Author's Note: This story is my attempt at trying to write for an uncommon "crack" pairing in Galerians: Ash. It takes place in an alternate universe based on both games' events and years after the defeat of Dorothy. I have done this because in order for me to pair these characters up, it would have to be under different circumstances from the ones present in the canon games. Galerians: Ash and the Galerians series is owned by Polygon Magic/Enterbrain and the story/characters are owned by Chinfa Kang/Sho-u Tajima. I of course own nothing other than this fan-fiction offering.

Rain drops begin to hit the window of the five story apartment complex situated in a somewhat quiet part of the city. The clouds are grey and at the very center of his view, the man sees the massive tower where all the conflict ended years ago. A rush of memories flooded the blond man's mind as together with a close friend, they were able to free the city from her controlling grip.

"Mushroom Tower..." he thought to himself: the birthplace of the Family Program. Behind him, a woman was flipping through a book that seemed to bore her. She wore a black sweater along with matching pants. Her complexion was much paler than his and through silver lips she spoke.

"Quit staring at that thing, Rion. You're wasting your time thinking about it." The lady hadn't even bothered to divert her gaze from the page she currently, and absent mindedly, stopped on. His sharp blue eyes turn to look at her and the first thing that appears in his vision is that odd hair of his. He had never seen something like that before in his life; a ponytail tied in the front of the face instead of the back. Often her dark locks obscured one half of her visage much to his annoyance.

"You're right...sorry."

"Come, my friend, sit with me. This book has bored me to tears anyway." She tossed her book to the side and gestured with her left hand to take the other chair beside her. Rion walked, pulled the chair back and tried forget about what happened years ago. In front of him was some lemon tea they made earlier and while she had already finished her eighth cup, his first was sitting there getting cold. The young man was dressed in a white T-shirt with red leather pants, something which had become trademark of his. The girl, Nitro, had found delight in his form fitting clothing. It had clung tightly to his body and it occasionally made her flustered in some way, if that was the proper word to use. Regardless, Rion never really paid attention to the way he presented himself or looked to other people. He never fitted in well with people anyway so why bother now?

"Nitro...did you ever feel like you made a mistake somewhere in your life?"

"What? No, not really." She looks to Rion for a second in acknowledgement and returns to sipping at her tea.

"Just asking." The man tries to do the same as she does but he honestly isn't interested in drinks at the moment. "It keeps entering my mind, whether she is happy or not."

"You mean Lilia right? Isn't she an item with your twin?" Nitro doesn't even bother to look at him as the conversation isn't too engaging in her view.

"Yeah, Cain. It's just odd how Lilia ended up with someone who looks just like me." He was one of the Galerians that Dorothy produced to be a counter against Rion who, like the auburn-haired Lilia, was a hybrid; a human being that was injected with the drugs in order to awaken combative psychic abilities. Most ended in gruesome failure due to in-capabilities with Dorothy's technology but Lilia and Rion's telepathic bond played a part in their success, the scientist herself thought. Cain and Rion had clashed due to differing ideals but eventually, they were able to reach common ground in a desire to be free and live their own lives. Well, that was after Cain realized that Dorothy truly treated him more like a tool and less like a living person. The slave mindset she instilled in her children was hard to break.

In total, there are eight Galerians currently alive and only two unique hybrids. Lilia Pascalle and Rion Steiner were the children of the two people who made Dorothy, renown scholar Dr. Pascalle and the genius Dr. Albert Steiner. Growing up, they were childhood friends and their bond was unbreakable. This unity is why they were able to overcome Dorothy and her army and somehow they were able to grant the Galerians a chance at a real life. After it was over, Lilia and Cain had gravitated towards each-other but the friendship he had with her still lingered. In turn, Cain's eldest and quite temperamental "sister" Rita joined with Ash who was the leader of a group of Galerians that despised the rule of Dorothy: the Last Galerians. Nitro was one of Ash's lieutenants and was regarded as being a manipulator of all things living. This woman was the person Rion had started a relationship with and it completely took him by chance. Her extreme apathy and nihilistic distaste for life wasn't shunned by Rion's reserved personality and to Nitro, quite simply, he was cute. Both weren't trying to get anything out of being together, it was more experimenting than anything. He wanted to step away from fighting but his powers were too useful for humanity to not use. Along with Nitro, they handled jobs for the government that required people of "specialized skill" and essentially that meant someone with psychic powers. Either way, they worked somewhat well with each-other; Rion's empathy for humans being half-human himself worked as a control to prevent Nitro from indulging too much in her violent sadism that pure-blooded Galerians tend to have. It was lucky that Ash considered Rion an ally and that Lilia was working hard to maintain a peace between both races or there would be even more reason for Nitro to throw some fireballs around. "Legal killing is still killing." he remembered the trickster saying to him.

