Vandread Fanfic - Until the End
Chapter X - Kiss Me Goodbye...
Rating - G / Romance / Sci-Fi
Author's Note - It's now or never...
Special Note - This chapter is based on the episode 'To Feel the Fire'
it's a burning desire it's burning me
takes my heart and soul
'cause you're just like the fire I'm goin' out
of control
and you drive me crazy
it's a burning desire it's burning me
takes my heart and soul
'cause you're just like the fire I'm goin' out
I'm getting crazy for you I want you baby
Mega NRG Man - Burning Desire from Initial D 2nd Stage Selection 1
"Okay, the core's temperature is at its peak. Get ready to get out of here!!" BC screamed at Bart who is struggling to maintain the ship's
position.
"Thank god. Finally." Bart gave a sigh of relief and maneuvered Nirvana away from the planet.
"I hope this plan works..." BC mumbled.
"Okay, I'm getting out of here!!" Hibiki shouted as his Vanguard disengaged from Jura's Dread. Then, he combined with Meia to form another Vandread.
"Darn, is there anymore comfortable position than this?" Hibiki complained as he sits awkwardly right in front of Meia.
"Shut up. Just get us out of here." Meia snorted.
With that, Vandread Meia speeds away from the explosion. The explosion destroyed most of the enemy's main fleet.
"Hey, wait for me!!" Dita screamed as her Dread almost engulfed in flames. But Vandread Meia quickly attached its claws on Dita's Dread and carried her to safety.
"Ha, looks like we got 'em all." Hibiki said, confidently. Meia closed her eyes and sigh.
(Rick...)
"Don't worry about him. He's no ordinary pilot. I'm sure he'll be fine. Well, better get off now." Hibiki comforted her.
Hibiki's Vanguard disengaged from Meia's Dread and formed another Vandread with Dita and ready for any remnants of earth's fleet.
"Just as I thought..." Hibiki muttered.
"Uchuuji-san, what's wrong?"
"Look, we've got a big one on our hands." Hibiki pointed at a large battleship that emerged from the explosion.
Rick is floating in pure darkness. He confused about what was happening. He thought that he returned to reality but there's another light shining at him.
"What...what's going on..?"
Then, a voice boomed.
"WHO ARE YOU?"
"I'm Maverick Xero. What's going on around here?"
"YOU ARE THE SLAYER OF GOD..."
"I still didn't know what this 'slayer of god' thing is. What's happening?"
"IF YOU ARE THE SLAYER OF GOD, YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE."
"What? No. Hell no. I don't want to be 'The Slayer of God".
"YOU CAN'T GO AGAINST YOUR DESTINY. IT IS ALREADY DECIDED. IT IS...FATE."
"Huh...I don't care what you are thinking about. But I won't allow myself to lead by circumstances. I'm through with it. Now that I already found my purpose of life, there's no way that I'll let fate decide my own future."
"THEN, WHAT IS THE PROOF OF WHAT YOU ARE ?"
"When I returned to someone I loved, I'll show it to you."
There's no reply from the mysterious voice.
"You finally get it, huh?"
Then, Rick was sucked in by the darkness and returned to his own consciousness. He opened his eyes and looked around the cockpit. There's a major difference in the cockpit. The usual control panel is replaced by that of a Dread.
"What happened...? Hey, I'm...changed..."
Rick looked at his reflection in the mirror. He's wearing all white and his eyes are blue in color. Even the color of his hair changed. It turned to black with a stroke of white in the middle. Rick pulled the sleeve up to check on the scars. To his astonishment, it too, has gone. Rick looked at his left. To his relief, his black guitar is still there.
"What happened...to me..?"
Vanguard X suddenly signaled him a warning. Rick looked around. The planet is in its final stage of explosion. Red hot lavas burst from the ground. After this, it'll be a supernova explosion.
"Yeah. We better get ourselves out of here."
"Tch. We couldn't get near that thing." Hibiki cursed under his breath. He maneuvered the Vandread to avoid another powerful blast from the giant sized battleship.
