Now this is the kind of writing I was hoping to do! First up, we see the events of the Japan route. It's probably the longest chapter I've ever written! I hope to have as much fun writing the remainder of the story as I did writing this chapter!
Chapter 14 (Japan) - Dr. Kabuto's Finest Achievement! Who Is The Strongest Mazinger?
Janus and Tara watched as the last of those traveling to the Ruined World entered the dimensional tunnel. Having been sufficiently energized, the tunnel would be stable for a long time, and it was now connecting the two universes. However, they had no idea where they would pop out, but hoped for the best. He would miss Yoko and Kittan, as well as the Getter Team, but he didn't want to go back. Not yet, anyway.
"I'm still surprised you decided to stay behind, Janus," Kira said as the crew that stayed behind relaxed in one of the lounges in Photon Power Labs. He was typing away at his computer with one hand, working on some code for another project at Morgenroete. "You don't miss your home and family? I...know I do."
"Your parents are safe, that much I assure you, Kira," Mu La Flaga, who was sitting with Janus, Kira and Tara, replied. "They're likely staying at another Orb-controlled colony, I bet. But yeah, what kind of family do you have, buddy?"
"...I don't remember, really," Janus said with a sigh. "I do know my folks died when I was a little kid, and I don't have any brothers or sisters. I've been living on my own ever since, relying on either my own wits or the kindness of others. I don't think I've ever had so many consecutive days of having three square meals and a roof over my head at night in my whole life. Most of the time I would sleep on the street, and I taught myself how to read by hoarding and reading old magazines. Kids may resent it, but I really wish I could have gone to school."
"You'd think a city powered purely by people's hopes and fighting spirit would be able to provide for everyone," Mu quipped. "Guess that's not how it quite works in your world, does it?"
Tara suddenly smiled when an idea suddenly popped into her head. "Hey! How about you enroll at Ashford Academy? My dad could easily convince the headmaster to let you in! You can have a dorm room and everything! You'll get to hang out with me, Boss, Sayaka, and even Kallen!"
"Eh, what the hell. Do I have to fill out anything with a pen? I...don't honestly know how to write."
"If you can type, you should do fine," Kira replied. "I'm sure they'll let you use a computer. For papers anyway."
"I guess..." the young man replied.
"Then it's settled! By this time three days from now, you'll be enrolling at Ashford Academy!"
Sure enough, Gilbert came through for Janus, and he found himself in Tara's room the night before his first day, getting ready to go to bed to rest up for it. Even though the semester was almost a third of the way over, the scientist arranged for a tutor to help him get caught up with the class.
He had been spending the night on the Zifells' sofa for the past two days, but now he had been invited by Tara to sleep in her room. In fact, ever since he first set foot in her house, she was acting quite different than usual. She became more coy, yet...flirtatious.
After letting him stand in the middle of her room, afraid to touch anything, Tara came back and went over to her closet. She opened the door, grabbed a low-cut, midriff-baring shirt and extremely short shorts, something that looks more like the bottom half of a two-piece swimsuit, and walked into her small bathroom to have a little privacy.
A few minutes later, even though they felt like hours, she came out of the bathroom, her day clothes hanging over her arm, and her nightclothes actually on her. All the time he had spent with her, Janus had never really gotten the chance to see her like this. Not that he had ever tried.
She was pretty, even from an objective standpoint. There were certainly prettier girls out there, but at the same time, Tara had that sort of natural look that make-up could only make worse, while her deep blue eyes, which she got from her father, also helped bring out that sort of charm. Her chest was noticeable, but nowhere in the same league as, say, Yoko's. Her overall figure was thin, but not overly so, with just the slightest bit of pudge on her belly and rear, just enough to give her a more mature, rather than girlish, figure.
"Are you finished ogling me, Romeo?" Tara quipped as she assumed her usual personality. "Now it's your turn to be eye candy for me and the ladies!"
Janus, anxious but driven forward by his instincts, removed his shirt, pants, socks and shoes, leaving only his plain green and white boxer shorts, which were fresh from the clothing store. Tara looked him up and down.
Like her, Janus was thin and somewhat tall, while still being well-toned from years of hard life; as close to being one of the beautiful men in her OTHER favorite kind of manga as she could possibly imagine without actually being one. His hair was spiky, though it dropped down rather than stood up. He had one light blue eye and one green eye, something Tara had never noticed until now. Though perhaps her sense of his handsomeness was skewed, he was certainly no slouch in that department.
Tara smirked and hopped onto her bed, then stared at Janus seductively. He swallowed nervously as he felt his instincts rising. The look in her eyes, that pose...and her smell. Not the stench of filth, but the pheromone-laced odor that all women in love emitted that only a man enamored with her could recognize, but no perfume could emulate.
The smell awakened something within him, this time. He closed his eyes and smiled.
"Janus?" Tara asked. If he didn't have that huge smile on his face, she would be worried about him.
"Tara...I...I just remembered something. I think...maybe it was from another lifetime. I remembered you being there and that..."
"Yeah. I dreamed about you last night," Tara said, trying so hard to find the words, suddenly looking coy and sweet. "You looked different, yet I knew it was you. That's why...I..."
Janus was silent. Tara just threw up her hands in defeat and lay back in her bed. She got up from bed, grabbed Janus before he could finish his sentence and pulled him into bed with her.
"Oh, just kiss me, you dope."
She immediately locked lips with him passionately.
