HuniePop Space Adventures
Chapter 8: Far From Home
The softness of my bed was like pure heaven to me. Then again, it had been so long since I had slept. And it was always the best when I was with my boyfriend, Max. However, as I gently stirred awake and I opened my eyes, something seemed completely different. Like there was a dash of pink in front of me. I picked my glasses up off of the table next to the bed and put them on. Sure enough, laying in the bed was Zero Two, who had her hand on her head and a smile on her face. The sight of her in bed with me made me jump and yelp in fear and confusion, which made Max turn and put an arm over Zero Two.
"What is it, Honey?" he said. But he suddenly started feeling on Zero Two's arm before he fully woke up. Zero Two turned to him and gave a smug look, which made him stumble back in surprise and accidently hit his head on the table behind him. Zero Two simply laughed at the scene that had just unfolded before us.
"Oh, my gosh. You two are so funny!" she said.
"What the hell is wrong with you? What are you doing in our bed?" I asked. Zero Two just stood up and hopped off of the bed, adjusting her hair a bit.
"I just wanted to see how a couple wakes up first thing in the morning."
"You couldn't have sat in the chair? Or, I don't know, ASKED ME?" I said. Zero Two just smiled at me.
"You two are fun," she replied before exiting the room. Neither me or Max said anything to that, although Max did let out a small "ow" before he got back up. After we had gotten dressed, we headed to the mess hall, where the rest of the team was eating breakfast. We got our food and sat down beside Zero Two who started pouring some kind of blue syrup all over her breakfast. And I don't mean she drizzled a bit on top, I mean she straight up DROWNED her breakfast in syrup. After almost ten seconds of her pouring, Amki finally spoke up.
"Oh, please, by all means! We're not gonna have any!" she said sarcastically. Zero Two stopped pouring and handed to bottle to her.
"Want some?" she asked.
"No thanks," Amki said. Zero Two just shrugged and put the bottle down before she picked up a piece of meat with her bare hand and she stuffed her face full of it, the syrup dripping down her chin. After she had eaten it, she started to LICK HER HAND to get rid of the excess syrup.
"There is SILVERWARE and a NAPKIN right in front of you, Zero Two!" I said. Zero Two just ignored me and picked up the syrup bottle.
"This stuff is really sweet. What exactly is it?" she asked. As she prepared to pour more syrup onto her meal, Celeste swiped it out of her hand.
"This is bloonberry syrup. It's a delicacy to many different species on several different planets. And I would prefer it if you didn't waste it," she said.
"Yeah, Zero Two has a massive sweet tooth," Hiro said, sitting next to Zero Two.
"In either case, it's common manners to use silverware to pick up your food and to use a napkin to wipe your hands."
"So, how have things been going with everyone?" Max asked.
"Well, in the last five days, we've been able to fall beneath the Overlord's radar and both Hiro and Zero Two have excelled in their training, as well as their understanding of this dimension's Earth. Right now, we are on our way to Space District 46 for refueling and restocking our inventory. There are also several different stores in case if there's anything that anyone needs to keep themselves entertained during our voyage out here. You'll each be given 1000 credits to help accommodate for expenses," Celeste explained. As she was saying this, Zero Two continued to eat her food with just her hands.
"Zero Two, can you please eat with the fork?" Hiro asked.
"Jeez, I wonder how she even eats ice cream," I said, under my breath. Zero Two immediately stopped eating and came over to me, getting uncomfortably close to my face.
"What's ice cream?" she asked.
"You know, it's… Wait, you don't have ice cream on your Earth?!"
"I've never even heard of it. What is it?"
"Oh my God, it's like SO good! It's this frozen treat made from milk that is usually a snack or a dessert, and it comes in SO many different flavors!"
"What kinds of flavors?"
"Let's see… There's chocolate, strawberry, mint chocolate chip, cookie dough…" I said. As I said each of the flavors I could think of, Zero Two's mouth began to drool in anticipation.
"Zero Two, please stop your drooling," Celeste said.
"I'm sorry, but just hearing about this special kind of treat is so enticing! Darling, we should try it!" Zero Two said.
"OK, slow down. I mean, we aren't going to stay here long. Well, we could stop by Earth and try it before we leave. Speaking of which, how are things going with finding a way home for us?" Hiro asked. The entire room fell silent and everyone seemed… guilty and upset. After a moment of silence, Celeste finally spoke up.
"Hiro, there's no easy way to say this and I'm sorry that I have to say it: We've run several different scenarios to try and find a way to breach the dimensional barrier again, but they've all come up negative," she said. Hiro looked a bit distraught.
"Well, what about recreating the explosion that brought us here in the first place?" he asked.
