APE Central HQ Council – Lamarck Club
"Klaxosaur activity has increased lately, and large ones are reportedly showing up everywhere, which is unprecedented," Papa says as the screen behind him shows footage of the mentioned Klaxosaurs.
"The Nines are dealing with them for now, but they still have other tasks to complete," Lemur replies. "How long will we let Strelizia goof off?" Gorilla asks, "Since our investigation isn't yielding any results, we have no reason to leave her there any longer." "Indeed. It isn't wise to let her mix with tainted stamens anymore," Marmoset remarks. "If we're recalling her, we'll have to ready a new stamen," Baboon adds.
"Not a problem," the Vice Chairman speaks up, "There are plenty of parasites at our disposal."
XXXXXX
Plantation 13 – Infirmary at the boarding house
"A demon... She's a demon. You'd have to be insane to ride with her. She'll kill you," Mitsuru whimpers as Futoshi puts a tablet with food next to his bed. You, Hiro, Zorome, Ichigo, Kokoro, and Misaki are waiting outside the room.
"How was he?" Ichigo asks Futoshi as he exits the room. "He hasn't touched his food at all," he answers. "He's been like that ever since we got back," Zorome comments. "How's Ryoken doing?" Kokoro asks you and Hiro. "He's still asleep in his room, I don't blame him though. He looked really exhausted yesterday. It wasn't long after he disembarked from Valkyrie that he passed out," Hiro answers. "I'll bring him his food then once he wakes up," Misaki says.
You walk into the infirmary without saying a word, then stop in front of Mitsuru's bed. He is huddled up, trembling and muttering incoherent words. Despite the fact that he is a complete jerk, you can't help but feel sorry for him in this miserable state he is in.
"Mitsuru..." you begin, "What happened with Zero Two?" "What... happened? That girl tried to devour everything I have. My blood, my flesh, and my soul... All of it! Everything was normal at first, but after a point, sh-she was out to kill me..." he explains, his voice trembling.
"Mitsuru-" you try to say something but he suddenly jumps at you and holds you by your collar, "What's worse, she had a smile on her face! She was smiling the entire time!" His facial expression has 'terror' written all over it. He then lets you go before saying, "Ride with her again, and it'll happen to you. You'll end up like me, too. You're out of your mind if you think you're the sole exception!"
"Hey, cut it out, Mitsuru!" Futoshi exclaims as he puts him down on his bed, "Look, just lie down. Get some rest." "You okay?" Ichigo asks you. "Yeah," you reply.
Shortly after, you get out and take a seat in the courtyard to think about your next step. Futoshi and Zorome are playing with a football in the background.
This is bad. Mitsuru looked pretty broken in there. Everyone else here must probably be terrified of Zero Two now after this. On the other hand, though, I rode with her once before, and I am fine. Am I just an exception or was Mitsuru just unfortunate? Suddenly, the words that Zero Two said the day you met came to your mind. "I'm always alone, thanks to these horns." No, they just need to see Zero Two as I do. I will ride with her again and prove to them that she isn't a monster or partner killer.
"Do you still want to ride with her?" a voice pulls you out of your thoughts. You turn your head to see Misaki sitting next to you. "Especially after seeing what happened to Mitsuru..." she adds, "And if the rumor is true, you'll die if you ride two more times with her."
"I'm aware of that, but I am still intending to ride with her," you reply. "You've made up your mind, huh? Fine. We won't stop you again, then," she states as she gets up and walks away.
XXXXXX
Plantation 13 – Elevator descending to the lower levels
"Yes, Klaxosaurs must be eliminated. But that doesn't mean you get free rein," Hachi says in a stern voice. "You didn't need to use that much power to deal with those Klaxosaurs. But because you did, we nearly lost one of our squad," Nana follows up, "Are you listening to me?"
"I wanna leave. I feel like I'm gonna suffocate in here," Zero Two replies in a bored tone. "Why, you..." Nana begins, clearly annoyed. "As long as I have my Darling, I don't care about this place. And the rest are sure to die soon anyway," Zero Two adds.
"Zero Two, those kids are your fellow Franxx pilots, even if you do belong to different units," Nana explains. "Fellow pilots? Are you serious? Those weaklings are only a nuisance, no matter how many there are," she retorts.
"They may be an irregular squad, but they're parasites who were carefully chosen for their high aptitude," Hachi states. "Really? Those guys?" she says in a condescending tone. "You only feel that way because you are special," Hachi counters.
