Spectrophobia
Chapter 9
A full moon hung low in the night sky, casting its light over the desert. It illuminated the broken, scarred form of a Dimensional Transport Device, shining through its charred holes from some battle long since passed. Its largest columns were burned, its smallest pillars were crushed, and its rotors were bent and swinging loose. The main tower had scaffolding around it, as if an attempt at repairs had been made at some point. However, the desert sand had swallowed up parts of it, thanks to many months of disuse.
Five figures approached the forgotten device, walking across one of the only intact bridges. One of them, a young woman, yawned.
"Remind me why we're out in the middle of nowhere at four in the morning?" she muttered.
"Another dimensional rift was detected out here," another figure replied. The figure was covered in heavy armor and greatly resembled a machine. His voice was not synthesized, however, and sounded like a middle-aged man.
"This better not be a dead end like the last two," the young woman grumbled, rubbing her bleary eyes.
A third figure belonging to a GM ran ahead of the group. Energy readings led him to the largest column right in the middle of the device. There, he found a circle of purple light hovering a few feet off the ground. A quick scan of the device showed that it was not generating this portal; in fact, its electricity had been completely cut off.
"We're in luck!" he said to his comrades as they walked across the platform. "The dimensional anomaly is right here!"
"Excellent work," the man said, nodding.
The fourth figure, a Gundam, looked the portal over. "Are we sure Captain Zephyranthes went through it?" he asked.
"Well, no...," the GM answered sheepishly. "We have to find out where it leads, first. Then we'll have to find a way to duplicate the portal, and-"
The last figure, an old woman, walked right up to the portal and stuck her hand through it. The GM jumped. The Gundam just watched. The man tensed, and the younger woman shouted, "Prim what are you doing?!"
On the other side, the SDG guards were busy looking over the offline Gunchoppers and Guneagle. Their orders were to make sure that the Gundams had been destroyed, and to terminate them if they weren't. They didn't notice the lead curtain moving. They didn't see a disembodied hand pull it down off the mirror. And they didn't see the head of old woman wearing a half-face motorcycle helmet emerge from the mirror and take a look around.
After a minute of observation, Prim pulled her head back into her reality. "He's there," she said.
"He is?" the man asked. "Did you see him?"
"I did not see him myself," she replied, "but I saw his handiwork and sensed his corruption."
The Gundam slammed his fist into his hand. "Great! Let's go after him!" he growled.
"Y'know, I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but...how are we gonna do that?" the young woman asked. "I don't think any of us can fit!"
Indeed, the portal was just large enough for Prim to stick her head and shoulders in. Taking into account everyone's weapons and armor, none of them would be able to pass through. As the group tried to think of ways they could squeeze themselves in, the GM walked over to the main column and began brushing a pile of sand away from its base. He uncovered a door for a fusebox and opened it up.
"Perhaps we could get a generator over here, and try to get the Dimensional Transport Device working again," he suggested. "That way, we could create our own portal!"
The door fell off its hinges and clattered to the ground, making the GM jump a little.
"Forget it," the Gundam replied. "Only Bell Wood knew how to operate that thing, and no one's seen him since the rebellion started."
Meanwhile, Prim was kneeling on the ground, rummaging through her satchel. She brought out a piece of white chalk and began placing dried herbs and crystals on the ground.
"I'm familiar with the materials and the spell used to make the portal," she said. "I can try to widen it."
"Really? How long will it take?" the man asked.
"Only a few minutes if everything acts accordingly," the old woman replied. "I warn you though, this is only a temporary solution. The portal will close regardless of its size once their moon sets."
"How long does that give us?"
"About two hours."
The man crossed his arms and nodded. "Alright. We'll prepare while you get set up."
With that, Prim knelt down, swept sand away with her hand, and began to draw a pentacle on the floor with her chalk. The man gave orders as he checked the amount of power still left in his cybersuit. The young woman called home base for backup as she secretly questioned her commander's faith in Prim's strange methods. The GM also contacted the base, but for a portable generator; it was just in case Prim's "magic" didn't work. The Gundam paced back and forth impatiently. He didn't care what worked, he just wanted fulfill his prime directive - dismantle Zephyranthes for good.
Brief clips of past memories flashed past Captain's optics as Zephyranthes dug through his memory banks for Captain System access. Try as he might he could not stop it.