"That's both reckless and too risky. We don't have enough explosions to recreate the blast and we don't know how powerful the blast was. And even if we did, there could be high chance that you both could die in the explosion if something goes wrong," Max said.
"Plus, even if we could breach the barrier, we wouldn't know if you would actually get home or end up in another dimension. It just raises too many questions," Eva said. Hiro hung his head in his hands and sighed.
"So, what you're saying is that were staying is that we're stuck here even though you said you'd get us home?" he said.
"I said that we would do everything in our power to TRY and get you home, if we COULD. I didn't say that it would be that simple or that there was a guaranteed way," Max said.
"Yes, and neither human nor any known alien species is capable of multiverse travel. Granted, we still have a number of other ways to try, but at this point, I don't see any possible way to get you back to your home dimension," Celeste said.
"Well, it's not the worst thing in the world," Zero Two said, continuing to eat her breakfast.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Hiro asked. Zero Two just shrugged.
"They said they would help us and they are. If we can't get back to our home dimension, then that's that."
"That isn't the point, Zero Two. We have a home we have to-"
"So, what other kinds of desserts do you have on your Earth?" Zero Two asked me.
"You don't just change the subject like that! That's rude!" I said.
"Also, can we stop calling her Zero Two? I mean, what the hell does that even mean? Is it like a code name or something?" Amki asked.
"It's the name she was given and that's not really what-" Hiro started to say.
"I actually agree with Amki. Zero Two is a good code name in the field, but she needs a proper name," Max interrupted.
"How about Zoe? It's a popular girls' name on Earth and… I'm encouraging this, aren't I?" Odango said.
"Actually, I was the one who started it, so that's on me," Max said apologetically.
"Can we please focus on the matter at hand?!" Hiro insisted.
"Zoe… I like it!" Zero Two said, completely ignoring him.
"I mean, yeah, it is a good name, but I really don't think we should be starting something inappropriate," I said.
"No, it's fine! I mean, I still like my regular name, but 'Zoe' has this ring to it. Darling, what do you think?" Zero Two asked. Hiro's only response was to angrily slam his fist on the table, which made the room fall into silence again.
"Can I speak to you? In private?" Hiro asked gruffly before getting up from the table and storming off. Zero Two took a look back at the rest of us before she got up and followed him, leaving the rest of us still speechless.
"Well, he's pissed," Amki finally said.
"YA THINK?" the rest of us said.
Hiro's perspective
I opened the door to our room and went in, trying to calm myself down and keep my composure as Zero Two entered the room after me.
"So, what did you want to talk about, Darling?" she asked. I just stood in silence for a few seconds and sighed deeply.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked.
"Why am I doing what?"
"Acting like we belong here."
"I'm not acting like we belong here. I'm just trying to make conversation and be friendly."
"Look, I know that you mean well, but… we don't belong here," I said, looking back at her.
"Well, if they can't get us home, we might as well belong here, Darling. Don't look at this like it's a bad thing. We're alive and they were kind enough to help us out. Plus, we're far stronger than we've ever been before!" she said.
"And I'm grateful for that. But, if there's even a chance that we can go home, we need to-"
"Ugh, spit it out, Darling! Why do you want to go back to our Earth so badly?"
"How come you don't?!"
"I never said that. But you heard what they said. There's a very slim chance that we even CAN go home. If we can't, we need to make do with it."
"OK, yes! They said there was a slim chance, but it's still a chance! Whatever risks that there are, we should take it!" I said. Zero Two gave me a stern look.
"You would wager our own lives just to do so?" she asked.
"If it means that we can see our friends again, then maybe! I mean, I wouldn't wager our lives but if we have a chance, then we should seize the opportunity!"
"Darling, let me make something clear to you. We're alive. And I'm not going to wager our lives if we have only a slim chance of survival. You need to stop obsessing about it, OK?" Zero Two said, before she turned to leave.
"How could you be so selfish?" I asked. Zero Two immediately stopped and turned back to me with a look of anger.
"I'm being selfish? I'M BEING SELFISH?!" she yelled at me.
"Yes, you are! Our friends are probably worried sick about us! If we do this, then we can be with them again. Live our lives with them!"
"Darling, they most likely think that we're dead. If we risk our lives like this, that will become a reality! And I don't wanna take that chance! Why do you?!"
"Because we made a promise to them. We promised the Squad that we would come back! Ichigo gave us orders to come back alive! Do you remember none of that?!"
"Yes, I do. But, with all due respect Darling, that wasn't a promise we could keep. And even if it did work, the others said that there's no way of telling if we'll actually end up on our Earth or a completely different one. And what do we do then? Risk our lives again until we DO end up on our Earth?"
"If we have to!"