Zero Two's demeanor suddenly changes at that reply, turning towards him she asks, "Are you talking about how I'm not human?" "I'm talking about your abilities and nothing else," Hachi replies in a calm manner, "Also, it's highly unlikely that Code 023 will be given permission to pilot Strelizia." "What do you mean?" she inquires. "We received word from HQ earlier. You'll be returning to the front lines soon," Nana explains.
XXXXXX
Boarding house – Lounge
"(Y/N) went to train by himself again?" Ryoken asks. "He's surprisingly hardworking," Futoshi comments as he takes a bite out of his food. "Wait, has he still not given up on riding with that girl?" Naomi asks. "Well, he doesn't seem to find any other reason as to why he was brought here apparently," Goro remarks. "But doesn't that mean that he'll have to leave if Zero Two does?" Zorome inquires. "That would be the natural assumption," Goro answers.
"Maybe he'd be better off going with her," Kokoro adds, "It'd be awful if he had to remain alone forever." Ryoken forms a fist with his hand at that statement, though the others didn't notice it. "Look, I don't know if you forgot or what, but she has Klaxosaur blood. She's not human. Just look at what happened to Mitsuru," Miku interjects. "He is well aware of that fact, but he wants to ride with her anyway," Misaki explains.
"And he isn't the only one staring death in the face," Ichigo adds before she turns to the group, "If things don't change, we could find ourselves dead at any time, too... Unless we can defeat Klaxosaurs without Strelizia, we won't survive for long. We can't afford to mess up again." "It's a good thing we had Valkyrie with us," Naomi says. "Yeah, you two really shone in that last battle... well, figuratively and literally speaking," Hiro adds.
"The way you took charge and led us in that situation," Ichigo says, "Were you a squad leader, Ryoken?" "Uhm, no. I wasn't a squad leader," Ryoken answers, "But I was second in command of a squad a long time ago. The credit for all the skills I learned go to my former squad leader. He taught me a great deal."
"Really? What was he like?" Hiro inquires. "He was the best Franxx pilot I have ever seen, a cunning warrior, a great leader," Ryoken pauses for a moment, "And he was a good friend..." "W-What happened to him and your squad?" Goro asks. "Our team was... disbanded. On Papa's orders. I haven't seen any of them since," he replies in a disheartened tone. "Why would Papa do that?" Hiro mutters.
"Anyway, enough about that. If you want to I can pass on some of what I learned to you as the squad leader, Ichigo," Ryoken says. "I'd be grateful," Ichigo answers, "We're a team after all, aren't we?" "A team, huh?" Futoshi says, "Yeah, we are." "Y-You don't have to tell me," Miku pouts to which Goro nods. "Well, it's high time we showed Papa and the adults what we're made of," Zorome adds. "Yeah," Kokoro agrees. "And if we keep it up, we could make it big, too!" Futoshi raves.
While the majority is chattering, Ichigo walks over to Ikuno, who has been quietly sitting there the entire time. "We need you too, Ikuno," Ichigo says to her as she puts a hand on her shoulder. "Mitsuru probably knows he can't mess up again, either. Back him up as his partner," she continues while smiling at her. "Okay," Ikuno responds.
XXXXXX
Later
"To prepare for the kissing with Plantation 26, Plantation 13 will switch to mobile setup," a mechanical voice announces over the speakers, "I repeat: To prepare for the kissing with Plantation 26, Plantation 13 will switch to mobile setup."
You've come back to the boarding house to take a bath after your last training session. Though you are alone, you can still hear someone arguing upstairs, probably Zorome and Miku. The rest of the squad is scattered all over the place.
"Nothing like a hot bath after a long workout," you mumble to yourself as you get in and lean back against the wall, staring blankly at the ceiling and almost dozing off.
"There you are!" you hear a feminine voice from the other end of the room.
You look up to see Zero Two standing before the bath, startled you get up and look at her with confusion, "Huh? How did you? What are you doing here?" She ignores your question though and steps into the bath, despite the fact that her clothes are getting wet now, and walks towards you.
When she stands right in front of you, she slams her hands against the wall, right next to your head and leans closer, giving you a longing gaze. "U-Um... Everything alright, Zero Two?" you ask in a nervous tone.
"Hey, Darling," she begins as she runs the fingers of her left hand along your chest, "Run away with me. Forget about those weaklings." She then cups your cheeks with both of her hands, "As long as you're with me, nothing else matters. You're the only one who can be my partner." Then, she lowers her head a little bit, giving you a look at her horns which are mere centimeters away from your eyes.
What do I do? I really want to, but leaving everyone else behind...
