Disclaimer: Superior Defender Gundam Force is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

Spectrophobia
Chapter 1

"So what do you think, Captain?" Shute asked as he held his arms out.

Captain Gundam, in his mobile citizen mode, looked over at the nearest vendor. There were several tables lined up end to end, which were covered in every type of kitchen knife available. Butter knives, paring knives, steak knives, butcher knives, cheese knives, bread knives, boning knives and meat cleavers, in both steel and plastic. At the far end of the display were two worn wooden marionettes wearing faded clothes. The pupils of one of the puppets had completely chipped away, and it stared up at the Gundam with blank white eyes.

"It's...interesting," Captain replied blandly.

It was a beautiful weekend in Neotopia. The skies were clear, the weather was warm, and most importantly, there was no interdimensional crisis that needed to be solved. The Dark Axis had been gone for over a year, and besides a brief run-in with a thieving starfish-like alien, no one else had tried to take their place. The members of the Gundam Force were currently taking some time off in their home dimensions. Shute was using this little respite to pay a visit to a flea market right outside the Neotopia Tower. Fortunately for him, Captain was available to come along for the ride.

"Are you looking for anything in particular, Shute?" the Gundam asked as the two of them made their way through the market.

"Not really," Shute replied. "I'm just looking for anything that might look useful. Stuff to build more gadgets with, y'know?"

As he searched the various tables, however, he failed to see anything that caught his interest. Local artists had tables full of sculptures and trinkets, as well as framed paintings hanging from walls. Farmers were selling fruits and vegetables. Other vendors were selling odds and ends such as hand-made soaps and spices. There were also food stalls selling baked goods, cotton candy, popcorn, nachos, and pizza. Nice, but not what Shute was looking for.

After a few minutes of walking and looking, he finally found a booth that looked promising: a group of tables containing hand tools and various types of hardware. The owner was a rather drowsy-looking man in a sweatshirt covered in grease stains. He was sitting down and leaning against one of his tables, his head propped up in one hand. He seemed oblivious to Shute and Captain's presence as they approached.

The boy pawed through the tools as his robot friend quietly looked on. He looked through the wrenches, but they were either sizes he didn't need, or sizes he already had. The rest of the tools were screwdrivers and hammers, neither of which he was interested in. He skipped right over to the hardware, which largely consisted of metal and plastic pipes, fittings, fasteners, and joints.

Shute picked up a pair of long, thin plastic pipes and looked them over. He might be able to use these on his kite, but he wasn't sure if they were long enough. He turned to Captain, who was looking thoughtfully at a tray full of lugnuts.

"Hey Captain, could you tell me the dimensions on these?" Shute asked, handing the pipes over to the Gundam.

"Sure thing, Shute," Captain replied. He took the plastic tubes and held them up, one in each hand. His optics went glassy as he calculated their measurements.

As Shute turned back to the table to pick out more pipes, a purple glint caught his eye. He looked up to find a free-standing, full length mirror behind both the tool shop booth and the one next to it. The frame and stand were made from a dark wood and it stood upon four curled feet. The mirror itself was oval in shape, and the glass was tinted a medium shade of lavender at its edges.

Shute scratched his chin, and his reflection did the same.

You know..., he thought. We don't have one of those at home...

There was a cabinet mirror in the bathroom, but he couldn't see anything below his chest in that one. There was also a half-length mirror in his room above his dresser. However, thanks to his room being rather cramped, he could never see anything below his waist before bumping up against his desk.

In addition to that, his mother's birthday was coming up next month. Maybe she'd like this mirror for her room? Even if she didn't, it might be handy to have around anyway.

"These pipes are approximately-"

Shute let out a yelp and whirled around to find Captain still holding up the pipes.

"Is something wrong, Shute?" he asked.

"Oh, uh...nothing, Captain!" the boy replied. "I just zoned out a little, I guess."

"I understand," Captain said. "Anyway, I wanted to let you know that these pipes are approximately one meter in length, and weigh zero-point-five-six kilograms. The inside diameter is two-point-five-four centimeters, and the outside diameter is three-point-three-four centimeters."