"Uchuuji-san!! Look!!" Dita pointed at the explosion. Hibiki looked at the same direction. He saw a giant white phoenix flew away from the supernova explosion.
"Why does he have to wait until the last moment?" Hibiki sighed.
"Kuroi-san!! Is that you?" Dita contacted Rick through the speaker.
"Yeah. It's me. Sorry for making you worried about me."
"Why don't you contact Leader? I'm sure she'll be happy to hear you!!" Dita said, cheerfully.
"Uh...I'll do that. Roger and out."
"Hey, stop it already!! Give me a hand here, will you?" Hibiki screamed at Dita as he avoided another blast.
Everyone on Nirvana saw the white phoenix flew from the explosion. BC's jaw goes unhinged.
"It can't be..."
"It's Vanguard X!! Xero's still alive!" Ezra exclaimed. The crew started to cheer.
"Not another miracle..." Magno let out a heavy sigh.
"Boss...you're...okay..?" BC inquired her.
"Hmm? Oh, you mean about that 'heart attack'? It was just a joke. Get it?"
"Ah...now I get it..."
"That guy got a lot of nerve pulling out a stunt like that." Bart gave a sigh.
"Hey, kid. Any ideas on how to deal our big 'friend' here?" Rick asked Hibiki as he positioned Vanguard X alongside the bigger sized Vandread Dita.
"Shh. I'm thinking." Hibiki struggled to adjust himself in the cramped cockpit.
"There's no time for that. Here it comes!!"
The ship fired another blast that almost hit them outright.
"Damn, that's close."
"Yeah. You can say that again, kid."
Suddenly, Vanguard X moved itself towards Meia's Dread. Meia didn't move an inch. Curious, she asked Rick.
"What are you doing?"
"I don't know. This thing is outta control. You better move out from there."
Meia maneuvered her Dread. To her horror, it moved closer towards Vanguard X.
"Hey, move out of the way, not move forward!!"
"The Dread has lost control." Meia tried to move it the other way but to no avail.
"Dammit!! Why does it have to end this way?" Rick cursed loudly.
"Move...move...please..." Meia mumbled as she tried to gain control of her Dread.
There's a light as Meia's Dread and Rick's Vanguard X hit each other.
Rick covered himself when a light washed over him. When the light subsides, he felt something heavy on his lap. To his shock, it was Meia who is sitting on his lap.
"Ah...hey!! What happened here?"
"Uh..? What happened? What are you..." Meia widened her eyes when she looked at Rick's new appearance.
"Don't ask me what happened. I don't know myself. But trust me, it's me, Maverick Xero."
"Hmm...do you think I care?" Meia tried to hide her concern for him.
"Damn. This place sure is cramped. What the hell happened? I thought there's some kind of explosion or something." Rick changed the subject.
"I think my Dread and your Vanguard X had merged together. Maybe we're inside a Vandread."
"Well, maybe it should have a better cockpit design..." Rick mumbled as he tried to get himself comfortable.
"Stop moving around so much!!" Meia screamed right in his ears. Rick had to cover both his ears.
"Okay, okay. Sorry."
"Not another Vandread..." Magno sighed after she looked at a Vandread that was merged by Meia's Dread and Rick's Vanguard X.
The whole bridge crew started to question themselves; why they have to see yet another miracle. BC ordered them to quiet.
"However, it looked almost identical as Vandread Dita, with the exception of those spiky wings." BC commented.
"How many forms of Vandread I have to look at?" Bart muttered.
"Uchuuji-san, do you see that? It's almost looked like ours. And I like those wings! It's so sugoi!!" Dita was so excited that she moved her body around so much and makes Hibiki struggling to maintain the balance of the Vandread.
"Hey! Stop moving around. You're killing me."
"Hey kid, I've got a plan. I'm gonna distract that thing. While I'm at it, you charge up your powers and attack the first chance you got."
"Hey! That's suicide! I might hit you accidentally." Hibiki protested.
"Yes. That's true. Leader, do you have any other plan?" Dita asked Meia who seemed a bit worried.
