Disclaimer: Sorry, but the authors of this story do not own anything related to this story, not one bit.
Phase 0: Origin Stories
October 10th 2031 AD - Southern United States
Zeonic Guild Meeting
"You know… I'm still amazed how we grew from just the two of us… into this."
A young man with short brown hair and brown eyes chuckled a bit at the statement, as he adjusted his own cosplay uniform - a variant of the ZAFT Red Coat used from Gundam SEED modified with some Zeon aspects, as well as a red and black version of what many would recognize as a Nazi peaked cap, only any Nazi symbols were replaced with Zeonic ones. They were currently at a convention center, one which they had rented access to for this night. Jaden and the man standing next to him stood on a balcony, which overlooked what seemed like hundreds of fellow men and women wearing similar uniforms, varying from Zeon uniforms to ZAFT uniforms and so on. At several areas, Gunpla battle arenas had been set up, as small teams participated in training skirmishes against one another in Gunpla Battles, using mostly ZAFT and Zeon-based Mobile Suits, with a few using Mobile Suits from the Euba-Zalam Alliance from AGE, OZ Mobile Suits from Wing, even HRL Machines from 00…
The Young man glanced at the man who had spoken - he was about his age, with short dark brown, almost black hair, with dark brown eyes wearing what looked like a standard dark green Zeon Normal Suit, the helmet to his side in his hands. "I know… I can hardly believe it myself," he said, glancing back at the crowd. "It started off just us two… as a tag team. But now… hell, we're Guild Masters to a guild numbering in the hundreds! Yet even then, I'm amazed this many people came to Zeonicon!"
That was what they had called this little convention - 'Zeonicon'. Jordan Tackett, co-founder of the original 'Zodiac Team', which quickly transformed into the 666th 'Hades' Mobile Battalion, and then into the Zeonic Guild, had always dreamed of this. One day when all of the members of his guild could be gathered at once place, where they could all meet together, practice, plan strategies, and prepare for the next Gunpla Battle Tournament. The timing couldn't be more perfect, as the Gunpla League had announced a brand new Tournament built specifically for large guilds such as the Zeonic Guild - massive battles between two guilds, fought in large arenas where massive teams of Gunpla Pilots battle it out. While the Zeonic Guild had roughly thousands of members (many of whom showed up), due to the limitations of how many Gunpla units can be present at a single battle, they needed to limit their team to about 100 players.
Which was why Jordan decided to host Zeonicon, as a method of choosing the best 100 Gunpla Fighters of the guild, and that team would head on to the Gunpla Guild Battle Championships. And the Zeonic Guild fully intended to participate, and they fully intended to win.
"You brought them together," The young man standing next to him said - Dennis Nieves Diaz - shrugging. "I admit I had my doubts… but look at the sponsors we got over the years. All this money we got doing this! I didn't think this would be possible!"
Jordan sighed. "Yeah… yet my Parents still don't like it," he groaned out. Dennis blinked before he sighed as well.
"You're still going on about that?" he asked. "Come on Jordan, that's not important."
"I know…" he said, shaking his head. "It's just… I don't get it. I chose to be a Gunpla Fighter. I've made tens of thousands - hell I think we're getting close to getting millions in cash, and we've become more successful than we could ever dream… and yet they still don't like it."
"They just don't understand Gunpla like we do - or Anime in general," Dennis said. "If they don't agree, then don't worry about them. We both moved out of our parents houses… and now look where we are." He then playfully nudged his shoulder. "So stop brooding - you're not Shinn Asuka or Amuro Ray." He then smirked a bit. "Besides… you have a speech to present now, don't you?"
Jordan smirked slightly, as he nodded. "Yeah…you're right," he said as he straightened up. "Let us begin. Make the call."
Dennis nodded as he pulled out his phone, dialing a number as he spoke. Jordan got into position, as he clasped his hands behind his back, standing at attention. Suddenly the lights began to dim in the room, and moments later Zafuto Chapter 5 Seigi Toiu na no Akai Kawa began to play on the intercom. The people in the convention room all looked around in surprise, as any Gunpla battles were also paused for the moment. A light then shone around Jordan, as he stepped forward.
"Greeting… fellow sons and daughters of Zeon," he spoke. "Welcome, to the 1st Annual Zeonicon, Zeonicon 2031! Many of you have come far and wide to travel here, to be with your fellow Guild members, your fellow brothers and sisters of the ideals of Zeon! And I wish to thank each and every last one of you for joining us here today!"
"As you all know… we have gathered here today - united as one, to participate in one of the largest Gunpla Battle Tournaments yet!" He continued, "The Gunpla 2031 Guild Battle Frontier Tournament! Our Guild is going to participate, as all of our members shall unite together, and fight to defeat any who oppose us! So we may finally claim that which rightfully belongs to us, as the children and inheritors of Zeon!"
Many of the Guild members cheered at this statement, although Jordan was far from finished. "With this in mind… I know that we shall be victorious!" he shouted. "Compared to the other Guilds out there, our resources are less than a thirtieth of theirs… despite this major difference, we have been able to fight this fight for so long! We are now finally in a position where victory is within our grasp! Once again, the Zeonic Guild shall rise to the challenge, and the earth shall tremble in fear upon our assault, as we take what is rightfully ours, as united our cry for victory shall forever ring across the universe!" He then shot his fist up into the air. "SIEG ZEON!"
"SIEG ZEON!" The crowd all chanted back in complete unison, shouting out the famous/infamous war cry of Zeon. "SIEG ZEON! SIEG ZEON!"
"And now, REFRESHMENTS IN THE LOBBY!" He shouted back.
"REFRESHMENTS IN THE LOBBY! REFRESHMENTS IN THE LOBBY! REFRESHMENTS IN THE LOBBY!"
Later that Day - Gunpla Battle Arena
"Gunpla Battle: Combat Mode Start up. Model damage level set to A. Please set your GP Base!"
The computer of the Gunpla Battle arena spoke, as all of the Guild Members placed their respective GP bases where they belonged. The room was easily large enough to accommodate 100 people, who at the moment were the top 100 players currently part of the Guild. Not everyone were operating Mobile Suits or Mobile Armors however, as some had brought entire Gunpla in the form of ships such as Musai's and Nazca's, and manned these ships for the battle.
Jordan and Dennis stood next to each other, each with their respective Gunpla in hand. "Beginning Plavsky Particle Dispersal!" The Computer announced, as the familiar blue and white particles filled the arena around them, as the area transformed into that of space with a large asteroid nearby. "Field 1: Space. Please set your Gunpla!"
Jordan and Dennis put their respective Gunpla units on their launch pads. The Plavsky Particles doing their job as the two Mobile Suit models immediately came to life as their Monoeyes activated. "Battle Start!"
"Jordan Tackett, GOUF Phantom, Let's Rock and Roll!"
"Dennis Diaz, Gouf Custom Kai, Launching!"
The two Gouf-type MS launched from their mothership, which turned out to be a Minerva-class Battleship as they launched out into space. Once they launched, Jordan glanced back at the ships they had supporting them, as they continued to launch Mobile Suits. The Fleet had formed up around the Minerva-class, as they possessed an Eternal-class Battleship, two Nazca-class Destroyers, three Laurasia-class Frigates, five Musai Kai-class Light Cruisers, a Tivvay-class Fast Heavy Cruiser, a pair of Zanzibar Kai-class Mobile Cruisers, a Rewloola-class Battleship, two Sing Lung-class Heavy Cruisers, two Chaceldony-class Cruisers, four EDI-40-II Laohu's, and a Gwazine-class Battleship. All of them launching a mixture of ZAFT, Zeon, OZ, Zalam-Euba, and HRL Mobile Suits.
Most of the ships present Jordan knew were AI ships, really just there to look cool. However, several ships has IFF markers, identifying them as player-controlled ships. Among those ships were the Minerva-class, the Gwazine-class, the Eternal-class, three of the Musai's, the Tivvay, one of the Nazca's, two of the Laurasia's, one of the Sing Lung's, and the Rewloola.
"Tackett to Invictus, hows it looking?" He called the Minerva-class he had just launched out of - named the LHM-BB02 Invictus.
"Invictus here, Commander. Everything is good." A male voice responded. "All teams are deploying, and we're ready for the mock battle."
Jordan nodded "Good, all ships form up, and all Mobile Suit teams - stick together," he said. "The Computer will begin deploying Mock units for the fight - this will be our test to prove we can cooperate as a fully functioning unit. Stay with your teams, and follow your orders, and we can get out of this with just minor damage to your Gunpla."
"Acknowledged!" All of the pilots responded as they began to form up, preparing to attack the Asteroid Base which was already beginning to deploy the Computer-generated Mock units. However, one of the other pilots spoke up. "Yo! What's with the Unicorn in here?"
Jordan blinked as he looked at their numbers, and immediately noticed one oddball among their numbers - a single RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 03 Phenex was among them, looking to be modified with some of the weapons from the Unicorn 02 Banshee."Pilot of the Unicorn, identify yourself." He spoke, "We're supposed to use machines manufactured or utilized by ZAFT, Zeon, OZ, HRL or Zalam-Euba here."
"Uhh… sorry…" A female voice responded, causing Jordan to blink. A few moments later the image of a young woman with short neck-length brown hair and blue eyes appeared on the screen, wearing a red Zeon normal suit. "Sabrina Waters here… I have a Rick Dom, but it was damaged in my last Gunpla battle, and I didn't have time to fix it up. I had to use my Unicorn for this match - I thought since the Banshee was piloted by Marida Cruz it would be fine… sorry…"
Jordan sighed. "It's alright, it happens," he said. "But since you are right about Marida piloting a Banshee, I suppose we'll make this an exception. Just be sure to get your Rick Dom ready to go in tomorrow's battle, alright?"
"Yes sir… sorry sir," Sabrina said, as the comm went off.
Jordan shook his head. "Alright, now that we got that cleared up, back to the mission," he said. "Dennis, you take the first squad, prepare to flank the enemy's left. I'll take the rest right down the enemy's throat. All ships, prepare for bombardment of the colony! Hit it with everything you've got!"
All of the ships and MS teams confirmed their orders, as the MS force split into two groups. Jordan bursted forward, as he reached for his Machine's shoulder shields and pulled out his two Tempest beam swords. "Let's go!" He shouted, as he engaged the first batch of Mock units. One of the Mock's armed with a Beam Rifle fired at him, however the GOUF Phantom easily dodged the attack, which was soon followed by a barrage of additional weapons fire from the other Mock's.
