Chapter 12: Neotopia's Moment of Truth
What is this place?
Captain stood in the center of nothing. The world around him was completely blank. He could not see anything, not even himself…
Did he even have a self?
Captain! Captain! Captaaaain!
What was that voice? Did it sound familiar?
Yes…yes, it did!
Shute! Captain yelled. Though he knew he had heard and was speaking, any noise he made vanished into the white void. It was if all sound went directly to his brain without bothering to use his ears. I'm here!
Captain looked around, trying to figure out where the voice was not-coming from.
Shute!
-z-
"Captain!" Shute yelled for what must have been the hundredth time. When there was no response, he said, "I guess he can't respond to my voice without his Soul Drive."
"He does not show any activity."
Shute looked up at the perpetually smiling face of Mayor Margaret's statue.
"I'm sorry, Shute," She said, "I'm afraid Captain has completely shut down."
Shute's face fell. "No way!"
"I understand!"
Shute and the statue looked to the voice. It was Gunbike!
"And anticipatin' such an event," Gunbike said, "I've gathered everyone together! See?"
There was a crowd of machines behind Gunbike, mobile citizens Shute recognized. Carrying Gunbike was the child-like digging robot, Grypo, followed by his father, the much, much, much larger Grypapa. Next to him was the Swan-ferry that normal did tours of the lake, and one of the crane robots from the harbor. Last but not least were the two trains that routinely ran the rails around Neotopia. Each one had been controlled by the Dark Axis through their Control Horns, only to be saved by the Gundam Force.
"Wow!" Shute exclaimed.
"Our business hours are over for the day, but…" the Swan-ferry began.
"When we heard that Captain was in trouble…" Continued Train #1.
"We could not keep idly running the rails, right bro'?" Finished Train #2.
"Right!"
"We were all saved by Captain once," Grypo explained, "So we owe him! Now it's our turn to save him!"
Shute's eyes rippled. He looked ready to cry. "Everyone…thank you."
The mayor's statue placed Captain on the ground. A lid on Gunbike's side opened up, and a robotic hand popped out and placed itself on the Gundam. Behind him, a line of the mobile citizens were set up, with each one touching. While the train brothers and cranebot had their own pop-out hands, Grypo and the mayor's statue had to use both of their hands to complete the chain.
"Everyone," Gunbike ordered, "Concentrate your energy on Captain!"
With cries of "Roger!" the robots did so, and began to glow as the power transfer began. As it went on, the golden light they created began to fade, while a glow from Captain appeared and intensified. Near the end, Iyaka's pet rolled up and gave some as well. Shute and Iyaka watched in fascination at this process until they heard a voice emanate from Captain.
"Energy-charge-complete…" He said in a voice that was all-too-distant.
Shute gave a happy gasp. Laughing breathlessly, he turned to the mobile citizens and cried, "He's okay! Captain- He's, he's speaking again!"
Shute's smile fell when he saw that the mobile citizens were starting to look a little lifeless, which was quite a feat from beings that were not built to express emotion.
"Everyone…" The swan-ferry said before drooping, "Today we are…"
The mayor's statue slumped as well. "Out of…energy…"
"Grypo…" Grypapa said, "I'll leave it to you."
Grypo nodded. "I understand, papa."
"Younger brother," Train #1 said, "We need…"
"A break as well, elder brother." #2 finished.
Shute stared. "How come everyone is…"
Iyaka's toy fell over, making a putt-putt sound that cut him off.
"We're all right," Gunbike assured, "We'll be back to normal once our energy recovers. But that aside… We've got to do somethin' about their commander."
Shute glanced at the image of Commander Sazabi in the sky before throwing the mobile citizens a confident smile.
"Hey, leave it to us!" He said, "Captain and I will beat him, right, Cap…"
Shute trailed off when he saw that Captain hadn't moved.
"Hey, c'mon, Captain!" He cried, "Let's go!"
No response.
"Captain…" Shute asked, worriedly.
"Oh, it's no use, Shute!"
Kao Lyn had once again contacted them through the sidecar's computer.
"Without his Soul Drive, Captain is out of control of his functions!" The old scientists wept, "Although he may move and speak, he's like a sleep-walker! He can't wake up!"
"After all that…" Shute said softly.
"Unfortunately, yes! We must get the Soul Drive back!"
