A/N: My biggest chapter yet is finally ready after months of work (and stalling)!

*When Zero Two speaks like this it means that she is speaking as Aphrodite (HiroTwo's Klaxosaur).


In the vast lifeless desolate desert, Hiro and Zero Two's colossal Klaxosaur, Aphrodite, jetted swiftly across the land from its thrusters from its back, out to fulfill their mission. The Klaxosaur sped towards a rocky cliff, stopping dead in its tracks as it left a huge cloud of dust behind its back. Looking up to the mountainous cliff, the Klaxosaur raised up its arm and shot out a large cable tipped with a grappling hook, which anchored itself on the side of the cliff. The Klaxosaur then launched upwards with the cable, landing on top of the cliff.

Inside the Klaxosaur, Hiro and Zero Two were inside the cockpit in their usual piloting position. Pressing a couple of tabs on a holographic screen, a holographic projection of a front-view perspective appeared in front of Hiro, scanning the surroundings for any signs of life. Hiro looked closely at the surroundings he was analyzing, especially looking far away for any sign of the plantation.

"Zero Tsu, pause for a moment, I think I just found our target…" Hiro ordered.

"Oh? So where will that be darling?" Zero Tsu asked.

"Focus right between that crevasse in the mountain down below, that is where I just saw our target." Hiro ordered.

The Klaxosaur then homed in on something in particular it saw far in the distance, examining it closely, instantly recognizing it as a human plantation. The plantation was quite close to the cliffside where they were hiding, close enough that Hiro was able to even see the Mistilteinn on top of the plantation.

"There is it darling, so shall we attack?" Zero Two said eagerly.

"No, not yet Zero Tsu," Hiro announced, "I have the sneaking suspicion that the humans made sure to defend their plantation even without any Franxxs. We'll anchor down here for a little bit while I can scout out the defenses of the plantation."

"Alright darling, but don't leave us waiting here for too long…" Zero Two stated, "As you know darling… we do have a mission to complete…"

"I know Zero Two, I promise that we won't be here for too long," Hiro responded back.

Following Hiro's orders, Zero Two took the Klaxosaur behind another cliff wall out of sight of the plantation, with the Klaxosaur promptly deactivating itself. The back hatch of the Klaxosaur then opened, with a long cable-like rope being tossed down to the ground. Hiro was the first to appear out of the cockpit, swiftly sliding the cable down and landing on the ground, with Zero Two following suit.

Once on the ground, Hiro began to swiftly move to a rock not too far away from the plantation, hiding behind it to make sure he was out of sight. Hiro then took out his pair of binoculars and began to examine the plantation below. Zero Two then approached Hiro to see what he was looking at, also looking down at the plantation below.

"Hm, this plantation doesn't strike me as anything special darling…" Zero Two claimed while she looked down alongside Hiro, "Why not charge straight into battle, I'm sure that you and I can take it down with no problem. Plus, Mama said that there are no Parasites guarding this plantation too…"

"We mustn't underestimate the capabilities of our enemies, arrogance can very well be one's downfall if left unchecked." Hiro quickly responded while still looking through his binoculars, "I am also pretty sure that the humans may have an alternative battle plan if they have no parasites to guard their plantation."

"Hmf. Don't know what is making you so wary about going straight into battle for this case. We've always done it all the time, no problem… but, I won't complain…" Zero Two stated, sitting down beside Hiro while leaning behind a rock with her arms folded behind her head.

Meanwhile, Hiro continued to examine the plantation below for anything that might be special.

Initially, it seems that there was nothing special about this plantation, as it had all of the usual characteristics of a typical human plantation. It had the usual anti-Klaxosur defense system and the Birdcage on its top, where the parasites of the plantation resided. However, Hiro noticed that a large portion of the plantation was open in some sort of ceremony, with Hiro focused in to see what was going on.

Focusing in, Hiro saw what seemed to be thousands of adults participating in a graduation ceremony. In the center of the ceremony, the Chairman and the other APE members were present behind a podium. The Chairman was currently giving a speech, praising the new parasites that were graduating to become parasites. Shifting his attention from the APE council, Hiro focused on the new parasites that were graduating out of curiosity.

Examining the parasites, there was something strange about some of the parasites. Some of the parasites looked faintly familiar to some that he used to know and see back in the Garden. Though when Hiro looked at one particular pair of parasites, Hiro could not believe what he was seeing. Standing next to each other as a Parasite pair were Ichigo and Goro, two faces that Hiro immediately recognized. Although both of them had since grown up, both of them looked just like Hiro used to know them as. Not only Ichigo and Goro, but Hiro also saw other familiar faces, such as Mitsuru and Naomi.

