This is a oneshot influenced and dedicated to rpgingmaster for his help in my other Super Robot Wars story.
Author notes: This is from Super Robot Wars Z. It takes place during Stage 46 where the members of ZEUTH (Z Emergency Union of Terrestrial Humans) wrestle control of Orb back from Yuna who is supported by Phantom Pain, the Titans, and later the Space Revolutionary Army (Gundam X, don't appear in this oneshot) as well as Gym Ghingnham. What's different in this story from the game is the involvement of Asakim Dowin and Tsine Espio. If you don't know who they are, look them up at Gate of Magus.
Pairing: Shinn Asuka/ Setsuko Ohara
Other than that, enjoy.
Banpresto owns Super Robot Wars Z, Bandai, Capcom and others own their respective series.
You Are There for Me as I am There for You
The temperature was freezing, but it was not just the cold weather that sent chills through her body. The sadistic look of the man looming over her sent chills down her spine, and she was truly afraid of what he would do to her. Then, without provocation, his black boot made contact with her face and she was knocked on her back. She winced in pain while he chuckled, humored by her agony. He knelt down, grabbed her by the hair and lifted her to where her trembling green eyes met his hardened red eyes. "I've killed your commander, Denzel Hammer. I've killed your beloved Toby Watson. All of this to make you suffer… so wallow in your misery… be overcome with grief and sorrow. Every tear that you shed will become an offering to me. Do you understand that, Setsuko Ohara," said Asakim Dowin, the crazed pilot of the black Masoukishen, Shurouga.
"Ensign Ohara! Ensign Ohara, wake up! You're having a nightmare." Setsuko Ohara shot up from her resting place, drenched in sweat and out of breath. She panicked and frantically scanned over the area for her tormenter. She felt a pair of hands firmly grasp her shoulders and was about to scream until she saw who the person was. "Calm down, dammit!" She was frightened when she saw red eyes and jet black hair, but this person's eyes radiated a sense of kindness and concern, unlike Asakim's eyes. The person who was with her was the Z.A.F.T ace on board the Minerva and pilot of the ZGMF-X42S Destiny Gundam, Shinn Asuka. As soon as she calmed down, his expression softened along with his grip, and he proceeded to embrace the brunette pilot. "It's alright, you're safe," he said in a comforting voice. This stunned Setsuko. Even though she'd been stationed on the Minerva along with the other members of the Glory Star team (who were both dead) for quite awhile, she never took the time to get to know the boy. Actually, she was scared of him because of his gruff attitude and his devastating rage on the battlefield. In her mind, he was a sixteen-year-old version of Ryoma Nagare, the punk fighter who was the pilot of Getter Dragon. So why in the world would he be concerned about her? "Why," she whispered, resting her chin on his shoulder.
"I… I really don't know… I just heard you crying in your sleep and I was concerned. What person with a heart wouldn't," for some unknown reason, Shinn was blushing. Despite his words, Shinn knew there was another reason for his actions, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It wasn't as if he was in love with the pilot of the Virgola. Sure, he found her attractive, she was three years older so that was a plus, and her short uniform did add to the eye candy, but there was more to his taste in women than a nice body. "Are you alright," he asked, to change the subject. However, he looked at the bruises and bandages on Setsuko's arms and legs and regretted ever asking that question. "Yeah… stupid question, just ignore it," he said, looking away.
Setsuko smiled at his comment. She never guessed that a guy like him would have a soft side. "Thanks for being concerned, it was sweet," she responded, making the raven-haired coordinator blush even more. For what seemed like hours, the two pilots stayed where they were without a single word being exchanged between them. The moment was broken when the alarm started to blare.
"Condition Red has been declared, all pilots board your machines," announced the Minvera's CIC operator, Meyrin Hawke.
At that time, Shinn let go of Setsuko, but he grabbed hold of her hand and pulled the girl to her feet. Once the two pilots were finished changing into their normal suits, Setsuko waved to Shinn and started to head towards her Virgola, but she stopped when Shinn called out her name. "Ensign Ohara, don't worry about the Shurouga. I'll personally make sure that bastard never messes with you again, that's a promise," Setsuko could sense the determination in his voice and she saw it in his blazing red eyes. She also knew from observing him that Shinn Asuka was not a person who would purposely break a promise, and he would grieve everytime he was unable to fulfill a promise. That image of the boy beating his fist against the Minvera's wall until his knuckles were bleeding, crying and apologizing to a girl named Stellar for not being able to protect her. Then Setsuko realized that Shinn, even if it was subconciously, was desperate for somebody to need him so he could fight with all his might, and that somebody was now her. "I swear that I'll make him suffer tenfold for what he did to you," now, Shinn's anger echoed along with his determination.
