Chapter 1: Rescue Operation: The Cursed Princess of Lacroa
The Dark Axis was invading Lacroa. The Bagubagu were turning the people to stone, and most of the kingdom's Knight Gundams had already been captured, never to be seen again. What was worse, the invaders were being aided by that traitor Tallgeese and his band of evil knights. There seemed to be no hope.
As the Dark Axis hovered in the sky, like black sun radiating evil, four Knight Gundams stood outside the entrance of a cave. They faced a single Knight Gundam, accompanied by a young girl in an elegant gown and jewels.
"The four of us can handle this," A Knight Gundam with a four-barreled crossbow said, "There are only forty thousand enemies, that's just ten thousand opponents per knight. It's not a problem."
Zero, the Winged Knight however, wasn't so confident. "No, Battol!"
"Don't argue with us, there's no time!" A Knight Gundam with a curved blade said sternly, "The important thing is to get the princess to the altar, Zero. We all know our duty and we're prepared to carry it out!"
"But, Rock…!"
"The success of a battle is not always determined by numbers!" A Knight Gundam with a large glaive said, "Now go, Zero!"
"Nataku!" Zero cried, when a Knight Gundam with a scythe stepped up.
"Do not worry about a thing," He said, "We'll catch up with you shortly," He took some experimental swings with his weapon, did a small leap forward and said, "You're not the only one who would take care of our princess!"
"I understand, Deed!" Zero replied
Behind him, Princess Relehimana Miya De Lacroa nodded. "Thank you, Knights of Lacroa. I count on you."
As the Knight Gundam and Princess walked into the cave, Zero called over his shoulder, "I shall return to assist you as soon as I get the princess safely to the altar!"
-z-
Once Zero and Princess Rele entered the sacred cave, The Five Great Sorcerers began to chant.
"Mana…O Mana…"
Beneath them and above, magic circles appeared and Zero began to rise, pulled by a power that was not his own.
"Why me?" Zero asked, "Why is it me?"
"Because, Zero," Princess Rele said, "You are the savior, foretold in the prophecy!"
"That can't be!" Zero cried, looking down at her majesty. He gave a start when he saw Bagubagu had entered the room. "Please, escape princess! Princess Relehimana, I beg you!"
By now, the Five Sorcerers had become mostly stone. Their voices echoed off the cavern's walls.
"It's too late! It has already begun!" Rele cried, holding her hand out to Zero. Her body was slowly becoming petrified.
"No!" Zero yelled.
"Zero!" Rele cried, "Zero the Winged Knight, of the Royal Knights of Lacroa, I am giving you an order now! You must go! Find new allies in another world! You must figure out a way to reverse the petrification! You must save Lacroa!"
As he went flying into the magic circle above him, Zero cried out, "Princess!"
Just as her face became petrified, her majesty was able to speak her last words.
"I leave the future in your hands…"
"Princess Relehimana!" Zero screamed before vanishing into the portal.
"You are Lacroa's only hope…"
It has been two and a half years since that faithful day… Zero thought, looking up from the Gundamusai's lookout. "Princess! Knights of Lacroa! I have come back!"
-z-
Across the skies of Lacroa flew Fenn the Feather Dragon. Even though he knew this world to be his home, Fenn had never seen it before, having been hatched from the Spirit Egg in Neotopia. Now that he was in his native Lacroa, he wanted to look around. He knew that it was his destiny to save the kingdom from the evil that had infected it, but he wanted to know what kind of evil he was supposed to fight.
He soon got his answer when a net of purple energy fell over him from above. Fenn began to scratch and head butt the walls the cage was in. Above him, seated on a platform formed from that twisted magic circle creating the net, was another dragon. This one looked remarkably like Fenn, except…
Its skin was black, and its wings were like bat's. Its tail resembled a purple double-headed scythe. Over its eyes was an elaborate golden mask, shaped like a trident, except for the part that covered the eyes. They were like window shutters, painted yellow and red stripes.