The first Mock to be taken out was one mimicking the equipment of a Zaku II Commander Type, as it rose up its Machine Gun to fire at his GOUF, only for Jordan to slice the barrel of his gun in half with his left Tempest sword, before stabbing his right sword into the torso of the Mock, before slicing it in half. He then bursted his machine to dash to the left, as a Mock emulating an RMS-007G Juracg Cold Climate Type fired a pair of rockets at him, though the rockets were intercepted by his 60mm Head Vulcans. He flew through the pink explosions of the missiles, and slashed the Mock clean in half. He then raised his left hand and fired one of his M181SE "Draupnir" 4-barrel Beam Guns on his wrist, gunning down another Mock, riddling it with holes.
His sensors went off as another Mock tried to attack from behind, this one of the RMS-006 Jenice version with a heat sword. However Jordan spun around and shot out his right arm an MA-M757 "Slayer Whip" Heat Rod, which wrapped around the units head, before it began to glow and melt the head off of the Mock, and finishing it off with another Tempest sword strike.
"Too slow." Jordan said with a smirk, before he darted away towards the next group of enemies. "Dennis, how is it going on your end?"
"So far so good," Dennis reported. "Lines are holding, most of our Gunpla have only taken minor damage, nothing that a bit of buffing can't fix. That asteroid base is causing the biggest problems though, it looks based off of Artemis - it's got a Lightwave Barrier that goes on and off at 10 minute intervals. It limits the damage our guild ships have against it."
"If ZAFT could kill it, so can we." Jordan said, as he fired his unit's 76mm Pictus CIWS Vulcans to intercept missiles fired from another Mock unit before gunning it down with his Beam Assault Rifle. "Just keep the pressure on them, and camp their spawn points! We don't want to get overwhelmed here!"
"Right… and you might wanna check up on that Newbie," Dennis said. "She's got some trouble..."
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Sabrina shouted as her Unicorn Gundam soared by, quickly followed by an entire mob of Mock units.
Jordan groaned. "Always the new ones..." he muttered. "I'll take care of it - you just focus on taking out the shields to the base!" With that said the GOUF Phantom spun around, and shot forward to help the pilot of the Unicorn-type.
Meanwhile - With Sabrina
"How did I end up like this?" Sabrina muttered as she flew away from the mob of Mock units chasing after her, as she did her best to dodge the incoming attacks. Her day wasn't exactly going very good. Her usual machine, her own custom hybrid between the MS-09RII Rick Dom II and the ZGMF-XX09T DOM Trooper was damaged in a training match with her team, forcing her to use her reserve machine - her RX-0 Gundam Unicorn 04 Rouge, a hybrid between the Phenex and Banshee Unicorn types, while colored after the Strike Rouge from Gundam SEED. It was actually her first Gunpla, and the one she was most used too, however it was a requirement to have a Zeon, ZAFT, OZ, HRL or Euba-Zalam Alliance machine to be part of the Zeonic Guild, so it was why she needed to have her RICK DOM Trooper.
However, with it damaged that meant she needed to attend the mock battle with her only availible MS - the Rouge. While she loved piloting it, she didn't like the attention she was given both from the other members of the guild… and the Mock units apparently as they continued to fire at her.
"Why is everyone ganging up on me today?!" Sabrina shouted as she fired her Beam Mangum at the incoming Mock's, only for the enemy machines to almost effortlessly dodge her attacks, as she only managed to hit one or two of them. "Damnit!"
"There's a certain pattern to units like the Mock." Sabrina heard the voice of Jordan, causing her to blink before a rain of green beam's came from above, riddling several Mock units full of holes before the GOUF Phantom shot between them. It spun around, and revealed its Beam Assault Rifle and Recoilless Rifle in both hands. "They're Unmanned, and operate in a similar fashion as Mobile Dolls from Gundam Wing - they aren't capable of adapting to battle situations on the fly, even with the new upgrades they've made to their AI. As such they rarely actively look for a Close combat fight, and can't predict long-range attack if they don't see them coming."
He then unleashed the GOUF's armaments, firing his beam rifle, wrist-mounted beam guns, and his Recoilless Rifle at the Mock's, the sheer firepower he unleashed taking out even more units. When his Recoilless rifle ran out of ammo, he ditched it, and holstered his Beam Rifle before redrawing his Tempest beam swords, charging forward for more Close Combat, easily slicing the first Mock unit to pieces easily. The remaining Mock units attempted to surround Jordan's machine, however he unraveled his Slayer Whip head rods, and in one fluid spin like a tornado, the heat rods melted the armor of the Mock units like a hot knife through butter, and firing his Draupnir beam guns easily took out the Mock's out of his Whip's range.
"Whoa..." Sabrina said, watching Jordan destroy the Mock units seemingly with little effort. "No wonder everyone calls you the Dark Comet..."
"Huh? That's what they call me?" Jordan asked with a groan. "Great… that Yuuki kid in Japan is already going by the title Crimson Comet - I was hoping they'd call me something more original… I dunno, like the Demon of Endymion, or Devil of Jachin Due? Either of those would of been nice… I don't like sounding like I'm just ripping off my idol Gundam character… Anyways, try to stick with me - I'll help keep any extra Mock's off your back till ya get a feel for it."
"R-Right!" Sabrina replied, as her Unicorn Rouge's thrusters light up, and followed the GOUF Phantom as they maneuvered to the point of attack.
Meanwhile - With Dennis
"Lightwave Barrier's up again!" Dennis announced, as his Gouf Custom Kai sliced in half the last Mock unit. "We've got ten minutes to prepare for the next wave! Get our surprise ready!"
So far, the battle had gone in their favor well enough. With the combined fire of their player controlled ships they had damaged the enemy colony sufficiently, while taking very few casualties themselves. Most of their Mobile Suits and Armors had only suffered minor damage, the most heavy of which was a GuAIZ losing an arm from a Beam Saber, but nothing a quick repair job can't fix.
After fighting the Mock's for a while, as well as the station, they figured out their attack patterns easily enough. They spawn from the Asteroid Base and attack, however once every ten minutes the Lightwave Barrier shields of the base flare up, and stays up for ten minutes. During that time, the Mock units that spawn inside the asteroid to respawn their machines undisturbed. Then when the shields go down the respawned machines charge outside, and engage the Zeonic Forces members, and repeat the pattern over and over again. And they were starting to get sick of it.
However, this time… they left a little 'surprise' inside.
"Dennis!" Jordan said, as the GOUF Phantom and Unicorn Rouge arrived, along with the rest of the team. "What's up?"
"Mock's spawn inside the shield every ten minutes, when they go down the Mock's try to swarm us." Dennis responded. "We've only taken light damage here."
"Alright, but we're gonna need to get inside the shields somehow." Jordan said, before Dennis chuckled a bit.
"Already taken care of," he said. "We took a play out of ZAFT's playbook. Amanda! You ready in there?"
BGM: Fairy Tail OST 'Dragon Force'
On the opposite side of the Lightwave Barrier shield, as the Mocks slowly began to respawn, appearing from its field of Mirage Colloid particles appeared a machine appearing to be a hybrid of all three variants of the Blitz Gundam, colored a mixture of red, black and dark green. Inside the cockpit of the Mobile Suit, a young girl who looked to be 16 or so years old wearing a black and gold Zeon normal suit, with short ear length green hair and bright blue eyes grinned. "You got it!" She said, "Blitzkrieg, let's get to work!"
The Z/GAT-X207K Blitzkrieg Gundam's green eyes flashed to life before the machine activated its Trikeros's Beam Saber, as it sliced in half the closest Mock unit before it had a chance to react. She then swung forward its pair of "Maga no Ikutachi" Energy Absorption claws, before firing her Mk-315 "Stiletto" Rocket-Propelled Anti-Armor Penetrator at a Mock emulating a Zaku. "Get over here!" She shouted as she yanked the Mock towards her, before digging her claws into the Mock, draining it dry of any energy before kicking the machine away. As the Mock units began to turn their attention towards her, she brought up her Trikeros unit, and fired her three Lancer Darts at the Lightwave Barrier generator, detonating it in a large explosion as the lightwave barrier immediately deactivated.
"And that's our cue!" Jordan shouted, once again drawing his Tempest swords. "All Forces, advance! Show no mercy! SIEG ZEON!"
"SIEG ZEON!" The entire team chanted back the war cry as the entirety of the team charged towards the Asteroid Base, the Mock units not having time to replenish their numbers as the few Mock units which did spawn were easily slaughtered. The Mocks were overwhelmed as the Zodiac Teams attacked, taking them on two-on-one odds, keeping each other covered.
Jordan hacked his Tempest sword through another Jenice-type Mock unit, while Sabrina stuck behind him, firing her Beam Magnum at targets of opportunity. "Just stick with me Sabrina," He said as they proceeded deeper into the asteroid. "Get ready for close combat, though, Mock's may be bad at melee but they can be pretty tricky in tight quarters like these. Keep your eyes peeled."
"Got it!" Sabrina said, as the GOUF and Unicorn flew into another hallway. "What are we looking for in here though?"
"The Boss." Jordan said, as another Mock unit appeared before them, firing a 90mm Machine Gun, only to be blown to pieces by Sabrina's Beam Magnum. "The match has been set up so that there will be a final boss inside the asteroid - we kill it, we win."
"Then who is… the..." Sabrina began to say, before they entered a rather large open area within the Asteroid. And floating in Zero Gravity before them, was a super-sized Mock unit, appearing to be emulating none other than the Psycho Gundam. "Oh… shit..."
"Oh shit is right! DODGE!" Jordan shouted, as the Psycho Mock unit raised its hands, firing off a volley from its finger-mounted beam guns. "All teams, be advised! The Mock-unit Boss is an emulation of the Psycho Gundam!"
"Mark I, II, or III?" Dennis asked.
Jordan looked at the Psycho Mock unit, as it seemed to draw out a pair of oversized Beam Swords. "Well, it's got those oversized beam swords of the Mk-III!" He shouted, as he boosted the GOUF Phantom out of the way as the Psycho swung the beam sword, leaving a melting slash mark where Jordan was just moments ago. "It might be a hybrid between their designs."
"Right, right. Hang on we're coming-"
"Belay that!" Jordan snapped, as the Psycho Mock fired a volley of beams in all directions. "Me and Sabrina have this! You and the others focus on the rest of the base!"
"What?!" Sabrina shouted, as she fired her beam rifle at the massive Machine, only for her weapons fire to impact against an I-Field. "How?! All we have is my Unicorn and your GOUF!"
Jordan chuckled a bit. "That's all we need, Sabrina." He said, with a confident smirk. "Just do everything I say, and we should both get out of this thing with minimum damage."
"A-Alright..."
"I suppose we should be lucky you have that Beam Magnum though," Jordan said. "It's one of the few weapons capable of busting through I-Fields." Jordan's GOUF put away one of his Tempest swords, and drawing out his beam assault rifle once more. "Please tell me you still have ammo for it."
"I've... got one last clip," Sabrina said. "I guess I need to make my shots count, right?"
"Right. I'll distract it, you get into a good firing position." Jordan said, before he charged at the Psycho Mock. "Go!"
