Go-go Gadget chapter 3!
In the middle of what was once a football field, Ange stood beside an easel, the rules of Laria laid out for everyone. Behind her, the six machines sat in wait. War machines capable of manipulating space and time itself, and now, they would be used to play a game. In front of Ange, the five girls, and a thoroughly confused Tusk, sat in various ways, listening intently as she explained the rules a second time.
"So, are there any questions?" Ange asked. Salamandinay raised her hand, wearing a disappointed expression, and Ange asked, "Salako?
"Was it necessary to destroy my field?" the Freya princess asked.
Ange turned, looking to the rather large hole where one of the goal posts was once anchored. She had used the Villkiss to move the goal several hundred yards back, and crudely fill the remaining hole with dirt. "Ah…" Ange began, lifting her hand behind her head. "…because we're going to be playing with our machines, it was necessary to make the field longer to accommodate their size, and broader movements."
"I see," Salamandinay replied, still looking rather upset.
"Are there any other questions?" Ange asked, feeling more than a bit foolish.
Hilda raised her hand, and Ange asked, "Hilda?"
"Can we forget all the stuff about being timed?" the red head asked. "Seems it would make things too complicated, and detract from the fun."
Ange smiled, "I think that would be okay." She looked to everyone else and asked, "Anyone else?"
Naga raised her hand and asked, "How does the game begin?"
Ange wore a devious smirk, and looked to Tusk. He had seen that look before, and knew this might not end well for him.
At the relocated goal, Hilda's machine stood, its hatch open, and its pilot standing in wait with a large Laria stick in hand. Opposite her, Kaname's Ryushinki stood at the other goal, Kaname also standing at the ready. Halfway to the center of the field on Hilda's side, Salia's Ragna mail hovered in flight mode, its hatch also open, and Salia ready with her Laria stick as well. Likewise, Naga waited in roughly the same spot on the Dragon's side of the field. In the left corner beside Hilda, Ange hovered the Villkiss in flight mode, while on the opposite end to Kaname's left, Salamandinay waited in her Ryushinki.
In the center of the field, like an ant in a field, Tusk stood, more than a little fearful of the impending chaos. With the size of the field taken, and the rate at which the machines moved, he would have approximately one tenth of a second to evacuate the field after the toss. He swallowed hard, sweat dripping down his forehead. His fingers gripped the small rubber ball, and he called out, "Players ready?"
He waited five seconds, and with no comment otherwise, he shook his head, and tossed the ball into the air, "GO!"
Instantly, Ange and Salamandinay charged towards the center of the field, the wake of their machines launching Tusk from the field like a rag doll. He landed on his back, as predicted, and let out a groan, "That worked just about as well as I'd hoped." As he looked up to the game, he grinned and called out, "Go Ange!"
His woman had gained control of the ball, using the Villkiss' maneuverability to sneak in just ahead of Salamandinay. The dragon princess growled and called over her headset, "Naga! Dive! Go!"
Her comrade followed the order instinctively, chasing after Ange at full speed. From behind Naga, Salia chased as well, and called over her headset, "Ange! She's right on top of you, be-"
But the warning was too late. Naga flipped her Ryushinki upside down, and deftly took the ball from Ange. "Got it!" she shouted.
"I'm coming to guard!" Salamandinay shouted.
Within seconds, they were staring down Hilda, and the red head had zero intention of letting that ball penetrate her defenses. She grit her teeth, and as Naga took her shot, Hilda flicked the controls with her right hand, extending her left, and the Laria stick just far enough to catch it.
"Dammit!" Naga shouted.
In Hilda's machine, however, the red head spun in place and called out, "Salia! Get ready!" She stopped suddenly, launching the ball to Salia, only to be intercepted by Salamandinay. "Gah!" Hilda shouted, and adjusted her position to prepare for another attempt on the goal.
However, just as the princess attempted to take the shot, Ange dove in front of her, forcing her to retreat. "Ange!" Salamandinay shouted. "Is it in the rules to allow that sort of thing?"
Ange smiled, "We eliminated the time limits, we might as well modify the rules and make it this land's first new sport!"
"In that case…" Salamandinay began. She tossed the ball high into the air and switched her Ryushinki to assault mode.
