It's time to officially get the Zeorymer plot underway! Man, I've been itching for this one. Also some Shin Mazinger plot!


Chapter 36 – Fire, Photon Beam! The Winds vs. the Heavens!

Weeks had gone by since Masato Akitsu had been thrown into that tiny prison cell. His only way of marking the passage of time was the arrival of his three-times-daily bowl of watery gruel. At first, he had refused it, but by the fourth day, he succumbed to his hunger and ate it, trying his hardest not to gag. In between meals, he tried his hardest to amuse himself, but nothing worked...the teen slowly felt his mind slipping.

Then one day, just as Masato was at the depth of his despair, the door was opened, and the man with sunglasses, along with a Federation agent.

"So, you up for a little trip to Earth?" the man in sunglasses asked.

Masato was put in handcuffs with an unusually long cord in between them. He was then escorted out of the jail, only to be stuffed into a transport vessel that headed to Earth.

Every moment during the trip, he just sat and thought, not even bothering to look out the window at the beauty of the starry void. The only time he ever looked up was when the mysterious girl brought him some water and a small bag of nuts. He ate them without a word, not even one of thanks.

When they arrived on Earth after nearly sixteen hours, Masato was stuffed into an old van, where he was again forced to sit and wait. Two guards and the man with sunglasses sat with him, the latter sitting directly across from him.

"So, I see you've been dieting," the man said with a hint of derision in his voice.

Finally, after so many hours, Masato finally dared to speak up.

"Where are we going?" he asked quietly.

"Can't say," the man in sunglasses answered.

"Where are we now?" Masato then asked.

"Shut your yap, you talk too much," one of the guards said. The van bumped a rock as it sped along.

Masato suddenly lashed out, striking one of the guards, then with terrifyingly expert skill, wrapped the cord on his cuffs around the guard's neck and pulled his hands apart, slowly strangling the man.

"Okay, I REALLY feel like killing people now," Masato said with a devious chuckle. "A lot of people...that's what you wanted, right?" He kicked the back door of the van open.

"So, you plan to escape?" the man in sunglasses said, surprisingly unconcerned. Masato, summoning up the strength that came during an adrenaline rush, threw the guard he was strangling at the other before leaping out of the car.

"Stop!" the other guard yelled. He took aim and fired...and by some fluke, the bullet severed the cord binding Masato's hands together. He tumbled out onto the road and immediately took off running. He never bothered to look back, but if he had, he would have noticed the man in sunglasses and the two guards had never even bothered to follow him.


On board the Ra Cailum, Kamille and Four were walking down one of the hall, where Kamille detailed everything he could remember from the time after she had apparently died.

"I still can't believe you're still alive, Four," Kamille said.

"There are times I still can't believe it either," Four said, smiling. "But you've been through quite a bit yourself."

"When I felt you in my arms," the Zeta's pilot said; "I was sure you were dead, but there hadn't been enough time to bring you aboard the Audhumla to give you a proper burial."

"Now I'm glad that you didn't. The Titans must have had time to retrieve my body and return me to their Kilimanjaro lab."

"Do you remember anything about what happened between our last meeting and the day you met Ryoma, other than working for those Titans remnants?"

"I remember a light, brighter than I had ever imagined possible," the Cyber-Newtype said; "And then I heard a mournful song...a whale song. Have you ever heard a whale singing?"

"I might have heard a recording once or twice," the young man replied. "Why do you ask?"

"It was the most beautiful, haunting thing I ever heard...I wanted to hear what was making the song, so it kept me from going into the light. Everything after that is a blank."

"Hey, Kamille! Four!" Judau's voice called from a nearby hallway. ZZ Gundam's pilot came from a nearby hallway, having heard Kamille and Four talking.

"Judau! Fa!" Kamille exclaimed. "Is everything alright?"

"Chan wants to know if Four wants the psyco-control chair on the Psyco Gundam mk III removed," Judau said. "She can replace it with a conventional control system."

"No," Four answered. "It can stay. Besides, I'm used to piloting with my brainwaves at this point." This answer surprised the three other Newtypes.

"Are you sure?" Kamille asked, recalling the torment Four went through as a slave to the Titans. "Aren't you afraid that you'll..."

"It has no power over me anymore," she said confidently. "I have Ryoma and Getter Rays to thank for my freedom."

"Okay, I'll let her know," Judau said with a grin and a thumbs-up. "See ya round, Four!" With that, he went back the way he came. The three remaining kids stood around for a few moments.