"What strength!" Deathscythe, Knight of Darkness cried as his ghostly form appeared over the black dragon. "Even though he is exhausted from the battle with Epyon, he almost broke through the most powerful barrier I could create!" When continued to resist, he chanted, "Darkness Mana, who dwells in the evil abyss, seal this creature with your power of frozen night!"
The magic cage flashed with a dark blue light, and the Feather Dragon suddenly stopped, becoming very still. He seemed to slump, hanging in the air from an invisible rope.
Now I'm ready to acquire the strongest power in Lacroa, Deathscythe thought, All that's left is to find a way to reverse the petrification…and that will be brought from the other world.
The cage containing Fenn vanished, and the black dragon flew off, carrying the Knight of Darkness as his evil laughter carried throughout the skies.
-z-
At the crash site of the Gundamusai, the remaining members of the Gundam Force held a conference on the bare soil.
"The first thing we should do-" Shute said, pumping his fist. "-Is save the princess!"
"No, Shute!" Zero said, turning to the boy.
Shute cocked his head, confused. From the way Zero spoke of her, he always though the Knight Gundam worshipped the princess of Lacroa. Why wouldn't he want to save her?
Anticipating Shute's question, Zero went on to say, "She would not have it so, because she cares more for her homeland than she does for herself. So we must save her beloved Lacroa, then the princess!" He wanted her majesty to be brought back into the world when it was cleaned of the Dark Axis' evil work. "This is the right and true order of our mission."
Shute nodded, smiling. "Yup, you're right."
"All we need to do now is activate the White Bagubagu," Captain said, his faceplate open, and his voice took on a playful tone. "Now where would you hide if you were a White Bagubagu?"
Shute turned to Captain and said, "You brought one with us, didn't you?"
"Don't hold back," Zero said, "Time is critical!"
"Yeah," Shute agreed as he fidgeted, "C'mon, Captain, hurry!"
"Okay, here." Captain pressed a button under his chest and the container for the White Bagubagu popped out.
Unlike the normal green Bagubagu, the White breed had feathery wings and a purple Japanese character on its forehead. Captain opened the capsule up and the robotic insect fly out. Everyone watched as it flew around before resting on a nearby petrified banana tree. It jammed its stinger into the wood, and the tree slowly turned back into its natural green hue, its branches swaying slightly in the wind. It was alive!
Zero's eyes watered at the sight. For the first time in over two years, life was returning to the land. Princess… Finally…
"Now everyone will return to normal." Shute said. Captain nodded.
Once it was done with that tree, the White Bagubagu moved on to another one. That soon became green as well.
"It's working!" Zero cried, "Thank goodness… My homeland is saved!"
"Good work!" Shute cheered the White Bagubagu on, "Keep going!"
"I have to say, though," Zero commented as a third tree resumed its natural form. "Its pace is a little slower than I'd expected."
Shute's smile slowly fell. "Yeah…"
"I thought the entire land would return to normal in a matter of moments!" Zero cried, anxiously. When he saw the speed the White Bagubagu had unpetrified parts of Neotopia during the Dark Axis invasion, he assumed the same thing would happen here. He had pictured color flowing into the entire country in seconds, not the snail's pace that was being used here!
Captain stared at the White Bagubagu for a moment before turning to the pair beside him. "Not quite. My calculations show that Lacroa will be back to normal in exactly 141,421,356.23 seconds. Which is more than 1,600 days."
Shute's jaw dropped. Sixteen hundred days? He did some fast math work. That was about…
"Four and a half years!" Zero cried, having reached that conclusion himself. His face fell and he slumped.
"That's ridiculous, Captain!" Shute exclaimed, "Can't we find some way to speed it up?"
"A White Bagubagu could modify other Bagubagu," Captain replied, "So if we had 10,000 of them, the job would be done in 3.14 hours, but…"
"But we haven't seen any Bagubagu here!" Shute groaned, fidgeting anxiously. He looked around, remembering that when the Gundam Force had been briefly summoned to Lacroa a month or so ago, there had been swarms combing the skies. "There were so many before!"
Captain nodded. "Yes, I estimated there would be more than 10,000 Bagubagu here. That's why we transported only the single white one."