Hiro's expression when seeing his old friends in front of him was that of shock. Just as he shrugged off fighting his friends as no big deal for him to handle, now, it was his responsibility to fight and kill his old friends.

"This… can't be!" Hiro thought to himself, dropping down his binoculars in shock.

"C…C….can I do it! They are my enemies now, after all, serving as servants to the invaders… but have they done anything wrong to deserve death!"

"They are innocent after all, they have done no wrong to me or my brethren… yet! I just can't bring myself to wipe them out as I did with other Parasites."

"What to do… what to do!"

"Why so shocked darling? Did something down there catch your attention?" Zero Two asked Hiro, catching him by surprise.

"Um… well… you see Zero Tsu…" Hiro stuttered as he attempted to explain what he saw.

"Hmm, let me guess… Is it a new Franxx unit that the humans made? Or… could it be the elite unit of APE arriving at the human plantation?" Zero Tsu continued to ask Hiro.

As Zero Two continued to pelt Hiro with questions about what he saw, Hiro was still dumbfounded at what he was supposed to do with his old friends now his enemies. Now, more importantly, Hiro wasn't too sure if he even had the courage to tell Zero Two about the truth and how he should tell her.

"I… I need to tell Zero Tsu the truth… but, if I refuse to fight my friends, I'll look weak in front of Zero Two and Mama. Even worse, I'll be disobeying Mama's orders!" Hiro's thoughts continued to race.

"But… I'll never be able to forgive myself for killing my own friends, they have done nothing wrong to deserve such a cruel fate!" Hiro continued, "I…I…I just need to tell Zero Two the truth, she needs to understand…"

"Zero Tsu, there is something important I need to tell you," Hiro said back to Zero Two, "It's… something that I should've told you far earlier than now…"

"Oh, and what is that darling?" Zero Two asked.

Hiro composed himself and prepared himself to tell Zero Two the truth.

"Well… you see Zero Tsu… a long, long time ago when I was back in the garden… even before I ever met you… I used to know some former human friends…" Hiro attempted to explain.

"And… what does this have to do with what you saw down there?" Zero Two questioned.

"Yeah… in relation to what you said, you see, my old friends that I used to know…" Hiro continued to explain, "They are the… parasites of this plantation now…"

Zero Two took a minute to interpret what Hiro said.

"So what darling? Just because they were some humans that you once knew a long time ago doesn't mean that they are still close to you…" Zero Two responded, "Enemies are always going to be enemies no matter what. You know that darling…"

"I know Zero Tsu… but they have done no wrong to me to deserve death!" Hiro replied back defensively.

"But they are parasites, they are nothing more than enemies to us now," Zero Two continued, "That is their destiny darling, to fight to the death and nothing more. There is nothing else you can do, that is their fate."

"But… I don't know if I can do it…" Hiro meekly responded back to Zero Two.

"Darling… Now I may not have whatever connection you may have with these humans but we can't abort the mission Mama has relied on us to do," Zero Two said sternly, "She trusts in us and we can't let her down, we can't look weak to her!"

"...Zero Tsu is right… I can't fail what Mama expects us to complete. I can't let my humanity undermine my strength," Hiro thought to himself, "...But why can't I get myself to fight them now. I felt that my will to fight has all but left me after I realize this…"

As Hiro debated on what to do in his situation, the ground began to slightly rumble.

Hiro felt the rumbling of the ground beneath him, with Zero Two noticing too. Standing back up from behind the rock, Hiro looked around for anything around his environment that might be causing the rumbling, fearing that it might be the humans arriving at their location. Hiro saw nothing around him, with Hiro then gently sniffing the air for any sort of scent. Hiro then picked up a scent of something familiar to him.

Hiro then realized what the scent was. The scent of a Klaxosaur.

"...A Klaxosaur… is already here?" Hiro muttered to himself.


After finishing their formal graduation ceremony, the Parasites of Plantation Thirteen were now going to engage in their Franxx startup ritual. Inside their Franxx cockpit, both Goro and Ichigo were preparing to engage in their Franxx startup and to start their connection with each other to pilot the Franxx.

"Well… after all of these years of waiting, here we are about to pilot our first Franxx together…" Goro commented.

"Yeah, you and I both worked hard to get where we are today," Ichigo responded, looking back to Goro.

Goro smiled in return at what Ichigo said.

"Yes Ichigo, you know, as much I would say that all of us as a squad worked hard to get where we are today, I'd say that you and I together strived the hardest…" Goro continued.

"Really? What makes you think that Goro?" Ichigo asked.