"Kamille, can I have a word with Four in private?" Fa asked.

"Sure," Kamille said with a nod. "I'll go see how things are going with the Zeta, then grab a bite. See you guys, later." With that, Kamille went off in the direction Judau had gone, leaving Fa and Four by themselves.

"Four, I apologize for getting angry with you and Kamille earlier," the Methuss' pilot said awkwardly; "I should have realized that Kei was joking."

"It's fine," Four said. "I couldn't possibly be your rival for Kamille's heart, anyway." Fa gasped. So there really had been something between the two of them...yet it was clear that Four's feelings had changed during her long talk with Kamille.

"How could I compete with you," the Cyber-Newtype said, "Who spent every day - for years on end - putting his mind back together? He and I only had a few chance encounters, and one date."

"Four," Fa said, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt; "But you were..."

"Don't worry," Four said, smiling. "I'm not bitter at all. If anything, I'm happy that he's with you." Fa sighed. She really had gotten angry for nothing.

"Come on," the Cyber-Newtype said with a grin; "Let's go see what's being served in the mess hall. I heard that they're making ramen using that Akito Tenkawa guy's recipe."


Masato, after what seemed like days of non-stop running, found himself in the forest of Aokigahara, the last great wooded area in the old nation of Japan. Feeling he had eluded his captors, he sat down and sighed with relief.

But his relief didn't last long. Barely a moment after he had sat down, the ground underneath him gave way, and he tumbled down into a long, metal-lined pit. He screamed as he fell, and soon saw a whole mess of machinery, and a great yellow orb below him.

Oh no...I'm gonna hit!

But then the orb flashed, and inexplicably his descent suddenly, but gently slowed down, and he came to a stop, floating in mid-air, right above the orb.

As he got his bearings, he heard a familiar voice address him over a loudspeaker.

"Welcome to Last Guardian, Masato Akitsu."

He looked up and saw the same girl and the same man in sunglasses standing outside.

"W-what are you going to do with me?" he asked fearfully. She smiled pleasantly at him.

"You're going to be the pilot of Zeorymer," she answered in a gentle tone.

That name again. Why was it so familiar?

"What the hell is Zeorymer?" he asked.

"It's all around you," the girl replied. "Look."

He looked up and around, and saw what appeared to be the parts for a large robot - an upper torso and head, two arms, a pair of legs, and a lower torso.

"That's Zeorymer?!" Masato exclaimed, dumbfounded. "And I'm to be its pilot?"

"That was what you were born to be," the man in sunglasses replied coldly.


Further searching turned up absolutely nothing. DREAM concluded that if the Devil Gundam had been there, it was long gone - perhaps it had stationed troops there to lure those looking for it into a trap. Obviously, there was no way they could know, so they opted to drop their pursuit and instead report to the nearest Federation supply depot to restock before heading out into space to try and deal with Neo Zeon.

Meanwhile, the four newly minted Shuffle Alliance members, along with Ryoma and Four, took this opportunity to get to know their new teammates.

It didn't take long for Ryoma to run into Tara on the Nadesico, who nodded off on the couch in one of the lounges whilst reading a manga. He frowned at this behavior - how was this group going to survive if they kept dozing off?

But as Ryoma started to walk around to the other side, the sound of his heavy boots stirred her from her sleep, making him pause.

"Hey lazybones, get your ass out of that couch," he said. "Sleep on your own time."

But Tara's face suddenly went pale as she looked at Ryoma. Something buried deep in her unconscious told her to be terrified of this man.

The nightmare appeared in her mind's eye again.

She let out a small cry, turned over and buried her face in the couch cushion, praying that this man, whose mere presence frightened her to her very soul, would go away.

"Hey, what's your deal?" Ryoma said, poking her in the back. "Am I that scary-looking?"

It's okay, she reassured herself, trying to overcome this instinctual terror; Ryoma's our friend now! He's not gonna hurt me...just turn around and look at him…

Tara forced herself to turn around and look Ryoma in the face again. She was immediately drawn to his eyes - they were gray-green, and upon closer examination, one could make out a series of concentric circles forming in his irises...the eyes of one chosen by Getter.

"You promise...you won't awaken Emperor, will you?" Tara finally asked, though she again felt the "other" voice speaking instead of her own.

"Um...sure," Black Getter's pilot said, shaking his head in confusion; "But who's Emperor, and why don't I want to wake him up?"