Shute stared at Captain's unmoving form. He made his decision. "I'll get it!"
As Shute put his skates back on, Gunbike said, "Shute, it's too risky to go by yourself!"
"Don't worry about me," Shute replied, "You all showed up to save Captain because you feel you own him. Now it's my turn to pay him back. After all, Captain's saved me a bunch of times, too!"
The boy began to skate off, waving as he yelled, "So I'm going now! See ya, wish me luck, bye everybody!"
As Shute went off, Grypo rolled up alongside him.
"It's too dangerous to go above ground," The digger said, "So I'll guide you through the tunnel Grypapa and I made!"
"Great! C'mon, Grypo, let's get going!"
"Roger!"
As the two set off on their trek, Iyaka waved and yelled, "Shute, I know you can do it!"
"Be careful!" Gunbike urged.
"Don't worry, everybody!" Shute hollered back, "Leave everything to me!"
Not a single one of them noticed that Captain's V-fin was slowly flashing.
-z-
"Eat this, Bakunetsumaru!" Doga Blue taunted, firing several shots from his rifle.
Bakunetsumaru, riding Entengo, dodged the beams as they galloped towards the Commando. Once they were close enough, they leapt up at the Doga, but he just went higher to avoid their attack.
Doga Purple, meanwhile, fired his missiles. "How's this!"
"I am not impressed!" Zero retorted, and did a barrel roll as he flew forward. The seeker-missiles were thrown off-course by the bizarre movement and ended up colliding with each other.
"I have no time to waste playing with you!" Zero snapped, flying towards the Horn of War, with Bakunetsumaru and Entengo close behind.
"Entengo, let's ride!" The Musha Gundam urged.
-z-
Meanwhile, Grypo had led Shute down a nearly-complete underground tunnel. They stopped at one end, where a smaller doorway was, with the words 04 SHAFT painted above.
"This place is right beneath Neotopia Tower!" Grypo explained, gesturing to the door.
Shute nodded. "Thanks, Grypo, but from here on in I'll go by myself!"
It wasn't like Grypo could've fit through that door, anyway…
"Please by careful, Shute." Grypo said worriedly.
Shute nodded. "Thanks!"
Shute skated down the hall, which led to an elevator shaft. He gazed up, awed at the height. He couldn't even see the top. Not able to find a stairway, Shute elected to use the direct approach.
Taking out his PDA, he gave a voice-command. "Magna-roller on!"
With his wheels electro magnetized, Shute set them against the wall and began to skate up.
Here I go! Shute thought.
He went up, not sure what kind of progress he was making. He soon began to get an idea, however, when he saw the parts of the Horn of War that had punctured the Tower. Shute was forced to duck and dodge the Horn as ascended. Higher up, he saw a Zako Soldier look down from another Horn piece.
"Zako?" It asked.
"Watch out!" Shute cried.
Going "Zako!" frantically, the Zako Soldier was joined by a dozen more. Chattering wildly amongst each other, the Zakos then did something rather daring, as well as silly. They jumped!
"Aaah!" Shute cried, and began to weave around the falling Zakos. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a fenced off alcove and jumped for it. Panting, he took a moment to catch his breath. However, before he could get his bearings, a hail of gunfire from Zakos across the shaft forced him to retreat further in. And then one of them fired a missile…
BOOM!
The explosion didn't harm Shute outside of rattling his eardrums, but it did knock out a good piece of the wall. Skating through the smoke and coughing, Shute went through the hole for cover. Once he was past the smoke he stopped, bent over to cough a bit more- and looked down.
"I-it's s-so h-high, h-here…" He gulped, shivering. He was on one of the Horn's branches!
"Hey!"
Shute snapped out of his brief acrophobia and turned around. It was Doga Grey!
"What are you doing here!" Doga Grey snarled, and fired his missiles.
Panicking, Shute jumped from the Horn-branch to another beneath it, and ended up rolling around it with the magna-rollers. After a few spins he was able to slow himself down and stop while on top.
"How interesting…"
Shute looked up. Doga Grey was coming down at him, firing his guns!
"Dance some more for me!" Doga Grey cackled.
Shute quickly skated towards the end of the branch, jumping off and onto the one below it. As the bullets came down just behind him, Shute rolled around the spike going under and above as he went. He skidded to a stop when he reached the end. Looking down, he saw that there was nothing else below…except the pavement miles down.
