The next day after lunch you make your way down to the docking bay. Walking in you see Squad 13's Franxx as well as Strelitzia. At the far end of the room you are greeted by a familiar sight, Terraria.
Terraria stands tall and proud as you approach. Taking a moment, you stop to admire her. She possesses heavy armor plating setting her apart from the mostly more agile Franxx of Squad 13. As a result, she isn't lithe or athletic like the other Franxx. She reminds you of what Genista would look like without her dress, strong and broad. Terraria's armor is a mix of verdant green and white with subtle accents of indigo. Her weapon, a greataxe, rests beside her, standing nearly two-thirds her height.
Beautiful, you say to yourself. Terraria surely was designed to be a brawler. During your time at Plantation 39, she was often the first to engage and the last to leave the fight. The additional armor made her slower than most Franxx but, it also offered much greater protection. As a result, Terraria often acted as the center of your formation, drawing the attention of the Klaxosaurs so the other Franxx could deal with them unimpeded.
"I figured you would be here." A soft voice says. You turn to see Kyu at your side. "Sorry," You reply, "I just wanted to make sure everything with Terraria was still ok." Kyu smiles, "You've always worried about the two of us."
"It's my job." You say with a smile. "Ready for tonight?" "Yeah," she responds, "It's been almost a month since we've ridden. I was kind of starting to miss it." "I know, me too," you reply. "Think Argentea will pose a challenge?"
"Against us? Not now, maybe if they were more experienced." Kyu states, "Anyway, I came to get you. We should get ready." You nod and follow Kyu out of the docking bay wondering what this evening has in store.
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You enter the boy's locker room to prepare for the mock battle. As you do you notice Mitsuru, Zorome, and Hiro already changing. "Well, look who decided to show up." Zorome jabs. You ignore him, proceeding to your locker and opening the door. As you change you hear a conversation behind you. "He's awful quiet." Zorome states. "Probably just focusing, you should try it some time." Mitsuru mocks. "Hey! I know what I'm doing! Miku and I are always first to sync up." Zorome responds nearly yelling. "You are also the first to make a mistake." Mitsuru replies walking out. Zorome grumbles following him.
As you finish dressing you notice Hiro is sitting on the bench staring at the floor. "Something on your mind?" you ask. He flinches before looking up at you, "It's nothing." "Don't worry about tonight." You say reassuringly, "I watched you pilot Strelitzia, any other Franxx shouldn't be a problem." "Really?" He asks, his eyes searching for a reason to have hope. "Trust me." You say placing a hand on his shoulder, "Riding with Zero Two is no small feat. Now, come on. Time for you to become a real parasite." Glancing over your shoulder as you exit, you see a slight smile forming on Hiro's face.
Entering the docking bay, you find Kyu standing before Terraria. She smiles as you approach, "Took you long enough." She kids, "Hatchi said to connect, grab a training baton, and head outside." "Well, let's get to it. Don't want to keep them waiting after all." You reply following Kyu into the Franxx.
Taking a seat in the pilot's chair you glance at Kyu. "You ready?" "Yep!" she responds giving you a thumbs up. She really is happy to be back. "Here we go." You say aloud grabbing the controls. You press the trigger activating the connection.
Your mind is suddenly filled with a soft green light spiraling into darkness. You begin moving towards the darkness, as you do images pass by. A scene from two days ago where you and Kyu were introduced to Squad 13, another of the two of you walking with Squad 39 through the bird cage, and finally a plantation surrounded by Klaxosaurs. There's a bright flash and you are once again in Terraria's cockpit.
Terraria's indigo eyes open as she takes a step forward. "Everything good?" you ask. "Mm-hmm," she responds with a smile. Terraria makes her way to the rack grabbing a training baton before heading outside. The sun is just beginning to set as you approach giving the sky a beautiful yellow-orange hue. The arena is a simple square denoted by the large spotlights making up its bounds. It's not incredibly large considering the size of the Franxx. Won't be a lot of room for Argentea to use her speed, good.
"Alright! They're here let's get going!" Zorome exclaims from within Argentea. Terraria continues forward stopping several hundred feet from Argentea. "Wait for Delphinium." Hachi's voice states over the com. Chlorophytum stands off to the side arms crossed, a disinterested look on her face. Below her you see the remaining members of Squad 13, Nana, Hachi, and Zero Two. After several minutes Delphinium arrives, "Sorry we are late."
"The rules for the mock battle are simple." Hachi states, "The first Franxx to desync will be declared the loser. Stepping outside the bounds will also result in a loss. Terraria and Argentea will go first."