His first victory against the Dark Axis, deflecting their cannon fire with a Captain Punch...
Looking at clouds with Shute...
Almost getting stepped on by a giant mechanical swan...
Meeting Zero and Bakunetsumaru...
Learning the Gundam Force Triple Attack...
Flinging Bakunetsumaru into the Dark Hole's portals...
Making rice balls...
Acting in The Blazing Samurai...
Defeating the Big Zam...
The Dark Axis taking control of nearly every Mobile Citizen in Neotopia with a mass bombardment of Control Horns...
Using the Captain System to free those Mobile Citizens through the Brain World...
Zephyranthes stopped his search for a moment to watch that one, paying close attention to the satellite uplink sequence. He realized, however, that the codes shown were over a year old, so he continued digging through Captain's files for something newer.
Meanwhile, Captain wracked what little memory he could use to find a solution. What could he even do at this point? He couldn't move. He couldn't stop his twin's programs or even close the video boxes.
It was then that he noticed a video that Zephyranthes had glimpsed at and discarded. The screen was partially covered, but Captain could clearly see Commander Sazabi in the center looking very worse for wear. All of his regalia had been ripped off, and his arms were hanging limply and his sides. It must have been footage from the tail end of their battle.
On a whim, Captain commanded the video start playing just to see if he could do it. To his surprise, it did. He heard his own voice yell, "This isn't over!" The camera zoomed in on Sazabi as Captain had charged forward with one last punch. He heard Shute in the background yelling, "Yeah! Knock his block off!"
Zephyranthes quickly stopped the video, but it had done the trick. Shute's encouraging words, even though they were just a recording, activated Captain's Soul Drive. Instantly, he felt power course through his body and was able to move again. He blocked his counterpart from searching his memory, erased all viral programs, and closed all of the videos. With his field of vision clear, he could see Zephyranthes staring back at him, his optics wide and pale.
Captain's work was not finished, however; somehow, Zephyranthes' direct connection to his CPU still survived. Captain opened up his network list to sever the connection himself, but was interrupted when several new video screens popped up and began playing. At first he thought this was some desperate attempt by his twin to hang on - until he noticed what was going on in the videos.
The first one was identical to his initial encounter with the Dark Axis. But the one after that - the one in which Grappler Gouf placed a Control Horn on a swan-shaped boat - was different. Instead of receiving help from Zero, Captain saw "himself" open a side menu that he never saw before and receive instant access to the Brain World. He used it to instantly shut off the Control Horn, much to Grappler's confusion.
The same happened in several other memories. The cranes, the trains, the mayor's Ferris wheel statue - even ones he wasn't there for, such as Annie, Sayla's AI assistant, and the Grippas-1 tunneling robot - all of them were easily solved via quick Brain World access.
Immediately afterward, that quick access was used to give the victim and any other AI in the area orders to seek and destroy all Dark Axis units.
These were not Captain's memories.
More clips appeared. Was his Soul Drive bringing them up? One took place in the Blanc Base's atrium. Humans and GMs were walking through, going about their own business. Many of the humans had those anti-Bagu Bagu patches attached to their clothes. The mysterious menu was opened again and a different option was selected. Lines of code were printed on the screen. All of the patched humans instantly froze. If there was anything in their hands, they dropped it. GMs and humans without a patch accidentally bumped into them or stared at them in confusion. Some even gave the victims a gentle shake or waved their hands in front of their faces.
Another video appeared to take place in a holding cell. A lone Zako was in a corner, cowering in fear. The menu was brought up again, and the Zako went completely still. His optic blinked a few times before turning blue. A network map bearing the Zeong's-head insignia filled the screen. Most of the nodes were labeled with numbers, but the larger ones contained familiar names: Zapper Zaku, Grappler Gouf, Destroyer Dom, and Commander Sazabi. There were also names that Captain didn't recognize; was Zephyranthes' Dark Axis larger than his was?
The network's red connection lines and nodes turned blue in a matter of seconds. The two largest nodes, however, did not change.
A third video showed a badly-beaten Madnug staggering back from the camera. Almost all of his pink Gerbera armor had been ripped away; only half of his helmet and a torn right greave remained. His black Gundam armor was full of holes and sparks were pouring out of his body. He was surrounded on all sides by his own minions - Zakos, the squad leaders, Sazabi, and a whole host of unknown robots. Their optics had changed from pink to blue, and they all stared into space as they pointed their weapons at their wounded leader.