"No. Since our Vandread got wings, might as well use the speed advantage we've got." Meia replied.
"Okay, we're gonna do our part and you two do yours. C'mon, let's see what this thing can do."
Vandread Rick sped towards the ship and started to cause problem to it. Using its speed advantage, Vandread Rick avoided all the ship's attacks. While the enemy was preoccupied by it, Hibiki and Dita charged up their Vandread and prepared to strike. The ship fired a huge blast
which Vandread Rick managed to avoid and Hibiki saw an opening.
"Okay UFO-onna, let's get this thing done and go home happy!!"
"Yes! Let's do it!!" Dita nodded in agreement.
Vandread Dita charged towards the enemy at full speed. At the same time, it formed some kind of giant fireball, leaving a streak of flame behind. The attack tore the ship's defenses and drives through the ship's core and exploded to pieces. However, the explosion engulfed Vandread Rick nearby. Hibiki and Dita waited to see what happened to Rick and Meia.
"LEADER!! KUROI-SAN!! Please answer!!" Dita screamed at the speaker.
Hibiki waited with bated breath.
(Come on, don't you die on me...)
After the smoke is gone, Vandread Rick still at the place when the explosion occurred. This time, it used its wings to cover itself from the explosion.
"I'm okay. But Meia was rendered unconscious by the explosion." Rick's voice emitted from the speaker.
"You should wake her up or else there's no way for your Vandread to fit in Nirvana." Hibiki said to him.
"Yeah. I'll do that."
The whole crew of Nirvana cheered triumphantly after the last remaining enemy was wiped out by the explosion.
"This is really our day. What a battle." BC said to Magno.
"Yes it is. We finally get to see two Vandreads at the same time. He really proved himself today." She grinned.
"We...we won...I...can't believe it...yeah!! WE'VE WON!!" Bart screamed in the navigation room.
In the engine room, the whole crew screamed in excitement.
"Yeah! We did it!! We really did it!!" Parfet shouted and hugged Duero suddenly. Paiway's eyes widened when she saw the scene.
"Uhh...yeah...we did it..." Duero didn't know what he should do. This is the first time he's been hugged by a woman. Paiway quickly took out her notebook and written the scene she saw.
"Pai check!!"
At the requisition office, Gascogne simply smiled.
"Heh. I know you can do it, Gung-ho..."
"Hey, Meia. Wake up. It's over. We've won."
Rick tried to wake Meia who is leaning at him unconscious. There's no respond. Suddenly, Rick remembered the first time he and Sara slept together. This is exactly the same scene as it was back there. Sara was sleeping quietly and he wrapped his arms around her.
"Why am I remembering all this? What should I do?"
Then, he remembered what Erick said to him.
(On this side of the universe, Meia is 'Sara'...)
Then, unintentionally, Rick wrapped his arms around Meia. This caused her to wake up from unconsciousness.
"Uhh...what...happened? Huh?" Meia was shocked to see Rick's arms around her. However, she could feel unusual warmth from him. She looked at him but he was looking out at the stars. Suddenly he realized Meia already woke up and moved his hands away from her.
"Ahh...sorry about that. I tried to wake you up and..." His words were cut off.
"I'm out of here." She said without looking at him. With that, she disengaged her Dread and returned to Nirvana.
"Why...why did he do that? And my heart was beating faster when he did that. What was that warmth I felt? Do I...want that to happen?"
Hibiki and Rick got out of their Vanguard and were greeted by thundering cheers from the crew. Hibiki blinked his eyes a few times while Rick remained calm as he slings his guitar.
"Uchuuji-san! We really did it!!" Dita ran at Hibiki and hugged him.
"Ah...guess so...but he was the one that came up with the plan." Hibiki pointed at where Rick is. But to his surprise, he's already gone.
"Where could he be..?"
"Uchuuji-san, don't forget your promise..." Dita looked deep in his eyes.
"Uh...yeah..." Hibiki reluctantly replied after he remembered his promise. He'll come to Dita's room should they survive the battle.
"Dita, what are you up to?" Jura looked at her menacingly.