"Darling, its sounds to me like YOU'RE the one who's being selfish! Max, Nikki, Celeste, the rest of this team, they found us when nobody knew that we were out here! And if they say that there's no possible way for us to get home, then we shouldn't risk our lives!"
"And you BELIEVE them?" I said. Zero Two gave me another angry look.
"Oh, that's rich!" she said sarcastically.
"What?"
"Do you think they're holding us here against our will?! I'm the one making the decisions for myself. And you're letting yourself make decisions that are dangerous and stupid! If we have to live on the Earth in this dimension, then so be it!"
"That's exactly the point! We would be living on an Earth where nobody knows us and we would have no idea where to go! Is that what you want?"
"Frankly, I would actually prefer to live on an Earth that's still full of life as compared to HELL that we left behind! And if you can't accept that, then what the hell makes you think I would go along with anything you think?!"
"WELL, THEN MAYBE I'D BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU!" I yelled in rage. But my anger quickly subsided when I realized what I had just said. Zero Two just stood in front of me in silence, tears running down her face. After a while, she turned away from me and headed for the door.
"Zero Two…" I started to say, reaching for her arm. But she suddenly gave me a backhand slap across the face with the tears running down her face.
"DON'T! EVEN!" she yelled before she turned back and walked out the door. The tears began to run down my face as I held my face in pain and frustration.
"I didn't mean that…" I said quietly.
Max's perspective
After a few minutes of space travel, we had finally reached Space District 46. When the bay doors opened, me and Nikki saw that Celeste wasn't kidding about it being a popular spot. It was like a giant shopping mall with many different alien species walking throughout the district and either socializing or browsing the shops for anything they would've wanted. And the air smelled so clear that the scent of different foods was carried all throughout the district. Nikki deeply inhaled the scent and breathed out in relief.
"Oh man, whatever they're cooking out there, it smells really good," she said. I admit, it was really nice to finally be somewhere that was very peaceful as opposed to the usually chaotic settings we had before. Plus, we weren't being relentlessly pursued by the Overlord or any of his crusaders. Before I could say anything, Zero Two ambushed Nikki from behind with a hug and a smile.
"Sooooo, what are we doing first?" she asked.
"Well, we were thinking of walking around and checking out any bookstores we can find. Then we could see if there are any sweet shops and then we could just go from there," Nikki said.
"Yeah, but Celeste said we need more food and supplies, so we need to stop by the food market and appliance store too," I replied.
"How about we all go together?" Nikki asked. However, when Hiro came up from behind us and stood to the left of me, Zero Two gave him an angry look and Hiro looked extremely guilty.
"Actually, I think that we should have some 'girl time', just you and me. Come on, Nikki!" Zero Two said with a smile before she tugged on Nikki's arm and they headed toward the shops, leaving me and Hiro to stand there. After a while, we too went towards the shops to try and find supplies. As we made our way through the crowd, though, Hiro didn't speak a word to me. After almost 5 minutes of complete silence from him, I finally spoke up.
"Is something happening between you two?" I asked.
"How could you tell?" he replied.
"Dude, she gave you an angry look. Don't act like I couldn't tell."
"It's just… we're going through some things."
"I don't buy that. She seemed really pissed at you," I said. Hiro just sighed and sat at the top of some stairs, staring out at the crowds of people passing by and I sat down beside him.
"We just got into this argument about whether we should head back or not. It just spiraled out of control and then…" Hiro said.
"And then what?"
"I… told her that I would be better off without her."
"You didn't mean that, did you?" I asked. Hiro just stared out sadly at an alien couple showing affection to one another.
"I didn't mean to…"
"Did you at least apologize to her?"
"She didn't want to hear it."
"Well, then you need to make an effort to do so later. Let her know that you didn't mean to say it and that you're sorry."
"Look, why do you care?! She actually wants to stay here because you said that we might not have a way home! You promised us that you would help us find a way back to our Earth!" Hiro said angrily. I just let out a small sigh in sadness.
"I never promised you that. I said that we would TRY to find a way for you to get home. If I promised you that, it would become a promise that I wouldn't be able to keep," I said. Hiro's expression softened and he hung his head in despair.
"I think that it's just pointless now. She'll probably never want to talk to me again," he said.
"That doesn't matter. You still need to apologize to her, even if she doesn't want to hear it. You'll feel a whole lot better with yourself."
"And then what? We just forget about our Earth? Our friends?"
"I'm not asking you to forget. I'm asking you to move on. Can you do that?"
"I guess that I could," Hiro said. I smiled and stood up.
"Let's see if we kind find some food and supplies. We can talk more on the way," I said. Hiro smiled and also got up as we made our way further into the district.