"Or are you just like everyone else? Do you think I'm a monster, too?" she asks in a lowered tone, interrupting your thoughts. "No! I-" you are interrupted by the sound of an alarm going off in the entire house, ending the tense atmosphere.
"Klaxosaur?!" the two of you exclaim.
XXXXXX
"We've detected one worm-type Klaxosaur. It's heading toward Plantation 13. It likely reacted to the energy emitted by the mobile kissing setup," a voice over the screen reports. "We haven't identified the Klaxosaur's class. We've only detected one as of now, but there may be more in hiding. Be careful," Hachi says over the comms. "Roger!" the squad replies. "All Franxx, commence connecting!" Hachi orders.
Shortly after, the faceplates of Delphinium, Gladiolus, Genista, Argentea, Valkyrie and even Chlorophytum spring to life and they head out to intercept the Klaxosaur.
"We'll hold it off here!" Delphinium exclaims.
Meanwhile, Zero Two and you got into your parasite uniforms and just sprinted into the briefing room, where Nana is looking at the tactical screen. The two of you stop behind her and see Squad 13 engage a Klaxosaur on the screen.
"Is that the only enemy?" you ask."For now, yes," Nana replies before she turns towards you, "Changing into your parasite suits won't help. We're not deploying Strelizia." "Hey, I didn't say anything," Zero Two comments as she puts her hands behind her head.
The Klaxosaur chases Delphinium and goes through a narrow path, then, Argentea and Gladiolus jump on it from above and sink their weapons into it while Genista, Valkyrie, and Chlorophytum try to bring it to a halt from the sides.
"Fire!" Delphinium shouts as Gladiolus, Genista, and Chlorophytum unload their magazines into it, making it collapse. "Did we get it?" Mitsuru asks. "No, as long as it doesn't explode into blue mist it's still alive. We probably missed the core," Ryoken explains. "We can't kill it unless we find its core. So, let's-" Argentea is interrupted as she is grabbed by a massive worm with a claw-like mouth and held up in the air.
"There was another one?" Hiro says in surprise. "We have to save them!" Gladiolus interjects as the rest of the team begins to attack. The Klaxosaur retaliates by shooting black shards out of its body towards them. Valkyrie manages to get in front of Gladiolus and blocked the projectiles with her shield, the rest of the squad, however, gets pinned down by them. Suddenly, the ground below the squad crumbles and the first Klaxosaur emerges again, trapping them in its maw.
"See? We really should go too, don't you think?" Zero Two comments. "Out of the question," Nana replies in a stern voice. "Tch. Spoilsport," Zero Two remarks before turning her head towards Nana, "By the way, who just landed in that transport plane?"
There is a moment of silence. Then, as if on cue, eight APE soldiers storm the room and form a semicircle around Zero Two while pointing their guns at her. "Code 002. You're coming with us," one of the soldiers orders. "Your escorts are here. Do as they say. Zero Two, you will return to the front lines. By yourself, obviously," Nana remarks without turning away from the screen. "Hurry. We want to leave while the Franxx are keeping the Klaxosaur occupied," one of the soldiers says as he puts a hand on Zero Two's shoulder. Suddenly, the soldier is sent flying to the other end of the room by her, "Don't touch me!"
The remaining seven soldiers take aim at Zero Two, who is standing still now. "Darling, looks like time's up," Zero Two says in a lowered voice. Then, she slowly walks over to you and cups your cheek with her left hand, "I felt like things could work out with you, too. I wanted to be with you. But this is goodbye." She leans forward, poking your forehead with her horns before slowly backing away.
"Zero Two..." you say in a disheartened tone. She looks you in the eyes, her facial expression a mixture of sadness and longing. "Bye-bye," she says meekly before turning away.
I feel like my heart just shattered into a thousand pieces. Seeing that pained expression just broke me. How could I let this happen?
The soldiers proceed to escort her out of the room. "(Y/N)…" Nana says, "This was an order from Papa and the rest." "Is it true that Zero Two is a partner killer?" you ask. "She's a special pistil who must keep fighting on the front lines for them. That will also take its toll on the stamen who becomes her partner. Keep this in mind. She's not like you normal children, she's not human," she explains.
Normal children? Not human? I am not normal either with everything I went through and how can the people at APE call themselves human after what they did to me and god knows what they have done to her.
Suddenly your mind is overcome by visions of Zero Two.
"I'm always alone."
"You weren't frightened by my horns."
"Do you think I'm a monster, too?"
"I wanted to be with you."
"Bye-bye."
No! Zero Two is not a monster, she is just like us, and I'm going to prove it. It's time to put the skills I learned in the Garden to use.