Janus let his instincts guide him, while he groped around for the switch for the lamp on the side table near Tara's bed and pulled the string, turning it off, and then set about resuming the relationship from another lifetime where it left off...
"RAWK! I AM SANGER ZONVOLT! I AM THE SWORD THAT CLEAVES EVIL! RAWK!"
Tara awoke to the sound of her parrot Zengar downstairs screaming that phrase in its greeting to the morning. She glanced at her alarm clock. It wasn't set to go off for another few minutes, but now that she was up, there was no point in wasting time. She got out of bed, but paused to look back at Janus, who was still sleeping like a log.
It was 6:59 A.M. - one minute till her alarm would go off. She walked over quietly and turned up the volume on her radio to full blast. With his head only a few feet from it, there was no way he could stay asleep. She put her fingers to her ears and waited.
At 7:00 sharp, Janus was blasted with the sounds of Fire Bomber's hit "Try Again". He nearly leaped out of his skin when his ears were subject to the blast of noise, but Tara quickly turned the sound down as her friend caught his breath.
"Rise and shine, lover boy!" Tara said joyously. "Today is YOUR first day of school!"
Everything Janus said about wanting to go to school, he took back within minutes of sitting down in his first class. The black uniform was hardly to his taste, and the teacher began droning on about some boring history stuff...something about a guy named Benjamin Franklin betraying the old colonies prior to Napoleon conquering the British Isles. So he looked out the window and scribbled in his notebook, in spite of being unable to write. The minutes ticked slowly by, but eventually the first class ended with him having learned nothing of importance.
As he got up from his seat, he set out for the library, where his tutor was supposed to be waiting for him.
As Janus walked, he saw all the people chatting amongst themselves. But before he could think too much of it he noticed a familiar face coming down the hallway, his glasses, silver hair, pink shirt, yellow and black checkered vest, and bright red pants turning heads everywhere he went. He came to a halt right at Janus' position.
"Oh, hey, Harry."
"Do not 'hey' me, Janus," Harry said, looking rather stern in spite of no one being able to see his eyes. "You and I are to go to the library. There you will receive part of what will be your REAL schooling." He looked around, and noticed that people were looking at him. Then again, Harry stood out like a sore thumb with his tacky outfit.
"Real schooling? Are you my study partner? Well come on, the tutor's waiting," he said, walking around the guard captain, embarrassed as anyone else.
"I AM your tutor, Janus," Harry replied. "You had no reason to participate in that history class. Instead, I will be teaching you the history that truly matters. I will also be teaching you math, science and literature. It's time you moved beyond that drivel that is Gekiganger 3."
Just what I need, a drill sergeant for a tutor... Janus thought, hanging his head in disgrace.
After several long hours of being grilled and drilled by Harry Ord, Janus' first day of school ended. He could finally go to his room, where Tara and the manga club had spent the better part of the day (with Milly Ashford's permission) to skip their remaining classes to help set up Janus' room.
When he arrived at his dorm, more tired than any battle had ever made him, he found that he had a visitor: a girl, probably 13 or 14 years old or with short, pale blue hair, a blue-green and white outfit, and most startling, a pair of ruby red eyes. She carried a basket full of goodies, both healthy and not so healthy, with both hands. She glanced at him for a moment, but that one look simultaneously went right past him and right into him, and he immediately felt uncomfortable just looking at this girl. But he wanted to be pleasant, at least.
"Uh, hi. You must be the welcoming committee?"
"H-hello," the girl said, obviously nervous and not even looking him in the eye. "W-welcome to Ashford. I'm...Rei Ayanami..."
"Hey, is that basket for me?" Janus asked as he eyed the treats piled within.
The girl nodded as she held it out to him. He remembered being socially awkward when he was this age, but not like this. He pitied Rei a little.
Janus took the basket from her, and fished out a tangerine, and gave it to her. He had tried them once, and wasn't too keen on the small oranges. Maybe the girl would.
"Just a little thank-you present."
Rei looked down at the tangerine, but then back up at him.
"What? You've never had one of these before? Here, let me show you how it's done." the young man said. He took back the tangerine and began to peel it, dropping bits and pieces of its skin on the floor as he did, and occasionally squirting a few drops of juice out. Rei watched, and tilted her head slightly, wondering what this new boy was doing.
After a few minutes and a floor covered with tangerine skin and sprinkled by juice later, he had successfully peeled the tangerine, and handed it to Rei.
"Okay, there you go. Eat up."
Rei, looking as if she was doing something she shouldn't, delicately took a bite out of the fruit. A sensation she could not recognize, but felt good, filled her, and she began to take normal-sized bites of the fruit.
"Alright, see you around, Rei. Thanks for the goodies!" Janus said as he opened the door to his room and shut it behind him, feeling a little better about himself after being humiliated by Harry and his tutoring.
Two words tried to pass through the girl's lips to express her gratitude for this small act of kindness, but she could not form them. All she could do was take yet another bite...
Lelouch sat in his room, quietly meditating on how to deal with this whole situation. His plan would be doable if it was just Britannia he had to deal with. But now many other terrible forces threatened the safety of the people, and his sister. C.C. sat on his bed, dressed in a lovely nightgown, lazily chomping on some of her favorite pizza.
"Your Geass went out of control again recently."
"What?" Lelouch asked, surprised that C.C. would wait so long to tell him that. "Did anyone see it happen?"