"What the…?" Ange asked, only to watch Salamandinay snatch the ball out of the air, and rocket it to the goal, out of Hilda's reach, and well past the point of bothering to retrieve it.
"Point! Dragons!" Tusk called.
Ange turned to her lover and barked, "Whose side are you on?"
"But, Ange, I-"
"Do you ever want to do those things to me again?" she spat. Tusk gasped and she addressed his concern accordingly, "Then keep the obvious down over there!" She looked over her shoulder and called, "Hilda! New ball!"
Her other lover threw Ange a fresh ball and called back, "I'm sorry, Ange; I wasn't ready."
"It's okay, Hilda," she said. She looked to the field and keyed everyone's headset in, "Okay, new rules; no more sticks. Manipulate your machine's form to grab the ball, and throw it. Sound good?"
"Let's do it!" they shouted in unison, for the most part at least.
They reset their positions, and as Tusk flipped the scorecard to mark the Dragon's point, Ange set her machine down near him to hand him the next ball. "Ange, I-"
"Quiet!" she yelled. However, her anger was quickly overridden with a grin, "You better still want to do those things to me!"
"Of course I do!" Tusk shouted. He hopped up onto the wing of the Villkiss, offering his lips to her, which she happily accepted in a quick kiss. "Go on; win, Ange!"
"No problem," she said. "Now…" she turned around, engaged the Villkiss' assault mode, and ran towards center field, "…let's do this!"
"Time!" Ange called with just two minutes left in the final period. The dragon's Ryushinki all remained on their side of the field, while Ange and Salia huddled around Hilda. All of the girls were gasping for breath, and even bore more than a few bumps and bruises. Hilda bled from the corner of her lips, and at seeing her lover injured, Ange asked, "Are you okay, Hilda?"
"I'll be fine," the red head said with a weak smile. "I'm completely exhausted, Ange. I don't know how much more I have to give."
"Me too," Salia added, also bearing her fair share of bruises. "I've piloted this machine for hours on end, I know it like the back of my hand, but I can barely move my hands."
"I'm beat too," Ange said. "We can't just give up, there's just two minutes to go."
Hilda looked to the scorecards by Tusk and commented, "Ten, ten; tied again."
"I know you don't want this to end on another tie, Ange," Salia said.
"But I'd rather a tie than a loss," she said. She smiled through the pain and gave her order, "Forget trying to make the last point; we have control of the ball, all we have to do is keep it away from them for another one-hundred and twenty seconds; we can do it. I know we can, we've all been through far worse. What do you say?"
"Let's do it," Hilda said.
"Right," Salia added.
The fists of their machines met with a clang and they took their positions on the field. The dragons promptly took their positions back as well, and Salamandinay asked, "We continue?"
"We finish it, Salako," Ange said with a smile.
"You truly are an amazing opponent, Ange," Salamandinay said. "You, your friends, you honor us with your spirit."
Ange observed the face of her opponent. A princess as she once was, yet tarnished by dirt, blood, and even the grass of the field they played on. She was a leader of the people, among the people, and not afraid to get roughed up for the honor of those people. She grinned behind her helmet and addressed her friend, "It is an honor, Salamandinay-sama. Now, are you ready?"
"Ready!" the dragons called out at once.
"Norma, ready?" Ange asked her team.
They too responded with a resounding, "Ready," and Ange darted off, again relying on the Villkiss' agility to dart around Salamandinay's Ryushinki. Her speed towards the Dragon's goal was surreal, followed closely behind by Salamandinay, Salia, and Naga. However, as she approached the goal, she called over her headset, "Salia, are you ready?"
"Breaking away, now!" she called back, and darted off to her right.
Ange slammed the machine's right leg into the earth, pivoting all at once and launched the ball to Salia, whom made an excellent catch. With Naga and Salamandinay on Ange's tail, Salia had a clear run at the goal, and rocketed the ball towards Kaname's machine.
Ange and Hilda watched on as though the ball moved in slow motion. Kaname was on the move, that much was clear, but having prepared to guard against Ange, she had to make it back to the other side of the goal to block Salia's shot. She wasn't going to make it, she could see it clearly, and with seconds almost gone, made her last ditch effort. She pulled the sword from behind her machine and whipped it across the field. It was a one-in-a-million shot, but it worked, and the ball was deflected from the dragon's goal.