"You...you won't...t-t-take me...aLIVE!" Madnug sputtered.
He then activated his jets and barged through a wall of hijacked Zakos behind him. The camera chased him to a pit of molten Gundanium, which he promptly threw himself into. The picture began to violently shake and the video closed itself.
One final video featured a Zero lookalike. His color scheme and armor design were the same, but his proportions were different. He was a foot taller, had a much larger upper torso, and arms so long that they nearly dragged on the ground.
"Rumor hazzit that there's some kinda demon king sealed away under Lacroa." The Knight Gundam had a gravel voice that was an octave deeper than Zero's. "S'called the Devil Super...Supper? Ach! Somethin' to do with a 'devil'!"
"You believe that this 'Devil' can be used to eliminate General Zeong?" Zephyranthes' voice asked.
"Can it?! Well, it only became king by killin' all the other demon lords, so I'm guessin' a general wouldn't stand much of a chance!" The Zero let out a few guffaws before becoming serious again. "But the trick is summoning it, y'see. First, we've got to sacrif-"
The video vanished along with all of the others as Zephyranthes disconnected himself. He glared at Captain with bright white eyes.
"I do not know how you did that," he said, "but you are beginning to anger me."
Captain clenched his fist. With his Soul Drive still active, it radiated a bright golden glow.
"I will not let you enslave Neotopia, Captain Zephyranthes!" he shouted. "Lay down your weapons and surrender at once!"
"You are forgetting that I have one more card to play," the other Gundam said, gesturing in the direction of the Dimensional Transport Device.
"What do you mean?" Captain asked. Was he going to destroy the device? What good would that do him?
His optics zoomed in on the device. He spotted the mind-controlled SDG guards still standing around over there as well as his fallen comrades. His Soul Drive lost its energy out of shock as he put two and two together.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Normally, it would be disadvantageous to sacrifice my own troops," Zephyranthes replied. "However, you have given me no other feasible option." He crossed his arms. "You have sixty seconds to divulge your current Captain System access code, or I will begin terminating them."
Again with human hostages?! Captain began considering his earlier plan of creating false codes when he saw something move in the distance. One of the guards had fallen over. A second later, another fell down.
Zephyranthes must have noticed his minions disappearing from his network, as he turned around to look. As more humans suddenly collapsed, short robotic figures, some armed with tranquilizer guns, began to emerge from behind pillars and columns. It was the SDG GM guards, now back online. Despite being damaged, they continued to sedate their human brethren, remove their patches, and drag them off the battlefield. In moments, the humans had all been knocked out. The GMs traded their tranquilizer guns for standard issue beam rifles, and started rushing toward the two Captains as fast as they could go.
"Your attempt at taking hostages has failed again, Zephyranthes," Captain remarked. "You should sur-"
He finished his sentence with a gasp as his twin fired the rest of his missiles at the oncoming guards. Fortunately, the projectiles were immediately shot out of the air by gatling fire from above. Gunchopper Seven in his helicopter mode flew overhead.
"That is on behalf of my brothers!" he shouted. "Do not think I did not see what you did to them!"
As Seven banked around for a landing, the GMs surrounded Zephyranthes, weapons drawn. A few others ran off into the distance to help Gunpanzer. Lieutenant VT1965 stood at Captain's side, carrying his rifle and shield.
"You are un-un-under arrest, Captain Zephyranthes!" she called to the other Gundam. "Lay down your weapons! We have-have-have you surrounded!"
She then turned to Captain and handed him his things. "I found these laying around the dev-dev-device," she told him. "I'm guessing they-they belong to you."
"Thank you, lieutenant," he said, accepting his shield and weapon. "Are you sure you are in good enough condition to battle?"
"Oh, don't worry about-about-about-" The lieutenant smacked the side of her head. "Don't worry about me, it's just a vocalizer glitch."
Captain knew it was more than that, but he nodded anyway. "We will take you and your troops in for repairs as soon as possible," he replied. "But first..."
He turned back to Zephyranthes, aiming his rifle at him. Behind him, Seven had landed and was now standing on his other side, completing the circle around the troublesome Gundam.