Tara felt her terror, and the "other" presence recede upon hearing this. Without another word, she picked up her manga and hurried off somewhere else - even if the fear was gone, she was still left with a feeling of deep unease…


Aboard the Nadesico, Kouji eagerly waited as the bridge crew tried to get in touch with the Universal Century's version of Photon Power Labs. The Celestial Calendar Koji, meanwhile, stood nearby. After a few moments, the image of Juzo Kabuto, who was fiddling with something, appeared onscreen.

"Grandpa!" Kouji said. The old scientist turned to see who was calling him, and grinned when he saw his grandson's face.

"Ah, Kouji!" Juzo said. "Good to see you're okay! How is Mazinger Z treating you?"

"It's amazing!" his grandson said excitedly; "In the other world, Mazinger got some new attacks that I didn't know it had!"

"Oh?" the scientist said, raising an eyebrow in interest. "Do tell, my boy."

"It can sprout blades on the sides of its arms, making them fly even better than normal Rocket Punches! I named this new move 'Iron Cutter'!"

"Go on," Juzo said, nodding. Ruri quickly took a mental note of Juzo's behavior.

He's a little TOO interested in Kouji's fanboy behavior over Mazinger, she thought. Could he be hiding something from us?

"Then, it has a whole load of drill-tipped missiles inside its arms that it can shoot!" Kouji continued; "I figured I'd just call them Drill Missiles to save time."

"I see," Kouji's grandfather said. "Very interesting...very interesting indeed."

"Yeah...but enough about me and Mazinger Z," Kouji finally said; "The real reason I called is so that I can introduce you to the 'me' from the other world! He's wanted to talk with you ever since we got here!"

With that, Koji finally stepped into view, his eyes misty with tears...he hadn't seen his grandfather in what seemed like forever.

"Gadzooks!" the scientist exclaimed. "He really IS another you!"

"Grandpa…is it really you?" Mazinkaiser's pilot said, trying hard to hold back tears. "Are you really alive?"

"Of course I am!" Juzo replied with a laugh, puffing out his chest; "I'm not one to kick the bucket so easily!"

"I-I'm sorry. A Mazinger pilot like me shouldn't be crying." Koji said, wiping away his tears; "It's just that the Grandpa I knew was killed by Dr. Hell soon after I got my world's Mazinger Z."

Juzo's proud expression faded.

"A shame…" Mazinger Z's creator said. But then he smiled. "But I'm sure he's proud of you, wherever he is."

"By the way," Kouji interjected, "it turns out that your counterpart made Mazingers even stronger than Z!" This seemed to get Juzo's goat, as his face changed to one of leery suspicion.

"Mazingers stronger than Mazinger Z?!" the scientist sneered; "Bah!"

"The one he left for me was called Mazinkaiser," Koji explained. "With it, he said I could go beyond a god or a demon!"

"Well then," Juzo said, getting close to the screen with his scarred eye; "I look forward to meeting you in person and seeing this newfangled 'Mazinkaiser' for myself! Perhaps your captain would be willing to send data to Photon Power Labs in the meantime?"

"I don't see why not," Yurika said. "Maybe he'll discover ways to improve Mazinger Z. Ruri, would you?" Ruri nodded and began sending the data on Mazinkaiser to Kouji's grandfather.

"Anyway, I'd better go," Kouji said. "The other me and I are gonna go see how maintenance on Z and Kaiser is going!"

"Take care, grandson!" Juzo said. "You too, grandson from another world!" With that, he severed the connection, then leaned back in his chair.

So, my boy's already opened three of Mazinger Z's Black Boxes already, he thought; Regeneration, Assimilation and Metamorphosis. Once he opens all seven...I'm sure it will be stronger than that so-called Mazinkaiser!


"I must apologize for my behavior earlier, miladies," George said as he and Chibodee formally presented themselves before Princesses Nunnally and Euphemia. "I'm afraid that DG Cell possession makes one behavior rather...unbecoming. Tell me, what place do you hail from, my ladies?"

"Britannia," Euphemia said rather innocently. Both Gundam Fighters looked at each other as if Euphemia was crazy.

"I'm sorry, but I've never heard of such a country," George replied courteously. "Perhaps you mean Britain. As in Neo-England."

"Well, we're...um...how do we put this..." Nunnally said, realizing that these men weren't fully aware of the two worlds. "We're not exactly from THIS Earth."

"Come again?" Chibodee exclaimed. "You seem to be implying that there's more than one Earth."

