Chapter XVIII: The Enhanced Berserker System
Bunny woke with a groan. She blinked and looked around her. She was in a grassy field, out in the open. No sign of civilization in sight. Bunny was in her Gundam.except it wasn't her Gundam. Bunny noticed that this Gundam was different from her Mirror Gundam. Yet it was the same.She looked down at her MTS suit. That's strange. It's black, Bunny thought, puzzled. She rose from her position of the floor of the cockpit. "Volta?" she called through the speakers. "Volta, are you there?"
"Yah. But something strange is going on," came the reply. "My MTS suit is all black. And I feel like I'm in my Gundam, but I'm not. It's strange.Do you remember anything?"
Bunny shook her head. "Not really. I remember we were in our Gundams ready to fight that guy, and then something hit me on my arm, and, that's about it. What happened to Rain and Natasha?"
"I feel kinda groggy," another voice said.
"Mrs. Kasshu?" Volta and Bunny asked in surprise.
"Uh-huh," Rain said.
"But-you still have that Rising Gundam?" Bunny asked in disbelief.
Rain nodded as her face appeared on the screen.
"Hey, you're suit is black, too!" Volta noticed.
"Yeah."
Natasha came into view.
"Wow, Mrs. Guilsky! I never knew an asparagus could look so nice in black plastic," Volta commented.
Natasha just stared at her.
"Um, it could just be me, but my vision is starting to get all purplish," Bunny said.
"Mine too," Volta, Rain, and Natasha replied simultaneously.
"Where are-" Bunny couldn't finish the sentence. She screamed out in pain and fell to the floor of the cockpit. "What's-happening?" she asked in short, choppy breaths. "I-can't-see-anything-but-purple."
There was no reply. Dr. Klements was at work.
* * *
"Words of wisdom: never trust an idiot from Neo-Nepal with a map," Chibodee said sourly.
"Hey! I swear, they went through this door," Haaz defended himself.
"Let me rephrase my statement. Never trust Haaz, period. In case you can't read the sigh, Haaz, this door says, 'Corner Bakery'. Now what would Natasha, Rain, Bunny, and Volta be doing going into a bakery twenty miles away from the hotel?" Chibodee asked.
"Why don't we just open the door and see what's inside," George suggested. "Don't worry, Chibodee. He'll still be here to kill afterwards."
Chibodee grunted and pushed open the door. A man came up and quickly blocked their path. "You can't go through here," the man warned.
"It's a bakery, for heaven's sake. Since when was there a law against hungry travelers buying some food at a nearby store?" Chibodee asked in annoyance.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go in there," the guard repeated again.
"Argo," Chibodee snapped his fingers as if called for a dog. "Show this guy what happens when he tries to mess with the Shuffle Alliance."
Argo came up and hit the guard on the head, sending him falling to the floor unconscious. "Good. Now thank the nice man for letting us through."
The Neo-Russian fighter just grunted. Everyone filed through the door. "Thank you," Chikori said and hit the man again as he passed by.
"Not again," Domon groaned. "Wasn't Dr. Mikamura evil enough to last us for a while?" Before them lay a gigantic laboratory.
"Guess not," Chibodee replied.
Everyone turned to look at Brad as he growled in anger. Suddenly, Chikori fell to the ground; a small cry of pain escaped his lips. Haaz and Brad looked at their hands. Their crests were glowing.
* * *
Bunny, Volta, Rain, and Natasha were all standing in the middle-well, they really weren't sure where they were. Everything around them was dark purple.
"Where are we?" Bunny asked, frightened. She shivered. Everything around her was cold.
"I don't have the slightest idea," Rain answered. She gasped. "Look at your hand." Bunny and Volta both looked at their right hands. The crests were glowing brightly. "The Hell Gundam must be near," Rain observed.
This purple haze."Wait! I remember Brad telling me about something like this," Bunny said. "It had do to with the Berserker system." She tried to remember what Brad had told her. "Something about how when the system had control over you, you went into a purple field of mist. Like what we're in now. And you have no clue what's going on in the world outside. It's like your trapped in this cage of purple." There was a moment of silence as the information sunk in.
