Let's see just how good he is. Asherah thought, sneaking up behind Chibodee. Her hands were closing around his throat when he spun, knocking her back with an elbow to her ribs.
He glowered.
Asherah grinned. "Good! You've improved."
"I should hope so." Shirley chimed in from where she'd witnessed the exchange. "He's been working out day and night."
Chibodee glared at her, as though she'd exposed a secret.
"Good!" Asherah repeated. "Not good enough, though." She spoke over Chibodee's indignant sputters and dragged him off with her, toward his own training facilities. "Let's go!"
*
Asherah looked around in approval. "Very nice." The training facility was very posh, top of the line even to someone used to all the resources the government could provide. There were two main sections, one for simulated Gundam battles, storage, and practice, and the other more of a conventional gym. The whole thing was in a ridiculously huge warehouse- like complex, but Asherah noticed the careful allocation of space; no inch was wasted.
Forgetting Chibodee for a moment, Asherah stepped forward. "The Gundam Maxter." she whispered, staring up at it.
Chibodee looked at her, then resumed his place by her side. (A/N: This has no romantic significance. I'm not planning to pair Chibodee up with anybody.) "Beautiful, isn't it." he said softly.
"Yeah. What it must be like, to pilot such a thing…"
"It's wonderful." Chibodee told her distantly. "It's the closest union man and machine can have. The Gundam instantly follows every movement you make, it monitors your health, and it can even take measures to protect your life."
Asherah studied his face as he looked up at his Gundam. "You're very fond of it, aren't you."
He laughed. "'Fond' doesn't begin to cover it. If you want to be a Gundam fighter, your Gundam becomes your constant companion. It's impossible to describe, the feeling of piloting a Gundam, the experience…" His eyes traced Maxter's lines. No matter how familiar he became with it, he never tired of looking at it.
Asherah's own dark eyes turned back to the Gundam with new appreciation. "What happens when they give you a new, upgraded Gundam? Like Domon Kasshu and his Burning Gundam?"
A trace of resentful anger crossed his face, but faded when he looked at her. "After you… after our first encounter, Domon was talking to me about it one night. He said it's a sense of loss, but when you get in the new Gundam and start testing its limits… it's exciting. You always remember the other Gundam fondly, but the new one takes its place."
"Domon talked?" There was a definite note of surprise in her voice.
"Yes, Domon talked." If there was surprise in her voice, there was a veiled threat behind his. "A lot of people don't give him enough credit-"
"You've been reading the news." Asherah observed dryly.
"Speaking of not giving people enough credit…" he muttered.
"Time to start!" she said hastily, leading him off toward a large blue mat, empty but for a punching bag hanging in the middle.
"So what exactly are you going to do?" Chibodee asked, a little sprig of fear trying to wriggle its way up. Chibodee resolutely squashed it.
Asherah gave him an evil half- smile that stood the hair on the back of his neck on end. "You say you've read the news?"
"Well, yeah…" Chibodee rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.
"Then you've heard about the resolution among the colonies, to hold another Gundam tournament- with the champions from the last one that can still fight- in six weeks."
"Of course."
"I'm going to get you ready for it. By the time I get through with you, you're going to think I live here. It'll be a crash course in- I guess you could say spy life, but the main focus will be fighting. Fighting and skills that will complement it."
"Remind me why I agreed to this." he demanded.
"This is the easy way. The other way, I kick your ass till your head learns. Not very efficient." she finished thoughtfully. Asherah gave her own head a vigorous shake. "Now let's get started. Let's see; I think we ought to start with… let's go with state of mind. Remember when you fought Domon Kasshu? How you were raging, fierce, and he was calm? Sit down with me."
*
They emerged late that night. Asherah looked pleased with herself, and Chibodee, although tired, showed signs of the same self- satisfaction. Shirley, Cath, Bunny, and Janet were waiting for them.
"Here." Bunny said, giving them both plates. "We saved you dinner."
"Thanks!" Asherah said, glancing sidelong at Chibodee, who hadn't bothered to wait for either a fork or a seat and was treating his squash and pork chops (A/N: how am I supposed to know what they eat?) like finger food. She sighed and took a seat, helping herself to both a drink and a fork.
"How did it go?" Shirley inquired.
"Good." Asherah told her. "I still think he's going to be ready to kill me by the end of this week, though."
"Hands- on training." Shirley dismissed with a flip of her hand. "Just don't almost kill him again." There was something smoldering beneath that calm exterior that made Asherah take the not- quite- a- threat seriously.
"I won't." she assured the girls, who had taken seats around her. "That was only to prove a point."
"What point?" Bunny asked, confused.
"I had to make him amenable to the idea of me training him, of increasing his strength. I had to show him that it was needed." Asherah looked at Shirley as she answered.
"We knew that." Shirley informed her, looking at Bunny sideways. (A/N: _) She left unspoken that they wouldn't have let her near Chibodee again if they hadn't.
Having finished her plate, Asherah rose. "Chibodee, be sure you get to bed at a reasonable hour. I'll be rousting you out of it again in too short a time."
He didn't acknowledge the warning.
"We'll make sure he goes to bed." Shirley murmured, and Asherah nodded in grateful agreement before seemingly melting out the back door and into the night.
Bunny scratched her head. "How does she do that?"