"I guess no one explained it to you," Euphemia said with a giggle. "This ship and much of its crew come from a universe that is connected to yours by something called a Threshold."

"Okay. So where is your Britannia?" Chibodee laughed. "I guess it's a pretty small country."

"I just so happen to carry a map with me," George said. "So that I can keep track of the nations whose Gundams I've defeated." The Neo-Frenchman pulled out a paper map and laid it down on the table in between the two girls. "Can you find your country?"

"Sure," Euphie replied. She picked up a nearby pencil and began to draw on the map. She ended up circling the entire Western Hemisphere, the Arabian Peninsula and then Japan. Chibodee's jaw dropped.

"Lady Liberty's nose, are you the princesses of some sort of empire?" he exclaimed.

"Yes," Euphie replied cordially. "The Holy Britannian Empire. It was formed not long after the failed Washington Rebellion, and the later migration of the imperial ancestry to the colonies after Napoleon took over what are now the British Isles."

Chibodee couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"So, let me get this straight...the British actually WON that war?! There's NO AMERICA?! NO LAND OF THE FREE?! NO HOME OF THE BRAVE?!"

"Oh ho, so it seems Waterloo went in Napoleon's favor then," George said smugly.

"Mm-hm. I believe it was the Duke of Britannia who persuaded one of the dissident leaders, a man named Benjamin Franklin, to defect to their side..."

"...Not Benjamin Franklin!" Chibodee cried, collapsing to his knees and weeping. "Benedict Arnold, I could understand...but Benjamin Franklin?!" Nunnally and Euphie didn't expect anyone to have such an over-reaction to an event that happened centuries ago.

"Forgive me the man...it's not every day that one learns one's country never existed," George said with the slightest hint of smugness in his tone.


"Oh man, this is stuff is the BEST!" Sai Saichi said between mouthfuls of Akito's famous Martian Bowl. Domon had introduced the young Gundam Fighter to the delicious dish, and just as Neo-Japan's Gundam Fighter fell in love with the dish, so did Neo-China's.

"You really should start your own restaurant, Akito Tenkawa," Argo, who sat at the far end of the counter, said after he calmly sipped a spoonful of borscht, a red beetroot soup that was popular in both universes to Eastern Europeans. "I haven't had borscht this good since I was put in prison - and your shashlik is nothing to sneeze at, either. It's cooked to a perfect tenderness!"

"I guess there's a lot more in common with our worlds than we thought," Akito replied. "But obviously there are plenty of things that are different.

"Like the Gundam Fight," Basara chimed in. "I can't say I'm a hundred percent for it, but it's a heck of a lot better than settling our problems by throwing bombs at each other."

"That's what bugs me about Zeon," Sai Saichi said. "If they want to be independent, why don't they just field a Gundam in the Gundam Fight? If they win, they can do what they want, right?"

"Zeon doesn't work that way, Sai Saichi," Argo answered after taking a bite of the meat on his plate. "They look down on us...and..."

Suddenly, the alarms started sounding, indicating that there were enemy forces nearby, and that any available units were ordered to scramble…


Mazinger Z, Black Getter, Bolt Gundam, Gundam Maxter, Shin Getter, Lifthrasir, King Kittan, Xi Gundam, Grendizer and SUMO Gold all awaited the incoming enemies.

"We're confirming visual contact...looks like...Dr. Hell's forces!" Bright called out. Indeed, coming over the next hill was an army of Talos, with an unusual flying monstrosity - a bulky blue, red, silver and yellow robot with a head that vaguely resembled Combattler V's and wings with jet engines on them.

"But we defeated him already, am I wrong?!" Daisuke exclaimed.

"Just as I've got my counterpart, Dr. Hell has one here too, as does Baron Ashura," Kouji replied. "And there's another guy who works for this world's Dr. Hell as well..."

"I wanna know whose bright idea it was to rip off of Combattler V!" Hyoma said, annoyed.

"Kouji Kabuto! We meet at last!" a sinister voice called out, one quite different from Baron Ashura's. It belong to Count Brocken. He too, was manning a Ghoul battlefortress.

"You must be Count Brocken!" Kouji shouted back.

Argo scowled a bit when he recognized the name.

"You know that guy, Argo?" Chibodee said, surprised.

"Brocken was one of the members of the Titans during the Gryps Conflict, back when I was still a pirate. He's the one who captured me and handed me over to the Neo-Russian authorities."

