Gundam Build Fighters: Giles and Guile
Chapter One: It's Just a Graze
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The land was dried and dead, its cracked earth coated in layer after layer of dust. Several rocky plateaus rose from the otherwise featureless landscape, providing the eyes some place to rest among the twin expanses of blue and beige.
Of course, that was only useful if one wasn't busy concentrating on something else—something Ryder most definitely was. The young man pulled back, barely dodging the gleaming blade that swung millimetres from his chest.
"Will you stop dodging?!" his opponent complained. "Just stand still and let me hit you already!" Ryder Giles allowed a smirk to cross his face, twisting at the controls.
"Not while my Graze still has particles left!" he retorted, moving the selector from rifle to axe. On the table in front of him, the five-inch tall mobile suit cast aside the tiny weapon, and reached around to its right side. As his opponent's MS—a white and blue High Grade Exia—threw itself into another full-body slash, Ryder jerked the left stick to the side. His Graze pulled out the weapon, bracing it with a second hand a fraction of a moment before the Exia's arm-mounted blade slammed into it!
The plan worked well, as the axe took all the force out of the blow. However, the melee weapon was knocked from the dull green mecha's grasp, flying off into the desert. The second of his three equipment icons turned red. Ryder scowled; only one more weapon before he was forced into using the Graze's hands and feet—and if he did that, he'd almost surely lose to the Exia's beam sabres and GN Sword. After all, while he was better in the tactics department, Rachel was the supreme duellist. It was his job to make sure she wasn't able to use that superiority against him.
Ryder pulled on the controls, activating his Gunpla's thruster units. A pair of blue lights flashed on its back, before the Graze leaped into the air.
"Got you now!"
The Exia tensed its legs, before the green glow of its GN Drive launched it after the grunt suit. The GN Sword came flashing around, slicing off the Graze's raised right arm at the elbow—and exposing the user's front. Just as he'd thought.
"Graze cannon!" he barked, swinging the bulky launcher forward on its shoulder mount. The mobile suit grabbed the handle with its free arm, aiming it directly at the Exia's shoulder joint!
"Wait, Gra-"
*Thoom!*
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The mock explosion obscured the two Gunpla, before both of them slammed into the simulated terrain. Ryder seized his chance, quickly assessing the damage to both models. His HG Graze was darkened and streaked with soot, and the sparking of Plavsky Particles around its stumpy arm didn't look particularly good—however, he figured he could keep it fighting for a bit longer. After all, his particle supply still nearly fifty five percent full. By contrast, the Exia…
…Well, he'd honestly be surprised if Rachel wouldn't have to buy a whole new kit to repair hers. Even taking in that they'd set the Model Damage to B, it had taken a beating from the blast. Everything below the right shoulder was gone, the shoulder and clavicle armour was cracked and blackened, and only one eye seemed to be working.
"You… you trashed it, you idiot!" Rachel exclaimed, glaring at the young man in frustration. "You know how long it'll take to fix a busted joint like that?!"
Ryder had a fairly good idea of the amount of time it took—after all, his Gunpla were almost always beat up after several fights. Before he could reply, the young woman, reached behind her Gundam's back, drawing a squared-off tube. A hole at the end of the weapon sparked, before spitting out a burning pink blade of plasma!
"Hi-yah!"
The Exia lunged, slashing with its beam sabre. Sections of leg armour and the already battered right arm were sliced off, as Ryder tried to retreat against the sudden burst of fury. He raised the cannon again, firing off another point-blank shot. The Exia's head split like a ripe melon, but the mobile suit fought on, slicing the barrel of the weapon in half, before following up with a sweeping kick! The Graze crashed to the ground, its foe stomping down onto its pelvic section to immobilize it. The pink blade of the beam sabre dipped, aiming straight for the mecha's chest.
"Wait!"
The headless, one-armed Exia paused. Rachel raised an eyebrow, her anger quickly cooling.
"…I'm waiting."
Ryder took a breath. He only really had one remaining option here, besides losing completely.
"I… surrender."
"You… surrender?" the young woman repeated incredulously. "Well, Mr. Tactics, what are you surrendering for? What do I get for letting you surrender?"
The young man coughed.
"I will… help you fix your Exia?" Ryder offered. The hint of a smirk tugged at Rachel's lips.
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"…And?"
Ryder's brow furrowed.
"…And I'll… improve it?" he suggested. His rival's grin only grew, her glasses glinting slightly in the light from the table.
"…Fine." The pink beam flickered out, the white mobile suit lowering its arm to its side. "I'll accept that. But I'm not letting you off that easily—you also get to buy me lunch."
"I… alright then. I'll go with your terms, Rache."
"Then I hereby accept your surrender," Rachel smirked. The light of the table dimmed, a holographic sign proclaiming 'Battle End'. The dried plains disappeared, leaving the two models standing on the tabletop, pieces of plastic scattered about.
"Better make good on it, Rye," the young woman warned.
"Don't worry," Ryder replied, picking up his Graze and wiping it off on his shirt. "I'm a man of my word." He looked up.
"So, which first? Lunch, or Gunpla?"
[-]
As it turned out, Rachel favoured lunch first. Ryder, as promised, had paid for their meal—though given his rival's choice in food outings, he wasn't exactly breaking his wallet's back. They'd settled on a fairly cheap fast food place, and bought a couple of sandwiches and some lemonade. Overall, it wasn't half bad.