Transported…That was it! "Hey!" Shute cried, clapping his hands together. "I've got an idea! What about Bell Wood's transport device! We're in Lacroa now, so we should be able t use it, right?"
"They could send thousands of Bagubagu!" Zero realized, catching on to Shute's plan.
Shute nodded. "Right!"
"That sounds like an excellent plan!" Captain agreed.
-z-
However, the Gundam Force found that executing the plan proved would be difficult when they entered the bridge where their Dimensional Transport Device was kept.
"The Device doesn't work?" Shute cried, clapping his hands to his face in dismay.
RAIMI, the Gundamusai's AI, said, "I'm afraid both the communicator and the Transport Device were broken during the crash."
"How long do you estimate it will take to repair it?" Captain asked.
"According to my calculations, one week."
"It'll take a week?" Zero asked desperately. They didn't have a week!
Shute, however, tried to remain hopeful. "We can still use the Zakurello Gate, right?"
"No way! Uh-uh! Nada! Forget about it! No!"
That encouraging response came from the Zakurello Phone, bouncing up and down in its holder on the bridge's console.
"Wait a minute!" Captain cried, turning to the Phone. "Can't we summon the Zakurello Gate inside normal space?"
The Phone winced. "That's impossible, Rello! Family ties between me and Paparello were cut off while we were in the Minov Boundary Sea, Rello!"
"What are you talking about, 'family ties'?" Shute asked, "Are you trying to tell us that the Zakurello Gate is your…father?" It sounded so absurd.
"Right!" The Phone replied, its beady green eyes upturn happily. "Rello! Paparello is Chobirello's papa, Rello!"
Chobirello? Was that how the Zakurello Phone referred to himself? As Shute pondered that for a moment, another question came to mind. "If he's your papa, who's your mama?"
"Paparello! Paparello!"
-z-
Without any alternative, the Gundam Force decided that they would have to rescue Princess Rele sooner than they expected. The launch bay of the Gundamusai opened, and out rolled the Re-equip Ring, the device Captain normally used to change weapons while on the field. Today it's aerial abilities would be used as transportation.
Beside it floated Zero. "Since the princess is very intelligent, she may know a secret method to utilize the White Bagubagu! Now her rescue must be our top priority!"
Standing on the green, capped ball-like head of the Ring, Shute cast Zero a knowing smirk. "You just can't wait to see the princess. C'mon, admit it!"
Standing inside the Ring, Captain's faceplate closed. "Let's head to Lacroa Castle."
"Follow me!" Zero cried, and flew off.
The Ring took off after him, and the Gundam Force began their flight across the canyon they landed in. As they traveled, Shute couldn't help but look down. During their entrance to Lacroa, the Gundamusai had crashed, and certain members of their crew had fallen off in the process, namely, Bakunetsumaru, a Musha Gundam samurai from Ark, and Genkimaru, a hyperactive child Musha Gundam.
"I wonder how Genkimaru and Baku' are?" Shute asked.
"I'm sure Bakunetsumaru will have things under control." Captain replied.
Shute couldn't help but grin. "He'll have his hands full with Genkimaru!"
"You're right about that!" Zero added, chuckling.
-z-
On the branches of the Spirit Tree what Lacroa Castle was built on was the Fountain of Spirits. Here, the petrified form of the princess of Lacroa was kept at the top of the fountain. Guarding her, stationed by her side and on the lower portion of the fountain were Pawn Leo. Pawn Leo were the foot soldiers of the Lacroix Dark Axis faction. Unlike the Zako Soldiers used by the main invasion force, who resembled little green mono-eyed robots with domed heads, the Pawn Leo looked like toy soldiers with yellow visors for faces. But while normal Pawn Leo were brown, the ones guarding the princess were black with red visors.
In the spring where the water of the Fountain flowed from the Spirit Tree, Deathscythe held a conference with Professor Gerbera of the Dark Axis via magic circle.
"What a failure! You're telling me you lost the enemy ship in the Minov Boundary Sea?" Gerbera demanded.