"Yes. That Tara girl. The pilot of the Lifthrasir. I can only assume she's been able to put two and two together at this point, especially when she witnessed it twice."
"Twice?"
"Your first trip to Photon Power Labs as Zero, you Geass'd the pilot of the Great Mazinger...and she was present. And a few days ago then you Geass'd Shinji Ikari, who witnessed me putting Mao to an end, I spied her nearby, and she had seen the whole thing."
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Lelouch said with mild frustration.
"What good would it have done?" C.C. replied nonchalantly. "You should have expected and prepared for this possibility. You've had your share of near misses as of late. You're slipping, mister chessmaster."
Lelouch grumbled, and got up from the chair. "I'm going to bed. Tomorrow, Nunnally's going on a field trip with the rest of her grade, and I volunteered to chaperone so I could stay close to Nunnally."
"No missions? No daring terrorist attacks? No grand schemes? I'm disappointed, Lelouch," the green-haired maiden said with a wry smile. "Surely you can think of something to spend all night doing?"
"OFF. NOW."
The light-blue bus was clamoring with seventh-graders as it drove out into the countryside outside Tokyo Settlement, which was covered with a light coat of snow.
Today, the 26th of February, was a red-letter day for the 7th grade class at Ashford. That entire section of the student body was going on a field trip to Photon Power Labs in order to take a tour of the facilities. In reality, though, it was a trip taken every year by the 7th grade at this time.
Among those coming along were Nunnally, Shinji, Asuka and Rei. Tara and Sayaka were called in to chaperone as well, at Professor Yumi's request. With well over forty kids to watch, the teachers would already have their hands full; and of course Lelouch, who feared that Nunnally would get hurt when he wasn't around.
After two hours crammed into close proximity with each other, the bus finally arrived at the labs. After everyone else got off, Nunnally did so with the aid of a special lift built into the bus that was used for individuals who were wheelchair-bound. No sooner had she been unstrapped than did she try to gauge where Shinji was in the crowd by using her somewhat heightened sense of hearing, to compensate for her blindness.
"Big brother, please help me find Shinji," the crippled girl asked. "I can't tell where he is in all of this noise." Lelouch was surprised. What had happened between her and the boy must have sparked something. He felt a twinge of jealousy as he complied with his sister's request.
Shinji was off to the side, away from the rest of the crowd, standing next to Rei Ayanami, who was eating another tangerine, one she peeled for herself. The boy looked up, and waved to Nunnally, looking rather excited to see her, before remembering she was blind. But Lelouch saw him, and started to push her along toward him. Rei looked up and saw Nunnally approaching.
"Hello, Shinji. Hello...um..."
"Rei," the pale girl replied listlessly after swallowing another bite of tangerine.
"Oh, of course. I'm sorry," Nunnally apologized. "Are you two excited? I am!"
"It's just a scientist's lab. Big whoop." Shinji said with a shrug. Being an EVA pilot, he assumed Photon Power Labs wouldn't be as impressive as NERV headquarters.
"C'mon you three," Lelouch interrupted. "The group is starting to gather. We'd best join them."
"Oh, okay," Shinji replied. He felt rather upbeat today, especially being able to hang out with Nunnally. He never judged him, never made fun of him, and always tried to cheer him when he was down.
Unbeknownst to anyone there that day, things were about to take a turn for the terrifying...
"And this, students, is the hangar!" Professor Yumi said with a flourish. "This is where we do our maintenance on all of the institute's Super Robots! And it just so happens that one of our robots, Aphrodite A, is here undergoing its routine maintenance."
The young students, used to seeing the twelve-foot Knightmare Frames, looked in awe at the gigantic Aphrodite, who towered almost five times taller than any of Britannia's weapons. Sayaka, who silently stood nearby, beamed a bit with pride. Last year, it was Mazinger Z that was getting all of the attention. At least her machine had its moment to be marveled at.
But to everyone's surprise, an alarm started going off. The Yumis and Tara recognized the alarm as the sound of an enemy attack, though the students and teachers, including Lelouch, assumed it was something else.
"Great...a fire drill," Asuka groaned, rolling her eyes. "Welp, so much for our field trip. Let's go."
"Calm down everyone," Professor Yumi said to the rather panicky schoolkids. "The situation is under control. If you'll follow me, I'll lead you to the underground shelters where you can wait things out..."
"BU-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" Baron Ashura laughed, the sound of it echoing through the countryside. The two-faced being sat in Mazinger Z as it tromped toward the Photon Power Labs, followed by a small army of Mechabeasts. But the Super Robot had been changed drastically from its original form.
One of its eyes had been blacked out, while spikes jutted out from various orifices, and its body was dotted with gigantic, punkish rivets. Its breast plate and cockpit were decorated with fiendish, painted-on eyes, and its arms and legs has visible cracks, remnants of its last battle for the side of good.
Soon the laboratory came into sight, and the machine paused by the pale blue school bus. With a fiendish grin, Ashura made Mazinger smash the bus flat with a single stomp before turning its attention back to the lab. The twin-gendered freak caught sight of Professor Yumi and Jun Aoi, another of the Labs' robot pilots, on the higher floors.
"The hope of the world, Photon Power Labs..." Ashura said, opening the hatch where the Pilder used to be to add to the drama of it all, "...shall be destroyed by its protector, Mazinger Z! Soon the Earth will kneel before Dr. Hell!"
"Don't bet on that, Baron Ashura!"