"But she's apparently satisfied with her life and that's all that counts, correct? Seems to be doing a good job at not letting the Galerians tear out your average human's throat also..." Nitro returns Rion from his thoughts and to the conversation at hand. "I would never imagine being together with such a bleeding heart like yourself but here we are, sharing an apartment together. Granted, I still feel empty at times but we have each-other and that makes it a little more entertaining. Don't you agree?" The brunette pyrokinetic smiles slightly at her partner and he tries to force one himself but to no avail.

"I suppose so, Nitro. You can be a hand full for me plenty of times...No, all of the time." She laughs slightly at his words, the girl enjoyed that someone was aware of her fickle behavior. "How long has it been? Two years? We have been two years together attempting to play boyfriend and girlfriend like your average human does." Rion took solace in the fact that they weren't trading deathly blows with one another anymore; he had remembered when he used to despise that little fiery pirouette Nitro used to do. As for the lady, his D-Felon cancelling out her swirling fireballs was a nuisance.

"I wouldn't use such simple terms for what we're doing. Not everything must be as plain as day. Both you and I receive benefits from each-other and we enjoy each-others' company. We have the same power and we work well together on the field. I would say our unity is one of both profession and pleasure...and don't get me started on the pleasure." A single index finger reaches up to her lips and she bites it slightly to add more to the suggestiveness of her last words. It made Rion awkward to be so forward with their personal life but she didn't care, Nitro loved to make people squeamish. Toying with people is in her soul and it's not like he didn't take that in mind we they got the place together. It was one of her appeals.

"Right, how could I forget..." He says halfheartedly while finally bringing his cup of tea to his lips.

"Those nicely formed abs..." She continued.

"Alright, enough."

"That look in your eyes as my lithe fingers run all over you..."

"Nitro."

"How your legs buckle when you..."

"Well it's time for me to step outside for a while! Be back soon!" Rion says with sudden energy and proceeds to leave the kitchen with a laughing flame dancer in the background.

"Don't forget we need more milk." She says right before the front door closes.

After finishing what was her fifteenth cup of tea, Nitro washed both his and her dishes and while the hot water was running through her silver finger-tips, she took a gander at her right hand. Usually, she wore two skull rings on both of her middle fingers but her left hand was bare. Of course, Nitro had given one of the rings to Rion as a symbol of their recent bond. She had told him that if things didn't work out between them to return it to her because she disliked having a ring-less hand. Despite that, the Galerian was glad he still had it in his possession and if this grim reality had any type of sympathy left, it would stay with him. After-all she did enjoy his company and as a plus, he can actually cook. She wouldn't have to worry about exploding the stove anymore. The rain began to pick-up in it's ferocity and Nitro delighted in this natural occurrence. "One of the few things that don't disappoint." she thought to herself.

Walking up to the sofa, she removed her boots and rested her long legs on the soft cushions as latex rubbed against thread. Shadowy eyes gazed on as the rain and lightning began to coat the cityscape out the porch windows. Messing about with the flame design ear-ring on her left ear lasted only for a few minutes before she was able to allow her body to enter into sleeping state. Rion would return soon since he had to assist Ash on repairing a "human dwelling" for him and Rita to move into. There was the uranium refinery but that was less of a home and more of a war fortress. Rita actually wanted Nitro to assist as they became half-friends due to being the only two female Galerians around but she had declined as it was much too dull for her to deal with. Within the haze of her brain browsing through a bunch of memories, that was when it had hit her.

"Looks like he forgot the umbrella." And outside in the soaked city streets, there was a yelling blond man complaining about his life.

End