Nikki's perspective
The halls of the bookstore me and Zero Two were in were rather quiet as I was searching the shelves for anything of interest. Videogames were usually more of my hobby, but I did usually read once in a while. Zero Two was quietly sitting at a table and reading one of the books she had picked out, which was called "The Adventures of Jenny Jupiter". It was a popular light novel and manga series back on Earth that was about a woman who had to fight off space monsters while hooking up with this guy she met and fell in love with. The series was often well advertised and sold a lot of copies and I even heard that it might get an anime series at some point. After I had picked out a few books that I found to be interesting, I sat down beside Zero Two, who had her head buried deep in that book.
"This Jenny Jupiter character is very intriguing," she said.
"Well, I wouldn't know. I haven't read the series that much," I replied.
"She's just so adventurous and carefree and brave. Like… me, I guess. Makes me wonder if the guy who wrote this was actually writing about me," Zero Two said. Both of us laughed at that remark, only for it to fall silent between us again for a while.
"Soooo, uh, are we gonna talk?"
"I thought we were talking."
"No, not about that. About you and Hiro," I said. Zero Two just gave me an upset look before she turned back to the book.
"There's nothing to talk about."
"Are you sure? It looked like you were really angry at him."
"He just wishes to risk his life in order to get back to our Earth and I told him that I wasn't onboard with that idea."
"Is that it? It seems like you're mad about more than just that."
"Look, Hiro wishes to risk his life in order to get back home and he said that he would be better off without me. So be it!"
"And you're just OK with that?!" I asked. Zero Two looked up from her book and gave me a sad look.
"If he wants to go back even if it kills him, I won't stop him. It's what he wants," she said.
"And I respect that, but sometimes what someone wants isn't always the right thing. I mean, you're both a couple, right? You shouldn't want him to risk his life, you should be asking him to rethink it!"
"That's just the thing. What if I end up pushing him even further away if I DO talk to him? If he feels like he would be better off without me, then I'm afraid that talking to him would make it worse."
"Well, did he look like he regretted saying that?"
"A little…"
"Then there you go! If it looked like he felt hurt after saying that, then he still loves you!"
"Look, no offense, but what exactly would you know about love?"
"A lot more than I ever thought that I would."
"Oh?"
"When I was younger, I shut myself out from people. I thought that being alone would be the best way for me to find happiness. But it wasn't. I felt so… empty and lost. But when Max came along, he showed me that being lonely wasn't the answer. He was so sweet and kind and was always willing to talk to me if I ever needed to. Whenever I was around him, I felt like a whole different person. A better person. One who could open up to others and be more friendly. But we both knew that it came with a condition: We would have to accept each other's faults, no matter what they were. There would be times that we would get angry at one another and we felt that being away from each other would be the best thing to do. But I knew that if I let him go, I'd be throwing a piece of myself away that I could never get back. But, we always found a way back to each other. My point is… if you let Hiro go through with this, you're gonna feel so horrible with yourself that you won't know how to move on! So let him know that you don't want him to do this to himself!" I said. Zero Two just lowered her head in silence before looking back to me.
"Are you sure that'll work?" she asked.
"Honesty. That's what got me and Max through the rough patches."
"Well, I guess that I could try."
"There's no try. There's only do or don't. If you love each other so much, you'll find your way back into each other's arms," I said. Zero Two suddenly got extremely close to my face and stared at me with her bright, cyan eyes. Before I could ask what was wrong, she licked my cheek. I winced and held my cheek in disbelief, but all she gave me was a smile.
"You taste sweet. I like that about you," Zero Two said before she sat back down and began reading her book.
"So, on an unrelated note, how's that book coming?"
"It's pretty good so far. Except for one thing: What exactly are these doing?" Zero Two asked, showing one of the illustrations in the book. But, when I saw it, I immediately yelped and covered my eyes. The illustration was of the main character, Jenny Jupiter, buck naked and getting… ahem… "bonked" by her boyfriend. I gently regained my composure and sat up, my face still bright red.
"They're… um… having sex," I said.
"What's that?"
"I'd… rather not say right now."
"I think I'm gonna buy this! Be right back!" Zero Two said as she sped off to the cashier. I tried to stop her, but she was too fast and I was left there, covering my face in embarrassment. After about 5 minutes, we had left the bookstore with way more than we originally wanted. Zero Two ended up buying 5 volumes of the Jenny Jupiter manga and 3 volumes of the light novel series as well as one other book I didn't see.
"WHY did you need to buy all of this? One or two would've kept us occupied for the rest of the trip," I said. Zero Two just shrugged.
"It's just so interesting. I might be done with one or two in a day."
"And what about that other book you bought?" I asked. Zero Two just reached into the bag and pulled the book out. On the cover of the book was the title, "The Beast and the Prince" and the picture of a woman with wings and horns.