"Nyeh. Not your business." Dita stuck her tongue out at her. This somehow enrages Jura.
"You..."
Suddenly, Pyoro hopped in and informed the latest information it just received.
"Bad news! Bad news! Our enemy knew that we've won the battle and forced their remaining forces to concentrate their attack on Tarark
and Mejale!!"
The whole area became quite all of a sudden. Then Hibiki started to laugh.
"Uchuuji-san..."
"Ha...just bring it. We're going home anyway, right? I don't care how many battles we have to face. As long as we live, the journey will
never stop."
"As long as we live, the journey will never stop...." Magno repeated Hibiki's encouraging words.
Suddenly Rick's voice echoed.
"Is it true? Earth's remaining forces left other planet systems to attack Tarark and Mejale?" Rick jumped from the platform above and
landed in front of Magno.
"Yes. This is correct." Pyoro replied, surprised at Rick's new appearance.
"So, you want to go back to Terra?" Magno asked.
"Yes. This time I must go. I'll do whatever it takes to return there."
"Hmm. You don't have to do that. You can return to your world anytime you want on one condition."
"One condition?"
"Take Vanguard X with you." Magno looked at Vanguard X.
"But...it's not even mine. I can't take it..."
"No. I insist. Besides, only you can use it effectively and I'm sure it doesn't want to be left behind."
Vanguard X hummed loudly.
"Ha...looks like you and I have a fated relationship. Very well, I'll take it."
"Good. You might as well rest tonight. You can leave tomorrow."
"Thank you."
"No. We thank you. Without you, I don't know if we can win that battle."
Rick bowed slightly and walked out of the hangar.
"Boss, are you sure about this?" BC said after Rick left the area.
"Yes. I'm sure we can manage future battles without him." She grinned.
Meia was worried about the possibility that Rick will leave tomorrow.
(He will leave tomorrow. Should I confess my feelings tonight..?)
Rick was lying on the grass at the park, looking at the stars.
"Finally I can return to you, Sara. Then, I'll never leave you again..."
Then, he remembered the earlier incident with Meia. He laughed to himself.
"What an embarrassing thing to do. Holding a woman that doesn't even like men. Well, I should get some sleep..."
Rick stood up, took his coat and his guitar and then, walked out of the area. On his way to the men's living quarter, he saw Meia standing outside her room, looking up at the ceiling with her eyes closed. Rick simply walked pass her without a word. Suddenly, Meia stopped him.
"Wait. I want to talk to you."
"About what? If it's about that incident, I'm sorry. I shouldn't do that."
"No. It's not about that. But tell me, ever since the first time I saw you, I had this strange feeling and everything I do went wrong. And I...can't stop thinking about you. I tried to get you out of my mind but my heart aches when I couldn't see your face. Even for a while. I even had a dream about you. Please tell me what's the meaning of this?"
Rick took a step backward upon hearing that. Then, he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He opened his eyes and looked at her eyes.
"This is my honest answer. The feeling you have is called 'love'. And you can't avoid it forever. It is something that everyone must have. For without love, there wouldn't be any happiness in life."
Meia's eyes widened when she realized what Rick had said. Her heart was pounding hard and tears welled in her eyes.
"I...I should have told you sooner that I...LOVE...YOU..."
Meia couldn't contain her tears no more. She burst into tears and buried her face on Rick's chest.
"Meia...I..."
"Hold me...I want to feel the warmth that I felt back there..."
Rick wrapped his arms around her and holds her tighter.
"You're so...warm..."
"Meia, you know that I couldn't love you. But why you still..."
"I don't care what you said or anyone else. Please...make love to me..."
"WHAT? Hey, I can't..."
"Just this once...I want to know what does it feels to make love with a man..."
"But still..."
"You can look at me as Sara. Just pretend that you make love to her..."
Rick wanted to refuse but when Meia gave that appealing look in her eyes, he couldn't turn it away.
"Okay, if you wanted that way. But don't tell anyone about this."
"Emm..."