End of the road! Shute thought desperately.
"Is that it?"
Shute turned around to see Doga Grey hovering down to his leve.
"What a boring show!" Doga Grey sneered, "Oh well, if that's all- Good night, folks!"
Doga Grey released six missiles that flew at Shute. The boy cried out in fear as the projectiles came in closer, frozen where he stood. If he didn't move, the missiles would kill him, but if he did, he would fall of the Horn of War, hit the pavement and then die.
Suddenly, a spew of bullets shot up from below and hits the missiles, causing them to explode before they hit Shute. The boy winced from the heat of the blast, but was relatively unharmed.
"What!" Doga Grey snarled, and darted away when a grapple shot up and connected to a higher branch of the Horn. Looking down, he saw something pull itself up. "What in the world is this?"
The ascending thing fired several more bullets and missiles, forcing Doga Grey to fly back until one actually hit him.
"Wow!" Shute exclaimed.
Suddenly, the thing popped up and landed on the spike he was on. Shute jumped when he realized what it was; It was Captain!
"Captain!" He cried, "You came here after all! Thank You!" A thought occurred to Shute. "But, but how…?"
Captain gave no answer, save a strained groan and the orange glow of his V-fin. Shute then wondered that, even without his Soul Drive, could Captain still respond to his voice? It was possible that somewhere deep inside that robotic body, Captain was trying to make himself heard. Shute then remembered that Captain once claimed he would do anything for his friend. Was he so committed that he would force his body to move autonomously, based on the surroundings and Shute's voice?
Shute smiled and looked to the top of the Horn. "Yeah. Let's go together. We'll get the Soul Drive together!"
Shute onto Captain, gripping his V-fin like they were the handlebars of a motorcycle. The Gundam shot another grapple onto a higher branch of the Horn, and began to pull the two up. They about halfway there when Doga Grey came back, firing every gun he had.
"It's payback time!" He yelled.
"Incoming!" Shute cried, "Captain!"
Captain began to fire his gun and release missiles. Shute winced from the noise, but held on tight.
-z-
"Samurai spinning swords! Tenkyo-Ken!"
Bakunetsumaru, slicing a flaming X into the air, leapt at Doga Blue, passing him in the air.
"Nice try-" Doga Blue began when he realized that a central component had been cut and burned.
BOOM!
"Lacroa Crescent!"
Zero released an arc of magical energy at Doga Purple. The Doga Commando could not move away in time to keep it from slicing through him.
"But…it's impossible for me to be defeated!" He cried before exploding.
Zero said nothing as Doga Purple joined the fates of Dogas Blue and Green.
"Let's hurry, Zero!" Bakunetsumaru yelled. Looking at Entengo, he said, "Entengo, you wait here."
The mecha horse neighed and whinnied. He didn't like it, but he knew that he had to obey this time.
Zero, however, was staring up at the Horn of War.
"Shute!" He cried out, "Captain!"
Bakunetsumaru looked to the Horn and saw them as well. "Hang in there, you guys!"
-z-
Commander Sazabi stared evilly at the glass ball in his hand.
Now that I have the Soul Drive, I can do anything, He thought greedily, I control everything! Let's take it out for a test drive, shall we?
Sazabi began to concentrate, and dark power from his own body began fill Soul Drive. All over Neotopia, mobile citizens began to wince and writhe in pain as this vile, alien will began to supplant their own.
-z-
"My head is aching!" Leonardo moaned, bending over.
-z-
On 60th, two of the SDG's mobile soldiers dropped their shields and groaned.
-z-
"Are you all right!" Tommy asked his friend.
"Ohhh man, that smarts…" The friend grunted, shaking all over.
-z-
At the bottom of the elevator shaft Shute used, the Zako Soldiers lay in a heap as they too were filled with pain. Unhappy cries of "Zako!" echoed around the shaft. This was not what they had in mind!
-z-
Sazabi felt their pain through the Soul Drive, and it brought him never ending pleasure.
Laughing cruelly, he said into the Soul Drive, "That's right, I, Commander Sazabi will rule this world! It will all be under the control of the Dark Axis!"
His wretched revelry was cut short by the sound of someone's cries of pain. But these cries weren't coming from the Soul Drive…
Looking away from the Soul Drive, Sazabi watched as the air at the edge of the platform exploded, and Doga Grey crashed landed onto the Horn.