The large doors to the hangar opened and an elevator slowly brought Grendizer, with Daisuke, or rather, Duke Fleed at the helm, to the surface. Its arms were crossed in a rather imposing manner.
"Grendizer! I almost forgot about you," Ashura's male half laughed. "It will be a great pleasure to make you Ashura Mazinger's first victim!"
"But first," Ashura's female half chuckled. "Have a go at my master's armies! Attack, Mechabeasts and Saucer Beasts!" Ashura Mazinger sprang back suddenly, and a small battalion of Mechabeasts and Vegan Saucer Beasts charged forward, a mix of Doublas M4s, Garada K7s, Dayan M4s, Gilgils and a new face, the bull-like Gamegames.
Daisuke wasted no time in preparing to counterattack.
"GRAVITY STORM!"
He fired a wave of gravity-based energy (which was the basis for the Nadesico's own Gravity Blast) at some of the beasts, flattening them in mid-air. But a Gilgil managed to get around him and prepared to tear into the lab, but suddenly a portal opened, and several familiar rifle shots burst out of it. Lifthrasir swooped out and landed before firing off another pair of shots.
"You again!" both of Ashura's halves cried in anger, recognizing the white body of Lifthrasir. "You humiliated me at our last encounter! You shall suffer for that, and the hands of your dear friend's Mazinger Z! PERIIIIISH!" Ashura spurred the evil Mazinger onward, even as Duke saw his approach.
"Is backup coming?" Duke called out as he slashed a pair of Garadas that had just struck Grendizer in two.
"Yeah. The Archangel already is on its way! We've also got Kira, the Cyber Beast Force, GaoGaiGar, Loran and Kallen with them! No word from the Black Knights, yet. Janus and Harry are also no-shows."
"At least we will not be all alone. We must continue to hold off...ergh...Ashura as long as we can until they arrive."
But Ashura, seeing that Grendizer was starting to falter, changed direction and went for the Super Robot. As the mech charged forward, Ashura readied Mazinger's signature attack.
"TAKE THIS! ROCKETO PUNCH!"
Just as the punch landed, the rockets took over, dealing substantial damage to Daisuke's UFO Robo. Almost immediately, the monsters began swarming over him, while Ashura focused on Lifthrasir.
"PHOTON BEAAAM!"
"This is stupid! If we were out there, we would have had those guys beaten in ten seconds flat with our EVAs!" Asuka grumbled loudly as they watched the battle on the lab's satellite monitors, and as she paced back and forth restlessly. She, Shinji and Rei, at the teacher's request, were relegated to a shelter together. The shelter was small, cramped, and glowed a dim red.
"Listen, they said they had it under control," Shinji said, trying to calm the pacing Asuka. Rei, meanwhile, was perusing the canned foods (in case of a long stay) for reasons even she wasn't sure of.
"Shinji, you dumbkopf! Don't you know anything!? When adults say they have the situation under the control, they mean they're really running about like headless chickens while everything falls apart around them! Adults are idiots."
"Hey, Misato's not stupid!" Shinji retorted.
"Are you kidding? She's an old hag who couldn't get laid, and now she's wasting her free time away drinking beers with a freak penguin that beats her at chess! The only worthwhile thing she's doing with her life is at NERV!"
"Well, at least she's not a jerk like you are!" Shinji shot back. Asuka responded by confirming her jerk status with an uppercut to his chin. The teen staggered backward, and toppled over right next to Rei, who had just discovered something interesting: a hatch with the letters NERV on them, just large enough for them to slip their whole bodies into comfortably.
"Oh," she said, with only the slightest hint of surprise at this completely unforeseen discovery, barely noticing that her fellow EVA pilots were fighting. As she examined the Shinji rubbed his chin and noticed another one of his teeth had been knocked out of his jaw. That was the second in the past three months.
Damn it, Asuka...why do I even hang out with...ow...
"Hey, doll, let me see!" Asuka said, poking her head over Rei's shoulder. "Well, isn't that convenient! Looks like we can actually show those losers how EVAs do things!"
"But there's no Angel..." Rei said.
"Who cares? I've been itching for some action, and that spiky robot is just the ticket to a little stress relief! Besides, it's more fun that clobbering you wimps. Let's roll!" She pulled the tube open and eagerly dove in feet first. The tube immediately pulled her along to an unknown location, and she was laughing and giggling the whole way.
"Rei, you go on ahead. I need to find my tooth," Shinji said, his tongue lick at the place where his tooth used to be.
"Okay." Rei calmly entered the tube herself, and was pulled along. Shinji, now alone, looked by his feet. Sure enough, there was his missing tooth. He grabbed it, put it in his pants pocket and sighed as he got into the tube.
Tara was at her limit. She could barely see straight after trying so hard to hold off the Mechabeasts and Saucer Beasts under Ashura's command, and Lifthrasir was almost out of energy. Several times her mech had crashed into the labs, breaking down the walls and raining rubble down. The sea of beasts parted to let Ashura Mazinger through.
"Your agility could not save you now, cursed white gadfly!" Ashura laughed as the fiendish Mazinger raised its arms. "BEGONE! BREASTO FI..."
But instead of a Breast Fire striking Tara, a massive blast of heat and energy of similar nature, but vastly greater power flew overhead. It caught a half-dozen Mechabeasts and three Saucer Beasts directly in the blast, incinerating them. The heat emitted from the blast also melted the vast majority of the monsters. But Ashura Mazinger, Grendizer, and Lifthrasir could withstand the great heat, at least while not caught in the blast.