Deathscythe nodded. "Yes, Professor, but with my magic I'll again find the Gundams in very short order.
"Because of your ineptitude, it appears I shall have to retrieve them myself!" Gerbera snapped.
"I can assure you, Professor, that will be entirely unnecessary," Deathscythe said soothingly, "I have things under control. My strategy involves a decoy to draw in our enemies. I have created a facsimile of their precious princess of Lacroa, and it should be the means to their destruction. I shall go into the Minov Boundary Sea immediately. Once I have defeated the Gundams, I will bring them back to be melted down and processed. The General will soon have supply of gundanium, I give you my word."
"…Do not fail me this time, Deathscythe." Gerbera warned.
"Even at the cost of my own existence…" Deathscythe purred. Once the magic circle vanished , his thoughts grew dark. How difficult it is pretending to be loyal to that fool! I can hardly wait until the day I can humiliate him in front of the General, and take his place in the hierarchy of the Dark Axis. He doesn't know about the prediction of the Five Great Sorcerers…but I do. And I plan to use that knowledge to my advantage! 'When the curse of stone befalls Lacroa and begins the nation's ruin, a small power brought from the end of the Minov Boundary Sea will come forth, and save the entombed princess.' I wonder what that small power could be, to undo the Bagubagu? We'll know very soon, won't we, my dear…
-z-
Fair away from the castle, the rescue team station themselves behind a large petrified tree. Captain slid his green targeting scope over his eyes and magnified the view onto the fountain where Zero claimed the princess' petrified form was being held. From what he could see, the only security force were a trio of dark Pawn Leo on a lower platform, and one at the princess' side.
"There are only four guards." He reported.
"And there's the princess!" Zero muttered, "It seems odd that they would assign so few of their forces to guard her."
"Yeah," Shute mumbled. A thought occurred. "Or maybe…maybe it's some kind of trap!"
An idea that Zero agreed with, but… "Trap or not, we have to go in and save her. It is vital if we hope to restore this world! Are you ready?"
Shute pumped his arm. "Yeah! Let's go!"
-z-
The Dark Pawn Leos were just mulling about when they heard the sound of jets and rockets. When they saw Zero and Captain fly overhead, the Dark Pawn Leo jumped to attention, running around in the fountain.
"Red alert! We're under attack, Pawn! It's the Gundams!" The lead Pawn Leo shouted, waving his sword.
The Gundam Force appearedThe other three Pawn Leo began to fire their cross bows at them. While Captain and Zero easily rocketed and flew around in the air to dodge the bolts, Shute was not so fortunate, dancing a precarious dance on the Re-equip Ring, trying to avoid being hit while at the same time keep his balance.
"What's the matter with you Pawns, shoot him down!" The Pawn Leo leader yelled.
"Zero Dispel Sword!" Zero shot a beam of pure light from his sword at the three Pawn Leo. They gave a cry and resumed their normal form- dice.
Captain, meanwhile, had assembled his V-Rod and began to face off against the remaining Pawn Leo.
"I'm warning you now," Captain said, "I have been granted special dispensation to use whatever force is necessary!
With swift movements, he struck the Pawn Leo in the back and front, knocking him off of the fountain. The Pawn Leo turned back into a die as he fell.
"Awesome, Captain!" Shute commented, hopping off of the ring.
Captain looked up at Shute and nodded. "Thanks."
Once they were clear of enemies, Zero landed before the princess and kneeled. "My princess," He said, looking up to her. "I have returned, just I promised you."
"I understand your devotion, Zero," Captain said, "And I must say, in the presence of royalty, I am humbled."
Shute stared at the stone features of her majesty, entranced. "Wow… She's...really beautiful!" He blurted out.
Zero glanced at Shute. "Her beauty eclipses any rose you might find here in Lacroa. Wait until you gaze upon her true form again once the petrification has been reversed. Then you see how impressive she really is, and how easily she inspires all those around here to an unshakable loyalty!"
It was then that a psychotic laughter cut through the calm air. The Gundams and Shute looked around, trying to place the source.