"WE'RE BEING CONTROLED BY THE BERSERKER SYSTEM!!!" Volta screamed. She started cursing at an amazingly fast rate in Italian, English, Japanese, Indian, and Finish, speaking one word in one language and then switching to another. Volta hadn't been this made since.well, since the whole time Bunny had known her.
Bunny whirled around as she heard a sob come from behind her. She saw the outline of another figure, also wearing a black MTS suit. Who's there?" Bunny called out.
"Bunny? Is that really you?" a voice replied hopefully.
"Mother?" Bunny asked in disbelief.
"Oh, Bunny! You're all right." Marie-Louise came running up to her daughter and hugged her fiercely. Marie-Louise looked around. "Hello, Rain. Natasha." Her eyes fell upon the ranting and raving Volta. "And who is she?" Marie-Louise was appalled and the words she heard issuing from Volta's mouth.
"That's Volta Lao, Black Joker and fighter for Neo-Nepal in this Gundam tournament," Bunny replied calmly. "She has a tendency to curse whenever upset."
"Oh. I hope you weren't around her too much, dear," Marie-Louise said.
"Don't worry mother. We were only roommates," Bunny assured her mother with a sarcastic smile.
"Oh, dear," Marie-Louise said as she listened to Volta continue in a mixture of Italian and Finish.
"Volta, I hate to interrupt you, but I'd like you to meet my mother, the Queen of Neo-France," Bunny nudged Volta in the stomach.
Volta gulped and she stopped in mid-curse. "Uh-oh," she said under her breath. "He-he, sorry about that Your Highness," Volta apologized to Bunny's mother.
Marie-Louise just kept on staring at the fighter from Neo-Nepal. She finally shook her head in disbelief. "Where are we?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but WE'RE STUCK IN THIS D*** BERSERKER MODE THING AND WE CAN'T GET OUT, LET ALON KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUTSIDE OF THIS PLACE!" Volta exclaimed and started pacing back and forth, while muttering curses under he breath.
"We're not getting anywhere here, are we?" Rain said with a sigh.
"No, not really," Bunny replied. It was then that she realized that there were bars surrounding her and the others.
* * *
"Guys, over here!" Chikori called as he peered through a door on the other end of the room. "Look. My crest in glowing so that must mean we're close to the Hell Gundam. And through this door-see?-it's sort of like that cave we found Bunny in."
"Good job, Chik," Chibodee said and walked through the door. "Let's go." He motioned to the others.
They walked on for a while in silence. At least this time it wasn't a maze, just a straight path. They finally reached the end. There was another door. Brad quickly opened it, thinking only about how to get Bunny back. The door creaked wide open, revealing a field where six Gundams were stationed.
* * *
Volta continued pacing back and forth endlessly, cursing under her breath.
"Stop it, please," Marie-Louise begged. "You're making me dizzy."
"Sorry," Volta apologized and stopped walking back and forth. "D***! When are those f*****' idiots gonna let us out of here?" She started shaking the bars surrounding her.
Although the others were also inwardly panicking, they did not show it (unlike a certain twenty-year-old who was kicking at the bars, to no avail).
"Don't worry," Bunny assured her worried friend. "Brad said that once we start battling, we go out of this purple haze and into our Gundams."
"Yeah? And what happens when we're back inside our Gundams?" Volta asked.
Bunny frowned in concentration and started biting a fingernail. "I don't recall. I think I fell asleep at that point."
Volta just stared at her. "You what?" she asked in a dangerously cold tone.
"Um, I was tired and I think that's when I fell asleep," Bunny repeated meekly.
"I am so ready to kill you!" Volta made a move to hit Bunny, but was blocked by Rain.
"Volta! Control yourself," Rain said sternly.
Volta closed her eyes tightly and fell to the floor, weeping. "I'm-sorry. It's just-I-might-never-see-Chibodee-or Haaz-again," she said through sobs. "I'll-never-get-to-tell-them-how-much-I-" Volta didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to.