"Argo Gulskii? Is that you?!" Brocken exclaimed. "My, my, what a small world this is! Not only do I find Kouji Kabuto, but the notorious space pirate whose capture was the pride of my old life! And to think, I thought I would only get to destroy Last Guardian today!"

"Groizer X-10! Talos! Attaaaaack!"

"Count! There's a powerful energy signature coming from the east!"

Swooping from the skies to the east was a silvery, vaguely humanoid mech with blue wings, a red scalp and numerous fins on its arms, legs and shoulders. On its chest was a yellow glowing orb, as well as two horns that stuck out of its head. All of the other combatants stopped to see this newcomer.

It was Lanstar of the Winds, piloted by Taiha, one of the Hakkeshu pilots of Hau Dragon, and he had finally located his prey, only to find two other forces meeting.

"Ah, it looks like I'll have a chance to warm up before I destroy Zeorymer," Taiha chuckled. "But perhaps I should deal with those two ships first...something tells me they're going to be bothersome." With that, Lanstar charged at DREAM. Lifthrasir was the only one fast enough to meet Lanstar in combat, and managed to lure it away from the rest of her companions.

"How interesting...the dove thinks it can challenge the eagle," Taiha chuckled as he moved in to attack, wrapping one of its arms in wind.

"I dunno, I always thought of myself as more of a snowy owl." Tara replied as she prepared Lifthrasir's beam tonfas.

The two mechs collided as tonfa met tornado with great force. However, Lanstar's greater size made it difficult for her to push him back. Finally, he landed a solid hit, sending Lifthrasir spiraling away.

"Hang on, Tara!" Hathaway called out. "Let me give you a hand!"

"And now a sparrow comes," Taiha chuckled.

"FUNNEL MISSILES!"

More of the psycommu-controlled missiles once again streaked through the sky. Lanstar tried to shoot them down with tornadoes, but Hathaway expertly guided the projectiles through the gauntlet of wind, hammering the Hakkeshu machine with them all. Meanwhile, he flew the Xi Gundam over to help Lifthrasir to its feet.

"Interesting...so this is one of the Federation's Gundams," Lanstar's pilot said as the two opposing machines readied their beam weapons; "It seems you're more of a shrike than a sparrow, boy."

Lanstar raised its arms, generating a pair of huge tornadoes.

"Come then, owl and shrike," he boomed; "Make this fun for me!"


It was getting to be quite an annoying pattern – the grunts would fall easily enough, but the big man on campus would prove to be a major obstacle.

Groizer X-10 would fly back and forth while dropping bombs from high above, . Anyone who got past the seemingly endless barrage of bombs and tried to attack directly got a nasty shock when they tried to get close. Bolt Gundam and Gundam Maxter had already succumbed to the rain of explosives, much to their embarrassment.

"Hold still, ya flying brick!" Ryoma bellowed. "GETTER BEEEEEAAAM!"

Ryoma's beam struck dead on, but did little more than singe its body. The menace retaliated with another volley of bombs.

"Fools! Anything beneath Groizer X-10 will be destroyed!" Brocken cackled. "Anything that gets too close will be fried! Your pathetic resistance is meaningless!"

"Come in, Kouji Kabuto," a woman's voice suddenly spoke to him through his communicator. "Come in."

"Huh? W-who are you? Now's not the best time to..."

"Listen to me," the woman's voice said coldly. "If you wish to live, you must use the Photon Beam."

Kouji had no idea who this woman was, or that if he listened, he would only be throwing himself into the hellfire of even greater battles.

"Eat this!" King Kittan yelled. He fired at the Mechabeast's engines, and actually managed to destroy one. Unfortunately, Brocken was prepared for just such an occasion.

"Groizer X-10! Descend upon these fools and their two ships!" Brocken ordered; "Destroy them AND Last Guardian!"

Groizer did a loop-de-loop which went straight into a steep dive.

"Kouji Kabuto! Answer me!" the woman yelled.

Mazinger Z's pilot now realized he had no choice, what with Groizer X-10 on a suicide run with enough explosives still in its body to make a crater ten miles wide.

"Okay...what do I do?"

"Now, follow my instructions...you must first find a knob on the left weapons panel that you haven't used yet."

Kouji looked around, and indeed, he noticed a knob that had escaped his attention up until now. It was a red knob with a little pointer arrow, with an arc divided into eight sections above it, and four wires extended out of it, threading their way into the dark. The knob automatically moved forward for ease of access.