The Psycho Mock fired away its torso mounted beam cannons at the GOUF, as Jordan flew upward to avoid the blast, performing a backflip as he fired his beam rifle at the massive Mobile Suit. His shots did little against the I-Field, but it did gain the Mock's attention as it drew out its beam sword again, attempting to swing at the GOUF, but he flanked left to avoid being cleaved in half.
"Come on, I've fought Ball units stronger than you!" Jordan shouted, taunting the Mock unit, even though he knew it couldn't understand or hear him. "Give me your best shot!"
The Psycho Mock unit, however, seemed to act as if it did hear him, as it moved around, reaching its arm out as if to grab Jordan's GOUF, but Jordan simply bursted his thrusters up to avoid being grabbed, landing on the Psycho's arm. Jordan wasted no time, as he reactivated his Tempest swords, before he dug them deep into the Psycho's left arm, the Anti-beam coating over his swords going through the I-Field, as he then successfully cut off the arm.
"Sabrina! Unload on this sucker!" Jordan shouted as he leaped off the Psycho, while Sabrina - having moved behind the Psycho Gundam - raised her Beam Magnum.
"Firing!" she shouted, as she fired a shot at back of the Psycho Mock's head, piercing through the I-Field and dealing a significant amount of damage to it. Before the Psycho Mock could react though, she fired again, the second shot completely obliterating the head of the Psycho, before she emptied her Magnum's clip into the back of the machine. Sparks began to fly across the supersized Mock unit, as the now exposed interior of the machine began to glow red.
"That did it!" Jordan shouted. "Now let's get out of here, come on! She's gonna blow!"
Sabrina didn't need to be told twice, as the Unicorn Rouge and GOUF Phantom sped out of the passages of the Asteroid, as the other Zodiac Guild members evacuated as well. The Asteroid began exploding, as a ball of fire erupted behind the two machines as they sped out, and then just as the two machines escaped, they moved out of the way just in time as the flames blew past where they were moments ago.
"Battle Ended!" the automated voice spoke once more, as the Plavsky Particles dissipated, as the Gunpla units fell back to the surface of the arena, soon followed by the cheers of the victors.
Jordan grinned, as he collected the GOUF Phantom. "Good work everyone!" he said. "We completed the mission in record time! And now, we finally have our A-Team for the Guild War Royal!"
Another set of cheers followed that announcement. "So, make sure you've all got your things ready for when we head out!" he said. "Remember - we'll be going up against some of the best Gunpla commanders in the world, so make sure to bring your A-Game, and your best Gunpla! And let's show the world the Zodiac Guild's true strength! SIEG ZEON!"
"SIEG ZEON!"
October 10th, 2031 - Western United States
Cónaidhm Domhan (CD) Guild Meeting
A young man was smiling as he looked at the rather LARGE crowd in the building they were in, dressed in customized EA, and Earth Federation uniform costumes. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, stood at 5'11, brown eyes, and brown hair in a military crew buzz cut. He was wearing his own custom version of Neo Roanoke's Phantom Pain Uniform, only it was colored Olive Drab Green, and had a patch with a Bald Eagle on a black shield, with the inscription '101st AMB' over it.
"You know, I never like taking a leadership role," the man, D.J. Cobb said, "But I gotta say this, I'm loving the number of members we have."
He heard a set of chuckles behind him and he turned and saw two people wearing the same type of uniform.
"You count yourself too short my bukoo." said one of them who had an Irish accent, "You're perfect to lead this outfit,"
D.J. glared at him, "All because you two tricked me into becoming the leader of this guild in the first place," he said, but then smirked. "But at least I got you two back in the end."
"Please don't remind us," said the second person, a young woman with amber colored hair, blue eyes and dark tan skin. "I'm still reeling from the fact you made us your Second and Third in Command."
D.J. laughed at that, "Well, aside from teaching you two a lesson, I know I can count on ya, incase I'm unavailable," he said, and the two sighed.
"What are we gonna do with ya?" the Irishman, Elias O'Dwyer said, as he pulled out a whiskey flask and took a swig, causing the leader of the Cónaidhm Domhan guild to laugh.
"D.J. ..." he heard a voice and turned and saw a young woman who was clearly basing herself off of Gisele Albert, and and wearing a OD version of the Titans' uniform said ship captain wore.
"What is it, Kristina?" he asked.
"The other members of the guild are waiting for you." Kristina Ravenwood said, and saw D.J. sigh a bit.
"Well, let's get the show on the show on the road, and get to that training session for the tournament." he said, and the two nodded and went to deliver the speech to the guild.
An hour Later
"Gunpla Battle: Combat Mode Startup. Model damage level set to A. Please set your GP Base!"
D.J. fixed one of the gloves of his normal suit, before he set one of his Gunpla, a GAT-04 Windam with a "105" Dagger's head, on the GP Base terminal. He then turned to his lieutenants who had just placed their own respective Gunpla on their GP Bases, along with 100 other members of the guild. Many of the gunpla used by CD were mostly Cosmic Era Earth Alliance, Earth Federation UC (including the ones used by the Titans) and AG mobile suits. The ships, in CD's arsenal, were also from the said eras, including Agamemnon, Nelson, Magellan-Kai, Salamis-Kai, Ra-Cailum, Darwin, Alexandria-class, his personal Girty Lue-class, and finally, a Dogosse Giar (General Revil type) dreadnaught, plus some sea/land surface ships like the Hannibal, Heavy Fork, Big Tray, Lockwood, Juneau, Spengler, Arkansas, Des Moines, and Fraser classes.
Needless to say, CD has quite the firepower, enough to give evil Gundam organizations, like the A-LAWS, a tough time. Shaking his head of these thoughts he went back to concentrate on the upcoming mock battle training that 100 of the Guild's Gunpla players, including ship captains of two of their Ra-Cailum, and nine of their land battleships, including 3 Hannibal, Heavy Fork, and Big Tray class respectively, with Kristina commanding her own Heavy Fork, the Laminas.
Along with them were 25 rookies, who they plan to train and give them their baptism of fire in the tournament.
His two lieutenants in their own respective gunpla, with his own machine, the GAT-04DH Dagger Windam, equipped with an combo Aile/Launcher Striker pack which had the shoulder mounted gatling, and the flight unit of the Aile. Kate's own Gunpla, was an GAT-02L2 Dagger L2 equipped with a Launcher/Jet Striker, while Elias was in his trusty RGM-79N GM Custom unit.
"Beginning Plavsky Particle Dispersal! Field 07: Ruins! BATTLE START!"
"D.J. Cobb, Dagger Windam, taking off!"
"Kate Bosche, Dagger L, Heading out!"
"Elias O'Dwyer, GM Custom, I'm movin' out!"
The three machines launched out of the two Ra-Cailum-class, along with the other Gunpla that launched from their respective ships, including RGM-79C GM Type Cs, RGM-79Q GM Quels, MSA-003 Nemos, RMS-106 Hizacks, RMS-108 Marasais, RGM-89 Jegans, RAS-96 Ankshas, RGZ-95 ReZELs, RGM-79[G] Ground GMs, RGM-96X Jestas, GAT-01 Strike Daggers, GAT-01A1 "105" Daggers, GAT-01A2R Slaughter Daggers, GAT-01D1 Duel Daggers, GAT-01E1 Buster Daggers, GAT-02L2 Dagger Ls, GAT-X399/Q Wild Daggers, GAT-04 Windams, RGE-1100 Adeles, and some MS-11 Action Zakus.
D.J. could only grin at the numbers of Gunpla mobile suits the guild had, all of the best from the Earth Federation (UC/AG) and the Earth Alliance. And, the CD guild had the best people to pilot them.
"Hey, who's piloting the Silver Bullet?" he heard a pilot say, causing him to blink.
"What?" he asked.
"One of the Base Jabbers, near Kate's group," clarified Elias, and D.J. followed his directions, and sure enough, there was a AR-014 Silver Bullet, a GM Head Version, on a Base Jabber.
"Attention Silver Bullet, this is Patriot-Lead, state your name and membership rank?" D.J. ordered, and waited a bit until a sigh was heard.
"This is member Aaron Oakley, piloting the Silver Bullet. Membership rank, Senior Lieutenant," the pilot said, and D.J. blinked.
"Where did you get the Silver Bullet? And why aren't you in a GM, Jegan, or a Nemo? The Silver Bullet is mostly reserved for Ace Pilots," he asked out of curiosity, as the pilot sighed again.
"I'm sorry, sir. My Custom Jegan got badly damaged in a training mission last week, and my Silver Bullet was the only reserve Gunpla I had," Aaron said, causing D.J. to sigh, getting the picture.
"It's alright Oakley, no need to worry," he said a bit tiredly. "Just try to be careful with that thing's arms, they could get tangled up in ruined buildings. Just stick to your beam rifle, sabers, and cannons okay?"
"Got it, and I'll do my best," the pilot said, and after he cut the link with him, D.J. drew a sigh, before looking back in front of him, watching as the Mock units, configured to look like Zaku F2s, Geara Dogas, Geara Zulus, Gouf Customs, Gouf Aerial Types, GiNN OCHERs, BuCUEs, DiNNS, ZAKU Warriors, ZABIs, and Jenices, led by a Rozen Zulu, appeared from their hiding places.
And approaching from the horizon, were a few Land Battleships, like the Dobday, Lesseps, and Petrie-class.
"Okay then, alright everyone, remember the briefing," D.J. began, "Stick to your objectives, watch each others' backs, and DON'T get cocky. Here in CD, we train to be better than the Earth-side forces in the shows. We're NOT cannon fodder, got that!?"
"Hooah!" was the collective reply of the Guild members in the Training Mission.
"Are you sure!?" he asked again.
"HOOAH!"
D.J. could only grin. "Now THAT's what I like to hear! Let the butt kicking begin, ladies and gentlemen!"
October 10th, 2031 - Pacific Northwest United States
Mansion in the middle of the woods
"I hate how dull my life has gotten," the owner of the mansion, a dark brown-haired young man with hazel eyes behind his glasses, said with a sigh. "I mean, after all that I went through to reach celebrity status, even if it was unintentional, I feel like my skills have dulled over the past three years."
The owner of said mansion, Samuel Kenneth Kauffman, was currently in his bedroom, working on some bills that needed to be paid, as per his responsibilities in the household these days. He remembered when that responsibility fell to his parents… where had the time gone where he was the kid in the family?
Still, he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to give him this impressive mansion, only to remember what had happened all those 12 years prior.
October 4th, a Friday, 12 years ago - Marysville, Washington State
"Ohayo, Samuel-kun," a female voice could be heard from down the road, even as Samuel turned his attention to the owner of said voice. He saw a girl around his age with auburn brown hair in twintails, amethyst eyes, and holding a newspaper in her hands.