"Is this a kids' book?" I said, taking the book from her and reading it a bit.
"You're not gonna believe this, but… that was actually a book from my Earth that I had as a child," Zero Two said, making my eyes widen.
"No kidding?"
"Yeah. It was one of my favorite possessions that I had when I was a test subject."
"Test subject?"
"It's a long story, but, I was created in order to operate a weapon that was only accessible by klaxosapiens. Because of my appearance, people saw me as a monster. And then, one day, this little boy came and tried to free me."
"Hiro…"
"He didn't look at me like a monster. But when we were trying to escape, we were caught and had our memories erased. Even after that, I still had fragments of my memories about Hiro wanting to be my Darling. When I met him again, he still didn't see me as a monster, even when the rest of his Squad didn't see me as human."
"Well, we're all human on the inside, aren't we?"
"I guess so… but, you and Max, Celeste and the others… you saw us as human firsts, not monsters or aliens. That makes you all great friends."
"I… guess it does," I replied, giving the book back to her. Zero Two placed the book back into her bag and then walked back in front of me.
"So, what's this thing called 'sex' you didn't want to talk about earlier?" she asked, making me blush.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"I'm not going to stop asking until you tell me."
"It's… a way of showing love and giving… pleasure to your partner. And it's… a way of making babies. It's complicated," I said.
"Hmmm, interesting. I think I might try it some other time with hi… OOOH, sweet shop!," Zero Two said, grabbing my hand and dragging me toward the shop.
Max's perspective
As me and Hiro were making our way back to the Centurion with the supplies we had bought, we both grabbed some drinks and sat down at a bench, looking out at the crowd.
"Wait, so you were chosen to fight what now?" Hiro asked me.
"The Nymphojinn. There like these supernatural beings that awaken every ten thousand years because they get all hot and bothered. It's a thing," I replied.
"And you beat them how?"
"With love and passion. But, enough talk about me. What about you?"
"Oh man, where do I start?"
"How about when you first met Zero Two?" I asked. Hiro just sighed and slouched a bit.
"She was a test subject that APE was trying to create in order to access a weapon that the klaxosaurs made. I was able to break her out, but we were both caught and our memories were erased. The second time I met her was when she was swimming in a lake. She was so beautiful with those two alluring horns of hers and…" he said.
"Wait, wait. Was she naked?"
"Uh… yeah, she was. But, I swear, I didn't mean to see her like that on purpose!"
"Whoa, dude, I didn't mean to ask it like that. Anyway, go on."
"My lifelong dream was to pilot a FRANXX. But, when I ingested Zero Two's blood as a child, it left me unable to. I figured that I would be just useless and I would never get the chance to be of use to my friends."
"But Zero Two was the only one who could actually pilot with you."
"She had this reputation as the 'Partner-Killer'. Every other partner she had always died after the third ride. I was the only one strong enough to pilot with her more than that. It felt like I was always free when I was with her."
"So why leave her at all?" I asked.
"It's not that I want to! I just… really want us to find a way home so we won't be a bother to you. But I guess that doesn't matter anymore," Hiro replied.
"Why is that?"
"I made a promise to her that we would talk out our problems and always be together. But I just broke that promise today. And I have to live with it."
"Look, no relationship is ever perfect. There are times when I got angry at Nikki and she got angry at me, but we always came back to each other no matter what. And you're still here with Zero Two. If you love each other that much, she'll forgive you and come back to you. You can never be apart from those you love," I said. Hiro sat back up, smiling at me.
"You know, you're probably, like, the first person who's ever helped me to understand my feelings. I feel like I might be able to talk to her again. If she'll let me, that is," he said.
"You're a good man. And frankly, Zero Two couldn't have asked for a better partner," I said. Without any warning, a loud explosion went off and the crowd began to shout in fear and confusion. Hiro and I left our bags on the bench and ran toward the source of the explosion, where a group of the district's police were circling the blast zone. The streets went completely quiet as the police pointed their guns towards the center of the blast zone until a rather familiar face leapt out of the smoke and viciously mauled one of the cops to death. It was Malicus, one of the Overlord's minions. He suddenly stood back up, the blood on his arms dripping to the floor, and attacked another officer. But as he was about to bring his claws down, I quickly grabbed his arm and punched him away.
"Who's that guy?" Hiro asked as I helped the officer up.
"Malicus. He's one of the Overlord's pawns," I replied. Malicus stumbled back to his feet and lunged at me again, relentlessly attacking both me and Hiro. I was able to counter each of his attacks, but Hiro was unable to keep up and was thrown to the side. Before Malicus could sink his claws into my face, I grabbed his hand and forced him to his knees, nearly crushing his hand.