While Salamandinay and Naga let out a cheer, Hilda, Ange, and Salia could only smile. It wasn't the victory they all wished for, but it wasn't the loss none of them wanted for one another either. From center-right field, Tusk stood cheering on his own. Ange could only smile as she watched him, What a buffoon, but he's my buffoon.
They set their machines down in the center of the field and jumped out on foot. They all looked ragged and worse for wear, almost as though they truly had been through a battle, but still approached one another, offering each and everyone a handshake.
"You did well for a sport you've never played before," Ange said with a smile.
"I don't think that was a sport anyone has ever played before," Salamandinay replied. She turned to Tusk and called, "Tusk-dono?"
"Yes? Salamandinay-sama?" he answered.
"You can return to the palace if you like," she said.
"Ehhhhh?!"
"Nothing left for us girls to do, except get cleaned up," she explained. "I promise we'll return Ange to you as soon as we can."
Again, he lifted his hand behind his head, and answered, "Of course, I'll see you all later tonight then!" He headed back towards where his machine was docked, talking to himself as he did so. "Get cleaned up, nothing I could possibly be interested. Not that I almost died serving that ball, you'd think the least they could do is-"
"We can all hear you, Tusk!" Ange shouted.
He let out a loud contrived laugh, "I mean I should go check on Vivian, Momoka, and Ersha to make sure things went well at the café today!"
"He's a good man, Ange," Salamandinay said as they watched him walk off.
"My knight," Ange said with a smile.
"If not a bit of a pervert," Hilda clarified.
They all shared a laugh and Salamandinay offered, "What do we say? To the hot springs?"
"Yes!" they all shouted in relief.
In the full moon of the early evening, the girls all resided just along the edge of the hot springs. Naga and Kaname lathered each other's hair, as did Salia and Salamandinay, the lot of them laughing and smiling as they had some simple fun together. Hilda and Ange on the other hand were a bit more…physical. While their behavior never became terribly inappropriate, there were only so many "accidental" touches, and "accidental" kisses, that could have happened before it became obvious they weren't just washing one another. Ange made sure to pay extra special, and particularly careful attention to Hilda's wounded lip. Nevertheless, after cleaning up, the girls all retreated to the hot spring to relax.
"That's nice," Hilda said, her eyes shut in supreme relaxation. "Much warmer than the spring on Arzenal, neh? Salia?"
"Much," Salia confirmed, also wearing a wide smile.
"Because of our location on the earth, the springs come to a much higher temperature," Salamandinay explained. "Some of them can be dangerous, but others like this one are simply sublime," she said, allowing her head to rest against the stones that surrounded the spring.
"I can stay here all night," Ange said, a serene smile on her lips.
"You know what Vivian would say?" Hilda asked.
"Too much soaking isn't good for you either," Salia answered.
Ange frowned, and Kaname commented, "It's true. The heat can harm you if you expose yourself to it for too prolonged a period of time."
Hilda slid along the stone, and wrapped her arm around Ange. "I can always warm you later if you like?"
"Ah! Evening intercourse again?" Salamandinay asked with a bright smile.
Ange chuckled, and turned to Hilda, smiling warmly as she replied, "Perhaps if my lady isn't too tired once we return to the palace."
"And what of your man?" Naga asked, also grinning deviously.
"The struggles I face," Ange said with a closed-eye smile, tilting her head back to the stones.
As the words crossed her lips, a familiar, yet still slightly uneasy sound pierced the night air. They all looked to the sky to find a gargantuan male dragon gliding through the air, with a smaller female dragon flying just behind it. The group of girls all looked to the sky, though while Ange, Hilda, and Salia all wore curious looks, Salamandinay, Naga, and Kaname smiled. For a moment, they silently watched as the male and female swept through the air, bedazzled by the beauty of their aerial dance.
"It's beautiful," Salia said.
"Is it a ritual?" Ange asked.
Salamandinay turned to her rival and replied, "Indeed it is."
That was when Salia's romantic heart grew even more excited. "It's a lover's dance, isn't it?" she beamed.