* * *
"Let me outta here!" Bersek cried through the closet door. "Those annoying little brats!" (Bersek was not talented at cursing.) He kicked the door in frustration.
A maid cleaning up the mess in the living room heard the thud Bersek had made and quickly came over to the closet door. "Hello?" she asked.
"Let me outta here!" Bersek replied acidly.
The maid unlocked the door and Bersek came running out. "Thank you. Have a nice day!" he said as he raced down the stairs and out of the hotel. The maid stood, stunned.
* * *
Brad made his way onto the field where the Hell Gundam lay. The others followed. Brad looked up and saw the sky. We must be outside again, he thought. Domon started running towards the Hell Gundam, looking around for a pilot.
"Hey, did anybody realize that we left Bersek in the closet?" Chikori asked suddenly. The others shrugged in response.
"Who cares?" Brad asked.
"Good point," Chikori said.
"Anybody want to fill me in, here?" Haaz asked as he came up behind the others.
"No, not really," Brad replied.
Suddenly, a man popped up, blocking Domon's path to the Hell Gundam. "Hello, little brother," he said, smiling slyly.
* * *
The purple haze started to swirl around the girls. "What's happening?" Volta asked, her face stained with tears.
"I think-I think we're about to battle someone," Bunny said, panic in her voice.
"We're going to battle people while we're in BERSERKER MODE?" Volta shouted. "But we could destroy a whole city-a whole country-the whole earth!"
"We just have to try to resist it," Bunny said. "Think about something- someone-you love. That's supposed to keep you sane."
Volta looked at Bunny, annoyed. "Where do you learn all this junk?" she asked.
But Bunny didn't have time to answer. Suddenly they were back in their Gundams. Bunny looked around her. Brad, George, Domon, Chibodee, Sai Sici, Haaz, Chikori, and Argo stood on the ground nearby. Oh my god! It suddenly hit Bunny. We have to fight THEM!
Bunny woke with a groan. She blinked and looked around her. She was in a grassy field, out in the open. No sign of civilization in sight. Bunny was in her Gundam.except it wasn't her Gundam. Bunny noticed that this Gundam was different from her Mirror Gundam. Yet it was the same.She looked down at her MTS suit. That's strange. It's black, Bunny thought, puzzled. She rose from her position of the floor of the cockpit. "Volta?" she called through the speakers. "Volta, are you there?"
"Yah. But something strange is going on," came the reply. "My MTS suit is all black. And I feel like I'm in my Gundam, but I'm not. It's strange.Do you remember anything?"
Bunny shook her head. "Not really. I remember we were in our Gundams ready to fight that guy, and then something hit me on my arm, and, that's about it. What happened to Rain and Natasha?"
"I feel kinda groggy," another voice said.
"Mrs. Kasshu?" Volta and Bunny asked in surprise.
"Uh-huh," Rain said.
"But-you still have that Rising Gundam?" Bunny asked in disbelief.
Rain nodded as her face appeared on the screen.
"Hey, you're suit is black, too!" Volta noticed.
"Yeah."
Natasha came into view.
"Wow, Mrs. Guilsky! I never knew an asparagus could look so nice in black plastic," Volta commented.
Natasha just stared at her.
"Um, it could just be me, but my vision is starting to get all purplish," Bunny said.
"Mine too," Volta, Rain, and Natasha replied simultaneously.
"Where are-" Bunny couldn't finish the sentence. She screamed out in pain and fell to the floor of the cockpit. "What's-happening?" she asked in short, choppy breaths. "I-can't-see-anything-but-purple."
There was no reply. Dr. Klements was at work.
* * *
"Words of wisdom: never trust an idiot from Neo-Nepal with a map," Chibodee said sourly.
"Hey! I swear, they went through this door," Haaz defended himself.