"What the!?" Ashura exclaimed as its Mazinger turned around to see what could have fired out such a powerful blast. Standing about a thousand yards away, stood what appeared to be a more demonic-looking version of a Mazinger. It towered over Ashura Mazinger by at least one-and-a-half times. The red chest plates were shaped like bat wings, and its limbs were much bulkier.
"What...is that?" Tara said, panting as she strained to get Lifthrasir up...
"Mazinkaiser...it's Mazinkaiser..." Professor Yumi gasped as he beheld the massive new Mazinger. "Did Juzo...actually build that?"
"Mazinkaiser?!" Jun exclaimed as she looked out at it as well.
"A Mazinger beyond all others; a weapon that allows its pilot to possess power beyond that of a god or a demon..." the scientist replied.
They watched Ashura Mazinger try all of its attacks on the newcomer: Rocket Punch, Photon Beam and Rust Hurricane. But Mazinkaiser's armor, made of an even stronger form of Z Alloy, was barely even scratched. Kaiser took a few steps forward and smashed its foe with a single punch, then picked it up and threw it over the still downed Grendizer, smashing it into the lab.
"Curse you, whatever you are! You'll regret this!" Ashura cried as the male half furious smacked the eject button repeatedly. The Dr. Hell produced Pilder broke off from the evil mech's head and flew off into the distance. No sooner had that happened than did Sayaka appear and put herself between Kaiser and the lab.
"Stop! Please, stop!" she called out. Mazinkaiser paused and looked down at her.
"Please! Koji, that's enough!" Sayaka called out once more. How she could tell it was Koji was anyone's guess...but indeed, Koji was inside Mazinkaiser's Pilder, though the machine seemed to be moving on its own.
To everyone's shock, Kaiser started to take another step forward. But suddenly, as if seeing Sayaka in danger renewed his strength, Daisuke spurred Grendizer forward and tackled Mazinkaiser, allowing her to get away.
And no sooner did she move away than did she spy the Archangel coming in from the horizon at full tilt. Meanwhile, another small division of Mechabeasts and Saucer Beasts, who were waiting in reserve, appeared from over a nearby hill, eager for mayhem.
But none of them even noticed something flying high in the heavens, at the edge of space, was slowly beginning to descend.
"What in the world is Grendizer fighting?" Kira said as he and the other robots accompanying the Archangel, "It kinda looks like...another Super Robot..."
"Not just any Super Robot...that's a Mazinger!" Kallen replied, as her mech's Factsphere enabled her to get a closer look. "It's like Mazinger Z...but even from here I can tell it's more powerful just by looking at it."
"Worry about that later! We've got other problems! Look!" Guy said, pointing out the waves of approaching Vega troops.
"Let Daisuke hold off that mystery robot a little longer!" Murrue called. "All units, stop the Vega troops! Don't let them reach Photon Power Labs!" GaoGaiGar, Big Volfogg, Aile Strike Gundam, Guren mk II, Dancougar, Moebius Zero and Turn A Gundam all spurred themselves forward, with the Archangel close behind.
"DAN KUU KEN!" Shinobu cried out as Dancougar drew its sword, and slashed at a Garada K7, slicing it to bits in one swift motion.
"Kira, don't worry about hurting anyone when fighting these guys," Mu called out to the Coordinator, seeing that he was somewhat apprehensive about attacking these enemies. "They aren't even alive, so you can go ahead and blow them up completely! It's the only way we can protect the people inside!"
"Oh, okay," Kira replied. Knowing that he was protecting others, he immediately pushed aside his apprehensions and spurred the Strike forward. He quickly took aim at a Gilgil and a Doublas, destroying them with a few quick beam rifle shots.
"Get away, you monsters!" Loran yelled as the Turn A drew its own beam rifle and opened fire, destroying another three monsters before drawing its beam saber and cutting down a fourth.
Kallen dodged and weaved around the monsters, frustrated that she couldn't move as she did in space and get at their heads. Mu, seeing Kallen's predicament, flew down and started flying level with her.
"Hey, Kozuki! Need a lift?"
"Uh...I don't know if I could balance on that thing..." Kallen said uneasily. "Maybe if I was atop the Archangel..."
"Whoops! Watch it, missy!" Mu exclaimed when he noticed that he was about to hit a wall. He yanked the controls back, and the Moebius Zero did a hard, vertical U-turn, narrowly avoiding a nearby cliffisde. Kallen was able to swing around, the Guren only scratching its paint job lightly against the rock.
Man, if only this thing could really fly, Kallen said, silently cursing her luck at being a dwarf amongst giants. Then she noticed Duke and Mazinkaiser exchanging blows in an all out fist fight. And the way Kaiser was moving...it seemed to have forgotten all about the lab, and was attacking Grendizer exclusively.
Then Kallen remembered something...Koji had always expressed resentment in playing second banana to Daisuke. Even if Koji wasn't conscious, was the behemoth acting on his hidden hatred? If that was the case, then the red-haired pilot knew she had to do something.
She spurred Guren into a full charge, knowing full well she could be squashed flat by Mazinkaiser, but not caring. Grendizer backed away all of a sudden, then leaped high into the air, just as the Spazer swooped in.
"SPAZER CROSS!"
Grendizer slipped nicely into the craft's hole, and Duke's pilot's chair shifted to its other position. That gave Kallen an idea.