"Please don't overdo yourself," Setsuko requested. Her eyes pleaded with Shinn not to go crazy on the battlefield, which he usually did.
"Sure… I'll try my best," the sixteen-year old pilot replied. For once, this was a promise that Shinn had barely any intention of following. If that asshole Asakim and his black robot even dared to show his face via transmission from any part of the world, the red-eyed coordinator planned to go ape shit on that bastard. What made it even better was that now he had a machine that could possibly match the speed of the Shurouga, or at least do a better job than the Impulse. As he boarded the Destiny, he found himself hoping that Asakim would be there, ripe for the beating. He could have taken his anger out on Orb which was under the control of a total douche bag (Yuna in case you haven't guessed), but he really wanted the Shurouga. He walked the Destiny over to the catapult and took off as soon as he got the green light.
The Virgola Glory soon joined the Destiny Gundam along with the Legend Gundam and Setsuko took the lead. In a few minutes, the squad of advanced robots destroyed two Zamzazas, five Croudas (Gundam X), and four Murasames. Shinn had broken away from the group to fight off the Akatsuki, and was doing so with relative ease. Setsuko tried to dissuade him from fighting the golden gundam because her gut was telling her that the pilot was her former ally and good friend, but she didn't act fast enough. Fortunately for Cagalli, Shinn's true opponent arrived on the battlefield to cause chaos and suffering to everyone on the battlefield, particularly Setsuko. The newly upgraded Shurouga was engaging the Virgola Glory even though his mech was slightly weaker than Setsuko's machine. However, he was gaining the upper hand by attacking her psyche with memories of how he killed her teammates as well as illusions of her beloved Toby Watson. "Do you remember him? I remember how much fun I had carving his flesh into a wonderful wall mount. Heh, I still have his skull as a trophy. Do you want to see it," he taunted as he shoved the skull against the monitor.
Shinn heard everything and was ready to charge the Shurouga. What shocked the Z.A.F.T. pilot was that Cagalli had beaten him to it and was engaging Asakim, even though her machine had suffered extensive damage. That didn't matter to the Rose of Orb who was extremely pissed off that the bastard was making her friend cry. Unfortunately, the Akatsuki wasn't fast enough and its anti-beam coating did nothing against a solid sword. In a matter of seconds, Cagalli was defeated and at the mercy of a psychopath who was stating the ways to kill her as a way to hurt Setsuko even more. However, Asakim was too caught in the moment to notice the Destiny closing in on him until it was too late. "What the…," he hissed as the impact from the other gundam shook him violently.
"You bastard… I'll never forgive you… I'LL NEVER FUCKING FORGIVE YOU," shouted Shinn as he used the Destiny's beam boomerang to cut off Shurouga's right arm and free Cagalli. "I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU AND I'LL MAKE YOU SUFFER TEN TIMES MORE THAN SETSUKO," Shinn had gone into SEED mode and his rage was dictating his actions. The Destiny punched the Shurouga and followed through by firing a couple of rounds from its CIWS into the cannon on its forehead.
"How dare a worthless little worm do that to me," shouted Asakim as he charged Shinn. However, the Destiny's pilot was able to dodge the charge and draw the gundam's anti-ship sword. In an unusual manner, Shinn used the sword as a javelin and struck it right through the Shurouga's head. "Damn you," cursed Asakim as all of his monitors went black.
"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU," the Destiny's wings of light were activated as he sped towards Asakim, grabbed the Shurouga by the back and slammed it into the ground. "Take this," Shinn used his beam rifle to shoot through the black mech's wings then proceeded to stomp his enemy even further into the ground. He picked up Asakim's machine and continued to beat it mercilessly. "How does it feel, bastard," he shouted as he continued to wail on the Shurouga.