"Well, hello, Gundams!"
In the air above the Gundam Force, Deathscythe appeared on his platform.
"Welcome to the altar, where the princess shall be sacrificed to the Spirit Tree!" He greeted.
"Deathscythe!" Zero yelled, "I know you're the one who used Tallgeese! I will not allow you to harm the princess!"
"Tallgeese?" Deathscythe asked, insulted. "That lowly buffoon? I'm disappointed to hear you associate me with that clown! He was not even worthy to be one of the Royal Knights of Lacroa, although you're little knights have proven to be nothing more than a crowd of incompetence!"
Zero shook with rage at the Knight of Darkness' words. "Deathscythe, stop! How dare you dishonor the Royal Knights of Lacroa!"
"There are no knights of Lacroa left, royal or otherwise!" Deathscythe retorted, "Everyone except you has been melted down into scrap- to serve my exalted General. But it seems today I will be adding the fifth and final knight to the scrap heap."
"I don't believe you defeated my comrades!" Zero shouted.
"Oh, yes- and quite easily, I might add." Deathscythe's eyes shimmered with twisted delight.
"A Knight Gundam is never defeated easily!" Zero yelled.
"Is that right?" Deathscythe asked, and said, "Let's put that theory to the test, shall we!"
Like a demonic mitosis, Deathscythe seemed to divide, as clones of him split off and separated from him. The Knights of Darkness encircled the Gundams and Shute cackling.
"We've got a problem!" Shute cried, trying to keep an eye on the Deathscythes. "Captain, which one of them is real?"
Captain stared at the multiple Deathscythes before looking at Shute. "I can't tell!"
"What?"
"My magic has been refined to the mists of time!" The Deathscythes said at once. "Mechanical puppets such as you are unable to overcome its power!"
Each Deathscythe summoned his own purple double-headed scythe. Captain responded to the threat by firing beams from his Option V, but the energy simply passed through the clones.
"Nice try!" Deathscythe taunted.
"Super Magic Zero Dispel Sword!" Zero called out, holding his glowing Vatras sword up.
Captain fired at another Deathscythe, but the beam went through it- another illusion.
"That won't work, you metallic, misfit!" Deathscythe sneered.
Zero, meanwhile, was busy fighting magic with magic. He sliced his sword through the Deathscythes, causing them to pop like balloons, proving them to be clones. But as he did that, more clones would appear and summon scythes.
"It's no use, your fate is sealed!" Deathscythe cackled, "Why not surrender to the inevitable?"
As the Deathscythe clones surrounded Zero, the Winged Knigth remained defiant. "No matter how many enemies stand before me," He held up his sword. "None shall remain at the flash of my sword! That is inevitable!"
Shute, meanwhile, was busy trying to get the princess onto the Re-equip Ring. He knew that if she was damaged during the fight, it wouldn't matter if she was unpetrified- her body would be too wrecked to last long. Unfortunately, the fact that she was currently made of stone meant that she had too much for Shute to pick up.
"It's too heavy…" he huffed, "I can't lift it…"
"Shute, look out!"
Shute turned at Captain's voice, and gave a yell. Deathscythe's clones were throwing their scythes at him! Luckily, Captain leapt in front of the boy and deflected the projectile, firing back with his helmet guns. In the air, Zero spun around, disrupting the clones surrounding him. But more clones remained, their scythes held ready to be thrown.
"My sword is powered by the faith instilled in me by the four Royal Knights of Lacroa!" Zero declared, flying around and defeating clones. Once he was done, there seemed to be no more Deathscythe's left.
But then a Deathscythe on a magicl circle platform appeared. "Foolish knight! You're hope is merely an illusion!" He cried as more clones separated from him.
Huh? Zero focused onto the platform-Deathscythe his eyes sharpened. If that's his real body, then he's made a tactical and fatal error!
Meanwhile, Captain had picked the statue of the princess up and was carrying it towards the Re-equip Ring. On the Ring's top stood Shute, trying to keep his balance as the Ring slowly rose. The Deathscythe clones launched more scythes at them. But instead of hitting the pair, they struck the Re-equip Ring! The Ring shook, causing Shute to fall off. Luckily, the boy fell forward, grabbing onto the princess for dear life.