"Oh, Nanoha-chan! Good morning to you, too!" Samuel called out to his friend, Nanoha Takahata, who looked suspiciously like the main character from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. Noticing the newspaper, he asked her, "What's got your interest in the news?"
"Well, there's a tournament going on this Sunday, and I thought you'd be interested in it," Nanoha said, showing him the newspaper article in question. "It's at the Who's On First on the corner of State Avenue and Fourth Street, and it's a Gunpla Battle tournament!"
Blinking, Samuel looked through the article of the Everett Herald and saw that there was an official tournament that would take place on the Sixth of that month, one that, as he read more and more about it, was way more interesting in comparison to the usual Baseball games that his family watched. "I'd be happy to go to the tournament, Nanoha-chan, bu—"
"Really?! You're the best, Samuel-kun! Hayate-chan already agreed to go to the tournament, and we already have our Gunpla ready for this! Oh, I can't wait to go," Nanoha gushed out, ignoring what Samuel had to say after saying he'd be happy to go.
"Urk… Nanoha-chan…" Samuel said worriedly. "I still have to attend Church on Sundays, remember?"
"Eh?" Nanoha looked surprised at that tidbit. "Can't you just say that you'll be busy this time?"
"Won't work," Samuel answered, shaking his head. "My parents are that strict about this. I'm expected to go to Church on Sundays, regardless, so that things can be less problematic for when we go to my mom's parents' house."
"Mou~ Your parents don't know the meaning of fun, right?" Nanoha asked.
"We play games together, actually," Samuel replied. "In any case, I can't just say that I'll be going to a tournament on that day, not for anything. Besides which, I don't even have a Gunpla to use to participate… at least, not one that's completed."
"Huh? You have a Gunpla that you haven't finished building?" Nanoha asked. "Which one is it?"
"The Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom," Samuel said. "Why do you… oh, no you don't! I already told you that my parents won't let me go!"
"Well, that's probably true, if you were to try on your own," a grown man said from right behind Samuel, causing the younger male to jump a few inches into the air.
"ACK!" Samuel yelled out, before landing and turning to the grown man. "Shiro-ossan! What are you talking about?!"
"I mean, I spoke with your okaa-san and otou-san about this, and they were willing to let it happen this once, so long as you have adult supervision with you at all times," Shiro Takahata, Nanoha's father, answered. "Of course, the tournament won't let you participate without such supervision, given that most of the participants are over the age of 13."
"Is… that right?" Samuel asked. "Well, I hope that I can participate without issue, then."
"He still needs to finish building his Gunpla, though," Nanoha said, unknowingly causing Samuel to blush from embarrassment.
"I… didn't even start building mine yet, actually," Samuel admitted.
"Eh? Why don't you do it now?" a second female voice asked him, causing the group to look at the newcomer, a girl with chestnut brown hair and blue eyes.
"Er… actually, you're right," Samuel said. "I'll get to it right away, Hayate-chan, don't worry."
October 6th, 2019, 12 years prior - Who's On First
After spending a lot of time on building the Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom, Samuel was ready to go to the tournament, even getting a ride from Shiro Takahata alongside the girls. "So, Hayate-chan, Nanoha-chan, what did you build for your Gunpla?" he asked, even as he walked from the parking lot behind the Who's On First to the store's front door.
Hayate Yagahara held up her Gunpla and said, "I'm using a stock Unicorn Gundam for this one, which was all that I could get built for right now."
Nanoha lifted her own Gunpla up and said, "I'm using the RX-78-2 Gundam for this one, just because I'm waiting for some extra parts to make another version of this one."
"Huh… is that right?" Samuel asked. "Well, that's good to know, girls."
"By the way, is there an entry fee involved?" Nanoha asked, getting her father's attention.
"Ah, yes, there is," Shiro answered. "Don't worry, it's taken care of. 150 dollars for all three of you combined."
"Eh?! That's a lot of money!" Samuel spoke up. "I hope that we don't lose our Gunpla in that case."
"Don't worry, there's no way we'll lose our Gunpla at this tournament, especially in the kid's division," Nanoha said. "Kids like us are the least likely to take losing their Gunpla well, so it's pretty natural that we'd be set to keep our units."
"Besides, don't kids have to pay less for their prize pool?" Hayate asked. "I mean, it's not like we're the most responsible with money."
Samuel stopped a few feet away from the door, head dropped. Upon getting the attention of his friends and Shiro, he stated, "I won't… I won't let you two lose your chance at having money on the off-chance only I make it to the end."
"Huh? What are you talking about, Samuel-han?" Hayate asked, confused by what her friend said.
"I mean, I'll share the prize money with you two, enough to keep everything even between us," Samuel said, raising his head up to look his friends in the eye. "So, please, promise me that you'll do the same!"
It took Nanoha a bit, but she got what he meant. "Of course, Samuel-kun! I promise to do just that!"
Hayate simply nodded her assent to that promise.
"Well, I guess it's official," Shiro said. "You three are great friends for each other. I hope you can be more for each other soon enough."
"O-Otou-san!" Nanoha yelled indignantly.
With a hearty chuckle, Shiro said, "Sorry, couldn't resist the thought, Nanoha."
Later that day
As the total number of participants dwindled from 640 to 20, Samuel couldn't help but wonder how the tournament would end, given that, by all rights, there should've been less participants than 20 remaining. It didn't make any sense.
"Say, Nanoha-chan," Samuel said.
"Hmm?" Nanoha asked.
"Why do you think there's twenty of us left?" Samuel asked.
"Eh? I dunno… maybe there's gonna be a free for all for us?" Nanoha guessed.
At that point, the store owner and regulator of the tournament came forward and said, "Everyone, it's time for the final round in the back of the store."
"About time, man!" an adult participant shouted out. "Here I thought we'd never get to the final round at this rate!"
After that, the remaining participants made their way to the back of the store, where a giant Gunpla Battle arena that could fit all twenty people was located. As with everything else in the store, there were news cameras set up to make sure this was broadcasted to local news stations, as well as news reporters for each station involved.
When everyone got a spot around the arena, the automated system said, "Please set your GP Base." As soon as everyone did as such, the system continued, "Beginning Plavsky Particle Dispersal." With that, the arena turned into a near-perfect replica of an icy field with a bunch of carved shelters and fighters in the immediate area, going up against… the Imperial Army from Star Wars Episode V? "Please set your Gunpla."
Samuel put down his Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom where it could launch from, as did everyone else with their own Gunpla, waiting for the battle start signal. Almost immediately, the Gunpla looked like they were able to move on their own, at which point the signal was given. "Samuel Kauffman, Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!" he called out, sending the Deathscythe out into battle.
Upon launching into the frozen wastes of Hoth, Samuel looked around for his friends, before seeing that they were defending the Rebel Alliance from the Imperials and five of the other Battlers.
'Wait… what?!' Samuel questioned mentally. 'Who in their right mind would say the Imperials are in the right?!'
Still, given the nature of his friends situation, he decided to go all out and save his friends from the other battlers. Taking the time to set his unit's invisibility up, he moved swiftly through the battlefield, taking the time to use his machine's head vulcans on any incoming TIE Fighters headed his way. When he got within range of the enemy Gunpla units, he deactivated his Active Cloak and swung his unit's Beam Scissors at three of them, destroying them in one strike.
"Huh?! Samuel-kun, you came to back us up?" Nanoha asked over the comm channels.
"Yeah, I did, Nanoha-chan," Samuel replied. "Wouldn't do any good to leave my friends hanging."
"Thank you, Samuel-han," Hayate said.
"Hey, it's the least I can do, Hayate-chan," Samuel answered, even as he turned his unit's head to another TIE Fighter and shot down the Imperial machine with his head vulcans.
"All hail Emperor Palpatine!" one of the remaining pilots shouted out, before attempting to shoot the Deathscythe down point blank with a beam rifle.
Said attempt was negated when Hayate used her unit's head vulcans on the beam rifle, destroying the gun, before she activated her right arm-mounted Beam Saber and slashed through the Gunpla and its buddy.
"Hey, how many of us are protecting the Rebel Alliance?" Samuel asked, honestly curious.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Nanoha answered.
"Well, let's just divide and conquer, then!" Hayate said.
"Right!" Samuel remarked with a nod. Before long, all three units sped off around the battlefield, looking for the remaining Gunpla units.
Samuel almost immediately found a pair of Gunpla of the Jenice designation, which were looking to tear apart the Rebel Alliance and anyone else against the might of the Imperials, which meant that he had to take action. "Hey, nincompoops!" he roared over the 'radio waves'. "Pick on someone who can fight back!"
The immediate response was for the Jenice gunpla to turn their attention to the Deathscythe and simply stare at the unit. This continued for a few seconds while Samuel rushed in and sliced the two units in half.
While the two gunpla were destroyed, Samuel saw a battlefield condition change, namely a calculation of how many forces would need to be destroyed on either side. 'Huh? The primary objective is to defeat the Gunpla siding with the Imperial Army?' he thought curiously. 'Strange… how many does that make it total?'
At that moment, a total number of Gunpla for both sides was labeled, as the number was initially 17 for the Imperials… wait, back up, what?!
'Well… this sucks,' Samuel thought, even as he decided to fight a losing battle against the remaining five Imperial Gunpla… huh? 'Or not.'
With a little time to check the positions of his friends and the remaining five Gunpla opposing, he immediately turned to face an enemy Gunpla that had tried to get the drop on him, slicing into the enemy unit and destroying it.
BGM: Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn OST 4 Track 06: "Full-Frontal"
A sudden blast of beam energy was fired in Samuel's direction, forcing the youth to jink his Gunpla out of the way, barely escaping what looked like Full Frontal's Praetorian Guard and the Mobile Suit of the Second Coming of Char himself… wait, one of the Guard wasn't a Geara Zulu, it was a Rozen Zulu! Still, even as he dodged the attack, he noticed that a fair few Imperial units were shot down alongside a small amount of Rebel Alliance units.
"It would be so easy for me to finish them!" the pilot of the Rozen Zulu, who sounded suspiciously like Angelo Sauper, said over open channels, even as he fired multiple rounds from his unit's hand-mounted beam guns, firing on everything that wasn't a Gunpla. Even as the Mock units fired on him, his buddies fired on the units that were dangerously close to shooting down the Rozen Zulu, though… when were the Mock units supposed to be destroyed?
"Those Mock unit scum better realize that this is the only break they'll get! Next time, we shoot to kill," the Rozen Zulu's pilot said, as if answering the question Samuel had in mind, before all the Sleeves units finished disabling every Mock unit… even the Sinanju did what was required of it to disable the enemy units. Before long, the only remaining units active were the Gunpla, leading down to a confrontation between the Sleeves and the Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom.
"Samuel-han! What's going on?!" Hayate yelled over the comms, even as the Unicorn Gundam showed up, Nanoha's Gundam arriving moments later.