"What's the matter?" Sazabi demanded.
He got his answer, as with a "Wahoo!" Shute-on-Captain launched into the air, using the wall of the Horn as a ramp.
"What!" Sazabi cried.
When the Gundam landed, coming to a screeching halt, Shute glared at Sazabi and yelled, "Commander Sazabi, give back Captain's Soul Drive! Right now! And return those petrified people and plants to normal!"
-z-
All over Neotopia, people watched in shocked amazement as one boy stood up to the Commander.
In the mayor's office, Keiko's muscles tensed as she stared at the screen.
-z-
"How did Shute get into Neotopia Tower!" Bell Wood cried, his eyes wide.
So, Gunvehicle mode Captain is with him as well? Kao Lyn thought.
Gunvehicle mode was a special feature for 'Heavy Weapons' Captain Gundam, a new mode for Captain Gundam. Ever since the SDG had become aware of the Dark Axis Commander, they had commissioned new armaments be made for Captain. And thus, Heavy Weapons Captain Gundam had been made, including a larger shield that doubled as a missile launcher, tank treads that doubled as missile launchers, a special beam rifle that worked like a machine gun, and more missile launchers!
-z-
"C'mon!" Chief Haro whispered, staring up at the Horn with Juli and other SDG workers.
-z-
"Now!" Shute yelled, hopping off of Captain and glaring at Sazabi. "Give it back, now!"
"Or what?" Sazabi snapped his fingers, and couple dozen Doga Bombers flew into position above him. Shute balked at the sight of the squadron. However, they were both drawn to the sight of Doga Grey struggling to his feet.
"Uhh… I apologize, Commander," Doga Grey groaned, and took a fighting stance. It looked far less impressive than it would if he hadn't lost one wing. "Please forgive me. I will immediately defeat this…"
"How unsightly!"
That was all the warning Doga Grey thought before he was vaporized in a blast of light.
"What an idiot," Sazabi grumbled, closing up the three beam emitters on his chest and shoulders. "Why must I have to deal with insects such as this?"
"How could you do that!"
Sazabi glanced at Shute. "What?"
"He was your friend, wasn't he?" Shute asked, "You're cruel!"
"'Friend' you say?" Sazabi smirked. "Watch this!"
Sazabi threw his head back and began to fire beams from every port on his wings up into the sky. Half of the Doga Bombers were wiped out. Shute watched in horror as their screams echoed throughout the dark sky.
"Those who belong to the Dark Axis need no friends," Sazabi stated, "What we have is the one who rules, and those who are controlled. And you are those to be controlled. I am the one who shall rule you all!"
"No you won't! Never!" Shute yelled, "This world was created by all of us, together! A world where friends help each to build, not destroy! There's no way that we would ever be ruled by someone like you, someone who doesn't even have any friends!"
"But what about this?" Sazabi asked, holding out the Soul Drive. "Your friend Captain Gundam used it to put all the of other robots under his control! Now, I can control things with it as well!"
"No!" Shute yelled stubbornly, shaking his head. "The Soul Drive is used to help, not control!"
"Wrong! He used it the same way I intend to, as a control device! And I plan on using to control everyone! There are only those who rule, and those who are ruled!" Sazabi shouted.
"Captain doesn't want to rule anyone!" Shute shot back, "We never rule or are ruled by anyone, not ever! We're all friends! Friends living together!"
"That's right, Shute!"
Shute's eyes widened. Turning around, he saw, on the top of Neotopia Tower's left tower, was Keiko running up to the Horn, carrying Nana, followed by Sayla and Mayor Margaret!
"Keiko, please come back!" Mayor Margaret cried desperately.
Keiko ignored the mayor, yelling, "Mr. Captain, Mr. Zero, and Mr. Bakunetsumaru are all our friends! Everyone of us is a part of Neotopia!"
"Mom, you gotta go back!" Shute cried in alarm, "It's dangerous!"
But Keiko didn't back off. She ran to the edge of the Tower, saying, "I cannot, and will not stand by and do nothing when my precious son is risking his life!" She looked down at Nana and sighed. "It's a little hard for me not to have dad around at a time like this…" She looked back up at the Horn with an angry glare. "You can tell that Sazabi guy this! Around here, we have no need for a ruler!"