"Foolish human… You think that you can hide from the Overlord's wrath?" he asked.
"Funny you should ask that. I intend to put an end to his rule and rescue the universe from this madness of his," I replied. But before I could punch him, something hit me from the side and knocked me away into one of the stands in the streets. As I was recovering, another figure walked out of the smoke and stood over me. It was Philip. Except his armor looked a bit banged up and he had a scar running down the left side of his face.
"Oooohhh, you look like you've seen better days," I said.
"Yeah, well, that's all thanks to you, pal. Lucky for you, the Overlord didn't say that I couldn't beat you up a bit before we bring you in!" Philip replied, putting his boot on my neck and beginning to strangle me. But Hiro came in from behind and hit him with the butt of the rifle from the dead cop and helped me back to my feet.
"Looks like you have quite the reputation with the Overlord," Hiro said as Philip and Malicus got into battle ready stances.
"You take Malicus. Philip's all mine," I said cracking my knuckles. Both me and Hiro ran towards the two of them, with me and Philip's fist slamming into each other and creating a shockwave that knocked everyone back.
Zero Two's perspective
I accidentally bumped into some of the people on the streets as I made my way back to the sweet shop where Nikki was. Just as she was finished with buying something, I came back in the door and stood in front of her, acting like I was standing there the whole time. I didn't do a very good job though because she could tell something was up.
"Where'd you go?" Nikki asked.
"What are you talking about? I've been here the whole time," I said.
"Really? 'Cause you sound like you're out of breath by running from somewhere other than here," she replied as we walked out the door.
"OK, you got me. I wanted to get Darling a gift, so I stepped out real quick to try and find something for him."
"Yeah? What'd you get him?"
"That's a secret I can't share yet."
Well, I got you something," Nikki said, taking out a jar of lollipops and giving it to me, which I took and immediately hugged.
"How'd you know?!" I asked, putting the jar in my bag.
"Hiro told me that you liked them. So, you gonna tell me what you got him?"
"Mmmmm, maybe some other time."
"What, just because I told what sex is, you're not gonna tell me what you bought him?" Nikki asked, making me laugh for a bit.
"Hey, thanks for coming out here with me. I'm glad that we got to know each other a bit."
"Don't mention it. I mean, shopping and talking to each other is what most human girls do on our Earth. I'm actually glad that we got to do this."
"If you don't mind me asking, what else is normal for humans on your Earth?" I asked.
"Where do I start? Going for a swim at the beach in summer. Enjoying the blooming flowers in spring. Admiring the wonderful colors of the leaves in autumn. Having a mug of hot cocoa on a cold day in winter. Looking up at the starry sky at night. There's a lot of things to do throughout the year," Nikki said, looking up. I looked up at the stars as well, taking in how beautiful it was.
"I'll bet that it's beautiful."
"Yeah. But it's always the best when you're with your friends or loved ones."
"Aw, how sweet… I despise sweet," a voice said behind us. Both of us turned around and saw two female aliens standing behind us. One was wearing a skin-tight suit and a face mask and holding a whip while the other had plants covering one of her arms.
"Friends of yours?" I asked.
"Hardly. They're Selene and Zekxsie, emissaries of the Overlord," Nikki replied.
"And who might you be?" Selene asked me. I just smirked and gave Nikki my bag.
"The one you didn't count on," I said, rushing toward the two and launching myself into a kick. Selene, however, dodged my kick and knocked me to the ground. I barely had time to get back up before she grabbed me by the neck and held me up.
"Not a bad attempt for a novice fighter. But I'm more experienced than you could possibly fathom."
"Who says I was trying to hit you?" I replied. Nikki then fired a plasma blast at Selene, making her release me, and Nikki threw my electrostaff at me. After I had deployed it, I began to fight Zekxsie, who had transformed her hands into plant-like blades. I used just a few days of training to my advantage and was able to knock Zekxsie to the ground, but she turned her hand into a bunch of vines and knocked me back to the ground. Nikki took her own shot at fighting her, but Selene wrapped her whip around Nikki's neck and pulled her back. As I leapt back onto my feet, Zekxsie grabbed me and threw me through a wall and straight into Darling, sending the two of us flying into a store. Darling rubbed his head before looking down at me.
"Hey, Darling! How are you?" I asked.
"Uh, pretty good. So, uh, are you still mad at me or-?" Darling started to say.
"Now's not a good time, Darling!" I said, leaping back onto my feet and running out the broken window. I nearly got stabbed by an arm blade from one of the attackers before Darling grabbed me and pulled me back before I did get stabbed, making us fall backwards. The attacker stood above us and stared with his hideously scarred face.