"Okay, thanks!" Shute took the pipes and placed them back on the table. "Let's just leave those here for now. I think I saw something else I wanna buy."

He turned to the tool vendor. "Uh, excuse me sir," he said.

The vendor did not respond, and a snore escaped his lips.

"Excuse me, sir!" Shute repeated himself slightly louder this time, and gently nudged the table.

The vendor snorted and immediately sat up. "Huh? Wha...?" he mumbled, staring groggily into space.

"I wanted to ask you about your mirror," Shute said, pointing at the object in question.

"Mirror? What...?" the vendor sluggishly turned to look at the thing Shute was pointing at. "Oh! That's not mine. You'll have to ask that guy."

The man pointed to the booth next to them. It was a set of three tables arranged in a half-circle and covered in white sheets. Most of the goods for sale were jewelry. There was cases of rings of every size in gold, silver, or even plastic. Some of them had inlaid gemstones, others did not. At least one ring had a large, empty hole where a gem should have been. There were pairs of earrings and cufflinks pinned to thin pieces of cardboard, and a handful of brooches shaped like flowers or butterflies. At the end of one table sat three vases: one blue, one red, and one light green. The lips of the blue and red ones were chipped; the light green one had a crack down one side.

The proprietor was a tall man with wide shoulders. He wore a trilby hat and trench coat despite it being rather warm outside. His face was hidden behind sunglasses and a surgical mask. He must not have heard the shopkeep, as he continued to stand very still and stare dead ahead at the crowds.

"Okay, thanks!" Shute said.

"No problem," the tool vendor said, yawning.

The boy stepped over to white kiosk with his robot friend following close behind. The booth had no signs, company names, or logos anywhere on the tablecloths.

"Excuse me, sir?" Shute asked.

"Hello, young man," the tall man said cheerfully, as he stiffly moved his head to look in the boy's direction. "What can I get you today?"

The man's voice was soft and high-pitched with an extreme nasal tone - so extreme, Shute swore the guy was doing it deliberately. There was also a metallic resonance to his voice, as if he were talking through a vocalizer. Was this guy some sort of cyborg? Shute didn't want to ask, however; that would be rude.

"I'd like to ask you about your mirror," he replied.

"Ah, you'd like my mirror?" the man said. He nodded, and his rigid upper body bowed forward with his head. "Good choice, good choice! For that, I'd say-"

"-About one hundred of your credits!" the man's voice suddenly became deep and harsh, with no nasal tone or metallic ring. The vendor slowly reached up and covered his mask mouth with a gloved hand. He let out a few good coughs. "Oh, pardon me!" he said, his voice returning to normal. "I just recently got over a cold. Anyway, I'm asking one hundred credits for the mirror."

"Wow, that's a little steep," Shute remarked.

"I do apologize," the tall man replied, "but you see, it's a family heirloom."

"No, I understand," the boy replied. He turned to his robot buddy. "What do you think, Captain?"

The tall man suddenly shuddered, seemingly in response to Shute saying the word "Captain." Meanwhile, Captain himself was glaring at the man with his head slightly bowed. The boy couldn't imagine why. Had the vendor said or done something that secretly offended the Gundam?

After a few moments of silence, Captain finally responded with, "Perhaps you should finish any necessary shopping first, then see if you have enough money afterward." He never took his optics off the tall man.

"Um...sure! Good point!" Shute said. He turned back to the vendor. "How long will you be open today?"

The man was quiet for nearly a minute. His stiff form swayed slightly, reminding Shute of a scarecrow.

"Uh...yes! Th-that's fine!" the vendor finally blurted out. "You take your time! We-I'll be here all day!"

"R-right," Shute gave Captain a little push away from the booth. "See ya later!"

The Gundam continued to eyeball the strange man as they returned to the tool shop. After waking the tool shop owner up again, Shute purchased the two long pipes Captain had measured earlier. Afterward, they headed over to the nearest pizza stand where Shute bought a slice of pizza and a soda. They found a picnic table to sit at, and the boy immediately tore into his pizza. Captain watched him eat.

"I wonder if that guy will let me buy that mirror for less," Shute said between bites. "Like maybe seventy-five credits, or something?"