"Let me rephrase my statement. Never trust Haaz, period. In case you can't read the sigh, Haaz, this door says, 'Corner Bakery'. Now what would Natasha, Rain, Bunny, and Volta be doing going into a bakery twenty miles away from the hotel?" Chibodee asked.
"Why don't we just open the door and see what's inside," George suggested. "Don't worry, Chibodee. He'll still be here to kill afterwards."
Chibodee grunted and pushed open the door. A man came up and quickly blocked their path. "You can't go through here," the man warned.
"It's a bakery, for heaven's sake. Since when was there a law against hungry travelers buying some food at a nearby store?" Chibodee asked in annoyance.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you can't go in there," the guard repeated again.
"Argo," Chibodee snapped his fingers as if called for a dog. "Show this guy what happens when he tries to mess with the Shuffle Alliance."
Argo came up and hit the guard on the head, sending him falling to the floor unconscious. "Good. Now thank the nice man for letting us through."
The Neo-Russian fighter just grunted. Everyone filed through the door. "Thank you," Chikori said and hit the man again as he passed by.
"Not again," Domon groaned. "Wasn't Dr. Mikamura evil enough to last us for a while?" Before them lay a gigantic laboratory.
"Guess not," Chibodee replied.
Everyone turned to look at Brad as he growled in anger. Suddenly, Chikori fell to the ground; a small cry of pain escaped his lips. Haaz and Brad looked at their hands. Their crests were glowing.
* * *
Bunny, Volta, Rain, and Natasha were all standing in the middle-well, they really weren't sure where they were. Everything around them was dark purple.
"Where are we?" Bunny asked, frightened. She shivered. Everything around her was cold.
"I don't have the slightest idea," Rain answered. She gasped. "Look at your hand." Bunny and Volta both looked at their right hands. The crests were glowing brightly. "The Hell Gundam must be near," Rain observed.
This purple haze."Wait! I remember Brad telling me about something like this," Bunny said. "It had do to with the Berserker system." She tried to remember what Brad had told her. "Something about how when the system had control over you, you went into a purple field of mist. Like what we're in now. And you have no clue what's going on in the world outside. It's like your trapped in this cage of purple." There was a moment of silence as the information sunk in.
"WE'RE BEING CONTROLED BY THE BERSERKER SYSTEM!!!" Volta screamed. She started cursing at an amazingly fast rate in Italian, English, Japanese, Indian, and Finish, speaking one word in one language and then switching to another. Volta hadn't been this made since.well, since the whole time Bunny had known her.
Bunny whirled around as she heard a sob come from behind her. She saw the outline of another figure, also wearing a black MTS suit. Who's there?" Bunny called out.
"Bunny? Is that really you?" a voice replied hopefully.
"Mother?" Bunny asked in disbelief.
"Oh, Bunny! You're all right." Marie-Louise came running up to her daughter and hugged her fiercely. Marie-Louise looked around. "Hello, Rain. Natasha." Her eyes fell upon the ranting and raving Volta. "And who is she?" Marie-Louise was appalled and the words she heard issuing from Volta's mouth.
"That's Volta Lao, Black Joker and fighter for Neo-Nepal in this Gundam tournament," Bunny replied calmly. "She has a tendency to curse whenever upset."
"Oh. I hope you weren't around her too much, dear," Marie-Louise said.
"Don't worry mother. We were only roommates," Bunny assured her mother with a sarcastic smile.
"Oh, dear," Marie-Louise said as she listened to Volta continue in a mixture of Italian and Finish.
"Volta, I hate to interrupt you, but I'd like you to meet my mother, the Queen of Neo-France," Bunny nudged Volta in the stomach.
Volta gulped and she stopped in mid-curse. "Uh-oh," she said under her breath. "He-he, sorry about that Your Highness," Volta apologized to Bunny's mother.
Marie-Louise just kept on staring at the fighter from Neo-Nepal. She finally shook her head in disbelief. "Where are we?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but WE'RE STUCK IN THIS D*** BERSERKER MODE THING AND WE CAN'T GET OUT, LET ALON KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUTSIDE OF THIS PLACE!" Volta exclaimed and started pacing back and forth, while muttering curses under he breath.