"This is your last chance," Captain warned his alternate self as he pointed his gun at him. "Surrender now, or we will use force!"
Zephyranthes' eyes became white again, and his green optical display faded to black.
"Your numbers do not intimidate me," he said ominously. "You are critically underestimating my abilities."
He slowly lifted off the ground. Thinking that the Gundam was trying to escape, a few of the guards fired upon him. However, a strong wind whipped up around their target, obscuring their view and pelting them with sand.
Zephyranthes crossed his arms in front of his face. Black fire poured out of his jet boosters, first from the sides, then from the top and bottom. The flames had feathered ends, giving them the appearance of wings. The sky darkened despite a lack of clouds, and turned an eerie purple. The sun became a pinprick of light before disappearing entirely.
Everyone looked around in confusion except for Captain, who was trying to keep his focus on his twin. The ominous dark sky was reminding him of his final battle with General Zeong.
Zephyranthes thrust his arms out, and a powerful shockwave knocked everyone off their feet. Captain picked himself up and saw the other Gundam surrounded by purple energy in the shape of a cross with pointed ends. Two wing-like shafts sprouted out of the cross's bottom and two short, claw-like appendages emerged from its top. Captain realized Zephyranthes looked a lot like he did when his Soul Drive had fully activated during the aforementioned final battle. That purple glyph resembled the Lacroan illustration of the Superior Dragon...but wrong somehow.
"I was built to protect my Neotopia at any cost," Zephyranthes boomed down at everyone, his voice echoing. "If that means that I will have to rip your CPU from your body, then so be it."
Captain stared him down. "Any cost?" he retorted. "Like becoming just as bad as the Dark Axis?"
"They are irrelevant," the dark Gundam replied. "You and your friends shall be terminated for your insolence."
With that, he stretched his hands out in front of him. A small sphere of darkness appeared between his palms. The purple cross pulsed, and the black flames danced as the sphere began to grow.
"He-he-he's charging some sort of attack!" Lieutenant VT1965 shouted. "Don't let him finish! Fire at-at-at will!"
The GM squadron obeyed, but their beams were swallowed up by flames that spontaneously ignited around Zephyranthes. Captain's shots from his rifle yielded the same result. Seven fired his gatling gun, but all of his bullets stopped in midair and fell to the ground.
"This isn't good," Captain remarked.
Zephyranthes' dark energy sphere was now the size of a basketball.
"Captain!" a mechanical voice shouted off in the distance. "Over here!" The Gundam and the lieutenant turned to see one of the GMs that had been helping Gunpanzer was heading their way. They were dragging along a huge, multi-barreled weapon that was nearly as big as they were. Captain recognized it as one of his Destroyer form's missile launchers.
"I think this is yours," the guard said. "I found it buried in the sand."
"Good work, soldier!" Captain replied, taking the launcher.
The guard saluted and ran off to find anything else that could be useful. Captain attached the huge weapon to his arm and hoped that it was still functional. Fortunately it was, and it unloaded all of its micro missiles upon Zephyranthes. The GMs took cover from the series of explosions.
Once the dust settled, however, the other Gundam was revealed to be surrounded by a purple barrier and unscratched. The dark energy sphere grown to the size of a Zako soldier. The ground began to shake.
"What are we going to do, Captain?" Seven asked. "None of our weapons are effective."
"I...I'm not sure," Captain answered. They had tried everything available to them. Actually, no, not everything...he had yet to Captain Punch Zephyranthes. But in order to do that, he needed to synchronize with Shute's mind, and the boy was currently unconscious.
Or maybe he didn't; earlier, it activated from a recording of Shute's voice. Could that be all he needed?
He reopened that memory clip from the end of the Sazabi battle and replayed the part where his friend cheered him on.
"Yeah! Knock his block off!"
Captain felt his Soul Drive flare up again and warmth flowed through his systems. His right fist glowed with a bright golden light, and began rotating faster and faster. He successfully activated the drive again...but would it be enough?
He swung his arm in a wide circle as he activated his jet boosters. He flung himself at Zephyranthes just as the other Gundam threw the energy ball at him.
Captain collided fist-first with the dark projectile, which was almost as big as he was. At first, he thought the ball would instantly explode and destroy him, but fortunately, that didn't happen. By some miracle, his Soul Drive's energy negated the darkness, and it dissipated harmlessly. He flew right through it, continuing on his trajectory right for Zephyranthes' face.