"So where did Max find you freaks?" he asked. I only gave him an angry look as he brought the blade down, but Max quickly grabbed his arm and plunged the blade into the ground.
"Don't call my friends freaks, Philip," he said before punching him away into one of the stands. As he got ready to charge back into the fight, I jumped in front of him and redeployed my staff.
"How about we switch opponents? I have a bone to pick with this guy anyway," I said. Philip climbed out of the wreckage and I engaged in another fight against him, dodging a punch from him and using my staff to hit him under the chin. Philip, in a fit of rage, constantly tried in vain to stab me, but he couldn't land a single hit on me until I jumped out of the way and he hit Malicus instead, who had snuck up behind me. After he staggered backwards, I hit Philip square against his face, causing one of his teeth to go flying. I then kicked Malicus in the forehead, which knocked him unconscious. As Philip stumbled to his feet, Darling fired a bunch of shots at him, which bounced off of his armor and knocked him back a bit.
"So… are you still mad at me?" Darling asked as Philip got back onto his feet.
"Still not a good time, Darling," I said as I rushed in and attacked Philip again.
Nikki's perspective
Selene's whip came within inches of my face before I managed to land a plasma blast on her face, slightly breaking her mask and knocking her to the ground. Before she could coil her whip around my neck, Max caught it and pulled her towards us before he punched her away. A bunch of vines suddenly came up and held Max's arms down before Zekxsie grabbed him by the face and threw him into one of the stands in the streets. She then turned her attention to me and we both began creating different melee weapons to try and match each other, only for the both of us to be evenly matched until we got into a lock.
"Look, you don't have to do this, OK?" I said, trying to talk her down.
"No hard feelings, Ms. Cerulean, but I've got a job to do and a position to uphold, so how about you just give us what we want?" Zekxsie said as she nearly got me to the ground.
"I mean, I would. But I don't think he wants to give it to you," I said. Max suddenly fired his grappling hook at Zekxsie and yanked her backwards into a fire. Zekxsie yelled in pain for a bit before she fell to the ground, unconscious.
"That was your comeback line?" Max asked as he walked up to me.
"I couldn't think of anything clever. Sorry," I replied. I noticed that Philip was still getting roughed up by Zero Two and Hiro, but he was starting to get the upper hand again as he was starting to counter Zero Two's attacks.
"Seems like they need some help. Got anything special whipped up for him?"
"I actually do. I've always wanted to try this!" I replied. I created more armored leggings for my suit and got into a running stance, building power. After I had built up enough power, I took off at high speed and ran throughout the entire district before I came back to Philip and started to rapidly bludgeon him with my mace, each time from a different direction in order to try and confuse him. Sure enough, Philip was unable to counter any of my attacks and all he could do was simply cover his head in order to block out my attacks. Just when he thought that he could land an attack on me, I dodged out of the way and Zero Two landed another kick to his face, which put him down for the count. Just as Selene was getting back up, Celeste and the rest of the group ran up to us with more cops surrounding the three other emissaries. Max cautiously walked up to Selene, who's face mask fell to the ground with a clank and stared at him with her burning pink eyes.
"Don't you realize that it's pointless to keep running? The Overlord will get what he wants eventually, whether you like it or not. You can't hide forever," she said, baring her teeth.
"Who says that I'm running or hiding? I'm willing to put up a fight until the end if I have to. But if the Overlord wants his precious energy, you tell him to come get it himself," Max replied.
"You don't understand what that energy means for the universe. All the Overlord wishes to do is to cleanse the universe of all that is bad! He has no intention of destroying it!"
"Is that what YOU believe? Or is that what he's TELLING you?"
"You don't understand what the Overlord has done for me and my brother. We're all like a family to him!"
"I don't buy that. Your brother's the only family you had. Yoon only wants power for his own use, Zekxsie shuts herself out from others, and Taarkin was a power hungry general who wanted everyone to bow before him. And don't get me started with Philip."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think that he actually loves you? The guy thinks that the whole world revolves around him and that everyone is beneath him. Even those he trusts. Trust me, he'll turn on you and when he does, you'll understand that what you were working for was a lie."
"When that day comes, human, I'll be sure to thank you for helping me understand. Until then, farewell," Selene said, picking up her mask and pulling out a device. She pressed a button on the device and four beams of light surrounded her and the other three emissaries while putting her mask back on. Philip had just woken up and lunged at Max, yelling, but he was sucked up along with the rest and the beams just disappeared, leaving us to look up in shock.
"Oh, COME ON! I really wanted to punch someone today!" Amki said in frustration.
"Do you really think that every problem can be solved by brute strength?" I asked.
"Well, at least our shopping items are OK!" Zero Two said, picking up her bag.