"Daisuke! Can you give me a lift?" she called out.
"Kallen? Don't tell me you intend to challenge this thing?!" he exclaimed as he swooped around. Kaiser's sole weakness for the moment was that it could not fly. The Fleedian ace was able to dodge and weave around the waves of Photon Beams shot from its eyes.
"Hey, if this is like Mazinger Z, maybe I can get Koji out of its head!" she said.
"I see..." Daisuke said. He glanced over at his allies. It seems the Vega troop numbers have been reduced drastically in the span of a few minutes. He decided to give Kallen's plan a try. He would need a distraction.
"Mu!" Daisuke called out to the Alliance ace. "Keep Koji distracted! Kallen and I are going to try something to stop that monstrosity he's in!"
"Sure," Mu replied with surprisingly little apprehension. Koji was no Coordinator, so Mu could more than easily dodge the slow Kaiser's attacks in his agile Moebius Zero. He zipped by as the Guren and Grendizer got closer.
"All right, Daisuke, I'm getting on!"
The Guren took a mighty leap and quickly retracted its wheels, and used the magnets attached to its feet to stay atop Spazer, another addition by Uribatake for Guren's adaptations to space combat. Amazingly, Grendizer was more than capable of sustaining flight even with the extra weight. It rose into the air and wheeled around, heading straight for Mazinkaiser, who was trying to swat the Moebius out of the air. Mu, seeing their approach, quickly broke off, firing out a few rounds to keep Kaiser distracted for an extra moment.
Just as the massive Super Robot turned around, Kallen bounded off the Spazer, and activated her energy claw. Just as she had hoped, the Guren managed to land on Mazinkaiser's face. She quickly jammed the claw into its Pilder.
Sorry, Koji... Kallen thought. Energy coursed into Mazinkaiser, shocking the unconscious Koji heavily. He let out a loud, long scream as the energy from Guren's claw lashed out at him. As he did, the memory of the last time he had been conscious played back in his mind's eye:
"Damn it Double Spazer! Why won't you do as I say?!"
A waterfall.
"Oh no! I'm gonna crash!"
He yanked hard at the controls.
No crash.
At least not into a rock wall.
His head throbbed. Helmet off.
A light. He followed it.
Suddenly, a bright light. A hologram of his grandfather. His words were clear as day.
"Koji! I've done it! I have finally created the successor to Mazinger Z! It's a super robot even more powerful than Great Mazinger...MAZINKAISER! If you have Mazinger Z, you can be a god or a demon. But with Mazinkaiser, you can be even greater than a god!"
The hologram reaches out and somehow touches his shoulder.
"Koji...you can even defeat the devil. But it's up to you how you use Mazinkaiser's power. Will you control the world, destroy it or protect its people? The fate of the world is in your hands!"
He laughs like the mad scientist he always was. He disappears.
Further in. Lights go on.
It's a really demonic Mazinger...
Pilder On!
NOW I'LL SHOW THAT DAISUKE WHAT MY GRANDFATHER COULD REALLY DO!
Koji slipped back into unconsciousness, and Mazinkaiser, its circuits damaged by Kallen's desperate attack, stopped moving. Its eyes went dim and it stood like a statue, its arms hanging limply at its sides.
"Kallen, you did it!" Daisuke cheered. "Mazinkaiser has been shut down!"
She jumped off of Kaiser and landed safely on the ground. GaoGaiGar threw aside the last Mechabeast husk and then ran over to see if Kallen was okay, as did everyone else, who had just finished off their own targets. Lifthrasir, meanwhile, was still lying on the ground, unable to get up.
"Thanks for noticing me, you guys!" she said sarcastically.
"Sorry," Kallen replied. "So much was going on at once that we..."
"Never mind. I'm just glad the facility was..." Tara sighed.
"Warning: massive object detected in atmosphere." Xemmy suddenly chimed in. "Estimated size: 4,000 meters across. Altitude: 35,000 meters and closing. Speed: Approximately 2,500 kilometers per hour.
"YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?!" Tara screamed.
At a hidden NERV base, Misato and several other operators watched the descending object: a weird, almost flat entity with six nodules with eyelash designs surrounding a massive, single eye and a pair of flat limbs with smaller eyes on it. If it wasn't so massive and descending at such a high speed, one might think of it as a drawing done by a disturbed young child.
Just outside this base, out of view of the main fight, the three current EVAs, Units 00, 01 and 02, piloted by Rei, Shinji, and Asuka respectively, were all lined up, posed like sprinters at a track meet just before the starting gun
"Listen up...we can't rely too much on secondary data. You could very easily be operating on your own. Remember, those EVAs are the key to stopping this thing. If you don't..."
"Don't worry! We'll be fine!" Asuka said dismissively.
"Target is at 20,000!" an operator called out.
"Begin the operation!"
The three massive EVAs, which towered even over Mazinkaiser, rushed forward with a surprisingly human-like gait as the external plugs in their backs ejected, leaving them five minutes of battery power to get the job done. They were rushing to stop the falling object, which turned out to be an Angel, from colliding with the Earth. As the EVAs ran, the ground shook and heaved, roads were damaged, power lines came down, and trees were uprooted.
Rushing along at hundreds of miles per hour with great strides, they quickly looked around for their target. Shinji spotted it right over Photon Power Labs.
"Damn it, it's moving too fast! I dunno if we can catch it..." Asuka said, actually discouraged for once.