"Well… I mean we had it hard back in the Garden, and we were both equally hit hard by Hiro's disappearance," Goro explained, "But even after all of that, we held our heads up high and made it to where we are now."

"Oh, well… I guess you're right," Ichigo said, slightly blushing, "Though if it weren't for you Goro, I don't think I would have recovered when Hiro left my life."

"Don't talk yourself down, you're just as tough as me. That's why I expect you to be a great leader of this team Ichigo," Goro said, "I'm betting on it really!"

"YOU MAY NOW PROCEED WITH THE STARTUP CONNECTION PARASITES!" an announcement blared.

"Looks like the time has come, ready to go Ichigo?" Goro stated.

"Yes, ready," Ichigo said in return, getting into her piloting position.

Just as Ichigo and Goro were about to engage in their connection with one another, a jolting sound followed by a monstrous shriek shook the plantation and their Franxx.

"What's going on!" Goro exclaimed.

Meanwhile, the crowds who were participating to see the Franxx startup ceremony began to talk amongst themselves in fear of what that sound was. A fog then began to slowly roll into the area, covering the environment in a misty shroud. On the ground, the Doctor was alongside Nana, overlooking the scene. Nana was looking anxious while the Doctor continued to maintain a stoic expression amidst the uncertainty.

"This is bad. The fog is rolling in…" the Doctor commented.


Once Hiro realized that the Klaxosaur was approaching the plantation, he looked back down to the plantation to see where it was.

Not too far away from the plantation, Hiro noticed two pairs of large luminescent-blue horns sticking out of the ground which was rapidly approaching the plantation. The ground soon broke open as the Klaxosaur burst out of the ground, with the colossal black Klaxosaur revealing itself as it emerged out of the cloud of dirt and dust.

"Great, just great!" Hiro thought to himself, "Now a Klaxosaur is here to make everything worse for me. If it's here for one purpose, that is to destroy the plantation like we were supposed to do!"

"I have to think of something quick! I just can't sit here and do nothing, the lives of Goro and Ichigo are on the line here!"

"...Wait, I just may have an idea of what to do. I just need to get Zero Two on board…"

"Hmm… looks like that Klaxosaur is taking matters into its own hands. Too bad, I was hoping for a good fight…" Zero Two said with disappointment as she looked down at the Klaxosaur below.

"Zero Tsu, please listen to me here," Hiro said abruptly, focusing on Zero Two, "Now, what I'm about to say here is going to sound crazy, but you need to trust me for it!"

"Oh? So are we going to go down there and fight actually?" Zero Two asked.

"Well… yes, but not the plantation…" Hiro continued.

"Ok, so what then are we going to fight?" Zero Two questioned.

"We are going to fight that Klaxosaur." Hiro explained.

Zero Two's expression went to a state of shock.

"You've gone completely out of it darling!" Zero Two shouted, "First, you want me to believe that my enemies are somehow your long-time past friends. Now, you want me to fight our own brethren!"

"Trust me on this one Zero Two, we aren't even going to kill that Klaxosaur down there," Hiro continued to explain, "We are just gonna get it away from that plantation, that's all."

"I can't go with this plan of yours darling, you are letting your feelings get to your head!" Zero Two berated.

"Please Zero Two, it's only this one time!" Hiro begged, "It's just that I will never forgive myself for letting them die at the hands of that Klaxosaur if I were to do nothing!"

"You want to do all of this just because you feel it's morally just to save the lives of a few humans? Please darling," Zero Two continued.

As Hiro attempted to convince Zero Two, she remained stubborn to comply. Hiro took a quick glance back down at the plantation and saw the Klaxosaur slowly approaching the plantation as the plantation's defenses attempted to shoot it down to no avail. Hiro knew that he was running out of time fast.

"Okay, I'll promise you this Zero Two. This is the only time we will ever do this." Hiro continued, "Humans are not so special to me, I hate them as much as you, but these humans are special, I know it in my heart. If we are able to save them, they'll be surprised to see a Klaxosaur save them and they'll see us much differently."

"Sounds overly optimistic…" Zero Two complained.

"Fine, if you want to hold anyone accountable once we get back to Mama, I'll be the one taking all the blame for this!" Hiro stated.

Zero Two thought for a moment about whether or not to comply with Hiro's plan.

"Okay darling, just because I love you so much, I'll comply with this plan…" Zero Two said.

Hiro then lit up with excitement after Zero Two agreed to comply.

"Thanks so much Zero Two, this is why I love you so much!" Hiro said, kissing Zero Two on the cheek.

Without hesitation, Hiro began to sprint back for Aphrodite.

"Let's hurry up before it's too late!" Hiro shouted back to Zero Two.