"To be honest Shute, I don't think you should buy it," Captain replied.

"I know, I know it's a lot of money for someone my age," Shute said. "But when you think about it, it's not that bad of a deal. A brand new mirror could cost well over a hundred credits!"

"I am not talking about the amount of money," Captain corrected him. "The man selling it seems very suspicious."

"Yeah, I was wondering what was going on back there between you and him," Shute said, putting down his pizza. "What didn't you like about him, Captain? I mean, I know he's kinda awkward..."

"It's his voice. I know I've heard his voice somewhere before, and I believe it belonged to one of our enemies."

"What? Which one? I thought the rest of the Dark Axis was in Ark with Genkimaru."

"Not a member of the Dark Axis, someone else. However, I am having difficulty deciphering who it is. His voice patterns are not matching up very well with any that I have on file. He may be talking through a filter."

Shute scratched his chin. "Y'know, sometimes people have similar voices. Maybe he just sorta sounds like somebody we fought before?"

"Perhaps," Captain lowered his head. "However, I still feel as if I should not trust him. Something about him is...off."

"Yeah...I understand," Shute sighed as he took another bite out of his pizza. He chewed for a minute, wondering what to do. On one hand, he really wanted to get that mirror for Mom. On the other hand, he didn't want to upset Captain by buying something from a person he didn't trust.

Maybe I could try to negotiate with the guy anyway, he thought. If he really is a con-man, he probably wouldn't wanna sell it for a lower price, right?

He took another bite as he looked at Captain. The Gundam seemed to be staring into space, possibly processing that man's voice.

Or maybe I shouldn't bother, Shute thought. I could always get something else for Mom.

"Hey, do you think they'll let us take it on the bus? I don't wanna call Mom down here and spoil the surprise."

Shute and Captain were sitting on a bench at the Neotopia Tower bus stop. Shute had the plastic pipes crammed into his backpack, and Captain was holding onto the tinted mirror in one hand.

"If not, I could always fly it back to your house," the Gundam offered.

"No thanks, Captain," the boy replied. "Wouldn't want a bird or something to hit you mid-flight and make you drop it."

There were a few minutes of silence.

"I hope you don't mind that I went and bought the mirror, anyway," Shute said. "I know you didn't trust that guy."

"It is alright, Shute," Captain reassured him. "After all, he did not try to steal from you, and you were not harmed."

Shute chuckled. "Yeah, if anything, I stole from him! I can't believe he let me buy for half the price!" He narrowed his eyes as something crossed his mind. "Say...you don't think he did that because there's something wrong with this thing, do you?"

"I would have to scan it to find out," Captain said. "However, just judging by its outward appearance, it does not look like it's made out of subpar materials."

"I hope not," the boy grumbled. "If he ripped me off and this mirror is made of something dangerous, I'll hafta let you know."

"Thank you, Shute," Captain said, "but if the mirror is made of hazardous substances, you should probably call a decontamination crew first."

There was another pause as Shute thought of something else. "Speaking of that guy, did you get a chance to analyze his voice?"

Captain shook his head. "Not yet. I will do it when I get back to base and have access to better sound analysis software. I hope that he is not someone we need to worry about."

"Yeah, I wish I could help you with that," Shute replied, scratching his head. "He didn't sound familiar to me at all, though."

It was right about then that people began to gather around the bus stop. In moments, there was a small crowd of them, making privacy almost impossible.

"Let's talk about that guy later," Shute whispered to Captain.

"Understood," Captain whispered back.

Minutes later, the next bus floated up to the stop, eased itself to the ground, and began to let passengers in. Fortunately for them, Shute and Captain were able to take the mirror on board without any protests from the bus's AI. After paying, they sat in side-facing seats and tried to keep the mirror out of the aisle as much as possible. A few commuters gave them sideways glances. Others were checking themselves out, adjusting the clothes, or fixing their hair.

How about that, Shute thought. It's already getting used!

He turned the mirror toward himself and looked himself over. He realized his own hair was a little frizzy from the humidity and ran a hand through it. Even Captain leaned over to take a peek at his reflection.

Well, one thing's for sure, Shute thought, if Mom's not interested, we can still use it!