Shinji, too, seemed to despair at the likely possibility of not being able to make it. Then he remembered Lelouch's words...
"...You took matters into your own hands and acted. Few people have the ability to take action like that."
Lelouch and Nunnally...Shinji knew he had save them. They were the only people who had praised him when he had done something good outside of his EVA. As if those words gave him courage, and his courage fueled Unit 01's power, it extended its AT Field, allowing the purple EVA to quickly accelerate. In a matter of seconds, Unit 01 had pierced the sound barrier and quickly left Unit 00 and Unit 02 in the dust. With a single great leap, it bounded over the next hill, right into the site of the battle.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Mu exclaimed as he narrowly avoided being smashed by the falling Unit 01.
The impact shook the ground heavily, causing any land-bound mecha to fall over, even Mazinkaiser, who thankfully toppled forward rather than backward. The Angel, codenamed Sahaquiel, was now within 5,000 meters and closing.
"DEPLOYING A.T. FIELD!" Shinji yelled. Instantly, every last mech was blown back as the EVA's barrier deployed, just in time to start pushing Sahaquiel up. The labs took a hit from Unit 01's AT Field, but managed to remain standing.
"Shinji?!" Shinobu exclaimed. "Cyber Beast Force gotta help him stop that thing! YAAAATE YARUZE!" Dancougar got to its feet rushed into the mess. It stood beside Shinji and opened all of its cannon ports.
"DAN KUU HOU FORMATION! SHOOT!"
All of its cannons fired at once and began pushing against its AT Field.
"Hang in there!" Guy called out as he too rushed in, and raised its hands to hold Sahaquiel back with GaoGaiGar's power. The mech's GS Ride kicked into overdrive, fueling the mech's strength.
"We can't let it fall!" Loran cried as he joined in with the Turn A, its vast power fueling it as it held up Sahaquiel.
"I've seen my birth home sent to ruin..." Daisuke said as Grendizer got to its feet. "I will not allow my second home to suffer the same fate!" He rushed in, pushing his UFO Robo to maximum output as it held up Sahaquiel. Kira, Mu, Tara and Kallen could only watch as the EVA, the four Super Robots and the Lunar Kingdom mech strained under the force of the Angel's weight and AT Field.
Just then, Unit 00 and Unit 02 came over the hill and rushed into the fray, deploying their own AT Fields, and slowly began to push it up again.
Suddenly the Angel began spinning around like a top, and moved away from its initial trajector and then paused in mid-air, only about a half-dozen meters off the ground. It let out an unearthly wail as it stared down its enemies.
"Well, didn't see that coming..." Asuka quipped.
"Well, at least we can take care of it in a fair fight," Daisuke said as Grendizer got to its feet.
"Hey, Asuka, long time, no see!" Masato called out to Asuka. "I see you brought some buddies!"
"You know these guys?" Loran asked.
"We've been acquainted," Ryo replied. "It's a long story."
Suddenly, Sahaquiel shifted its gaze to Lifthrasir. As Tara gazed back at it, she suddenly heard a voice in her mind.
Come back. Come back...I miss you.
"Get out of my head, you freak!" Tara screamed, putting her hands on her ears, vainly trying to block out the noise.
Please...come back. Don't you remember?
"GET OUUUUUUUUUTTT!"
As if fueled by her stress, Lifthrasir got up, seemingly heedless to the damage it had sustained. It pulled out both rifles and with a hot-blooded scream, she fired both of them, narrowly missing GaoGaiGar. Oddly, the Angel made no attempt to deploy its AT Field, so the blast struck it smack in the middle of its massive eye, and came out out the other side. The attack had pushed both Tara and Lifthrasir to their absolute limit. The machine began to short out, and collapsed once more, and Tara drifted into unconsciousness.
And to make matters worse, being shot through the eye apparently just made it mad. The Angels' body began to tremble, and then began to peel itself away, revealing another form inside. It seemed to be made of multicolored light, its central eye was smaller, and its fingers were now fringed with tiny (on its scale) black needles, and pink fire emanated from its back.
"Any other bright ideas?" Mu quipped.
"I say we just go all-out," Shinobu said. "These AT Fields can be overpowered. You just gotta put all of the effort and guts you have into your attack!"
"Yes! As long as we have courage in our hearts, we can overpower any foe or barrier! EVERYONE! FORWAAAAAARD!" GaoGaiGar's GS Ride again glowed brightly, its energy overflowing.
Rei, Shinji and Asuka glanced at their timers. To their shock, the timer was actually counting up, not down. Something intangible was providing the EVA's engines with energy.
"Asuka..." Shinji said, worried about this weird occurence.
"Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, you two!" Asuka said eagerly. "Let's show these shrimps how we EVAs take down an Angel!"
"Captain, you're not gonna believe this!" one of the operators exclaimed. "The timers on Units 00, 01 and 02 are going in REVERSE, and they're not even plugged in! Something must be fueling their batteries!
"What? Can you locate the source?"
"It looks like...one of GGG's mecha, GaoGaiGar! Its giving off so much energy, the EVAs have started to draw it in!
"Amazing..." Misato exclaimed as she watched the time limits on their batteries rise higher and higher. "Is this the true power of Super Robots? Or have we misjudged how capable the Angels are? Or could it simply be the power of the human will?"