"Wow, and you seem suddenly so motivated to fight now darling…" Zero Two shouted back to Hiro as she ran to catch up with him.


With the emergence of the unexpected Klaxosaur, panic gripped the crowds who were watching the startup ritual ceremony. The Klaxosaur then began to rapidly move toward the plantation with the intent to attack it. The plantation's defenses turrets fired a barrage at the Klaxosaur in an attempt to slow it down. Despite taking numerous hits, the Klaxosaur continued to move to the plantation. Slamming its body into the plantation, the Klaxosaur used its tail to swiftly wipe out the plantation's turrets, crippling the plantation's defenses. The Klaxosaur then shifted its attention to the Franxxs, rapidly pacing towards the hangars where the Franxxs were.

Meanwhile, as the crowds were being evacuated into the plantation for safety, the Doctor and Nana remained. Nana was in a state of shock, though the Doctor on the other hand was in awe and admiration at the Klaxosaur.

"A moho-class, huh? It's big, strong, and has a fine look…" the Doctor began to casually commentate amidst the chaos around him.

"This is no time for casual commentary! Prepare to evacuate!" Nana shouted, "Hurry up and retrieve the parasites!"

While chaos took place outside, the parasites were still left inside their Franxx, confused about what was going on. Still inside the cockpit of their Franxx, Goro and Ichigo were gripped in fear amidst the sounds of sirens going off outside and the sounds of bangs from what sounded like turret guns.

"What's happening?" Goro shouted.

Another loud bang shook their Franxx again interrupting Ichigo and causing both Goro and Ichigo to lurch forwards. Getting herself back up, Ichigo looked in front of her to see the Klaxosaur breaking open the hangar doors to attack the Franxx inside. Managing to open the hangar door to Goro's and Ichigo's Franxx, the Klaxosaur began to charge up its plasma cannon with the intent to destroy the Franxx.

Ichigo saw the glowing plasma cannon about to be fired while in a state of total fear. Ichigo closed her eyes and soon expected an early death then and there.

Though just before the Klaxosaur could fire its plasma cannon at her Franxx, something slammed into the Klaxosaur at full force, preventing it from firing its plasma cannon. Ichigo slowly opened her eyes again and saw the Klaxosaur was no longer there, relieved that she was alive but now confused about what had just occurred.

"Wha…wha…what just happened?" Ichigo stuttered.

"I…don't know." Goro stated, just as shocked, "It looked like… another Klaxosaur…"

Meanwhile, back outside the plantation, everyone at the scene was put in a state of further confusion at the recent turn of events that just occurred. Out of thin air, a type of unknown Klaxosaur had just slammed its legs right into the hide of the Klaxosaur, causing the Klaxosaur to be sent flying thousands of feet after its initial attack. Once the dust cleared after the initial attack, the unknown Klaxosaur's form was shown to everybody after the dust cleared, though it was nothing like the normal Klaxosaurs those at the plantation were used to seeing.

The Klaxosaur was a large bipedal Klaxosaur and visibly larger than a regular Franxx mecha, being near twice the height of a standard model Franxx. The Klaxosaur's whole body was colored jet black with parts of its torso and head colored azure-blue. On the top of its head were two pairs of sharp bright-blue horns, also having sharp bright-blue horns on its shoulders, knees, and elbows. Behind it, a long black and blue striped tail trailed behind its back.

The Doctor meanwhile stood in awe at the arrival of the strange-looking Klaxosaur. The Doctor has seen the unknown Klaxosaur a while back in his research, but now, he found himself face-to-face with it, instantly falling in love with it at first sight.

"She's… so beautiful! If only I can get closer to her… if only I can…" the Doctor cried in joy, reaching his hand out for the Klaxosaur.

"Get back Doctor!" Nana shouted, grabbing the Doctor's arms, "There's a battle going on out there!"

"But I need to see her!" the Doctor said.

After Aphrodite's initial attack, the Klaxosaur that Aphrodite attacked was sent flying thousands of feet. After landing on its back, the Klaxosaur recovered, quickly getting back up and facing itself against Aphrodite once more. The Klaxosaur prepared to fire up its plasma cannon again in another attempt to destroy the plantation. However, Aphrodite intercepted the Klaxosaur's attack by blocking where it was going to shoot its plasma cannon. When the Klaxosaur fired at the plantation, Aphrodite generated a shield using its arm to block the plasma cannon shot, blocking the initial explosion.

The blast from the explosion caused Aphrodite to be thrown backward, its body slamming into the exterior of the plantation. Next, the Klaxosaur then began to charge at Aphrodite at full speed to attack it. However, Aphrodite quickly recovered and managed to block the Klaxosaur's charge attack by swiping one of its shields on its arm against the side of the Klaxosaur. The Klaxosaur was once again sent flying across the desert.

