Last time in Build Fighters Legacy:
25 years had passed since 7th GBWC, Reiji never came back to earth. Instead, a redhead princess who posses a pair of Plavsky Crystal did. And her name, is Aria von Reina Jyrkiainen.
GUNDAM BUILD FIGHTERS
-LEGACY OF ARIA-
Disclaimer:
Bandai & Sunrise
Chapter 02: Lady Blade
"Stop pulling your punch, boyo, and get serious with us!" The patron mocked a disappointment in response to his halfhearted method; the one-armed green Cyclops grabbed the horned black gunpla on its head, with the intention of crushing it.
A well executed sommersault interrupted the process, Asuka proceed to pull the trigger again and obliterated the Cyclops's head with a barrage from the stolen beam gattling.
The pilot was dumbfounded, everything happened in the timeframe of three seconds. "Woah, now that's how you battle"
"I'm sorry about your Hizack" Asuka told him.
Asuka clicked his tongue in response, slammed his foot twice into the pedal alternately to dodge an attack from a sniper-type gunpla sitting on top of rocky mountain at 9 o'clock. Once a flaw; remains a flaw. No matter how hard he tried to fix it, fighting multiple enemies never went too well for him.
"GM Sniper, eh, and it's modified with long range type beam rifle" he recognize the attack pattern and crossed the desert to reach its position, occasionally shifting aside to dodge deadly pillar of light.
Remote weapon launched upward, struggling to works against the binding gravity of the simulated desert (or rather, the system use real-time gravity and reduce it to scale)
"You're using funnel in a place like this?" the GM's fighter laughed "What kind of surprise you're preparing?"
Asuka ditched all of his equipment including the standard beam rifle and shield immediately to gain maximum push off his gunpla's engine "Sazabi, please!" he mentally prayed, pulling out a pair of beam saber.
The GM evaded the first strike, but failed to check the second saber. In reality, Asuka made the attack so obvious so the second attack would hit the target squarely.
And his target was the long-barreled beam rifle, more or less.
"Still doing that? Sigh" the GM Pilot decided to take the advantage and deliver a downward slash with his beam saber.
However, he also didn't take account of Asuka's missing funnels, as they proceed to smash themselves into the GM sniper, one of them firing its content to destroy the humble gunpla's head, shooting through its visor and detonating the vulcan ammo hidden inside.
Asuka took back his equipment from the scorching sand, but crunching sound echoed thorough the virtual cockpit as powerful claw of a Gunpla smashed his unit with great force, and the absence of funnel made him helpless.
Via mounted sensor on the back of his gunpla head, he noticed the gunpla attacked him. 1/144 HG Byarlant custom painted with typical dark blue panels and yellow trim - Titan's colorscheme. The devilish machine's visor gleamed with the intention to kill.
"Yeah, I know, so I'll ask you something" the man muttered "Do you notice what happened here?"
The man was none other than Arcade Manager, Robin Diez. The man doesn't look like he's Japanese, but he's practically raised as one. His smirk always felt disturbing to Asuka, but not in threatening or creepy way, more like that of a prankster.
But all Asuka need to remember that Diez was not an average fighter.
A Geara Doga dove with its beam hawk unleashed, but the Byarlant just shifted its position and stabbed the gunpla right on its chest. Knowing what happened, the devil-like machine thrown the Zeonic unit as far as it could, Geara Doga perished in spherical nuclear fire courtesy of reactor breach.
Asuka raised his eyebrow in response, the man chuckled "What do you feel in this condition? … Do you want to give up now? Or do you still want to fight?"
Asuka never thought of that, or rather, he didn't want to think about it.
Unlike him, when people fight in gunpla battle, all bets are off. Their prized possession always been at risk of possible damage, but there's a point where a fighter's pride is at stake.
But of course, he never wanted to fight like that; they forced him to fight after all…
…but is that true? Or maybe he just deluded himself into believing that?
Unleashing its signature spade-shaped Beam Tomahawk, SD Sazabi put a defensive position as Byarlant Custom unleash both forearm sabers.
For whatever reason, Asuka feel that he shouldn't give up this match. Whether the reason was selfish or selfless, he just needed to contemplate about it later.