You run out of the room as Nana shouts, "Stop, (Y/N)!"
The soldiers are most likely going to go the usual way to the hangar. Luckily, I know a shortcut to cut them off.
"What is it?" one of the soldiers asks Zero Two as she stops for a moment. "Nothing," she replies before she continues to walk.
Alright, I'm in position. I can already hear the escort walking this way, you think to yourself as you hide in a niche next to a crossroad. A few moments later, the escort with Zero Two passes by you and as the last soldier goes by, you act.
You come out of hiding and slowly sneak up on the soldier at the end of the escort, knocking him out by giving him a hit on the head, then catching his body and putting it gently down as to not make a sound. One down, six more to go.
The next two are walking next to each other, you walk up to them as well, then grab both of their heads and bash them together, knocking them out but creating a loud noise in the process. You grab the two unconscious soldiers by the collar and hold them out in front of you as the remaining four soldiers turn around and yell "Freeze!" while trying to take aim at you.
You throw one of the two soldiers with one arm into the remaining ones, taking out two more before you use the last one you are holding as a shield while you charge at the remaining ones. You tackle the second last soldier to the ground but are now in the line of fire of the last one. You grab one of the guns on the ground next to you and are about to throw it at him, but another gun just flies past you, hitting him in the head and knocking him out.
You get up and take a deep breath, then look around you. Zero Two is standing in the middle of the corridor, looking at you with a neutral face.
"Zero Two, hear me out," you begin as you approach her, "I'm not afraid of you nor am I afraid of riding with you. A part of me was, but that's not because you're not human, it's because I was afraid of failing again. I'd been moping around after Plantation 74. I was dead inside, but I felt like I came back to life when we first rode together. When we first met, I couldn't take my eyes off you. You were confident, held your head high, and were ready to fight the Klaxosaurs even when you were hurt. I found that beautiful! I realized that I want to ride with you! So please don't go, Zero Two!"
Zero Two begins to smile and says, "How can I leave after that?" In an instant, she closes the distance between the two of you and builds herself up in front of you, her arms crossed behind her back. "Nobody's ever said such embarrassing things to me before," she says playfully.
"W-Well, it's a first time for me, too," you reply. "You wanna ride me, huh?" she asks with a cheeky smile. "Y-Yes," you respond without thinking. "Let me hear it one more time," she adds playfully while she puts a hand next to her ear.
"I... I want to ride with you in Strelizia again!" you shout. Suddenly, she grabs your hand and runs toward the hangar as you try your best to keep up. "Now that's my Darling!" she exclaims.
Wow, she is fast, you think to yourself as you enter the hangar and see Strelizia loaded on a transport plane. "Hold it!" one of the soldiers shouts as Zero Two kicks him to the side and continues to run with you toward Strelizia.
The two of you enter the Franxx and get in your respective positions. "Both of you, get out of there right now!" Nana says over a screen. "I'm going out with my Darling!" Zero Two retorts. "You are not getting permis-" Nana begins but you interrupt her, "I'm sorry, but Zero Two and (Y/N) are unavailable at the moment, please leave a message," you say as you cut the communication. Zero Two looks at you with a smile on her face, "Ready, Darling?" "Ready!" you answer.
Strelizia activates and punches a hole through the side of the transport plane before exiting it. "Let's fly, Darling!" she says as her boosters activate and you take flight. You're soaring through the sky like a majestic bird, which feels oddly familiar. "I feel like we have become one, and I love it!" you exclaim. "I'm feeling it, too. We're a perfect fit, huh? But there's more to come," she responds.
"I have to use the blade again," Ryoken says as he tries to free Squad 13 from the grip of the Klaxosaur while also trying to dodge its attacks. "You haven't fully recovered from the last time!" Valkyrie responds. "We're out of options!" he replies.
Suddenly, Strelizia comes into the fight, hitting the Klaxosaur, making it tumble and lose its grip on Squad 13.
"Strelizia?!" Delphinium says in surprise. "Is that (Y/N)?" Goro asks. "The one and only!" you reply over the comms, "Let us handle this!" "No! We can't afford to rely on Strelizia this time!" Delphinium shouts.
"Listen! I-We are part of this team whether you like it or not, so please, let me help," you retort. After a brief moment, Delphinium nods. "You and Valkyrie take this one," Hiro says. "We'll take the other one," Delphinium adds.
The Klaxosaur recovered and starts shooting its projectiles again, though Strelizia and Valkyrie are able to deflect them with ease. Valkyrie then jumps onto it, ramming her sword into its hide causing it to scream, which creates an opening for Strelizia. She throws her lance into its mouth, then pulls it downwards before activating the lance. A part of the Klaxosaur explodes into a blue mist, but it's still moving. "That didn't feel right," Strelizia remarks. "The core must be deeper inside," you respond.