"Okay, I see it."

"Next, lock on to the target."

Kouji quickly used his other instruments to get a lock on the falling Mechabeast...except it was weaving and swerving as it fell.

Damn it...hold still! Kouji thought, gritting his teeth. Damn it, I'll get you, Groizer, if it's the last thing I do!

Inside Mazinger, a new Black Box opened in response to Kouji's desperation. As a new power awakened in the Super Robot, Kouji suddenly saw lines extending from Groizer X-10 - lines of the future.

Wait a second...I can see it, he thought, his heart filled with excitement; I can see where it's going to move to!

"Kouji! Answer me!" the woman yelled.

"Okay, got it!" Kouji said.

"Good," the woman's voice replied. "Now, without pressing the dial, turn it all the way to the right."

"All the way?" Kouji echoed.

"Yes, all the way, you dunce!"

Kouji turned the knob as far to the right as he could. As he turned it, the colors slowly shifted from blue to green, then to yellow, then to orange, then to a deep orange, and finally to red. Mazinger Z started to emit yellow energy from the gaps in its body with greater and greater gusto as the dial was turned up more and more.

"Amazing...what power! It's gotta be on par with ZZ's Hi-Mega Cannon!"

"Now...FIRE!"

Kouji let out the loudest scream he could muster...

"PHOTOON BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMM!"

Unlike the Photon Beam of the Celestial Calendar Mazingers, this Mazinger's beam erupted with terrifying force - rivaling, if not exceeding, the power of Mazinkaiser's Fire Blaster. It struck Groizer with immense force, significantly slowing its descent – but stopping it was the objective.

Luckily, DREAM was never one to let a single member do all the work.

"Kouji, hang in there!" Kei cried as Shin Getter rushed to Mazinger's aid. It unleashed a Getter Beam, causing Groizer's descent to slow down even more.

"Put your back into it, or we're all screwed!" Ryoma yelled. Black Getter came in next and unleashed a Getter Beam of its own. Groizer's descent was now the speed of a falling feather.

"Ha, I've held up monstrosities ten times this thing's size!" Daisuke said eagerly, "Harry, let's assist them!"

"Understood!" Harry bellowed. Grendizer and SUMO Gold rushed in and unleashed a Gravity Storm and I-Field Barrier. Finally, the Mechabeast's descent came to a complete stop.

"We've stopped its descent," Go said. "But now it must be destroyed!"

"Yeah, it's no good if the things blows up this close to the ground," Ryoma added.

"Everyone, push your output to its limit!" Daisuke yelled. All of the pilots working to keep Groizer from crashing down put their weapons to their maximum output, and started to push the Mechabeast back upwards and destroying its armor.

"Hurry, hurry! Evade! Evaaaaaaaade!" Brocken cried. But Groizer's armor failed, and all the explosives still inside it went off all at once, causing it to erupt in a catastrophic fireball.

From the top of Last Guardian, the woman from Mazinger Z's first battle watched.

Kouji Kabuto has already opened four of the seven Black Boxes now, she thought. Regeneration, Assimilation, Metamorphosis...and now the power of Higher Dimensional Prediction.

And with each new one opened, Mazinger will slowly take him over...


The explosion merely served a backdrop to the duel between Lanstar and the team of Lifthrasir and Xi Gundam, which wasn't going Tara and Hathaway's way at all.

"Hey, Xemmey," Tara said as she righted the mech after another major blow; "Remember that power boost that we got during the fight with EI-01? Think you can whip that out again? I don't think I can beat this guy solo without it."

"It's impossible at the moment. I'm not quite sure as to why, but I'm sure you need another source of immense amounts of energy...unfortunately, this mech is incompatible with any that are nearby."

"I've wasted enough time toying with you," Taiha said. "Now, it ends...BONE GALE!"

But before Lanstar could attack, he saw a hatch open up out in the distance. From the hole rose another robot of similar make to the Hakkeshu mech, but its wings were much smaller. Its body was also much bulkier, and in addition to the yellow orb in its chest, there were two more, one on each hand. It had a single straight horn coming out of the top of its head instead of two curved ones.

"Zeorymer of the Heavens...there you are!" Taiha exclaimed, now completely ignoring the two white machines. The girl might have taken the opportunity to get Lanstar in the back, but Xemmey was too busy scanning the new entrant to the conflict.

"Amazing...it has the same AI melding system as the XEM-00 does," Xemmey gasped. "And the XNG-0A possesses the same system!"