With that, Meia lead Rick into her room. Her heart was pounding so heart that she almost collapsed. But Rick caught her and wiped her tears away.
"There. It's going to be okay."
"Rick, kiss...me..."
Rick took off his coat and planted a light kiss on Meia's lips. Her eyes widened and she touched her lips. For her, that kiss was electrifying yet sweet.
"Rick, I..." Her words were cut off when Rick suddenly held her and kissed her deeply. She could feel the warmth, the love coming from him. Then, he started to undress her and she didn't react, not knowing what she must do. Guided by her instincts, she unzips Rick's pants and for the first time, she saw a man's sexual organ which the females called 'tube'. Rick grinned at her. Then, he pushed her to the bed and started to make it out with each other all night.
And no one will ever know.
It was dawn and Rick walked into the darkened Vanguard hangar. He approached Vanguard X and prepared to jump into the cockpit when the lights suddenly turned on and everyone was already waiting for him.
"SURPRISE!!"
"What the ..."
"You want to leave without letting us know?" Jura approached and looked at him.
"I don't like farewell..."
"But still, you can't just leave like that." Dita protested.
"Yeah...I guess you're right..."
"You're already part of the crew. You really did help us. This is the least we could do." BC chirped.
"Where's Meia?" Magno asked Barnette.
"She'll be here."
"She's unusually late." Jura said. Rick's heart skipped a beat.
"Sorry that I'm late." Meia entered the area without looking at Rick.
"Well, guess I gotta go now." Rick said as he approached Bart and Duero.
"Bart, Duero. Thanks for being my friend."
"Hey, no sweat, man." Bart patted his shoulder.
"Please be careful on your journey." Duero said.
"Yeah will do." Then, he approached Jura and Barnette.
"You two will make a great couple." Rick said as he looked at Barnette. He continued,
"And, Erick sent his regards to you. He said sorry about that kiss he gave."
"WHAT!! He gave a kiss to her?" Jura shouted in shock. Barnette tried to calm her down.
"Jura, I didn't have any feelings to him. I swear."
Then, he approached Gascogne.
"Hey, Gung-ho. It's nice working with you."
"Yeah. Same here. This may seem a little awkward to you but I always looked at you like my own big sister."
She grinned and slapped him hard at his back. Rick coughed a few times to catch his breath.
"Don't get mushy on me, Gung-ho. But since you put it that way, I might as well call you brother. And remember, keep on smiling."
Rick smiled.
"Thanks...big sis."
Then, he walked towards Hibiki and Dita. Hibiki is struggling to free himself from Dita.
"I've already seen what you two will become." He grinned mischievously.
"What do you mean?" Hibiki asked.
"Take good care of her, you cheeky little devil." Rick winked at him.
"Hey, tell me, have you found your purpose of life?" Hibiki asked Rick curiously.
"Yeah. I already have. I felt that there are so many things in life I have to do."
"I still didn't find it..." Hibiki muttered.
"Probably not at this time but soon. Soon you'll find it." Rick patted Hibiki's head gently. Then, he looked at Dita. She's about to utter a word
when Rick stopped her.
"Don't you call me 'Shiroi-san."
"But I can't help it, Sh..." her words were cut off when Rick touched her lips.
"Just this once, call me Maverick."
"Okay...Maverick..."
"See? It's okay to say a guy's name. Maybe you can stop calling Hibiki 'Uchuuji-san?"
"That can't be helped..." Jura chipped in.
"Jura, I'm sure guys will never leave you alone if you ever come to my world."
"Wow, really? Men will get attracted to me?"
"Ha. Of course they will."
"Jura..." Barnette gave her a look of jealousy.
"Don't get jealous on her, Barnette. I only said 'if."
Then, he looked at Parfet. She then approached him and gave him a circular shaped item.
"Thanks. But what is this?"
"Just press the blue button." She replied. Rick pressed the button and a hologram image of Nirvana appeared.
"Oh, by the way, I installed the hyperspace module into Vanguard X. You can return to your home in no time."
"Wow. Thanks again. I'll treasure it." He keeps the item in his pocket and walked to Magno and BC.