"We're not getting anywhere here, are we?" Rain said with a sigh.
"No, not really," Bunny replied. It was then that she realized that there were bars surrounding her and the others.
* * *
"Guys, over here!" Chikori called as he peered through a door on the other end of the room. "Look. My crest in glowing so that must mean we're close to the Hell Gundam. And through this door-see?-it's sort of like that cave we found Bunny in."
"Good job, Chik," Chibodee said and walked through the door. "Let's go." He motioned to the others.
They walked on for a while in silence. At least this time it wasn't a maze, just a straight path. They finally reached the end. There was another door. Brad quickly opened it, thinking only about how to get Bunny back. The door creaked wide open, revealing a field where six Gundams were stationed.
* * *
Volta continued pacing back and forth endlessly, cursing under her breath.
"Stop it, please," Marie-Louise begged. "You're making me dizzy."
"Sorry," Volta apologized and stopped walking back and forth. "D***! When are those f*****' idiots gonna let us out of here?" She started shaking the bars surrounding her.
Although the others were also inwardly panicking, they did not show it (unlike a certain twenty-year-old who was kicking at the bars, to no avail).
"Don't worry," Bunny assured her worried friend. "Brad said that once we start battling, we go out of this purple haze and into our Gundams."
"Yeah? And what happens when we're back inside our Gundams?" Volta asked.
Bunny frowned in concentration and started biting a fingernail. "I don't recall. I think I fell asleep at that point."
Volta just stared at her. "You what?" she asked in a dangerously cold tone.
"Um, I was tired and I think that's when I fell asleep," Bunny repeated meekly.
"I am so ready to kill you!" Volta made a move to hit Bunny, but was blocked by Rain.
"Volta! Control yourself," Rain said sternly.
Volta closed her eyes tightly and fell to the floor, weeping. "I'm-sorry. It's just-I-might-never-see-Chibodee-or Haaz-again," she said through sobs. "I'll-never-get-to-tell-them-how-much-I-" Volta didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to.
* * *
"Let me outta here!" Bersek cried through the closet door. "Those annoying little brats!" (Bersek was not talented at cursing.) He kicked the door in frustration.
A maid cleaning up the mess in the living room heard the thud Bersek had made and quickly came over to the closet door. "Hello?" she asked.
"Let me outta here!" Bersek replied acidly.
The maid unlocked the door and Bersek came running out. "Thank you. Have a nice day!" he said as he raced down the stairs and out of the hotel. The maid stood, stunned.
* * *
Brad made his way onto the field where the Hell Gundam lay. The others followed. Brad looked up and saw the sky. We must be outside again, he thought. Domon started running towards the Hell Gundam, looking around for a pilot.
"Hey, did anybody realize that we left Bersek in the closet?" Chikori asked suddenly. The others shrugged in response.
"Who cares?" Brad asked.
"Good point," Chikori said.
"Anybody want to fill me in, here?" Haaz asked as he came up behind the others.
"No, not really," Brad replied.
Suddenly, a man popped up, blocking Domon's path to the Hell Gundam. "Hello, little brother," he said, smiling slyly.
* * *
The purple haze started to swirl around the girls. "What's happening?" Volta asked, her face stained with tears.
"I think-I think we're about to battle someone," Bunny said, panic in her voice.
"We're going to battle people while we're in BERSERKER MODE?" Volta shouted. "But we could destroy a whole city-a whole country-the whole earth!"
"We just have to try to resist it," Bunny said. "Think about something- someone-you love. That's supposed to keep you sane."
Volta looked at Bunny, annoyed. "Where do you learn all this junk?" she asked.
But Bunny didn't have time to answer. Suddenly they were back in their Gundams. Bunny looked around her. Brad, George, Domon, Chibodee, Sai Sici, Haaz, Chikori, and Argo stood on the ground nearby. Oh my god! It suddenly hit Bunny. We have to fight THEM!