Byarlant Custom spun like a tornado, delivered successive slash in the direction of SD Sazabi. But Asuka calmly jump on it to evade the attacks and deliver a decisive drop kick to destroy its balance.
"That's the infamous Red Comet kick" Diez chuckled, his gunpla landed safely without much damage "This will be fun for sure"
Asuka wordlessly fired his beam rifle three times, aimed right at gunpla's neck and knees respectively. All of them are dodged without much effort, too predictable. Byarlant retaliated with its rapid fire gun, compensating its lack of punching power with incredible rapidity.
And they clashed and locked into stalemate, fiery battlefield raged in the background.
…
"Wah, he's pinned" Reina clenched her hand.
"I think they went a little too far" China's smile disappeared, as much as she felt happy that the adults want Asuka to open himself, this is close to uncomfortable territory, and she could see her boy stressed out by this development.
But… should China stop them? She had the rights to do it; after all… she's the café owner.
Still, why Asuka didn't just surrender made her a bit confused. It was unusual for him to be this worked up in gunpla battle… so she decided to wait a little longer.
If Asuka was serious, he could mop the floor with Diez' gunpla easily.
As time passes, it's crystal clear that while their gunpla specification are almost equal, Diez dominated the fight because Asuka refrained from anything but sure-shot, the older man clearly went all out with all of his determination, while Asuka… he's afraid and confused.
Reina clasped her hand, unable to hold it anymore "If only Lady Blade is here…"
When they said be careful what you wish for, Reina never thought about that seriously.
A blinding light carved the sky with thunderous roar, it was closer to a particle beam than anything else, and the intensity was high enough to result in explosion that rival fusion reactor cascade.
As the smoke and dust subsidizes, one can see the glittering crater, the sand crater had been turned into beautiful yet unnaturally frightening glass bowl. Stood above it, was a red hot glowing gunpla.
On its chest, a hexagonal projector emits a gentle, yet mysterious green light.
The entire café patron, including the fighters, recognized that unit and stopped fighting for a while, decided to analyze the unexpected circumstances instead.
"Gundam AGE?" Diez the arcade manager muttered "It's based on AGE-1 Swordia, that's for sure"
Asuka rubbed his chin as his sensor scanned every single parts of the newly arrived participant "its legs has been replaced with more slender design… was that a toe blade projector? The backpack was modified too"
The shape of the backpack reminded Asuka of the booster pack of his father's old gunpla: Star Build Strike.
Outside battlefield, China noticed the change in Reina's expression. Her repressed desire had been replaced by shock and bewilderment, moreover, Reina seems to recognize that unit.
"Since that's a gundam, wouldn't it be logical that it would be on the Federation side?"
"Wait, we don't even know who the fighter was!"
"Yeah, it's literally just sitting there, just ignore it"
The Federation team and the Zeon team resumed their fight once again, and once again, Asuka and Diez locked into yet another brutal match, neither gunpla received significant damage, but their joint began to creak under the strain of battle.
"Looks like we're winning"
One by one, Zeon units fell to the might of federation gunpla team. The difference in combat skill was too glaring, and it made Asuka feel disheartened, since he really can't do anything.
At least, not without risking his gunpla.
And the explosion from a green Zaku III marked the last of them, it's now up to Asuka, whether he decided to surrender or continue to fight…
Should he?
High pitched sound emitted from the mysterious AGE-1 unit, as its chest turned from green to ominous red. Turned it's heard toward the pair of Jestas, its engine whined ferociously.
"Oh crap" was what everyone thought, when the gundam flew across the desert with unearthly speed, wielding a pair of large and deadly beam cutters.
"Everyone! Be careful!" Reina practically jumped just outside the battlefield, jammed her GP Base into the proper slot and activate builder console instead of fighter console.
She bit her lip as the readings of that gunpla went erratic and uncontrollable "Che, give me a little while!" she yelled, smashing the correct buttons hoping she can stop its rampage.
Realizing the grave situation, Diez yelled "It went berserk! Be careful!"
The Jestas rolled aside as a literal dust cloud approaching them, missed the dangerous looking blades by an inch. They proceed to deliver a synchronized fire, but unable to manage a solid hit against the beastly gunpla. AGE-1 beautifully danced around them, deflected their shot with its forearm blades.