"I wish I knew," Samuel said.
"Now, remaining Gunpla pilots, let's have this chance to fight uninterrupted. What do you say, Gundams?" the pilot of the Sinanju, who sounded suspiciously like Full Frontal, said over open comms.
"You… wanted to have an uninterrupted fight?" Samuel asked incredulously. "You could've chosen a different way to get us in an uninterrupted fight!"
"Be that as it may, we need to end this round one way or another, and without interruptions at that," the Full Frontal sound-alike said. "With that said, let's dance!" With that, the Sinanju opened fire on the Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom, forcing Samuel to jink out of the way.
Nanoha moved into position to fire on one of the Geara Zulus, pulling the trigger and blasting it and its buddy out of commission, before she was forced to jink away from where the Rozen Zulu was aiming at her. "You guys aren't even making any sense, you know that?!" she yelled over open channels. "What makes this a dance to you, anyway?! Are you talking about a dance of death, in this case?!"
"Precisely, little missy," the Angelo sound-alike answered, even as his Rozen Zulu fired on the Gundam, which continuously dodged the attacks. "This battle is an enactment of a dance of death, sure, but it's the best we have it so far. If you don't want to die, then you either need to surrender or win, simple as that."
"You do realize that you guys are giving us headaches just by talking, right?" Samuel snarked, going into his unit's Active Cloak stealth mode to dodge a blast from the Sinanju and directing Nanoha and Hayate to open fire on the two Sleeves units.
With a growl from the Rozen Zulu's comms, the Angelo sound-alike roared, "How DARE you! You're going down for that insult!" With that, the Rozen Zulu opened fire on the general area where the Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom was initially, even moving into the position that Samuel wanted the Sleeve unit to go to.
"Arthur Saunders! Stop, before you—" the Full Frontal sound-alike shouted, attempting to warn Arthur of the trap that they played themselves right into.
With a shot from each of their respective weapons, Nanoha and Hayate destroyed the Rozen Zulu and the Sinanju respectively, prompting the automated system to say, "Battle Ended."
BGM OFF
As soon as the battlefield dissipated, the store saw just who had won the battle, even as news reporters attempted to get to the winners of the battlefield.
Back in the present
With a sigh, Samuel's mind returned to the present, before he got to work on finishing the bills. It had been a time of great challenges, honestly, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
Almost as soon as he finished the bills, however, a thought struck him. Moving towards his laptop, he checked on the status of the World Championship that would be held that year, looking to see who would be allowed to enter the tournament this late in the game.
'Bingo! The tournament still has openings for previous winners!' he thought. 'Eh? I need to have a team of three to participate this time? Well… why not?'
With that in mind, he decided to get on Skype and dial up his two friends that mattered the most to him. After getting through to them, he called them as a group call, waiting for a response from either of them.
"Hey, Samuel-kun!" Nanoha said, being the first to pick up.
"Yo, Samuel-han!" Hayate answered, having just picked up moments after Nanoha.
"Hey Nanoha-chan, Hayate-chan," Samuel said. "Want to get into a team for Gunpla Battle?"
In Earth's Orbit, roughly the same time
"What do you mean, we're not in the orbit of Unadministrated World #97?!"
A young blonde haired man with glasses covering his green eyes sighed, especially since he was trying to break the news to his friend. "I mean, Admiral Chrono Harlaown, that this world isn't the one we know of as Unadministrated World #97. I did a scan of where Uminari is supposed to be, and found the city Kobe instead, in each exact position of the original buildings in Uminari."
Chrono Harlaown, a blue-haired young man with blue eyes, closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance. "What did your scans say about this world in general, Ferret boy? Anything we need to know about?"
"Remember, my name's not Ferret boy," the blonde said.
"I know that, Yuuno Scrya!" Chrono retorted angrily. "Just get the report in, and do it now!"
Yuuno sighed for a moment. "As far as the scans go, it seems that people are playing a game with a multi-connected Lost Logia, one with plastic models of robots."
"Okay, hold up," Chrono said with his hand raised. "You just said that a Lost Logia is responsible for the use of people playing a game of all things?!"
"Yes, I did," Yuuno said with a nod.
"You have got to be kidding me…" Chrono said, palming his face with the raised hand. "Is there any good news to this?"
"You know, Chrono," a woman with brown hair and eyes remarked, getting the attention of the rest of the people on the bridge. "I normally wouldn't call this good news, but we seem to be on the opposite side of the 'verse from HQ, and so far away from any known communications lines it's not even funny."
"Amy, what… oh, right," Chrono said, removing his palm from his face. "No more nagging from mother to give her grandchildren this soon."
"Yes, dear," Amy said, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Now, the other bit of good news that I have is that, according to what I've gathered from the report Yuuno-san was giving us, we can actually relax with this Lost Logia being in use. It's—"
"Relax, huh?" Chrono asked incredulously. "I don't buy it, Amy."
"Believe me, it's more in line with how it's being operated," Amy answered. "Now, we can relax, because it's not going to cause any instability of any sort in the fabric of time-space." Looking her husband in the eye, she asked, "Would it kill you to have some fun on this planet?"
"Er… no, but—"
"Then it's settled," Amy declared while interrupting her husband. "Now… we need to find a place to park the Arthra without it being spotted. After that, then we can go to the planet's surface, hopefully in the North American continent."
"Want me to get Fate for you, ma'am?" Yuuno asked, unsure of what to do in this case.
"Oh, sure, go ahead," Amy said, waving the transformable human away to do just that.
October 10th, 2031 - Western United States
A tall, black-haired young man groaned as he leaned back in his chair and gently massaged his temples as he stared at the screen displaying a 3D model of his latest project. Without breaking his stare, he reached off to the side and grabbed a book from the pile beside him, scanning through several pages of it before snapping it shut and returning to his work, expertly manipulating the model with his mouse as he made several changes.
"Leon-kun, I know you're excited for the state-level Gunpla Battle championship… but…" a female voice rang out from beside him, causing him to jump slightly.
Turning to his side, he smiled as he was greeted by the familiar sight of one of his best friends, a woman with long wavy and luscious locks of black hair that fell to her thighs, dressed in a slightly low-cut white dress that hinted at her expansive bosom contained within and bared her legs from her thigh down, although she wore black knee-high socks to cover part of them. Although quite personally, he believed that she had a knack for unknowingly looking good in anything. After all, she was his goddess.
"I know it's 2 AM in the morning, but I'd just like to make some final checks before I print this out," Leon glanced towards the boxy 3D printer beside his computer. "Can't hurt to be too careful, this is our first state-level tournament! Besides, shouldn't you be in bed yourself? You have enough trouble waking up with your low blood pressure."
"It's not like the battle is tomorrow, and besides, tomorrow - today is Friday, and we agreed to take today off last week. Did you lose track of time?" the woman shot Leon a glare, pointing at the digital clock hanging on the wall.
Leon froze for a moment as he took a look at said clock. "Point, Hanami-chan," he conceded, mostly to humour his team member. Although not a native Japanese, he couldn't help using Japanese honorifics to refer to his best friend when she kept using them all the time. It only just felt polite that way.
Hanami sighed as she reached for the monitor's power button, only to be blocked by Leon's hand. "I'll be in bed by 2:30," the male promised solemnly. "Just… let me finish the calibrations for all our units' special functions. There's no precedent for these abilities, so I'm finding it a little hard…"
"Really? Let me take a look," Hanami quipped, leaning in across Leon's front, unintentionally brushing her… bountiful chest against his arm, although she didn't appear to have noticed her team manager suddenly developing a blush. Neither did said team manager notice her own blush. "You're right, Leon-kun… these values look off, but I have no idea how to fix them either."
"There's a reason I didn't continue into engineering after I graduated from high school…" Leon groaned, even as he pulled out another book. "Never mind, I'll see what I can do for now. Just go get some good rest, we'll need to work these abilities out later today."
"Umm… actually, do you mind if I watch you work?" the black-haired woman smiled as she pulled up a chair and sat down beside Leon shyly. "I don't feel like going back to sleep yet," she lied - her drooping eyelids were telling a completely different story.
Leon sighed, before going back to his work, seeing as Hanami was adamant on watching him despite her fatigue - he knew she had been through a pretty long day of work, and yet here she was staying up just for him… upon realizing it, he immediately felt his cheeks begin to colour, and he quickly began to focus on his research, calling up pages from the internet and scrolling through them with almost blinding speed.
What felt like an hour later, he felt a weight on his shoulder. Blinking, he looked to his side, realizing that Hanami had actually fallen asleep, and was resting her head on his shoulder adorably, although he caught himself before his eyes could take the plunge into her exposed cleavage, and sighed. Perhaps it was time for him to take a break too? He turned his monitor off slowly, so as not to disturb the sleeping woman on his shoulder, and carefully moved out from under her, before walking to her side and lifting her up in a bridal carry, silently grateful for the time he had spent at the gym. Sure, she was a goddess to him, but damn if she wasn't heavy! Not that he'd tell her that, of course, it wasn't like he minded the weight…
"Oho? Did she fall asleep watching you again, Leon-kun?"
Leon froze half way to Hanami's room upon hearing the voice, which, although mostly identical to Hanami's, spoke in a much more teasing and mischievous tone. A dark silhouette moved in the darkness of the night, before a clicking sound could be heard and the lights turned on, revealing a smirking woman whose appearance was identical to Hanami in every way except for her red eyes, compared to the other woman's blue ones.
That, and she was dressed in naught but a semi-transparent nighty and panties, baring almost everything for the world to see. Or at least for Leon to see for the moment. "I wish I could be carried like that too~" she crossed her arms under her chest while maintaining her mischievous grin, causing her… assets to visibly bounce. Leon had to tear his eyes away from her chest, reminding himself that the not-Hanami was not his intended… right?
"Kagami-chan, you know I'm interested in your sister already…" Leon groaned out loud.
"Which one?" the red-eyed woman grinned, gesturing behind her at a sleepy, but somewhat awake woman with similar long, but straight black hair rubbing her eyes.
"Kagami-nee... it's 3 in the morning…" the newcomer said in a disgruntled tone, even as she raised her hand to her mouth to cover her yawn.
"Obviously the blue-eyed one," Leon rolled his eyes, knowing the normally twintailed woman's eyes were pale yellow - hey, why had he paid enough attention to her to notice them anyway?
"Fubuki, we needed to see if Leon-kun was going to take the next step in his relationship with Hanami!" the flirtatious woman clapped her younger sister on the back, causing her to jerk awake momentarily before her eyes drooped and she yawned again.
Leon sighed again, as he adjusted his grip on Hanami and tried to ignore the feeling of her soft breasts on his chest… "Look, Kagami-chan, there's a time and place for everything…"
"Sure, sure, I think you long passed that 'time and place' like last year," Kagami huffed, before she walked forward and jabbed a finger at Leon's chest. "If you don't confess to her, someone else might snatch her away from you!"