"You mean..."

"Yes. Like Lifthrasir and Granlif, that machine seems to require two pilots, one AI and one human, to perform at maximum power. However, I am able to interface with Lifthrasir without ever leaving my android body...it doesn't seem like this one has that feature."

Meanwhile, inside Zeorymer, Masato looked out at Lanstar from the cockpit. The mech was extremely large, at least as tall as the Evangelions.

"A...Another robot?!" he exclaimed.

"Yes," the girl said, her voice coming from the robot's computer now. "That is one of the Hakkeshu robots...our enemy."

"What?! And you expect me to fight that thing?!" Masato cried. "There's no way I can beat it!"

"Yes, together we can!" the girl replied.

"Enough!" Taiha yelled. "It's taken fifteen years to rebuild Lanstar of the Winds after that traitor wrecked it...but it's not the junk pile he left behind! Now, BONE GAAAAALE!"

Lanstar fired a pair of powerful whirlwinds from two small but powerful fans inside its upper arms, pushing Zeorymer back. Masato strained against the force, and his hand reflexively pulled back on the lever he had grabbed, which made Zeorymer stand tall even against the super-powerful winds.

"Why?" Masato thought out loud. "Why do I already know how to pilot this thing?!"

"That's it! You're doing it, Masato!" Miku cheered.

"Wow, that thing's powerful!" Tara exclaimed as she and Hathaway backed Lifthrasir and Xi Gundam away from the battle. "I wonder who its pilot is..."

"No, it's started moving..." Taiha growled. "BLADE WIND!" Lanstar fired a pair of large, razor-sharp blades of air at Zeorymer.

Suddenly, Masato felt himself blacking out - as if someone else had suddenly took over his body. There was very little obvious change in him, but his expression became less fearful and more sinister.

But even at a long distance, Hathaway suddenly noticed the change.

That's odd, he thought; What happened to the original pilot? There's someone else in there now...

Zeorymer lurched back with a speed unexpected for such a bulky machine to dodge the attack, and then took to the air. Lanstar followed, and rushed in to punch its foe, who counterattacked with a punch of its own. The two began pushing and wrestling each other for a bit, until finally Lanstar took off.

"So...this is the power of the Heavens," Taiha said, as his thoughts momentarily turned to Yuratei, his beloved. "But...I must not retreat...I will not give up...in the name of our love, I will NOT be defeated!"

"DEATH DRAGON TYPHOOOOON!"

Six whirlwinds burst out of Lanstar, and formed into the vague shape of a serpentine dragon's head before rushing at Zeorymer. The mech couldn't escape the superstorm and was engulfed in it, raising it higher and higher. Confident in his victory, Taiha spurred Lanstar into a charge.

But Masato's other self smirked.

"I got him..."

He pressed several buttons on his control panel, causing the orbs on Zeorymer's body to glow brightly. It raised its hands up and thrust its chest out - then it sharply hit the two orbs together, immediately surrounding a huge area around it in bright light.

As Lanstar rushed in, it suddenly started breaking apart. Taiha cried out with a righteous fury, but just before he could reach Zeorymer, the Hakkeshu mech exploded in a massive, debris-filled blast, as if it had spontaneously exploded.

"I won...I won..." Masato chuckled before blacking out again for a few seconds, then regaining his usual self. He looked around, wondering what had happened, and how he knew to do all that. The boy had been thrown into a battle out of his control. What was Zeorymer? Who was Miku, really? And what was his connection to Zeorymer?

"Um...what the hell just happened?" Tara said, staring in shock. She snapped out of it and called out to the pilot of Zeorymer. "Hey, whoever is piloting that thing? I've gotta say, nice job!"

As this happened, the nearby mountain suddenly opened up, as if inviting DREAM and its forces to enter.


"Thanks for offering to resupply us," Bright said to the man in sunglasses when the two ships had landed inside the hangar at Last Guardian headquarters, which was hidden inside the mountain. "And your name was..?"

"Just call me Oki," the man in sunglasses replied. "I'm head of Last Guardian. The girl here is Miku Himuro, who serves as the secondary pilot of Zeorymer. This is Masato Akitsu, who serves as Zeorymer's main pilot."

"A pleasure to meet you," Miku said pleasantly.

"So, I've heard of your exploits, Captain Bright Noa and Commander Amuro Ray," Oki continued. "Your group, Londo Bell, is one of the Federation's greatest fighting forces, if I'm not mistaken."