The Klaxosaur tries to retreat underground, but Strelizia is having none of that. "Oh, no, you don't!" she shouts while going after it with Valkyrie. After a brief moment, both Strelizia and Valkyrie fire their boosters to the limit as they pull the Klaxosaur out of the hole. It turns out that it was one giant Klaxosaur you and the others have been fighting.
"What the..." Hiro gasps over the comms as the full Klaxosaur comes into view. "No way... It was all part of one Klaxosaur?" Zorome says astonished. "How are we supposed to find the core?" Futoshi asks. "Follow my lead," Delphinium shouts as she jumps into the air and drives her lances into the Klaxosaur, pinning part of it to the ground. The rest of the squad proceeds to do their best to hold it down as well. "Ok, we pinned it down, now what?" Zorome asks. Valkyrie has trouble keeping the mouth of the Klaxosaur open, but Chlorophytum comes to assist. "(Y/N)! We need you!" Ryoken shouts.
"Think we can do this, Zero Two?" you ask. "Easy!" she replies.
Strelizia lets go off the tail, activates her boosters and shoots toward the other end of the Klaxosaur. As she lands in front of its mouth, she activates her boosters once more, charging with her lance straight into it. Strelizia gives Valkyrie a wink as she passes by. A few seconds later, Strelizia emerges from the other end of the Klaxosaur with its core impaled on her lance and the Klaxosaur explodes into a rain of blue blood.
"Target neutralized. All units, return to base," Hachi says over the comms.
"I can't believe they ignored Papa's orders. Was she planning on this all along?" Nana asks over the screen. Hachi looks at another screen with data that is just coming in, "But this changes everything. The numbers conclusively prove Code 023's compatibility with Strelizia. How will Papa and the others react to this?" he comments.
XXXXXX
Later
You, Zero Two and rest of Squad 13 go to the briefing room for debriefing. The mood is overall pretty relaxed, though you are mentally prepared to get lectured about disobeying orders.
You enter the briefing room where Hachi and Nana are waiting for you. As you are about to take a seat, a transmission from Dr. Franxx appears on the screen.
"I want (Y/N), Zero Two, Ryoken and Misaki in my office, now!" he says with a stern voice before the screen goes dark.
I can see why he wants to see Zero Two and me, but Ryoken and Misaki?
The four of you arrive at the doctor's office a few minutes later though the way there has been pretty silent. The door opens to reveal a dimly lit room with the entire wall on the left being full of screens showing all kinds of data. To the right are several shelves with books and other of the doctor's belongings. In the center is a massive table with test tubes that are filled with liquids of various colors and other lab tools.
The doctor is sitting behind his desk at the other end of the room, looking at his computer screen. As you stop in front of his desk, the doctor averts his gaze from the screen, grabs his cane and gets up.
"So, let's recapitulate," Dr. Franxx says as he stops in front of you, "You disobeyed orders, assaulted APE personnel and took Strelizia for a ride with Zero Two despite the fact that she had orders to return to the front lines."
There is a brief moment of silence and you are mentally steeling yourself for whatever punishment the doctor is about to give you, though you pray that he will leave Zero Two out of it.
"Good job," the doctor says with a smile as he puts a hand on your shoulder. "Wait, what?!" you ask in utter disbelief. "That'll be all for now," the doctor continues as he looks at you and Zero Two, "You may go."
Zero Two grabs your hand and says, "Let's go, Darling!" while you walk out, still a little dumbstruck as you try to fathom what just happened.
As you and Zero Two exit the room and the door closes, the doctor turns towards Ryoken and Misaki.
"Well, I'd say you are making good progress with him," he says. "I admit that he has started to behave like his old self..." Misaki says. "But this was his second ride with Zero Two, which means that if he rides one more ti-" Ryoken continues but is interrupted by the doctor, "I wouldn't worry about that."
Ryoken and Misaki look at each other in confusion. "Doctor, there is something you're not telling us," Ryoken says in a slightly annoyed tone. "There are a lot of things that I am not telling you, my boy. Patience, all in due time," the doctor responds before saying, "You may leave now."
As the two of them leave his office and walk to the elevator, Ryoken says, "How can the doctor be so calm about this?" "I'm sure he has a plan, Ryoken. He has done so much for us, we should trust his judgment," Misaki responds, "After all, he saved (Y/N)'s life two times already. I don't see why he would just let him get killed now."