"And the food and supplies!" Odango said, holding up the bags Max and Hiro had.
"Uh, quick question. Do we need to pay off the damages for everything?" I asked. Sure enough, everything around us was completely trashed, from windows to the simple stands that were in the streets.
"There's no need. I'll handle it," Rhea said before she walked out into the center of the street and whispered something to her staff. She then held her staff up into the air and the debris then began to reform back into their normal spots until it looked like nothing had even happened. After a few minutes of helping out the injured, we went back to the ship and left the district behind. Celeste, Max, Zero Two, and I were standing around the holo-table which was showing a complete schematic of the ship as if Celeste was searching for something.
"This doesn't make sense. I don't how they could've found us if there's no tracking device on the ship," Celeste finally said.
"Maybe it was just a coincidence that they were there when we were," Max said.
"I don't think that's the case. I need to do more scans of the ship to be completely sure. Until then, I suggest that you all get some sleep."
"I'll stay up for a bit and help you. Maybe a second pair of eyes are just what you need."
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna go take a shower and then go to bed. I'll meet you there when you're done," I said. Max just smiled and kissed me on the forehead before me and Zero Two headed down the hall to our rooms.
"Well, that was fun," Zero Two said.
"Yeah. You really kicked ass today."
"Well, I did have you to help me out there."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"You know, that's another thing that I learned about being human on our Earth: living together with other humans, helping each other while also being true to our feelings. And I'm glad that we have friends like all of you," Zero Two said with a smile. I couldn't help but smile back. We both suddenly heard a door opening and saw Hiro standing in the doorway to Zero Two's room.
"Zero Two? Can I… speak with you, please?" he asked before he went back into the room. Zero Two gave me a nod and prepared to head into the room before I stopped her.
"Remember: honesty," I said. Zero Two gave me a thumbs up and before she started to walk away, she turned back around and gave me a hug to say thanks and then headed back into her room and shutting the door behind her.
Hiro perspective
I stared once again at the wedding photo of our friends as Zero Two walked into the room and stood in front of me with her hands behind her back.
"Still staring at that photo?" she asked. I just nodded silently before I deeply inhaled and prepared to talk.
"There's something that I need to tell you," we both said at the same time, making us lift our heads to each other.
"You go first," I said.
"Darling, please, you go first," Zero Two replied. I just put the photo down and stared at the floor in guilt.
"You were right. I was being selfish. I've just been so fixated on wanting to go home that I never considered how you felt. I said things that I never meant to say to you and I just… pushed you away when you were trying to protect me. And I am deeply, truly, sorry that I hurt you like that, Zero Two," I said. Zero Two just looked at me with sad eyes.
"Darling, I haven't been completely honest with you either. I thought that being here with you would be just like being home, even if it really wasn't. I DO miss our home. Our friends. I just… wanted to look on the bright side of things. And I'm sorry that I made it look like I didn't care. Look, if you want to go back, then I won't stop you. Whatever decision you make… is up to you," she said. But as she turned to leave, I grabbed her arm to stop her. She jumped a bit in surprise and turned back to me.
"No. That's not the answer. I shouldn't be making the decisions for the both of us! We should be making them TOGETHER! I made you a promise that we would always be together and I am not going to break that promise! I'm not going to go back to our Earth without you… and I'm not gonna let you stay here without me! If this is our destiny, then so be it! Together we are one, remember?" I said, putting my hands on her face. Zero Two immediately came to tears and smiled while snuggling my hand.
"Darling, I love you so much…" she said, crying. I gave her a tight hug and helped dry her tears before I gave her a kiss.
"And I love you. Forever and always."
"Then I want you to show me," Zero Two said before the two of us tumbled onto the bed. Before I could say anything, she started to unzip her uniform and kiss me.
"Zero Two… what are you-?" I started to ask. But Zero Two just put a finger on my lips and smiled.
"Darling, remember when I told you about what came after kissing? Well, I learned a bit more about what it actually means today. It's a way to show our love for one another. So… would you like to help me share the love?" she asked. I just smiled and silently nodded. Zero Two then fully took off her uniform and slipped out of her pants as I took off my clothes until I was in nothing but my underwear. Zero Two then began wildly kissing me on the lips and on the neck as she took off her bra and her panties, exposing her bare breasts and her crotch. I immediately flipped ourselves over and took over kissing her, drawing heavy moans from her as she took off my underwear. I don't know exactly what came over me, but it felt so good, even as she was guiding me. It felt like we could do it all night and no one would judge us. And as we continued to make love to one another, I couldn't help but feel happy. No matter where we were or in what time we were in, it was in each other's embrace where we would feel like we were home. We couldn't be separated. We would always be partners down to the very end.
To Be Continued…