Leon froze again, feeling his hackles raise up as a chill ran down his spine at the thought of Hanami leaving him… He shook it off and decided to hurry up and drop Hanami off on her bed as the trembling along his arms reminded him that he WAS carrying a rather heavy weight. "Dammit, Kagami-chan, just let me put Hanami-chan to bed before my arms give out, will you?" he groaned, quickly changing the subject.
"Fine, fine. But I do expect you to confess, and soon!" Kagami nodded to herself, even as he stepped aside to let him pass.
Leon just grunted out a vague equivalent to an affirmative, continuing on his way to Hanami's room. He decided right then and there - while bunking with the sisters was indeed saving him money, it was quite a bit of a double-edged sword… On one hand, he got to stay with his soulmate, but on the other hand, he had to put up with Kagami's teasing and constant heckling of his relationship with her twin sister.
"Your sister's quite the handful, isn't she?" Leon whispered to his sleeping unofficial girlfriend as he carefully set her down on the side of the queen-sized bed she shared with her twin. He thought he saw a small nod from Hanami, but he decided it was a trick of the light. "That being said though…" he paused for a moment, wondering if he should really do what he was thinking of doing.
He quickly glanced back at the doorway to make sure Kagami wasn't watching. After a few seconds, he turned back to the bed, carefully pulled the blanket over Hanami and gently kissed her on the temple. "I do love you, Hanami-chan," he whispered quietly, with a stellar blush on his cheeks at his own audacity. "It's just… I always get too… shy to actually tell you in person… Ugh, why the heck am I getting all sentimental now?" he grumbled, shaking his head. "You'd probably tell me this isn't like me if you were awake…"
Hanami twitched slightly as she rolled in her bed, facing away from Leon.
"Well, I've always liked the way you quietly strive to be independent from me, the way you just shyly offer to pay your part of the bill when we eat out…" he mused, caressing her head gently. "I like you for the way you use your creativity, too, god I can't help but feel inspired whenever you make the best food out of the worst ingredients, and the way you use your weapons in weird ways when Gunpla Battling… It's just incredible to a designer like myself."
Hanami started nibbling her lip as a blush developed on her 'sleeping' face, unseen by Leon.
"Sheesh, I can't believe I worked up the guts to confess to you only when you're asleep…" Leon grumbled, scratching the back of his head in consternation as he leaned in and gave Hanami another peck on her cheek this time. "Sweet dreams, Hanami-chan," he bade as he walked out of the room, pausing halfway to give his sleeping beauty another look before sighing, turning and leaving the room.
"Hanami?" Kagami walked into the room a moment later, smirking when she noticed her twin sister's sleeping position. "You got all of that, didn't you?" she asked, sitting down beside Hanami and turning her over.
Hanami's face was beet red, and she was definitely out cold with spinning swirls in her eyes.
"Achaa… she fainted again… haven't seen that in a while," Kagami sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
9 am the same day,
"Mugyuu?"
*CRASH*
"GODDAMMIT HANAMI! NOT AGAIN!"
Leon rubbed his eyes groggily as he sat up in his bed, in a separate room from the sisters. "Business as usual…" he grimaced, his ears ringing slightly from Kagami's yell - most likely Hanami had dragged her along when she had fallen out of the bed when Kagami had gotten tangled up in the blankets. It happened pretty damn often, and sometimes the blue-eyed woman didn't even wake up after hitting the floor, which was pretty damn impressive!
He glanced around at the fruits of his work over the past few years - of course, he had a few projects with some companies that had yielded some fruit, but sometimes he thought that he wasn't quite… earning as much as he could be. A few 3D-printed models rested on shelves arranged neatly around the room, most of them in glass cases. He felt a smile ghost across his face as his eyes settled on his first foray into designing Gundam-based battleships, and the sort-of mascot and good luck charm of his team.
Slowly getting up, he walked over to the model resting on his desk and carefully picked it up, studying the form of the legged ship he had initially designed as a successor of sorts to the Archangel from Gundam SEED. Since he had first designed it several years back, he had gone back to it and carefully modelled out the interior of the ship in his free time. It was his pride and joy, one of his first significant Gundam-based projects. Of course, he had other ships he considered masterpieces, but the Judah-class Assault Carrier was his very first ship, and it held some sentimental value at least. That was why he had chosen to make it the mascot for his very first Gunpla Battle team.
"Well partner, are you ready for the day?" Leon grinned. "I know we only have a few days left before the tournament, but that makes it all the more vital to get the final adjustments done… and we still need to do a field test."
The ship didn't reply - of course it didn't, it was just a 3D-printed model of a ship with no sentience whatsoever. Leon paused for a moment, wondering why he was talking to the ship. 'Must be the stress,' he decided, before yawning again and walking into the bathroom across the hallway to wash his face, brush his teeth and get ready for the day.
After he had washed up, he was interrupted halfway to his room by the smell of caffeine wafting through the hallway of the 3-room flat, coming from the direction of the kitchen. With a smile, he turned and headed for it, knowing what was waiting for him.
"Leon-kun, your coffee's done…" Hanami's drowsy voice called out in an odd mix between a whisper and a shout that sounded more like the former. A yawn accompanied it, of course.
"Right!" Leon sped up his pacing, entering the kitchen to see the three sisters already there, sitting at the dining table in various states of undress - he flinched slightly when he realized Kagami had apparently not realized that her panties had… ridden down a bit too low after her fall earlier… Maybe it'd be a better idea not to say anything about exactly what she was showing, or else he'd get teased to hell and back again.
"Leon-kun, here…" Hanami patted the chair beside her, having already pulled it out and set a cup of coffee in front of it.
"Thanks," the sole male occupant of the flat gratefully took his seat and took a sip of his coffee, smiling as the liquid flowed down his throat and hit his stomach, almost immediately waking him up. He'd always wondered exactly how Hanami managed to make coffee that good when she was half-asleep…
Hanami simply nodded sleepily, even as she took a sip of her own cup of coffee at the exact same time everyone else at the table did. She let out a content sigh, setting her cup down to look at Leon… before her cheeks promptly coloured a slight red and she looked away in apparent embarrassment.
Leon blinked in surprise - Hanami had this little habit where she'd watch him drink his coffee for a bit before finishing her own cup, but she wasn't doing it now… "Is something wrong, Hanami-chan?" he asked.
"No-nothing!" the woman stammered, a habit of hers that he knew she only did when she was flustered.
Kagami snickered as she took a sip of her coffee, knowing Leon hadn't picked up on Hanami feigning sleep while he was putting her to bed the previous night.
"Ummm, okay?" Leon blinked slowly, raising an eyebrow before he tipped more coffee into his mouth, deciding not to press the issue. When she wanted to talk about it, she'd talk about it.
Breakfast continued in silence for a few more minutes, as Hanami served up some buttered toast, which Leon again dug into happily, still wondering how she could make simple bread taste so heavenly… "The work of the kitchen goddess!" he declared loudly before taking another bite of the toast, causing Hanami to blush and her sisters to laugh.
"Umm, Le-Leon-kun…" Hanami started to rub her thighs together nervously as she glanced at Leon shyly, carefully choosing her words. "Di-Did you say anything to m-me la-last ni-night, when you pu-put me to be-bed?" she silently berated herself for stammering again, but patiently waited for Leon's answer.
Leon froze for several moments, a piece of toast halfway to his mouth. Slowly, mechanically, he turned towards Hanami, gulping in fear. "U-Umm…" he began, internally bashing himself for being shy at a moment like this. Dammit, he was a guy! Where were his man guts when he needed them!? Steeling himself and looking right at Hanami's face, his resolve shattered almost immediately upon seeing the bright red blush she was sporting and the way she was looking to one side while fidgeting, trying to meet his gaze and failing at it.
'TOO CUTE!' he screamed in his mind as he tried to recover from the psychological battering.
"Ah, toilet break!" Kagami hurriedly made up an excuse for a quick exit, dragging Fubuki along with her. As she turned the corner, she made eye contact with Leon and winked at him. After that, it was just Hanami and Leon alone at the dining table.
Silence pervaded the room for what felt like ages, before Leon gulped loudly and smacked his cheeks. It was now or never, he decided! "Ha-Hanami-chan…" he began, clearing his throat.
"A-Actually… I was… umm... " Hanami whispered shyly, clasping her shaking hands as she glanced at Leon once more, quickly averting her eyes. "I wa-was… awake whe-when you pu-put me to be-bed…"
Leon's eyes widened - that meant she had heard his confession! He wasn't sure whether to be mortified or happy though… His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his ribcage at the rate it was beating! But if she had already heard it once before… then… he steeled himself once more, leaning towards his unofficial girlfriend and whispered, "It was… it was true, every word of it, Hanami-chan… Wi-Will you…"
Hanami was now hanging on every word he said, her previous embarrassment completely forgotten as she leaned forward, even though she couldn't help trying to avoid eye contact with him. This was a crucial moment, dammit! She gulped and gripped her head with her hands, forcing herself to look into Leon's eyes.
"Will you… be my…" Leon smacked his own cheeks again, forcing himself to continue. "Will you be my… girlfriend?" he ground out, the effort making him feel like he had aged several years in the span of minutes. That done, he closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable reje…
"YES!" Hanami practically screamed her approval, somehow leaping clean over the table and hugging him tight, even as she tumbled to the ground with him. At that point, she just didn't care if it hurt - he had finally done it! He had confessed to her!
"Owowow…" Leon winced when he hit the ground with her, but he didn't care either - his mind was still in shock. She had accepted!
Hanami seized Leon's moment of confusion to smile and lean in to press her lips against his. The feeling of her full, soft lips against his quickly shocked Leon out of his shock, but he relaxed into it and reciprocated the kiss happily.
*CLICK*
"Definitely framing this in our room!" Kagami grinned as she held up Leon's DSLR, checking the photo she had just snapped of the kissing duo.
Leon looked up, raised a hand and made a shooing motion with it. Hanami just grinned like the cat that had gotten the cream.
"Fine, fine, but you get to clean up the table!" Kagami shrugged as she picked up her coffee mug and went back to her room with it.
The newly-christened couple looked at the dining table, which, although untouched by Hanami's impromptu tackle just now, was somewhat covered in coffee from where she had knocked over their coffee mugs. Blinking, Hanami realized there was a wet, brown patch on the front of her pajamas over her chest… "Oops?" she said intelligently.
"Later, Hanami-chan," Leon smiled, pulling her closer even as they laid on the ground. "Besides, I… like the way you're pressing against me."
Hanami blushed slightly, knowing that she wasn't wearing a bra at the moment so he was getting the full feeling of her wet assets pressing against his chest. Oh well, she knew he was a gentleman anyway. Discarding the thought, she nuzzled her head into the crook of Leon's neck happily.