"Wow, mom…" Shute whispered.
Mayor Margaret and Sayla were soon at Keiko's side.
"I won't forgive you for turning things to stone!" Sayla cried.
"We will never allow the Dark Axis to take over Neotopia, our home!" Mayor Margaret yelled defiantly.
By Sazabi had heard enough. "You worthless bugs! Don't let this patriotism go to your head!" He gestured to the Dogas. "Destroy them!"
"Mom!" Shute screamed.
The remaining Dogas swooped down at the ladies and opened fire. The girls screamed as the bullets came down, but three blurs quickly pulled them out of harm's way.
"Are you all right, mayor?" Guneagle asked.
"Yes, thank you!" Mayor Margaret gasped in Guneagle's arms.
"Have you been hurt, Princess Sayla?" Asked Zero.
"Mr. Zero…" Sayla whispered.
On another area of the tower, Keiko found herself being set down by a strange man.
"Are you all right?"
A bit disoriented, Keiko looked up to her savior. "Y-yes…
"Dah dah!" Nana squealed.
Keiko wondered if she had hit her head. The man before her looked like he had a tennis ball for a head.
"Who are you?" She asked.
He saluted. "I am SDG Chief Haro, ma'am, at your service."
"SDG Chief Haro?" Keiko asked, then focused on one of Haro's arms. Sticking out of the left sleeve of his uniform was some kind of knotted string around his wrist. Like the kind worn by…
"Would you excuse me for a moment, ma'am?" Chief Haro asked, and scooped her up in his arms.
"Oh!" Keiko cried.
"Please, hold on tight!" Haro told her, and rushed off as the Dogas fired at him. With bullets raining down just behind him, the Chief leapt off of the Tower, dropping out of sight. The Doga Bombes flew off. Minutes later, he rose, standing on the roof of the white Gunperry. The side of the Gunperry opened up, where Zero and Guneagle gently deposited Sayla and Mayor Margaret.
"Oh, thank you so much!" Sayla giggled.
As the Gunperry flew off to safety, Zero and Guneagle looked at the incoming Doga Bombers.
Zero looked at Guneagle and said, "Guneagle, I'll leave the rest to you! I know you can handle it!"
Guneagle nodded. "Roger!"
-z-
Back on the Horn of War, three Dogas that hadn't attacked the ladies were now on their way to gun Shute down. But before they could get a decent shot lined up, a red blur leapt out of nowhere and sliced through them! As they went flying off, Bakunetsumaru landed on the Horn next to Shute.
"Sorry about making you wait, Shute!" The Blazing Samurai said.
Zero touched down onto the Horn minutes later, on Shute's other side.
"I'm back," He said, "Is Captain all right?"
"Hey! Zero! Bakunetsumaru!" shute cried happily. With a determined grin, he pointed at Sazabi. "We have to work together to get back Captain's Soul Drive!"
"Got it!"
The Commander glared at the three and summoned hi fannels. As they buzzed around him, he said, "Gundams from different nations, how interesting. I accept you challenge!"
Bakunetsumaru charged at Sazabi. "Kenpu! Tenkyo-Ken!"
The fannels fired all at once, focusing their beams onto the very center of Bakunetsumaru's flaming X. for a brief moment the two forces hung in the air before they exploded, blasting Bakunetsumaru back. Sazabi laughed evilly.
"Super Magical Violet Tornado!"
Zero sent enormous blasts of wind at Sazabi, but the Commander easily flew against them, not slowed by the air pressure.
"Is this all you can do?" Sazabi asked nastily.
"What!" Zero cried, and darted away as Sazabi flew above him.
"How sad!" Sazabi taunted, "I'd thought you'd be stronger!"
Sazabi began to fire beams from his wings, forcing Zero and Bakunetsumaru on the offensive, the Musha Gundam trying to block the assault while Zero dodged in the air. But it wasn't enough. Once the smoke from the explosions cleared away, Sazabi landed back at the door to the bridge.
"What weaklings you are!" Sazabi laughed.
Then he saw a bunch of missiles flying his way. Taking to the air, he had his fannels destroy them. But from the smoke created by the blasts, something burst out, flying at Sazabi!