"Shinn stop this," shouted Rey Za Burrel, who was surprisingly astonished by Shinn's barbarism. However, his words fell on deaf ears. The Legend Gundam was joined by the Zeta Gundam and the Impulse Gundam and the three of them attempted to pull the Destiny off of the Shurouga, but Shinn just slashed wildly at them with his beam sabers whenever they got close. Heck, even Garrod Ran (Gundam X: piloting Gundam Double X), Ryoma Nagare in the Getter Dragon, and Amuro Ray (by this point in the game, Amuro is in the Nu Gundam) weren't able to hold him off. Shinn returned to beating the already wrecked Shurouga, but this time he was using the Destiny's palm blasters to take off chunks of Asakim's machine with every hit.
"I won't let you kill Asakim-sama," shouted his follower, Tsine Espio as she attacked the Destiny with her Chaos Caper. It was her words that made Shinn stop attacking Asakim and turn his attention to her. Despite her anger, Tsine was overcome with fear when the Destiny, covered in the oil and fluids of the Shurouga, faced her. "He's the devil," the busty redhead said to herself, her body petrified with fear.
"Asakim's that important to you, huh, then JOIN HIM IN HELL," Shinn pulled out the anti-ship gun and took aim at the Chaos Caper and pulled the trigger. Fortunately for Tsine, she was able to use the Chaos Caper's wings as a shield, but that would only work once. Shinn tossed the rifle aside and retrieved the anti-ship sword from the Shurouga's head. He followed through by activating the Wings of Light and charged the damaged pink mech. Again, fate intervened in Tsine's favor when another mech caught and broke Shinn's blade. Ironically, it was none other than the Virgola Glory.
"That's enough, Shinn," said Setsuko with a firm voice. "You promised me you wouldn't overdo yourself and let your anger take control! Did you intend to keep that promise or were you just lying to me," she was angry, and with a newfound courage, she was actually enforcing discipline on a pilot who used to scare her. Setsuko found this strange, considering it was usually Athrun or Harry Ord (Turn A Gundam) who scolded Shinn out of his rage. To add to it, her heart ached as she heard the "screams of agony from Shinn's heart" or something to that extent. "I know you want to protect me, and I would like you to protect me, but enough is enough," she told him, breaking out into tears.
Now, Shinn had come out of SEED mode and was on the verge of tears. This was the worst time he'd lost control. He attacked Rey and Lunamaria, his best friends. He attacked Kamille, a boy who he shared so much in common with, and Amuro, a sort of mentor along with Athrun. But what hurt him most was that he made Setsuko upset, and even worse, he made her cry. "Dammit, what the hell is wrong with me," Shinn shouted, slamming his fist against the monitor. "I… I didn't mean to… I… just," he stopped when the Destiny's cockpit opened with the brunette pilot hanging outside. Without a moments hesitation, the usually shy Setsuko Ohara made her way to the Z.A.F.T. ace and embraced him.
"It's alright, Shinn, I'm here for you like you were there for me," she rubbed her right hand through his hair as he buried his face in her chest (no, not for perverted reasons)." I can't promise that I can protect you, but I can be there to comfort you when you're in pain," she told him softly.
Sadly, the moment between Shinn Asuka and Setsuko Ohara was brought to an end when a Murasame from the Archangel exploded 50 meters away. "Such pathetic emotions are not needed on the battlefield," hissed the new enemy, Gym Ghingnham (Turn A Gundam), in the ferocious CONCEPT-X 6-1-2 Turn X Gundam. He aimed the Turn X's bazooka at the Destiny and fired, but the shot was blocked by the Legend Gundam. Reinforcements soon arrived for Gym in the form of the NRX-0013CB Gundam Virsago Chest Breaker piloted by Shagia Frost (Gundam X), the NRX-0015-HC Gundam Ashtaron Hermit Crab (Gundam X), a GFAS-X1 Destroy Gundam, and a squad of Daughtresses.
"Shinn, Ensign Ohara, get back to the Minerva. Your machines are in no condition to fight the Turn X," instructed Rey as he pulled out his beam javelin. Nu Gundam, Gundam Double X, Getter Dragon, and Zeta Gundam also came to Rey's side. Then, more reinforcements arrived as Big O, King Gainer (Overman King Gainer), Harry Ord's Sumo, the Turn A Gundam, Mazinger Z (Mazinger Z), Great Mazinger (Great Mazinger), and the Nirivash Type Zero specs 2 (Eureka 7),and finally the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom. "Well then, it's time we finish this battle once and for all," shouted Rey as the forces of ZEUTH attacked.