"Captain, I need the Launcher Frame!" Kira called out as the Aile Strike landed inside the Archangel. The crew scrambled to make the switch and make some quick repairs on the mobile suit. He watched on his monitor of how the battle was progressing.
Sahaquiel was doing its best to hold off its opponents, but even being 4,000 meters in size and a powerful AT Field was no safe assurance of its survival. Time and time again its foes forced their way through the field with nothing but sheer force of will, just long enough to land a hit.
What power...and I thought the G's were impressive, Kira thought. And they're not even Coordinators. Maybe I DO need to put more spirit into my attacks...
Within one minute, the Strike was fitted with the Launcher Frame. Kira braced himself as the catapult got ready to launch him. Three seconds later, he was shot out, and was launched high above the melee. He had a clear shot on Sahaquiel.
"Alright, let's see you handle this! AGNI CANNON...FIRE!"
The massive weapon launched a high-powered beam, which struck the Angel from above, and pierced its AT Field. It flopped backwards with a great crash. All of the needles began to stand on end, and then something burst out of its pupil: an EVA-sized, but thin, and vaguely humanoid creature with lance-like arms and a mask-like face.
"I guess this guy's the Angel proper," Asuka quipped. "Now we just gotta take out its core!"
"I'll take care of that!" Guy yelled. "HELL...AND...HEAVEN!"
Guy went through the same sequence, and the Angel's core body flopped over.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
GaoGaiGar rushed forward and managed to grab hold of the core. But as he tried to yank it out, it somehow managed to literally slip through GaoGaiGar's fingers, taking the form of a red liquid of similar consistency to blood. The core reformed and started beginning moving around wildly. The Angel stabbed its lances into GaoGaiGar's hands, breaking the hold of Hell & Heaven. The Super Robot staggered backwards.
"Stupid adult," Asuka sighed. "Shinji, Rei, let's do it right!"
The three EVAs charged forward, and all drew their Progressive Knives. Shinji and Asuka started to push through the Angel's AT Field, while Rei's eyes darted back and forth, trying to time her move to snag the blood-red core when her battle companions. Sahaquiel didn't counterattack, and concentrated its entire effort on maintaining the AT Field.
But the EVAs held out, and Units 01 and 02 forced the way through. Rei lunged at the core, snagging it with both hands. Unlike with GaoGaiGar, the core chose a different tactic: it surrounded itself with a shell made of its AT Field as the Angel itself retreated into the eye once more.
Rei tried to crush it with Unit 00's hands, but the core's field held up. Shinji came over and tried to stab it, but the thick field held on; Asuka had no success either.
Suddenly, Rei remembered the tangerines she had been eating, and how Janus showed her the way to peel them. She concentrated on not the core itself, but the many layers of AT Field surrounding it. Bit by bit she peeled away at the field, until eventually she had pulled enough layers away for an opening to form.
"Everyone! Now!" Rei cried out. She had never realized she could display such emotion. She raised her knife and jammed it into Sahaquiel's core, cutting it like she would the fruit. Shinji and Asuka joined in, and together they cut open the core. It melted into blood again, but didn't reform. Sahaquiel let out one last wail, and went silent.
"Huh...it didn't explode," Shinji said, scratching his head.
Lelouch had watched the battle from his shelter with Nunnally, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.
He couldn't believe the power his new allies possessed. Especially Shinji. To be able to defeat a foe of this size and power was amazing. He knew something of NERV and the Evangelions, but never thought all three of the pilots would go to Ashford Academy.
He finally managed to shake off his awe as he began to rethink his plans. If he could get NERV to join the cause of the Black Knights...
Tara finally came around several hours later, after the children were brought back to school by a GGG transport. She sat up in bed, and saw Koji lying in the bed adjacent to hers. Sayaka was sitting there, watching Koji, hoping he would open his eyes. She looked up and saw Tara awake.
"Tara, you're okay!" she said happily. "You were out for a while."
"I...take it we won? I mean, we're still alive."
"Yep. The three weird robots, apparently called Evangelions or something, defeated that Angel...or whatever it was called. Apparently three of the 7th grade students are Evangelion pilots. Based on what my father told me, they work for a group called NERV, that specializes in fighting these things."
"Let me guess; they said they'd join our merry band of oddballs and misfits?" Tara said with a twinge of sarcasm.
"Not at this point," Sayaka replied. "But they certainly know to call us for back-up from now on if they have any Angel problems..."
"What about Sleeping Handsome right there? Is he going to come around any time soon?"
Sayaka shook her head sadly. "The doctors...can't honestly say. They're going to put him on life support until he comes around. Meanwhile, I'm going to come here after school as often as I can until he wakes up. I...want to be the first person he sees."
Tara smiled at those words. She knew Sayaka had a thing for Koji, but she had never been able to admit it. It was certainly more than the feelings she had for Janus at the moment. And then she wondered where he had been this whole time...
Wow, over 8,600 words. Now that is what I was hoping to write. To be honest, I decided to add the fight with Sahaquiel on a whim. I saw how it was done in SRW L, and was disappointed. They didn't even SHOW the dang thing. And to anyone who realizes that I'm probably doing the Angels out of order, calm down. I'm giving the ones who never got any love in SRW the spotlight they deserve.
Also, voting will remain open until I finish all of the chapters for this route split are done, which won't be for a while yet. But please, if you're going to vote for which route should be canon, put something besides your vote in your review, even if you don't have a lot to say. Substantial reviews are appreciated more, of course. Thanks, and see you on the Teppelin route!