"What kind of performance, it's definitely a world-class gunpla" Even Asuka was left Agape, not only its appearance, but the specification are indeed magnificent. Even the basic computer AI is more than enough to give the federation pilots a lot of trouble.
Another attack incoming, this time the federation pilots decided to meet it. Beam sabers met beam blades, caused the sparks to go haywire, like a small, intense lightning storm.
"Mr. Diez, why aren't you helping them?" Asuka pleaded "What do you want to accomplish by sitting here like nothing?!"
"A man can't go back on his words" Diez, the pilot of Byarlant custom, answered "You haven't answered my question, Asuka"
His gaze remains calm, like that of a soldier. No matter how much Asuka try to bargain, Asuka knew he won't budge. Not unless Asuka decide to answer his question…
To fight against this kind of odds… it was frightening, but looking at AGE made his heart feel even more miserable.
"I'll fight seriously to stop its rampage"
"So you have decided" Diez smirked in response to the Boy's unexpected response, not to mention, his eyes… his eyes doesn't simply burn with raging, uncontrollable battle lust. Instead, the flames in him are like a small star, small and regulated, yet burning with unrivaled intensity.
SD Sazabi flew so low that its frontal side almost scraped the desert, most of the veteran gunpla battle enthusiast, including the adults, gasped as they recognize that movement.
"That's the movement of Meijin The Third" China thought, clenched her fist and smiled.
Diez decided not to stop the boy; instead, he followed behind ready to give all of his support. "Asuka, what do you think? Any plan?"
"It's designed for close range combat, but with that kind of speed and acceleration, disabling it from a safe distance will be difficult" Asuka delivered the data to everyone in the Federation team "I can sneak from below and tackle it, you can finish it, sir"
"Nice plan" Byarlant custom soared across the sky, like a bird of prey, ready to attack whenever a signal came "You guys heard that?"
"Crystal clear" the fighters of both Jesta answered confidently, holding against the gundam with all their might "Just make it quick!"
Putting as much power behind the thruster, SD Sazabi put it's open palm forward and slammed against the Gundam's torso, breaking it's balance and deliver not insignificant damage on it.
"PIN IT!"
Like a hawk, Diez' gunpla dove at incredible speed, beam saber unleashed and aimed at the gundam's head. Putting all of its strength, the Gundam yanked Sazabi and threw it with great force. Decided to risk Byarlant's safety, Diez decided not to pull back and clash with it instead.
"This freaky bastard"
One could just hear it; the arms of Byarlant were breaking under the high tension.
"NO!"
When both Jesta jumped into the fray trying to help their companion, they're received the end of AGE-1's signature physical blade, cleaved into two and exploded into nuclear fire.
Its attention returned to now helpless gunpla.
Stopped its advance was SD Sazabi who fired another stolen weapon, forced AGE-1 to retreat a bit.
"Boy?"
Asuka's confused and panicked expression turned into something else, his face now calm and serene, yet his eyes… his eyes became cold and sharp. Swordia deliver a successive slice and dice movement, and yet, the tiny Sazabi just slipped between them and shoved a beam saber into AGE-1's neck.
The monstrously powerful gunpla decided not to give up, pulled out the saber out with heavenly strength.
"HOLY SHIT!" the adult fighters watched the scene unveiled in front of them with horror, backup sensor is one thing, but surviving a fatal strike to the neck without major hassle is something else.
This is no ordinary gunpla, it's a monster.
"Asuka!" China called out "Careful!"
Swordia charged again, this time both its hand held beam sabers, trading extra momentum for superior swing speed. Again, Sazabi just dodged them with relative ease, a testament to Asuka's control skill as fighter.
Another kick delivered, this time, it made the head pop out off the socket. That still failed to take the gundam out of commission, and it made Asuka feel uneasy, despite being caught in a trance.
However, before another clash can happen, Swordia's AGE crest turned green once again, and it stopped abruptly as it grabbed the physical sword from the dunes.
"…safe"
By then, everyone's attention turned on the ginger-haired girl, holding the standard dual-sphere controller "I'm truly ashamed, I'm sorry for unable to do anything soon, I'm truly sorry"
"Ah"
So it was her gunpla, Asuka thought "What happened, Miss Jyrkiainen?"
"It's… complicated" she looks very embarrassed "It's safe to say that this gunpla we're too strong for its own good… a real wild horse."
