiji Asuna? Or perhaps, you're related to him?"

The straightforward question caught the young princess flat-footed, while she's no stranger to her father's acquaintances; it was unusual for them not to recognize Reina herself, considering her involvement in Arian public relations.

"Oh, of course, how rude of me" China waved her hand in realization "I meet Mr. Reiji decades ago, he and my husband were somewhat close, and found their friendship through gunpla"

Reina might have heard it once or twice, a friend living far away beyond the confined sky of Aria, a friend he always miss. A friend he shared a special promise with...

"Yo, Asuka, aren't you going to join?" one of the men in the fighter crowd called, the boy just shrugged lazily in response. It was none other than Arcade Manager, the 30 year old man.

Reina's attention retreated back to the woman in front of her, "You know my father, Mrs. Iori?"

"Yes" the woman walked around the counter and sat on the stool "It might be a wild guessing, but you also remind me a lot of Miss Aila"

Ah.

It doesn't surprise Reina much, thought. She knew that her mother and father met at young age, well before their marriage. For what it's worth, she guessed her mother right on the bat, if it wasn't obvious from the name.

"Aila Jyrkiainen, the White Queen of Aria, is the name of my mother" she said "As it's the custom of Arian Royalty, the last name of the bride or the groom from outside Royal Family shall be inherited by their descendant"

The woman laughed heartily in response "Figures"

"HALP" Asuka's plead for assistance swayed their attention, the poor boy get shoved into a seat by the insistent patron. "Oh c'mon, man up and fight"

The next response was barely coherent "Must study, test coming"

"Did he hate battling or something?"

"Not exactly" China shook her head, if Asuka hate gunpla battle; he will stop associating himself with it since long ago. "But he always look upon his father, I'll not be surprised if he's just afraid of fight"

Afraid, it might be understandable, seeing some people don't want to see their prized possession get damaged in battle. Still, would it be fine if they forced him like that?

Reina was confused when China lightly pat her shoulder, loving touch reminiscing of a family member "Worry not, Asuka can actually say 'no' when he actually meant it"

And it happened, fast.

As his black dwarf took off, no less than five machines ambushed him. The gunpla swiftly dodged their movement with cold, hard calculated movements instead of running on adrenaline-fueled instinct. The men who fought him reacted with delight, they responded to his action by increasing the intensity of their assault.

When a green gunpla tried to ambush Asuka's black machine from behind, the super deformed gunpla flipped up and robbed it of its weapon, rotary beam gun roared and hail of fire destroyed the green gunpla's arm.

Even China noticed the burning passion reflected from the princess' eyes, and how she tried so hard to fight that urge to join the battle. Indeed, that expression of Reina reminded her of both Reiji and Aila, both of them are very passionate about battling, China will be more confused if Reina doesn't inherit that drive.


That's it, folks, do tell what you think about it.