"Best day ever," both of them said out loud simultaneously.
2 pm the same day
"So this is the finished Chronos Archer Gundam…" Hanami admired the 1/144 model sitting in the palm of her hand. It bore a passing resemblance to 00's Dynames Gundam and Yuuma Kousaka's Lightning Gundam, with a white colour scheme with blue and black highlights. Built for long-ranged warfare, the machine featured hardpoints on its shoulders for additional weaponry, on top of a dual-mode sniper rifle docked to the side of its right shoulder capable of firing physical ammunition and beams.
"I'm working on a support unit for it as well, although we probably won't get a chance to use it in a 3v3 battle. It's more siege equipment than anything," Leon confessed, even as he looked on at the Gunpla hobby shop they frequented.
"You didn't have to go that far…" Hanami blinked, a little taken aback at the idea of putting siege equipment on her machine.
"You mentioned a special function without any precedent on our Gundams, right?" Kagami was staring at her own customized Gunpla, a unit that bore a passing resemblance to 00's Exia, with sharper, more angular armour and a customized version of the Crossbone Gundam's rocket thruster backpack with 6 thrusters instead of the normal 4 and a longsword almost as tall as the unit itself on its back. Her unit was coloured in black, with red and orange highlights across the armour.
"What does it do?" Fubuki asked, showing her Gunpla to Leon as well - a unit built similarly to 00's Rasiel, only with a turret mounted on its right shoulder and a rack containing 4 funnels similar to the Moebius Zero from Seed's wired gunbarrels on its left shoulder. The backpack was similar to the Sinanju's, but more blocky in design. It also held a long lance with a beam rifle built into the center.
"Kagami, your Arc Saber Gundam is designed for close combat, and it can unleash a sword wave as a ranged attack so it's not entirely defenseless in a long-ranged fight," Leon pointed at the longsword on Kagami's unit's back and fiddled with it for a moment, before separating the longsword into a pair of katanas. "And I know you like dual-wielding, so it can split into dual swords too. And it has Mirage Colloid for those surprise attacks. I built in a special function to it, though - you can either go invisible, or leave behind afterimages to confuse enemies after you're spotted."
"Cool," Kagami simply grinned, equipping the katanas to the unit's hands and making it do a test swing. "Articulation looks good - then again this is based on the Exia after all."
"Yup," Leon nodded, before turning to Fubuki. "Your unit is a general-purpose machine, so you can engage at any range you like. The turret's loaded with a pair of railguns, you can adjust their power so you get either slower-firing but more powerful shots for sniping, or faster-firing and weaker shots if you want to suppress enemies as you rush them with the beam lance. You also have the same Mirage Colloid as the Arc Saber, so don't be afraid to sneak up behind opponents. And if you prefer the more direct approach, there are beam shields built into the forearms."
"You thought it all out as usual, Leon-kun," Fubuki set the Phantom Lancer Gundam down and hugged Leon tightly, ignorant of the fact that the blessings of her Yukikaze genes were squashed against Leon's chest and causing him to sweat bullets as he turned to look at Hanami. Surprisingly, she wasn't glaring at him, but rather had a finger to her chin in her usual thinking pose.
"Yep, I'm liking this unit!" Kagami joined the group hug, making Leon blush when she squashed her breasts against his back, making him painfully aware that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath her low-cut red blouse…
Still no particular reaction from the thoughtful-looking Hanami. If anything her brow only creased slightly to show she was getting further in thought.
"B-By the way, Hanami-chan… your unit also has Mirage Colloid for when you need to sneak away from a sniping spot," Leon tried to ignore the four soft thingies pressing into him as he addressed his girlfriend. "But the most important thing on our units is something else entirely - it can be considered magic, even," he said sagely.
"Ooooh…" Fubuki smiled, having always been interested in the idea of magic and wondering if they could apply it to their Gunpla. In part, Leon had added this particular set of functions to appease her.
"The Chronos Archer has something called a Time Engine, which basically warps your shots backwards in time to hit a target where it used to be," Leon explained, gesturing at the Gunpla in Hanami's hands. "Takes a lot of power to do it though, so don't use it too often or you might overload the reactor. The Arc Saber has a Force Engine, which enhances the power of your swings and can cancel recoil from any firearm you use. You could even do something like the 00 Raiser's Raiser Sword with it, but you'll cause explosions along the length of the giant sword wherever it hits, instead of just plain cutting targets."
Kagami stared at her Arc Saber Gundam with starry eyes, before promptly reassembling the katanas into their combined longsword form and equipping it.
"Fubuki-chan, your Phantom Lancer Gundam has a Space Engine, which will allow it to warp space and cross large distances in the blink of an eye to reach your targets," Leon lectured. "You could even warp any ranged attacks against you away, and with enough control over it you might be able to turn enemy beams and bullets back against them."
"Thanks, Leon-kun!" Fubuki hugged him again. Leon flinched again - apparently Fubuki wasn't wearing a bra either, likely having been corrupted by Kagami.
"I love you, Leon-kun!" Kagami chimed, joining in the hug. Leon barely had enough coherent thought left to wonder whether she was joking or not.
"Me too, Leon-kun!" It was Hanami's turn to jump in, causing Leon's mind to pretty much fail him as he sank into marshmallow heaven.
A very embarrassed Leon was now standing in the middle of a group hug with three very much busty women… in the middle of the street. Of course, there were more than a few people staring and complaining about his luck, although some of the women were giving him heated glares that he couldn't help but ignore - he had more than enough on his plate after all.
"Lucky bastard," a passerby grumbled, before continuing on his way.
The comment snapped Leon out of his stupor, and he blushed as he raised his hands. "Umm… girls… we're in public here…"
"That's fine, isn't it? I'm willing to share," Kagami grinned.
Leon froze as he turned to stare at Kagami incredulously.
"Umm… so am I…" Fubuki said shyly.
Something in Leon's mind shattered.
"We were waiting for Hanami to take the first step - she only deserves it after all…" Kagami continued on, blissfully unaware of Leon's state of mind. "You know, we've been doing some thinking, and I think we've… quite plainly put it, found our match… in you, Leon-kun," she blushed slightly.
All Leon saw was darkness.
"LEON-KUN!" Hanami was the first to realize Leon had fainted.
"Huh, I think we broke him," Kagami remarked idly.
"I don't think we broke him, I know we broke him, Kagami-nee…" Fubuki blinked, still blushing from her close proximity to their unconscious team manager and Gunpla designer, who had started frothing at the mouth.
October 10th, 2031 - Midwest United States - RV parked near I-70 Colorado Exit 28/Grand Junction
"Well, the Gunpla championships are coming up," a brown haired young man with amethyst eyes and a fairly bushy moustache the same color as his hair, which was styled in a buzz cut, said to his two companions, both women.
The first one, with light brown hair and green eyes, smiled. "Luckily for us, our Gunpla are ready." She brought out a silver Gunpla, which had the head, torso, arms, and legs of the Wing Gundam, along with its Shield and Buster Rifle, but the wings came from a completely different source - the Cybuster of Masou Kishin fame. It also carried the Cybuster's Discutter.
"True," the man, Takeshi Yamato, replied, bringing out his own red Gunpla, which looked like the Gundam Exia, only with the Strike Gundam's head and torso, with its only weapons being head vulcans, two beam saber-esque weapons, and a broadsword covered in runic markings. "And it's a good thing we managed to get our machines able to use magic, like the Masou Kishin could."
"Yeah," the woman, Shion Urishu, replied. "Part of me wonders what it would be like if Magic were real, but with Plavsky Particles, we've been able to design the next best thing for our Gunpla."
"Um, guys, I hope that we can have some time with our families soon enough," the second woman said shyly.
"Well, hopefully we'll get a chance after the championships, Ami," Takeshi replied. "Still, I think my parents are alright with the occasional phone call - I think they knew, once I discovered my talent for Gunpla Battle, that I was ready to 'leave the nest' as it were."
The second woman, an Aquamarine Blue-haired female with blue eyes named Ami Mizuki, simply nodded her head at first. "I wonder how my family's taking this?"
"I certainly hope they take it well enough," Shion remarked. "I mean, they originally introduced us to try and get you out of that shell you'd developed."
"And I definitely found it easier to relate to you, considering my Asperger's," Takeshi added. "Still, who knows if they had 'get involved in a Gunpla Battle Team' as part of their idea on how to get you to open up?"
"I wouldn't put it past them to do anything that could help me out," Ami said, before sighing.
"Still, we'll be counting on you for the tournament, Ami," Takeshi informed. "I know you'll provide expert research and support, as always."
"Th-thank you, Takeshi-kun," Ami said, blushing despite herself. "I-I'll do my best."
"I know you will," he said. "Also, Shion…"
"Yeah?" Shion asked.
"I'd… like to ask you something, once the tournament's over," Takeshi informed. "I'll likely ask it whether we win or lose, but I do still want to win."
Shion nodded. "Alright," she said. "I can wait until after the tournament - and I do want to win, too."
Takeshi smiled, before he pulled Shion into a kiss.
Ami blushed heavily, imagining herself on either side of that kiss, which led to her imagining that she was about to go to the bedroom with the person in question that she was kissing. Before she could say something that she would regret, however, she controlled her mouth enough to stay quiet.
Out of the corner of their eyes, Takeshi and Shion both noticed her blush, and parted. "Sorry about that, Ami," Takeshi said. "I guess it can be embarrassing when Shion and I are so close…"
"N-No, it's not that," Ami said, shaking her head. "It's… well…"
Takeshi blinked. "What is it, Ami?" he asked.
Rather than verbally give an answer, Ami walked over to the two of them and pulled Shion into a rather passionate kiss for a few seconds, parting long enough to repeat the process with Takeshi.
Once she'd parted from both of them, they looked at her, rather stunned. "Ami…" Takeshi began.
"You… you like us… like that?" Shion finished.
"Y… yes, Takeshi, Shion, I love you two, more than a friend loves a friend… but as a woman loves a man," Ami answered. "I… I think it started when you started getting me out of my shell."
Takeshi and Shion looked at each other for a moment, seemed to share a silent conversation, then nodded. "Well, I'm glad you told us this, Ami," Takeshi replied. "And, while Shion was my first love… I would be willing to share her with you, if that was what you wanted."
"Same here," Shion replied. "If you want to pursue a relationship with the two of us… and join our relationship with each other… I don't mind."
"Th… thank you, Takeshi, Shion…" Ami said, relief flooding her face.
"You're welcome, Ami," Takeshi replied. "To be honest, I found you rather attractive when we first met, and found myself growing attracted to you… but didn't want to seem disloyal to Shion…"
"Same…" Shion admitted. "Not to mention it took a while to get used to the idea of being bisexual…"
"Well… how about we… put that to the test?" Ami asked, not in an innocent way, but in a way that suggested she wanted to get ravaged.