"We're currently going by the name DREAM at the moment," Bright said. "Anyway, Zeorymer's power is truly immense. It surely exceeds the power of any three members of our own forces put together! To have such an ally would be very beneficial to our cause."

Hmmm...Last Guardian is a bit strapped for funding, Oki thought. Perhaps if I show it off in battle against the Federation's enemies, the military will surely...

"I don't see why not," the government agent replied. "We'll have our ways of keeping tabs on Zeorymer and its pilots, of course."

"Don't worry," the captain of the Ra Cailum said. "We'll use its power responsibly."

Responsibly? Zeorymer of the Heavens is the ultimate weapon, Oki thought. Even the Devil Gundam and Neo Zeon will be helpless against it...the responsible way to use it would be to use it to blow Char Aznable and his ilk to pieces!

Miku smiled at Masato, who awkwardly smiled back. But Amuro didn't seem to be through - he sensed that Oki was hiding something.

"If you wouldn't mind, Oki," Amuro said; "We'd like more information about Zeorymer and its two pilots. We have to know what we're getting into."

"Of course," the man in sunglasses replied. "Shall I invite the captain of the other ship to view the information?"

"Yes...but more importantly, I'd like Masato to see it as well."


Masato, Miku, Amuro, Bright, Ruri and Yurika all sat in a small movie theater in the depths of Last Guardian's base. They were watching a short film about the development of Zeorymer...and of Masato himself.

"That's you in there, Masato Akitsu," Oki said. He was referring to a jar that was in the center of the picture, attached to some sort of machinery. Behind it were five shady-looking scientists. Masato could only watch silently and contemplatively. He glanced over at Miku, who was watching silently.

The film then changed to a shot of a single cell.

"This was taken in a test tube, magnified 25,000 times," he then explained. "Now, we speed up the time frame..."

The cell begin to divide over and over until it resembled an early-term human fetus.

"So, that's it?" Masato exclaimed. "I'm a test-tube baby?"

"You were the most carefully bred person in the world," Oki said; "Bred for only one purpose."

So, they're developing something like Coordinators here too, Amuro thought; Or perhaps he's a new kind of Cyber-Newtype…or...

"...To be the pilot of Zeorymer," Miku said. "We told you that already, didn't we?" Masato gasped, and stared at his hands.

He's like me, Ruri thought; I was bred for the sole purpose of being the Nadesico's engineer. But Oki would treat him like an object...just another piece of Zeorymer. I won't allow that!

"If I may interject," the girl said, rising to her feet.

"What is it, Miss Hoshino?" Oki asked.

"If we're going to allow you to monitor Masato Akitsu and Miku Himuro," Ruri answered; "There's something I insist you allow us to do."

"And that would be?" the head of Last Guardian then said, raising an eyebrow.

"To treat them as human beings," the Nadesico's engineer said. "You probably only view them as components for Zeorymer, don't you?"

"And if I do?" Oki said.

"So what?" Masato added dejectedly. "That's all I am." Ruri climbed over her seat and got in Masato's face.

"You had a life before this, didn't you?" she said; "You had a life as Masato Akitsu before you became Zeorymer's pilot, right?"

"I…I..." Masato stammered. "I…"

"Then you deserve to live as the human being you are," Ruri said.

"And if we refuse?" Oki interrupted.

"Then Last Guardian can kiss its funding goodbye," Ruri said. Amuro smirked a bit - he had anticipated such a response - and this was why he had brought her.

"What makes you say that?" the head of Last Guardian inquired skeptically.

"How are you going to convince the Federation's top brass that Zeorymer will be useful if it doesn't see any action against their enemies?" the girl retorted. Oki started to answer, but was cut off by Miku.

"It's true," the secondary pilot of Zeorymer said; "Last Guardian has been forced to scrape the bottom of the military's money barrel these past few years." Oki scowled at her, but finally seemed to relent.

"Fine...do whatever you want," he growled; "As long as the Federation can see it in action, I don't care." Miku smiled at Masato again.

Miss Hoshino, the girl thought; The only way you could have understood Masato's needs so well was that you're the same as he is.

"Don't worry, Masato," Ruri said, smiling the slightest bit. "I don't think it'll matter to everyone else that you were born like that - but the other captains and I will keep quiet about it just to be sure."

"Th...thanks," Masato said, blushing with embarrassment.


And that's it for this chapter! See you next time, mecha fans!