Terraria and Argentea assume starting positions on opposite sides of the arena. "You're going down bigshot." Zorome boasts. "Begin." Hachi says. Argentea immediately reacts charging toward Terraria. Terraria remains still as Argentea approaches. "Looks like this will be easier that I thought!" Zorome yells.
Just as Argentea is about to collide with Terraria, Terraria takes a quick step to the side sweeping her leg. Argentea has no time to react as her footing is lost, tumbling to the ground. "Ow," Argentea grumbles standing. Terraria wastes no time, attacking immediately. She begins with an overhead strike which Argentea barely manages to dodge. Terraria follows up with another shot at the legs which lands causing Argentea to stumble.
Argentea takes a moment to gather herself then launches a counter attack. She uses several rapid strikes to try and break Terraria's defense. The first two are parried easily but the last is followed by a quick knee to Terraria's chest. Terraria doubles over following Argentea's attack, dropping the baton. "Looks like we've got you!" Argentea victoriously cheers raising her baton above Terraria to deliver the final blow. However, before she can Terraria lunges forward tackling Argentea to the ground.
"Won't be that easy." Terraria growls, now straddling Argentea. Terraria throws several punches while Argentea attempts to block with her arms. As Terraria draws back for a big hit Argentea uses her momentum to push off, breaking free.
"Woah," Goro admires, "They really are good." "Argentea is falling behind." Futoshi adds. "If they don't do something this will be over soon." "They've barely touched them, maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Nana mumbles.
Terraria regains her footing just as Argentea renews her assault. A quick jab to Terraria's midsection manages to connect but is rendered useless by her heavy armor. Growing frustrated Argentea throws a punch aimed at Terraria's head. The punch makes it halfway before Terraria catches it, enclosing Argentea's fist within her own. Argentea's face quickly changes from frustration to fear as Terraria smiles.
"This is getting bad. Shouldn't we stop them?" Nana questions. "Code 666 wanted this fight." Hachi states, "It's best we let him learn from his mistakes."
Knowing she now possesses the upper hand Terraria delivers a solid right hook to Argentea's midsection. As she doubles over Terraria places her hands over Argentea's head, pulling it down to meet her approaching knee. Terraria releases Argentea as she stumbles backward, clearly dazed. "Nighty Night!" Terraria says sweetly before delivering a final blow to Argentea's Temple. Argentea crumbles, her display winking out. "Terraria is the winner." Hachi dryly states.
Well that wasn't quite as smooth as I'd hoped but a win's a win, you think. You disengage from Terraria as Kyu turns to face you, a massive smile on her face. "We did it!" she giddily exclaims. "We sure did. Sorry about the knee though, I should have seen it coming." You apologize. "Don't worry about it." Kyu smiles, "That's what the armor's for."
The two of you then join Squad 13 on the ground. Looking over you see Zorome nursing his head while Miku stands beside him clearly annoyed. "You took longer than I thought you would, Friend." Zero Two remarks. "These weaklings shouldn't be a challenge." You are about to respond but stop hearing Hachi say, "Delphinium, Chlorophytum begin."
Chlorophytum wears the same disinterested look as before while the normally confident Delphinium appears slightly nervous. The two Franxx begin to slowly make their way towards each other, neither seemingly wanting to start the engagement. Delphinium finally lashes out at Chlorophytum. She covers most of the distance between them preparing to strike before falling to her knees. "No! Why now?" she cries, her face covered in flashing X's signaling a disconnect. "Time out! Give us three minutes." "There are no time outs." Mitsuru grumbles, as Chlorophytum stands over Delphinium.
You hear a "Humph" from beside you. Zero Two is standing with her hands behind her head smirking. "You knew this would happen?" you ask. "He's my darling." She states. "He doesn't need anyone but me."
Several minutes pass slowly as everyone waits to see if Delphinium will return. "Hasn't it been three minutes?" Kokoro asks worriedly. "I think so." Goro replies sadly. "Ichigo, status report." Nana demands into her com. She is met with silence in return.
Eventually Chlorophytum begins to move, appearing to have grown bored waiting. She delivers a kick to Delphinium's side causing her to tumble to the ground. "Well, I guess the prodigy just doesn't have it anymore." Mitsuru mocks. Chlorophytum slowly advances toward Delphinium content to enjoy her easy victory.
Suddenly Delphinium grabs Chlorophytum by the waist and activates her boosters. The two Franxx rocket toward the side of the Plantation propelled by Delphinium. There is a horrible crash as they collide with the Plantation then fall in a heap. The displays of both Franxx winking out. "Piloting by herself, of all the reckless." Nana mumbles. "Both Franxx are down. That concludes the mock battle." Hachi announces. Zero Two leaves your side walking into the plantation, a satisfied smile on her face.