"That's right," Kaname said. "All male and female dragons perform such a dance. It is a courting ritual that has been a part of our culture for countless years."
"Wait," Hilda commented. "So it's a mating ritual?"
"Right!" Salamandinay said, congratulatory of Hilda's assessment.
"Doesn't that mean…" Ange's words fell off as the male dragon took hold of the smaller female dragon.
Simultaneously, Ange, Hilda, and Salia's faces all bore expressions of complete and total mortification as the dragons began their mating right in front of them, still in the air no less. In the mean time, Salamandinay and company smiled wide as could be as they watched the dragon's mating.
"I want to look away, but I can't," Ange said in awe.
"Me neither," Hilda said.
"Same here," Salia said. "And I usually like this sort of-"
Once again, they all let out a disgusted groan at a change in what they were seeing, though still looked on one again after the initial shock wore off.
"What's wrong?" Salamandinay asked.
"We're just not…" Ange searched for inoffensive words. "…used to this sort of thing."
Hilda blushed, smiling through the awkwardness and explained, "We're very private when it comes to our…mating habits."
"Private?" Salamandinay asked of Hilda. "We can hear Ange all over the palace when she is with you or Tusk; that seems very open to-"
She squinted her eyes and barked in interruption, "I mean we do it where no one can see us!"
"Ah, I see," Naga said. "Well, normally, this would be considered a private place for a pair like them."
"That's true," Kaname added. "Remember, we're very far from the village, so any other day, they'd have their privacy here."
Another change in the act, and now Ange was growing ill. She stifled a potential upchuck and commented, "I think we should go."
"Yes, the hot water isn't good for a long time, right?" Salia asked, looking for any excuse to get them out of that pool.
"But we only just got in," Salamandinay grumbled.
Ange, Hilda, and Salia made their way to the edge of the spring, hopped up onto the stones surrounding it, and grabbed their towels. They pat dry as quickly as possible and stumbled into the minimum clothes necessary to re-enter the palace, the whole time with their backs to the dragons. As they turned to bid their friends farewell, they couldn't help but be distracted by the high-pitched wail now coming from the female dragon, and looked to see what changed. As they looked upon the mating dragons, they again turned, and shouted, "Good games!"
With that, they set off towards their machines. As they walked, Ange whispered to Hilda, "I'm sorry, but after that, I'm-"
"Me neither," Hilda interrupted her lover. "Maybe tomorrow night?"
"Sure," Ange replied.
Back in the spring, though, a confused Salamandinay commented, "Strange, the things they're okay with, and not okay with." She turned to look towards the dragons and shrugged, "I don't really see what the problem is; his tongue hasn't even exited her mouth yet."
In the palace, Ange quietly stepped into her and Tusk's room and her ever-attentive lover instantly woke to see who had entered their room. "Ange," a shirtless Tusk said with a smile. "How did it go?"
She looked run down from the games, and flat out morose from the aerial mating display they'd seen. "We tied," she muttered.
Disappointed, Tusk asked, "Do you think you'll try and break the tie again?"
"I think we're done," she replied. She slipped her clothes off, and pulled a light white button down over her to keep her decent. She laid down on the futon beside Tusk, and without a kiss or any form of contact, laid back against her pillow and shut her eyes.
Confused, Tusk leaned down and placed a kiss on Ange's lips. She returned the kiss, but only just. "Ange?" Tusk asked.
"I'm sorry I…"
As she spoke, he slid a hand through the buttons on her shirt, delicately making circles on her tender skin. Her cheeks filled red, and though he made no small hint of his intentions, Ange groaned uncomfortably; she just wanted to sleep, but more than that, she wanted to forget what she saw in the sky. Still, Tusk playfully persisted. He smiled as it seemed Ange would relent to his ministrations, when suddenly, she lifted her right hand above her head, and brought it down on Tusk's head in a fist.
"Agh!" he shouted. "What are you…" Alas, she was fast asleep. He sighed as he rubbed his head, though as he massaged the new bruise, he still had to smile, "That's my Ange." He leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek, and whispered, "Good night."
And one more to go :) For those of you who may be keeping up with this in the background, I appreciate it! Hope you're enjoying it :)