Unfortunately, his other self managed to block him by grabbing his fist. Captain groaned in pain as the rotating gears in his wrist ground to a halt.
"Destroying my energy attack was most impressive," Zephyranthes commended him. "However, this is as far as you will go."
He shoved Captain's fist back and yanked his arm above his head. Captain yelled as his fingers were nearly crushed, and his hydraulic joints were almost pulled apart. He tried to shake his hand loose, but Zephyranthes had it in a death grip. He tried to pull his hand out with his other arm, but his twin's fingers never so much as budged. He turned up his thrusters as high as they would go, and tried to push against the other Gundam. Zephyranthes never moved.
"It was very foolish of you to think you could defeat me," he said. "This is the same power I used to banish General Zeong from my plane of existence. Your probability of victory is at exactly zero percent."
"I...I don't care!" Captain said, trying to keep the pain out of his voice. "I won't...I won't let you...take over my Neotopia!"
"So be it."
There was a sickening crack as Zephyranthes tightened his grip on Captain's hand. Captain screamed as his fingers were slowly crushed. The golden glow rapidly waned as the flames of his Soul Drive began to die down.
"Don't give up, Cap-Captain!"
In his confusion, Zephyranthes stopped squeezing Captain's hand and looked around for the source of the voice. Captain realized it was coming from his radio.
"Don't let that guy intimidate you!" Lieutenant VT1965's voice shouted. "You can be-be-beat him! I believe in you!"
"She is correct!" Gunchopper Seven's voice broke in. "You have what it takes to defeat him, Captain! I believe in you too! We all do!"
Loud cheering erupted over the audio link. Captain glanced down to see all of the guards jumping up and down while waving. The encouragement recharged his Soul Drive, and soon his energy was back to its initial level.
However, it did not give him enough strength to free his fist from Zephyranthes' iron grasp. Said Gundam immediately resumed crushing Captain's fingers again while also twisting his arm.
"Empty platitudes will not save you," he taunted as Captain struggled not to scream.
"Shut up, Zeppole! Nobody cares what you think!" a new person interjected over the radio.
Zephyranthes immediately recognized the voice. "I thought I destroyed you!"
"Well you didn't do a very good job!" Guneagle's voice retorted.
"Guneagle...you're alright...?" Captain grunted, still in pain.
"Yeah, I'm okay, Captain," the younger Gundam replied. "The guards got me back online. Normally I'd kick that guy's afterburner for what he did, but everybody's saying I better not. So get him for me, okay?"
"We are with you Captain, all the way!" Gunchopper One's voice broke in.
"You can do it!" Gunchoppers Two through Six shouted simultaneously.
"What they said!" Gunpanzer added. "Give 'im an extra-hard whuppin' for trashin' my trailer!"
Captain's Soul Drive received a great increase in power. Golden light began to pour out of his joints and his back. He was able to shove Zephyranthes' back and fully extend his arm. The other Gundam wasn't able to clamp down his fingers any harder, but Captain couldn't quite get his hand free. If only he had just a little more strength...
He suddenly heard a voice that definitely wasn't coming from his radio.
Hey, Captain! Can you hear me down here?!
"Shute?" How was that possible? The boy was knocked unconscious.
I see you and the other Captain having some kinda fight in the sky! Except, the other you is somehow in hyper-mode...and he's a weird color, too. I think I might be having a dream, because everything's made out of red rocks except for you guys. If it isn't a dream, though, you can beat that guy! You defeated Zeong, this guy should be easy!
"Alright, Shute," Captain replied. "I will."
"You must be malfunctioning. You are talking to someone who isn't here," Zephyranthes said. "Perhaps your audial hallucinations are being caused by your active Soul Drive. I must admit that I have underestimated its energy output, but it is not supplying you enough power to best me in combat."
He held out his free hand and a beam saber materialized in it with a flash of black fire. It produced a long, red blade.
"I will end this battle now."
"You're right about that, Zephyranthes," Captain said, staring his twin right in the eyes. "This battle is over!"
Captain became enveloped in blinding light as his Soul drive reached maximum output. A pointed, golden cross appeared around him. Shafts of light resembling wings radiated out of the top of the glyph.