"So, you'll be going home. Will we ever see you again?" BC asked Rick. He grinned.
"As I said, I hate farewell. But as long as you keep hoping, we'll see each other again. I'm sure of it."
"Yes. I'm sure we will meet again." Magno said.
Rick looked at Meia who just standing beside Magno. Rick bowed slightly in front of her.
"Thank you. I will never forget it."
Her eyes widened and she heard mumblings among the crew. Rick turned away and walks towards the Vanguard X. With his back turned, he
waved at crew of Nirvana.
"I'll be seeing you guys later..."
Tears welled in Meia's eyes. She tried to contain it, but she failed to do so. Upon seeing this, Dita spoke to her softly.
"Go, Leader. Go for it."
Meia looked at her. And then, the other female members of the crew. They nodded in agreement.
"Do what you think is right." Magno smiled. BC nodded in approval.
She wiped her tears away and ran towards Rick. Rick turned around and held her in a strong embrace. She cried in his arms.
"I don't want to lose you." She then kissed Rick on the lips.
"I know. I know it's hard for you. But you will always be the Meia that I knew of. Always strong at heart and always have that 'never say die' attitude. Promise me you'll always be strong if not stronger."
The rest of the crew watched the scene and some of them started to cry.
"What a scene..." Dita said as she wipes her tears.
"Girls are so soft..." Hibiki mumbled.
"No. It's not that. Did you see the way they embraced each other? It was full of...love." Duero suggested as he tried to contain his tears.
"Yeah...it's so...sad..." Bart was wiping his tears.
"Not you too...." Hibiki sighed. Then he saw Dita whispering to Paiway. Paiway nodded and approached Rick and Meia slowly and snagged a picture of the two from up close. This surprised the two.
"Wha...Pai? Ha, always prying on other's business, eh?" Rick grinned at her as he released Meia from him.
"Pai check!" She then handed him the picture.
"Thanks. Meia, here. I want you to have this." He handed her the picture and a disc titled 'Project Zero Grand Tour'.
"But..." Meia mumbled.
"No but, I want you to have it. That's final." He smiled and then jumped into the cockpit.
"Thanks for all your kindness. I'm sure we'll meet again somewhere, someplace, somehow..."
Rick waved at them and launched Vanguard X into space. Through the monitor they saw Vanguard X cruising with its wings outstretched. Then, it disappeared into the stars, giving them hope for their unavoidable battles ahead. Then, they heard Rick's voice echoed in the air;
I would like to stay here but I still got a promise to keep. And I'm sure you all will be alright without me.
"Rick, I promise. I'll be strong like I used to be."
"Leader, don't worry. I'm sure we'll meet him again." Dita's words comforted her.
"Yes. Want to see what's this disc contained?" Dita gave a nod.
They went to the computer room and insert the disc in its slot. Rick playing his guitar beside Sara and they were singing a song together...
stay, I want you to stayat least for today
you know that I'm sentimental
now you listen to me
'cause I'm gonna be
the one that will
breaking your heart
I need to be all alone - all alone
I need to walk on my own - on my own
thank you for all that you've done
I will keep you always in my heart
and my mind
kiss me goodbye
I don't know - if I wanna make you mine tonight
don't ask me why
'cause I know - that you're gonna be all right
cry now you're gonna cry
and I can't deny
it's hard to say goodbye baby
hand, just give me your hand
you will understand
you couldn't be
my gold angel
I need to be all alone - all alone
I need to walk on my own - on my own
thank you for all that you've done
I will keep you always in my heart
and my mind
kiss me goodbye
I don't know - if I wanna make you mine tonight
don't ask me why
'cause I know - that you're gonna be all right
Michael Beat - Kiss Me Goodbye from Initial D Third Stage
Meia cried once again, for the last time. For she had promised not to cry for him ever again...Wish I could say I love you my dear
Wish you could say you love me more
Feel so strange 'cause I know how I love
Feel for you like a big romance, you and me
TWO-MIX - Can't Stop Love International