"Yo!" Shute yelled, and rammed Captain right into Sazabi's chest. As the Commander reeled from the force of the blow, he let go of the Soul Drive…
…which went flying into the air…
…where it was caught by Shute, who had leapt from Captain!
Sazabi quickly recovered, and knocked Captain away. Laughing evilly, he landed back at the bridge's entrance. His laughter stopped when he looked into his empty hand.
"Haha- Wha- Oh no!" Sazabi looked around frantically before focusing his eye on Shute, who was steadily getting to his feet, wincing from the pain of his forced landing.
Shute looked at the Soul Drive and thought, We did it! Turning, he began to skate towards the overturned Gunvehicle. "Captain!"
The fannels quickly hovered in his path and began to fire. Shute yelped and ducked. After the first beam passed harmlessly over his head, another came, which Shute leapt to side to avoid. More beams were fired, but Shute was able to dodge them all.
"Just give it to me!" Sazabi ordered, landing in front of him.
"Never!" Shute yelled, stopping. "No way!"
Before the Commander could make Shute eat those words, a massive beam of light shot down from the sky between the two of them. It was coming from all over Netopia, from each mobile citizen who Captain had contacted with the Captain system. As their energy poured down, it flowed into the Soul Drive, cleansing it of Sazabi's evil influence, filling it with pure golden light.
"Wow…" Shute murmured, "The Soul Drive, it's working!"
"How dare you!" Sazabi screamed, shielding his eyes from the light. Before he could really let Shute have it, Zero and Bakunetsumaru leapt out and rammed into him.
"Shute, give the Soul Drive back to Captain! Huury!" Zero yelled, before noticing that his chest stone was glowing. A pure white object floated out of it. Huh? Fenn's feather!
Something then popped out of Bakunetsumaru a compartment in his armor. The little box opened up to reveal a toothpick that released an energy that formed into the latter Japanese character for shogun.
That emblem… The Musha Gundam thought, Dai-Shogun's gift!
Shute watched in amazement as the two glowing objects flowed into the Soul Drive. "Bakunetsumaru! Zero! Wow!"
"Go, Shute!" Bakunetsumaru yelled as he Zero tried to fight Sazabi. The Commander seemed able to fend them both of with one hand each.
"Bring the- Uh!- Soul Drive back to Captain!" Zero yelled between blows.
"Hurry!"
Shute nodded. "I'll take care of it!" Turning around, he took off for Captain.
Sazabi's eye flashed. "I won't let you do it!"
Firing off his beams, he blasted both Gundams away. Shute heard the explosion, he felt the heat on his neck, but did not look, and he did not stop. He just kept going, skating faster and faster as he homed in onto Captain. Behind him, Sazabi flew in.
"Give it to me!" He thundered.
Doing his best to ignore the Commander, Shute held out the Soul Drive, trying to get it as close as he could to Captain.
"Captain!"
-z-
Deep within the void, Captain heard that voice.
Shute!
-z-
Captain's flashed and began to change. The wheels under the shield flipped to his back along with the tank treads, and his legs and arms spun around into their rightful positions. His left hand to his gun. The right hand to the shield. The Soul Drive compartment opened.
Shute grew a wide smile. It was ready!
But he could practically feel Sazabi on his heels. Lurching forward, Shute pushed himself towards Captain, his outstretched arm so tense it was about to break off.
But just when it seemed like the Commander would catch him, Shute jumped forward and pressed the Soul Drive into the compartment! The light inside the glass ball seemed to explode as the unit reconnected with Captain, growing into a bright sphere that covered the entire horn.
Wow… Shute thought, his breath taken away as the light enveloped him.
"Noooooo!" Sazabi screamed, and found himself being blown away by the force of the light. He crashed into one of the spikes surrounding the Horn of War's top.
-z-
Deep in cyberspace, Captain awoke to find himself in a prism-like chamber. In the center of the room was a silver ball.
Is that what I think it is? Captain looked inside the orb. Inside the sphere there was a looping video of a Bagubagu stinging a flower and turning it to stone. Bagubagu!
So this was the core of the Bagubagu. From here, all of the Dark Axis' robotic insects received their prime directive. If he could change that…
Captain reached out to the orb. I must activate the Soul Drive!