Okay, now THAT's ridiculous. Does she imply that the gunpla hijacked the computer system and moved on its own will? Even Diez and the rest of federation and Zeon fighters began to laugh merrily as the battlefield disappear into particles, absorbed back into the battlefield projector system.
"That was funny" Diez laughed "A wild horse, right…"
Asuka can just see the dejected feelings from Reina's eyes, despite her poker face.
…
The patrons, realized well about the danger a buggy system could possibly inflict, decided to call it a night and pay their bills, the café employees began to scramble and return back the furniture to where they belong.
Meanwhile, Reina still stood, holding her gunpla.
"Miss Jyrkiainen"
Reina looked at the boy with sad smile plastered on her beautiful face "…It's really hard to believe huh?"
Asuka sighed in response, awkwardly fixed his glasses again "I believe it"
Reina's smile replaced with honest surprise "Really?"
"I've seen something worse, Miss Reina" China patted the girl on her shoulder twice, as a form of solace "Over twenty years since Earth managed to reverse engineer plavsky production, many scientist still baffled by how they works, and they agree that there are more to Plavsky particle than simple utilitarian purposes"
Asuka sat on one of the chair and rest his arm on the table "Plavsky research result with much advancement in science and technology formerly deemed infeasible, or at least uneconomical using conventional technology. No one knows for sure the limit to its ability to create miraculous phenomenon, the fact that your gunpla appear out of thin air is a sign of that"
Reina's cheek turned red again in response, almost as red as her unique hair color. How they can be so kind made her confused. But she really glad that she wasn't alone in this strange, alien world.
As a well-educated princess, Reina knew that people can be very deceptive; she mentally prayed that her trust with this loving family weren't misplaced.
"Just so I can be sure, I'll call for technicians to inspect the battle system tomorrow" China winked at the girl "But if it's' proven that there's nothing wrong… then it's really the gunpla's fault"
Reina nodded happily in response.
"But still, I'm really annoyed with him" Asuka crossed his arm and pouted "Mr. Diez was really forceful"
"Yeah, you're right" Reina nodded, inhumanly wicked grin suddenly appear. The dissonance between her beauty and her killing intent were completely disturbing to say at the least.
"I really, really want to kick his sorry ass to kingdom come. In the name of Arian Royalty, I swear I will do it!"
The sudden change in her personality made the young Iori and the café staffs froze in their place. China just awkwardly nodded, she probably has her parent's temper combined, to boot.
Asuka, recovered from his shock, just sheepishly smiled "You'll have plenty of opportunity…"
"Indeed" China snapped her fingers, "But for now, let's have a dinner!"
As soon as the preparation of closing the café completed and the youngsters finished their meal, China guided the young girl to the room she supposed to stay in.
"This is our guest room" the woman clad in apron said "It probably feel kind of cramped and boring compared to your home, but at least it's clean"
"No… I" Reina looked at the floor; the wooden floor was crystal clean, reflecting the light from the lamp. She's no stranger to wooden furniture considering her secret hideout, but these are maintained to look like actual living space.
Beyond the corridor, the floor inside room is covered with strange carpet "What is that?"
The woman chuckled a little, of course. She tends to forgot that the guest room is kept like traditional Japanese room. "This is called Tatami, we can sit on it or lay some futon to sleep at"
"Futon?"
"Traditional cotton bed that can be rolled for easy storage, and yes, traditional Japanese sleep on the floor. But if you don't want to-"
For a while, China thought the princess might feel insulted.
Instead, her eyes were filled with excitement. Like a small child who found something mysterious and new to them, Reina looked at every inch of the room with unrestrained enthusiasm. "The storage are using paper door too, whoa! This room felt so… Roomy!"
Hugging the rolled cotton mattress, Reina muttered "So warm"
"I'm glad you like it, Miss Reina" China handed her a set of folded clothes.
Reina looked at her with reddened face and returned to her modest, graceful selves and bowed slightly to express her gratitude "Thank you for the hospitality, Mrs. Iori"
"If you need something, I'm in the room at the end of this corridor." China went silent for a while, much to Reina's confusion. The woman then giggled in a way that made Reina felt somewhat uncomfortable "Asuka's room is in the second floor, feel free to visit him anytime~"
Missed the hint thrown by the youthful café owner, the redheaded princess nodded "I'll keep that in mind"
When China finally left the room, Reina took out AGE-1 from her waist bag "So you heard it, huh… Lady Blade."