Takeshi and Shion blinked for a moment, eyes slightly wide at the implication of her statement, then both smiled, as they locked lips with Ami in a three-way kiss, pulling her into the main bedroom of their RV.
October 10th, 2031 - Edmonton, Alberta - Bourbon Street Bar and Grill
"So we are still getting people trying to hire us for the upcoming World Championship, even though our PMC is slotted already as the Champions for the Canada," a young woman in her late teens with long spiky red hair pulled into a loose ponytail with a pair of bangs framing her heart shaped face and her green eyes held asian qualities to them and was wearing a white t-shirt with an unzipped dark green sleeveless hoodie and a pair of blue jeans with a pair of sneakers. "They just don't seem to understand the words 'not for hire'."
One of the two men she sat with, a bull of a man with a shaved head and steel grey eyes chuckled in response as he took a swig of the beer he was holding, he was wearing a long sleeved brown jacket with a pair of cargo pants with runners. "People are getting desperate to snag the open competition spots."
"Well, just keep telling them we're not open for business," the third person, who stood at about 5'11" with dark brown, caesar cut hair and a pair of dark brown eyes, wearing a white t-shirt with blue jeans informed in a bored voice as he cut of a piece of the steak he was eating and chewed on it. "They'll get the picture eventually. Speaking of, do we have lists who are participating so far?"
"Still compiling," the red head informed. "Usual names so far, although it looks like the Zeonic Guild finally got that spot they were vying for."
"A new name in the championships, then…" the brown haired one informed. "Try and dig up what you can on their main members who will be participating, Akira."
The red headed girl, Akira Hisanaga, nodded in understanding as she made a note on the tablet she was carrying. "You got it boss," she confirmed. "I'll send out some feelers to the usual people."
"Right," the third one, Thomas 'Ryu' Johnston, said with a sigh. "Going to be putting the finishing touches on the Build Nu Gundam, how are the recruits coming, Kal?"
Kal Guinness shrugged in response. "Definitely not championship material, but they're improving," he informed. "Should be ready for regular work by the end of the championship."
Tom nodded in understanding. "Good to hear," he replied. "We ship out at 0900 tomorrow, so make sure you have everything, packed and ready, no forgetting your Gunpla."
Akira blushed as he sent a severe look towards her. "One time… for a mock battle..." she muttered in embarrassment. "I'll have it, no worries."
Tom nodded. "Alright then," he declared as he finished his meal. "As Akira was one who lost the coin flip, she pays."
"Hey!" Akira shouted out in protest as Ryu and Kal stood up. "Not fair! That was for where we'd eat, not who'd pay!"
"Loser always pays, Akira, I thought you'd know that by now," Kal taunted. "See you tomorrow!"
"Assholes!" Akira shouted after the pair, even as she dug out her wallet to pay for the meal.
North Bay, Ontario
"How the hell was I supposed to know you'd get roped into this just by standing beside me?!" Ronald Pinkerton continued to defend himself from his friends' accusations that he intentionally roped them into a tourney because no one else would join him. It was the polar opposite, even as they boarded the plane that would take them to Sudberry, and then to the international Gunpla tournament in New York.
"You didn't read the fine print, did you?"
"I was up for 72 hours," Ron replied. "YOU try paying attention to the fine fucking print, Jackson!"
Dylan Jackson shook his head as Ron got onto the Bombardier Dash 8-100, followed by himself and the youngest and shortest of the team, Tanner Armstrong.
"At least we don't have to deal with my brother OR our respective families for the next few weeks," Ron continued. "We should count ourselves lucky I had enough parts to make you both Gunpla, or I'd be fucked."
Tanner sat in the seat in front of him while Ron sat in the window seat. "And you were nice enough to outfit them, too," he said. "Not that we have any clue what we're doing."
"Tanner, please, just get some sleep," Ron told him. "God knows we're going to need it." The turboprop-powered plane took off a few minutes after they came on board, and Ron tried to sleep and ignore his friends' claims at the same time.
New York, 16 hours later
While his friends-and unintentional teammates-slept through almost the entire flight, Ron didn't. He was forced to stay awake and think of mods he could make to the two GAT-X105Es he built as his backup units. Dylan was a close-up type of fighter, so a sword pack would be best, and Tanner would need to stay as far away from the front as possible, so a launcher pack. 'Wait a second.' He thought. 'That fic me and the others wrote had two Striker Packs that I can make and use. The Gladius Hispaniensis and Heavyarms packs. Might be a little unwieldy, but I can get them up to spec on piloting.' He had the parts to make the packs, and even brought a ZGMF-X57S Impulse kit, plus extra replacement packs in case they got damaged.
While Tanner and Dylan got settled in their hotel room, Ron set himself to work with a massive mug of tea and a lot of parts. "Hey, Ron, don't you need to sleep?"
"Yes, but I need to make your machines," he said. "There's a shop for Gunpla flight suits downstairs. Get your asses down there and get a pair of suits that fit."
"Don't they use those particles now?" Dylan asked.
"To a point," Ron said. "Personally, I prefer the older cockpits, which they still use for those who want to use them." Ron might've had the ability to stand on his feet for hours on end, but his train of thought was, 'if you're piloting something that is piloted by sitting in a cockpit, then sit'. "I'll be done when you get back. Don't take too long."
4 hours later
"He takes this pretty seriously."
"Tanner, this is Ron we're talking about," Dylan replied. "He takes EVERYTHING seriously."
Both men returned to their hotel room, finding Ron slumped over at the table with their Gunpla fully built and ready for battle. "So...88 hours and he finally falls asleep sitting."
"Not exactly," Ron said as he raised his head, black bags under his eyes. "I was pretty close when you came back."
The slightly taller man closed the door before looking at his Gunpla. Swords were the order of the day. "Wow."
"Yeah, it took me half an hour to make that work. Tanner's was the biggest pain in the ass."
The second Strike was a flying gun fetish: shoulder-mounted railguns, artillery cannons, etc. "You gave me the one with the most guns?" Tanner asked.
"It works," Ron replied. A knock on the door was heard, and he stood up to answer it.
A woman with short blonde hair wearing a black uniform reminding him of the Schutzstaffel, sans all rank and unit insignia, stood there, holding her cap under her shoulder. "I'm looking for the Canadian team for the Gunpla tournament," she said. "Am I in the correct place?"
"You are," Ron replied. "Who the hell are you?"
"Heinkel Wolfe, Pangaea platoon," she replied. "We're one of the regional teams, and we're in need of some assistance: mostly MS pilots."
Ron narrowed his eyes. "Really?"
"We have a ship and some operations personnel, but a lack of pilots for the tournament." She said. "I'm here to ask for your assistance."
The tired man just wanted her to go away. "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow morning. I need to sleep."
She nodded, then turned on her heel to leave before walking off. Ron shut the door before marching to his bed and falling unconscious.
"Uh, Ron?" Tanner and Dylan asked.
A snore was their answer.
The following morning
Ron awoke to a knock at the door, and stumbled out of the bed, crawling and eventually walking to the door and opening it.
The woman from last night (whom he believed was a dream) was standing at the entrance. "Yes? What do you want?"
She blinked. "Uh… You told me to come back last night."
"Fuck, I thought that was a dream," Ron muttered. "Dylan! Tanner! Get dressed! We need to go!" Stumbling and crashing was heard before Ron grabbed his bag and all of the Gunpla, following her out. "And what is your name again?"
"Heinkel Wolfe. I'm the commanding officer of the LCAM-X03C Cherub and a GuAIZ R pilot."
"At least you stuck with the angelic theme, unlike some people I know," he said, as Heinkel put the cap on her head as Tanner and Dylan finally caught up with them.
"You could've waited!"
"Not really, no."
"We're going to the model shop next door in order to get acquainted." Heinkel said. "Your team leader agreed to volunteer your services for the tournament. We're your new teammates."
"Oh, great."
The three man crew entered the shop, going into the back, where four people, one man, three women, were sitting waiting for them. "So, Standartenführer, you got them to join up! That's good news."
"Standartenfuhrer? If I remember correctly, that's the SS equivalent of Colonel."
"It's a long-standing joke, because of the uniform. I liked the Titans uniform, but some jackass at the sewing club made a few copies of the SS uniform for me instead."
"It's fitting: my grandfather was a member of the Wehrmacht, so I don't see any insult." Ron looked at the team. One of the girls was a brown haired 16 year old with yellow eyes partly hidden by glasses. "And who are the people I'll be working with?"
The girl in question waved shily. "Uh, Julia Payne. I'm the weapons operator for the ship."
A black haired girl looked at Ron with a form of contempt. "Helga Goering. I'm the XO and one of the few real pilots we have."
"Guess I'll be counting on you as a wingman."
"My Blu Duel will tear you apart."
"I pilot a hybrid of the Freedom, Strike Freedom and Destiny. If there's an ass to be kicked, it's yours."
Helga scowled at that, but the sole male held her back. "We need him, Hel. I'm Leon Kahn, sensors officer, and the last of the team over here is-"
"Laura Carter. I drive the ship."
"Then we have to keep your asses alive so you can do your jobs." Ron clapped his hands together. "Well, why don't we get a match up and running? My friends were actually unintentionally drafted into this shitstorm, so they need piloting practice."
"Wait, you brought a pair of rookies with you?"
"In my defense, some idiot thought they were my teammates. And I didn't want to drop out, so..."
"We need to see what you can do, regardless. There's a field in the back, and you seem to prefer using the old cockpits, so suit up."
Ron walked into the shop's washroom to change into his flight suit.
Xamusel: Okay, this story literally started one full week ago, on Friday the 10th of October in 2014. Oddly enough, the calendar says that the exact position of the days of the month will be repeated 17 years from now, so the 10th will be a Friday once more on October of 2031. Also, I have a poll on my profile, which will be used to ask what I should focus on story-wise.
Takeshi Yamato: And so the story of Build Fighters Revolution begins anew… only with a slightly different and larger cast, new Gunpla, and the rules from Build Fighters Try. Also, we're not all going to be in the same universe at the same time, this time around.
AstralXYZ: Yep, hopefully this'll reduce our chances of stalling whenever someone drops off for a long period of time.
117Jorn: They will be separate at first… but as time passes, we will be coming together… and let's just say things are going to be changing drastically.
Patriot112: Yup, and my Guild, the CD Guild, is gonna be kicking some A-LAWS ass! Unless, it's only the Three-Man team-one ship deal.
DragonKnightRyu: And I lead a mercenary team while not giving a shit for the world in general!
Xamusel: By the way, to those of you who are fans of the Galactic Empire in Star Wars, I meant no offense towards you. I was stating an opinion that was considered fact when I was younger. With that said… Hasta Luego!
P.S. from Xamusel: If you want some details on my poll, I'll have them on my profile page, honest... especially the details on the stories I don't have on my profile by this point.