"What is happening?!" Zephyranthes cried, the saber suddenly evaporating in his hand. Captain swore he saw actual fear in those white eyes. "How are you doing this?!"
"This is the true power of the Soul Drive!" Captain replied. "Power you could experienced yourself...if you didn't use everyone like pawns!"
He yanked his fist out of Zephyranthes' hand with a flick of his wrist. Then, with a cry of "CAPTAIN PUNCH!" he delivered a knock-out blow right across the dark Gundam's faceplate. Zephyranthes plummeted to the ground in a black fireball creating a crater in the sand. When the flames died out, he was back in his default mode with his normal paint job. His optics were shut off.
The sky returned to its usual shade of blue, and the late afternoon sun reappeared. The guards cautiously hobbled closer to the fallen Gundam, their weapons still drawn. Captain floated down to the ground, still glowing brightly. Only when his scans revealed no activity in his twin's systems did he allow his Soul Drive to power down. The golden radiance faded away. Gunchopper Seven and Lieutenant VT1965 hurried up to him.
"Is he...?" Seven asked.
Captain nodded. "He is offline, but I do not know for how long. We must hurry and secure him before his systems reboot!"
"Rog-roger," VT1965 said, producing a pair of magnetic cuffs from a compartment in her chest. She walked right up to Zephyranthes' unmoving form, and flipped him face-down with a foot. She then pulled his arms behind his back and snapped the cuffs on. They covered his hands and forearms.
"That will do for now, but we will also need to make sure that he cannot receive or transmit signals," Captain continued. "Does your building have holding cells that can do that?"
"I thi-think they can," the lieutenant answered, "but I'm not-not entirely sure. We've nev-never had a problem like this."
Seven tapped Captain on the shoulder. "Perhaps we will not need to worry. Look!"
He pointed at the sky above the Dimensional Transport Device. A fleet of Gunperries were slowly flying their way, led by Chief Haro's personal white vessel. The air was filled with the sound of propellers and engines as they dipped down to land. One group landed by the device to pick up wounded guards and damaged Gundam Force members. Another group landed over by security headquarters to collect anyone still there. Finally, the last group landed in the nearby sands. As the white Gunperry flew overhead, Captain saw a tiny figure leap off its roof. A second later, Chief Haro landed on the ground in front of him on a fist and one knee. Such a jump could have severely injured a normal human, but the chief's physiology was...unique. Captain secretly found it baffling at times.
Everyone holstered their weapons and saluted as Haro stood up.
"At ease, everyone," he said in response. The crowd put their arms down, and the guards went back to watching the fallen Gundam closely.
Captain stepped forward. "Mission accomplished, chief," he reported. "Captain Zephyranthes has been neutralized and ready to be transferred back to base. Suggested mode of transport would be in a containment unit that can block all transmissions."
"Excellent work, Captain," the chief replied. "We have a Faraday cage ready for him in both my Gunperry and at the base. But before we discuss anything else..."
He pulled a small rectangular object that almost resembled a cell phone out of his jacket.
"I apologize, Captain," he said. "I must do this as a precaution. It will only take a minute."
Haro tapped the screen and a diagnostic box appeared in the Gundam's line of vision. It automatically began scanning for something unknown.
"What?" was all Captain could think to say.
"Kao Lyn gave me this device to scan for foreign coding in your system," the chief explained. "Forgive me, but I need to know if the Captain I'm speaking to is the right one."
"Chief, if I may-may speak freely," Lieutenant VT1965 piped up. "My troops and I wit-witnessed the entire battle, and we know beyond a dou-dou-doubt that this is our Captain."
"Thanks lieutenant, but the chief is right," Captain said to her. "Captain Zephyranthes did in fact try to impersonate me while you were still offline."
The diagnostic box displayed a green check mark and closed itself. Haro put the device back in his jacket.
"No foreign coding detected," he announced. "Thank you for your cooperation, Captain."
"You're welcome, sir."
"Now then, let's get back to business," the chief continued. "Next, I'll need a damage report."
"All human per-personnel are currently unconscious due to removing the pat-patches," the lieutenant said. "About a dozen GM personnel are still off-offline from an earlier altercation with their con-controlled human allies. All active personnel have sustained in-injuries. There are no known casualties at this ti-time."