Even after being beaten multiple times, the Klaxosaur was still unwilling to give up its battle and got back up and prepared to attack once again. The Klaxosaur got back up and prepared to charge up another plasma cannon attack at Aphrodite. Aphrodite raced towards the Klaxosaur before it could fire its plasma cannon, slamming the Klaxosaur from above and prying open the jaws of the Klaxosaur. Aphrodite pinned down the Klaxosaur and threatened its core with one of its blades.

"Leave. Now." Aphrodite ordered the Klaxosaur.

Understanding the might and power of the apparent unknown Klaxosaur, the Klaxosaur took heed to the advice of its brethren and communicated to Aphrodite its defeat. Aphrodite took notice of this and withdrew its blade from the Klaxosaur's core and released it from its grip. The Klaxosaur followed up on its promise and disengaged from the battle and deactivated its plasma cannon, bowing down in defeat in front of Aphrodite. The Klaxosaur promptly turned around and burrowed itself back underground as Aphrodite looked on to make sure the Klaxosaur was sure to stay away from the plantation.

"ATTENTION ENEMY! SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY OR FACE OBLITERATION!" an announcement suddenly blared.

Turning its attention back to the plantation, Aphrodite saw the plantation's turrets aimed down at her. Despite the show of threat the humans showed off, Aphrodite continued to maintain a calm and stoic attitude, even scoffing at the plantation's show of force.

"Hm… so this is the thanks I get for saving your asses?" the Klaxosaur announced, "Besides, you think you can scare me with your little act here?"

"Wait! Wait! Do not shoot at that Klaxosaur! Do you hear me do not shoot!" the Doctor shouted in desperation, "Get the defenses to hold down, can't you see this is the greatest discovery of my lifetime? It clearly saved us, can't we just wait for a little and know its intentions at least?"

"INITIATING COUNTDOWN." the announcement then blared, aiming the turrets at the Klaxosaur.

"3…!"

"2…!"

"1…!"

"I see your intentions humans, however, this is not the last you'll see of me," Aphrodite warned, "Trust me, I won't come as friendly next time I see you all…"

Just seconds before the plantation's turrets could open fire on the Klaxosaur, Aphrodite suddenly released a mist-like fog around itself, covering itself and its surroundings in a white foggy shroud.

"ATTACK, OPEN FIRE!" the announcement bleared.

The plantation's turrets fired at Aphrodite in a massive barrage for a full minute. After the barrage concluded and the firing ceased, the plume of dust and smoke slowly began to clear from the place where Aphrodite once stood. By the time air cleared up, Aphrodite was nowhere to be seen, both dead or alive, as if the Klaxosaur disappeared into thin air.

"Damn it!" the Doctor shouted in distraught, falling onto his knees, "You fools, we made her run away! …and she was so beautiful to see just for once!"


In the aftermath of the battle at the plantation with the Klaxosaur, Hiro and Zero Two were taking a rest while hiding Aphrodite behind a cliff wall in order to keep out of view of human search squads.

At the moment before the human plantation could fire at their Klaxosaur, the smoke shroud that Hiro released to disguise themselves helped him and Zero Two to flee swiftly from the scene with no trail left behind. Hiro was still inside the cockpit, staring at the ceiling and ruminating on his own thoughts about his new revelation about his friends and how he was going to explain it to Mama. Zero Two was also quiet, in a state of recovery after their fierce and chaotic battle at the plantation.

"You know darling… you have a lot of explaining to do to Mama…" Zero Two told Hiro, breaking the silence.

Hiro smirked back at what Zero Two said.

"Yes I know Zero Tsu, what I did out there shall have serious consequences with Mama," Hiro explained calmly, "Yeah, I violated what we were supposed to do for our mission, saved an enemy human plantation from destruction, and attacked a Klaxosaur in order to do so. I admit, to say the least, I have a lot to talk about with Mama."

"Hm? Why still so calm about all of this darling?" Zero Two asked.

Hiro quietly laughed in return.

"Because I knew from the start when I made you do this plan, I was going to have to explain a lot to Mama," Hiro continued, "Yes, she shall look at me for what I did in disdain, but I can explain it all. She understands me deep down, she can understand what I did out here today…"

"I see darling…" Zero Two responded, "I will say though, you have always introduced me to unexpected things since we first met. I will admit… as much as I hated to be defending a human plantation, I liked that battle…"

Hiro smiled in return.

"Heh… glad you at least had some enjoyment in my crazy plan of mine Zero Tsu…" Hiro replied, laughing.