"So…" the young woman muttered through a mouth half-filled with sandwich, and brushed a streak of strawberry blonde hair out of her face. Ryder glanced up, and swallowed his drink.
"This about the Exia?" he asked. Rachel shook her head.
"Nah. Plenty of time for that later."
"Ah."
Rachel paused, and took a sip of lemonade.
"I was actually curious how you're doing with college. That medical engineering stuff working out for you?" she asked. Ryder shrugged.
"As is, I've got a decent chance of passing. The odds of failure aren't too high, so if I keep studying I'll most likely succeed."
"Always the pragmatist, aren't we, Rye?"
"I keep things realistic," he replied. Rachel arched her brow.
"Which is why you play with plastic models of fictional giant robots from a long-running television franchise," she stated in deadpan. "Clearly, that sort of activity is representative of an extremely realistic man." Ryder sighed.
"Alright, maybe 'realistic' is the wrong term for it," he admitted. "But you get the point I'm making, right?"
"…Yeah," Rachel replied, setting her sandwich down on its plate.
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"Now," she said slowly. "About the Exia…" Ryder chuckled.
"Knew you'd get to that eventually," the young man said. "What about it?"
[-]
As it turned out, Rachel had a few ideas on improving her base model kit, mainly in adding at least one built-in ranged weapon, as well as… something special for the replaced arm; both things that seemed within reason for Ryder. So, after finishing and paying for the meal, the two headed to the local Gunpla store.
"My, if it isn't Mr. Giles and Ms. Anderson!" cried the owner as the door clanked open. "What can I do for you youngsters today? Buy, sell, maybe a little fight with your Gunplas?"
"We're just looking for some parts to fix Rache's Exia, Mrs. J," replied the young man. "Maybe something for myself as well."
"Alrighty, but if you ever get the urge to throw down sometime…" the old lady trailed off.
"Maybe later," Ryder said. "Neither of our models are really in the right shape for a Gunpla Battle…"
"I understand," she replied, before turning to Rachel. "Now dear, let's see what sort of damage you've got, and I'll see what I can do."
As his rival dug into her pocket for the headless, one-armed mobile suit, Ryder slipped off to the side. There were a few things he wanted to look at trying out.
As he usually did, Ryder aimed for the IBO aisle. One advantage of using one of these models was a guaranteed compatibility with others that used the same frame parts, which let him easily replace damaged parts of the frame or armour without too much fuss.
After a quick search, he'd decided on two kits in particular—the Graze Ritter and Ryuseigo. While the latter had a rather… unorthodox colour scheme, Ryder could always just paint it in his preferred green colours. As for the Ritter—the turquoise wasn't too bad, and the leg units would be very useful.
With his kits selected, Ryder turned to leave for the check-out, where his rival and the shop owner were waiting.
Much as he'd expected, Mrs. J and Rachel had been busy at work, and her Gunpla was complete once more. The alterations had been fairly minimal, but considering the damage it had suffered, it was still fairly impressive. However, Ryder did notice a few differences on it; namely, a pair of stubby barrels where its clavicle antennae used to be, a few plates of MS Armour glued to its shoulders and torso, and a Kyrios' beam rifle held in its left hand. There was also a red "R3" scribbled on its shoulder and GN Sword, oddly enough.
"Sticking with the Grazes as always, eh, Rye?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow. Giles shrugged.
"They're cheap enough, pretty cool, and I fight well with them," he replied. "Don't see why I can't stick with them."
"Sure, whatever," the woman replied. "Now, chop-chop! It's rude to keep a lady waiting."
The young man blinked, mildly confused.
"Last I checked, you weren't waiting for anything else."
"Not me, you goof," the redhead snorted. "Her."
Mrs. J grinned.
"Since you'll have fixed up your models, Miss Anderson promised me a Gunpla Battle—on the condition that we don't cause too much damage," the shop owner explained. Ryder raised an eyebrow.
"You're a cunning old lady, you know?" he muttered under his breath.
"Of course, dearie."
The boxes under his arm drooped slightly. Ryder exhaled.
"…Alright. Just let me pay for the parts and do a little retrofit first."
"Of course, dear."
[-]
- Battle room, ten minutes later.
"Gunpla Battle, start-up!" the table announced, the familiar glow of Plavsky Particles illuminating the table. The light resolved itself into a black void, filled with chunks of floating rock and debris. "Field 1: Space. Model Damage Level set to C. Please, set your Gunpla."
Ryder and Rachel placed their models on a pair of hexagonal pads, and cupped their fingers, a holographic sphere forming under each hand.
"Ryder Giles, EB-06 Graze!" The pink-and-green patchwork raised its head, the rectangular sensor that made up its face flashing gold.
"Rachel Anderson, Exia Repair Three!" The white and blue mech looked up, a green glow illuminating its eyes.
"Launch!"
Simultaneously, the mobile suits tensed, and shot forwards into the holographic arena. Mrs. J smiled, and placed her own model on the hex pad. On its head, a pink mono-eye lit up, twisting all across its face.
"Jennifer Smith," she said confidently. "Newtype Mobile Suit number two; Zeong. Here I come."
As the grey and lavender mobile suit took off, Ryder grimaced. The Zeong was going to be a difficult suit to fight in space—it was very fast, very well-armoured, and extremely well-armed. Even disregarding its all-range attacks, or its sheer size, it wasn't something to take lightly.