The rest of the evening is rather quiet as there is a noticeable tension in the air. Dinner passes quickly and after everyone heads to their respective rooms to get some sleep.
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The next morning after an equally quiet breakfast Hiro and Ichigo are sent to the labs for testing. You join the rest of Squad 13 minus Goro, who went fishing, in the lounge to wait for their return. "So, do you think Hiro will still become a parasite?" Futoshi asks. "He couldn't maintain a connection with Ichigo in Delphinium, so I don't like his chances." Ikuno replies. "No way he gets in." Zorome condescendingly adds, "If that's the best he's got then it wasn't good enough. He couldn't even beat Mitsuru."
"Big talk from the one who got his ass handed to him by Terraria." Mitsuru replies coldly. "Hey, that wasn't my fault. Mik-" Zorome starts. "Excuse me but you were the idiot that charged blindly and put us in a bad spot to begin with. Have you already forgotten that?" Miku yells. "I try to live in the here and now." Zorome replies turning away. "Unbelievable." Miku grumbles. "You shouldn't fight, it hurts your numbers." Kokoro says trying to smooth things over. "Actually, I think it might help more than hurt." You state.
"Oh yeah, and what do you know?" Zorome furiously demands. "That you are impulsive, don't cover your left side at all, and you drug Miku down in the fight." You reply coolly. There are several gasps, Mitsuru cracks a rare smile, and Miku's face turns red as she bursts into laughter. The expression on Zorome's face changes rapidly between anger and annoyance. He opens his mouth to speak before closing it and storming out of the room. "I don't think I've ever seen Zorome get so worked up." Futoshi says. "Maybe I should go try to calm him down." "Leave him be." Kyu says, "His pride is just bruised, he will be fine."
"Back on topic," Ikuno continues, "If Hiro can't pilot there isn't much chance Papa will allow him to stay, let alone accept him." "We saw so many kids disappear from the garden. It was so sad." Kokoro frowns. "It's not like Ichigo is doing much better." Miku states, "She keeps letting her feelings for Hiro get in the way."
"Give it time." You reply, "She is the leader of Squad 13 for a reason. You guys have been piloting for less than a week. You'll find your rhythm, and then it will be as if you've always done things that way." "Really?" Futoshi asks hopefully. "It's true." Kyu says with a smile, "Things weren't always easy for the two of us," she says motioning to you, "but we worked together and now here we are."
"Yeah but think about poor Goro." Miku groans, "How would you like to have your partner asks to ride with someone else the first chance they got?' "What's this about Goro?" Ichigo says with venom, entering the lounge. Oh shit, this won't end well. "Hm, I miss something?" Goro asks following Ichigo into the room. "If Hiro becomes a parasite it will help us out. Plain and simple." She continues in the same tone. "He still has a chance." Goro says finishing Ichigo's statement.
"He couldn't even pilot with Ichigo, she's got the lowest code out of all of us." Mitsuru responds, "At this point I'd say it's over for the guy." "You forget he did pilot Strelitzia, and we can't give up hope now." Ichigo retorts now looking out the window. "Ichigo, I understand you want to stick up for him but it's time to face the facts. He just isn't what he was supposed to be. He was the best and brightest among us, our future leader. Was, but not anymore. Let's face it he's not who he used to be." Ichigo has turned from the window at this point and is staring daggers at Mitsuru.
Yep, this is just as bad as I thought it would be. There must be some way out of this. You look at the clock, and notice that it is time for lunch. Thank god. "Ok everyone time for lunch." You say standing up from one of the couches. Several of the members of Squad 13 breathe a sigh of relief as you do. As you lead them out Kyu stops Ichigo, leading her toward the girl's wing. She mouths "I've got this." as she does.
Ichigo and Kyu join everyone at lunch about 15 minutes later. Ichigo's cheeks are noticeably red and her eyes are puffy. You give Kyu a questioning look. "Later." She mouths. About five minutes pass before Ichigo stands. "Everyone, I just got a message from Nana. We are to suit up and report to the briefing room immediately.
A/N
And scene. That marks the end of chapter 3. Incase anyone was curious about the color selection for Terraria, here's how it was decided. Terraria is derived from Terra. Terra is Latin for earth, from there I chose to use green and indigo because those are the most prominent colors associated with earth when viewed from orbit. How do you guys feel about the story so far? Do you like the format for how the story is presented? Let me know what you like or don't to help improve future chapters. See you guys next time!