Before Captain could touch the sphere, a bright light came from his chest, and two glowing objects appeared. Fenn's feather and Dai-shogun's gift floated into the silver sphere. The ball shimmered, and the image inside had changed. The Bagubagu was no longer a dark green, but a pure white. Its wings were like a bird's, and on its forehead was the kanji. It stung the stone plant it was on, turning it back into a living thing.
Captain nodded at this. Looks like the Bagubagu were adjusting to their new programming quite well. The entire room was now turning white as well.
I must get back to Shute! He decided.
-z-
All over Neotopia, the Bagubagu had lain dormant since Captain had shut them down earlier. Now, they were re-energizing, and flying about again. But as they flew, they began to change, transforming into their new angelic forms in shimmers of light. Those who had not been petrified watched in awe at this.
"What is happening?" Leonardo asked aloud, watching the White Bagubagu flutter around.
The White Bagubagu began to initiate their new directive, turning people and plants back from statues. Humans who had been petrified mid-step found themselves almost falling over as they tried to adjust to what happened. Turning to stone and back again can be quite disorienting.
"Hey!"
"What's happening?"
"What's going on?"
Leonardo heard a faint groaning from behind, and turned to see Prio turning back from stone!
"Prio!" Leonardo cried happily.
Shaking his head, Prio muttered, "What…what happened?" Then he noticed the mobile butler before him. "Leonardo!"
Leonardo couldn't stop himself. He threw his arms around Prio and sobbed as only a robot could.
"Ohh, Prio! I'm so glad!" He cried, "You are back to your old self!"
-z-
At scientists Gunperry, Kao Lyn and Bell Wood were doing a little victory dance over this most miraculous event.
"Captain's back to normal," Bell Wood sang, "All systems functional! Oh yeah!"
"And he's reversed the petrification effect," Kao Lyn added, "Woo-hoo!"
-z-
From the top of the white Gunperry, Keiko, Nana, and Haro watched as every petrified part of Neotopia became alive again. Everywhere, the field where Zapper Zaku had first landed, the lake where Grappler Gouf attacked, they were all returning to their natural states.
"Wow!" Keiko exclaimed happily, "The green is returning!"
"Looks like they did it!"
Keiko looked at Chief Haro. "What?" There was something familiar about his tone…
"I'm so very proud of the mission they've accomplished." Chief Haro sighed.
…It was almost fatherly…
-z-
"Welcome back, Shute!" Iyaka cheered, "You too, Mr. Captain!"
-z-
"Thank you!" Prio and Leonardo yelled.
-z-
As the people of Neotopia voiced their praise for their saviors, Shute stared desperately at his friend. The Gundam still hadn't moved, even as the glow was fading.
"Captain," He said, "Captain, do you recognize me? It's me, Shute!"
A buzzing noise pulled Shute's attention from his friend to the Fannels pointing at him. As they powered up, Shute gave a yell- then Captain stepped in front of him. Every port on his shield, launchers, and tank treads opened up to release blitz of missiles that overwhelmed the Fannels.
BOOM! BOOM! BA-BOOM!
As Shute watched the fireworks in wonder, a long-lost voice reached his ears.
"I'm back!"
Shute looked towards the voice.
"I've returned, Shute," The speaker said, his eyes clear and focused. "It's Captain!"
"Captain…?" Shute ran up to the Gundam. "Hey, Captain! It's great to have you back!"
"Shute, are you all right?" Captain asked worriedly.
Shute nodded vigorously. He was better than ever, now that his best friend was safe. A fearsome roar grabbed their attention. Commander Sazabi had just burst free of the spike he had crashed into. The top of the spike fell onto the platform with a thunderous thud.
"How dare you destroy my Horn of War!" he bellowed.
-z-
"Are you okay?" Zero asked wearily as he and Bakunetsumaru struggled to their two Gundams had landed on one of Neotopia Tower's tops after Sazabi blasted them away.
"Yes- Look!" Bakunetsumaru forget about his aching body as he pointed at the top of the Horn. "Captain!"
-z-
The two heroes of Neotopia stared Commander Sazabi down as the evil invader landed back at the entrance of the bridge.
"I have been granted special dispensation to use firearms to protect Neotopia!" Captain stated, his eyes enflamed. "My name is Captain Gundam of Gundam Force!"
Shute stepped up. "And Special Member Shute! Busted!"
"Dark Axis forces," Captain continued, "You must retreat from Neotopia!"
They both pointed. "Immediately!"