As if the gunpla emphatically responded -and Reina knew it did- its pair of tiny eyes flashed red, then soft blue.
"Ha, I know right… I'm just being stupid. Who could have though that a gunpla could have a soul" Reina chuckled, rolling out the futon and put the gunpla aside it "I should've been more honest with myself, but still… I don't think I can control you yet"
The gunpla flashed its chest emblem twice.
Reina wondered if everyone in the palace is worried, her personal tutor certainly would. Her mother probably very concerned as well, and probably having a verbal fight with her laid back of a father. Of course, they spat on each other at the drop of a feather, losing Reina around probably made her mad again, and there's no way he will stay silent.
Still, she hoped it doesn't turn out too bad, it was kinda odd. Her wallet arrived without Arian coins, instead, it has multiple paper money that can be used in this strange place.
It was weird, it's like her father expected her to reach this world. And instead of recalling Reina back to Aria, her father and mother just wrote a message "Be safe, we always pray for your safety".
Turning the main lights off and switched to dim bed lamp mounted on a socket, she laid her battered body on top of it after changing into the cute pink pajama the host provided for her. She felt the warmness of futon embracing her; she decides to call it a day and closed her eyes.
…
For once, he was glad that he lost control on his emotion again, if not for that, he likely suffer the same defeat as Diez almost did, even so, Asuka wondered how Reina came into possession of such powerful gunpla.
It's probably equal or better than Build Strike Cosmos, the gunpla Asuka's father use in eight GWBC and beyond. Despite being a high performance gunpla, the laughably weak computer AI can press them both into corner easily.
He looked at the battered body of SD Sazabi and decided he'll polish it a bit after doing his homework.
Curiosity decided to kick in just in time, and he turned on his computer, immediately searched for the old information.
"Reiji" was the name of red haired boy who was a partner of Asuka's father during the course of seventh world tournament. The boy was nothing short of combat genius, as he attained world level fighter skill in mere course of months.
After the crisis that caused the destruction of plavsky particle source, he, alongside few others including PPSE Chairman, Mashita, disappeared from the face of earth.
"25 years since then… gunpla technology has been improved" Asuka muttered as he rubbed the body of black gunpla with very high grit sandpaper to remove the irregularities, and then use a tissue to wipe the dust off. "Even my Sazabi are different"
Asuka remember the times he spent at Gunpla academy, build, fight, study how to build and fight better, and then build and fight some more.
His life wasn't entirely happy back then, but for what it's worth, all the effort he spent never go to waste.
"That's right" he chuckled "Since when I'm so afraid about gunpla fighting? Do you feel happy or sad when I went into battlefield halfheartedly?"
Sazabi never responded, of course it won't. Asuka probably will never know the answer. If Sazabi does have personality, he probably will berate him for not fighting seriously outside of the usual 'trance', when he practically lost consciousness mid battle until it ends.
His monitor blinked, someone sent him an e-mail?
He read the subject, and felt somewhat jumpy when he realized who sent that email to him.
"Alicia-san?"
Greetings, Asuka.
This is Alicia Addams, your classmates back then in gunpla academy. How are you doing? I realize it's been a long time since we talked, or communicated at all. Ever since you left the school at the end of second year, everyone keeps wondering why you decided to leave mid-term, despite being far and above most students especially in your control skill and tactical analysis.
Having completed the three years curriculum of the academy, my father begged me to come back home and transfer to local school. I really have no reason to refuse, and decided to transfer to Seihou Private High School.
It's just a hunch, but I have a feeling that we will meet soon.
He gulped a bit before digging through his old archive stash, finally found it.
It's a laminated picture, done to prevent degradation. Sealed from environmental hazard, the photo are as clear as it is two years ago. Asuka was in the center; his dark brown hair wasn't even half as long as it's now.
They're all in the same group as him, the most important one however, the foreigner girl stood on his left. Her bright, blond hair covered one of her eyes, adding a mysterious feel to her relaxed and laid back expression.
Then he looked at his black gunpla again, cringed.
He sighed, "I'm sorry for being so selfish"
I have no words, but if you want to ask, ask away!