"Thank you, lieutenant," Haro said. "Reinforcements have been brought in to take over from here." He then addressed the crowd. "Everyone here must report to a medical Gunperry for repairs. You are dismissed."
The guards responded with "Yes, sir!" They headed off to the medical vessels just as another group of GM SDG personnel arrived with a hovering metal pallet. Two members of the new guards lifted Zephyranthes up out of the sand on onto the pallet. With a push of a button on the side, an energy barrier surrounded the Gundam, and they carted him off toward the chief's personal Gunperry.
"Chief, may I make a suggestion?" Captain asked as he watched his twin being escorted away.
"What is it, Captain?" Haro replied.
"Once the Dimensional Transport Device is repaired, I think it would be best if we sent Captain Zephyranthes back to his home dimension," the Gundam said. "It is too dangerous to keep him here. I am certain that when he comes back online, he will most certainly try to enslave the minds of everyone in Neotopia again."
"I understand your concern, Captain, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline your suggestion," the chief said. "Captain Zephyranthes caused an untold amount of damage here today, and I can't even begin to imagine what he might have done to his own Neotopia. I cannot in good conscience send him back there to terrorize innocent people once again."
Captain recalled what he saw in his counterpart's memory clips. "I understand, sir," he replied.
"On the other hand, I realize that it is far too dangerous to keep Captain Zephyranthes around our Neotopia as well," Haro continued. "We are going to keep him at a rehabilitation facility far away from the city. I am in the process of setting one up in-"
They heard shouting in the distance. The both of them immediately thought that the prisoner in question had broken free, and looked up at Haro's Gunperry. However, nothing out of the ordinary was happening over there; shots weren't being fired, and no one was evacuating the airship.
There was, on the other hand, a lot of SDG personnel staring in the direction of the Dimensional Transport Device and pointing.
Suddenly, Guneagle's voice came over Captain's radio.
"Chief! Captain! You gotta see this! The portal's gone crazy! I think something's trying to come out of it!"
They turned around. Even from over here, they could see a bright light shining in the middle of the device.
Captain activated his jets and hovered a few feet into the air.
"Here, chief!" he said, holding out his arms.
Haro grabbed onto Captain's hands, and the Gundam flew him over to the lab. When they arrived, they found the portal glowing with the same intensity as last night. The new guards surrounded it, their weapons drawn. Guneagle was trying to shoo away some medics, who were trying to get him into a Gunperry.
Just as Captain set his feet back on the floor, someone emerged from the mirror.
The figure was as tall as the chief and covered in black armor with a row of golden spines down the middle of their helmet. Some sort of rifle was attached to their right arm. At first, Captain thought they were a machine - perhaps some sort of customized Mobile Citizen or even one of those unknown Dark Axis mechs. However, their movements were far too fluid to be a robot.
The next figure was a GM with sea green torso. He carried a couple of laser pistols at his sides, but he didn't seem to have much else on him. He kept staring at the crowd, as if he was scanning them for something.
Third was a human wearing riot gear and carrying a beam rifle. When she pulled her face mask up, Captain could see the face of a young woman underneath.
Fourth was another human, an old woman with long, faded pink hair. She was wearing what looked like makeshift armor. On her head was a motorcycle half-helmet with a headlight strapped on it. Her body gear looked like fiberglass taken from various cars and patched together. A large leather satchel was at her side.
Bringing up the rear was...Guneagle. A different Guneagle, of course, the one that Zephyranthes had mentioned earlier. His armor was covered in dents and scratches, and one of his V-fins had been snapped in half. When he spotted Captain, he glared daggers at him and put a hand on his blaster. He didn't draw it, however; it was almost as if he was waiting for Captain to make the first move.
Haro pushed past the guards and stepped up to the strangers.
"I am Chief Haro, commander of the Super Dimensional Guard of Neotopia," he announced to them. "Please state your names and business."
The heavily-armored mech approached the chief. Their faceplate slid open to reveal the face of a human male. His slight wrinkles suggested he was middle-aged, and he had a long vertical scar down his left cheek.
"I am Colonel Randolph Connor of the Neotopia Resistance Force," he said, holding out his hand. "We've come here to search for an escaped war criminal from our dimension. He's a Gundam with the designation of GP-01 Captain Zephyranthes."