"Shute!" Captain cried.
But then more scythes were thrown, this time at the Gundam's feet. His footing disrupted, Captain let of princess! She and Shute went plummeting down.
"Oh no!" Captain exclaimed, and without thinking, dived after them. He had to save them!
Their cries caught Zero's attention, and he turned his head, just in time to see the three figures –Shute, the princess, and Captain- fall down until they fell past the energy dome surrounding the castle.
This cannot be! The Winged Knight thought frantically, If the princess is destroyed, there'll be no hope for Lacroa!
But no sooner had the terrible thought came to him did a triumphant cheer rang out through the air.
"We got her!" Shute cried, rising up. He was standing on the Re-equip Ring again, and in t the center, held firmly by the Ring's robotic arms was the princess, undamaged! Captain stood next to her and gave Zero a reassuring nod. Luckily, they were able to fall directly through the Ring's center, and were able to use the Ring's magnetic field to catch them.
"Princess Rele!" Zero gasped happily. It was a miracle! Thank goodness my princess is all right… More seriously, he called out, "Comrades! I leave the princess in your care!"
Shute clenched his fist. "She's safe with us!"
"We'll protect her!" Captain added.
Now assured if the princess' safety, Zero turned back to the battle, deflecting thrown scythes with his sword. The Re-equip Ring flew off, with Shute taking one last glance over his shoulder. Zero continued to destroy Deathscythes until there was only one nearby- the real Deathscythe.
Glaring daggers at the Knight of Darkness, Zero said, "You shall not harm the princess on my watch!"
"You think you can stop me?" Deathscythe asked sneeringly.
In answer, Zero shot up and jabbed the point of the Vatras Sword into Deathscythe's mid-section. He was sure he hit something, as not only did his sword shake at the collision, but he had it strengthened with his Dispel magic to boot. Deathscythe groaned, obviously in pain, though he had no face to express it. Zero then flew away from Deathscythe and up into the air, the sunlight gleaming off of his sword.
"This is not the end, Winged Knight," Deathscythe threatened, "We shall meet again!"
Deathscythe vanished, as did his platform and scythe. Behind Zero, other clones dissipated.
-z-
As the Re-equip Ring flew down the canyon toward the Gundamusai, Shute heard a voice call out from behind.
"Shute!"
Shute smiled and looked. As he thought, it was Zero, flying after them.
"Captain!" Zero called out, "Tell me, is the princess safe?"
"She's fine!" Shute laughed.
"Thank you, my friends! You have done well!" Zero congratulated, and thought, I only wish the other knights of Lacroa could be here to share in this glory! He remembered the last thing Deed had said before they separated.
"Do not worry about a thing. We'll catch up with you shortly! Remember, you're not the only one who would take care of our princess!"
I still don't think they're gone, Zero thought bitterly, the Royal Knights of Lacroa would not fail!
But those thoughts would have to wait. They had arrived at the Gundamusai.
-z-
Once the Re-equip Ring had landed, the three members of the Gundam Force moved the princess into the bridge. Once there, they placed her onto the platform where the Dimensional Transport Device deposited transported objects. Captain, his faceplate open, held out the open capsule for the White Bagubagu. The robotic insect slowly began to flap its wings, and then flew up off its cushion. Everyone watched with anticipation as the White Bagubagu fluttered up to the princess' outstretched hand. It tapped her finger with its stinger, and from that point, color flowed into her body. Her skin went from stony grey to Caucasian, her dress became light blue. Her hair, tied in twin braided buns, became a very light grey.
"…Where am I?" The princess asked.
"Princess!" Zero gasped, his eyes rippling. "You're…among friends!"
Shute gave a triumphant laugh, ecstatic. Confused, the princess turned to look at him and Captain.
"I don't know you, do I?" She asked, concerned.
"You know me!" Zero cried, "Don't you? You're highness?"
The princess turned to Zero and nodded. "Why, yes! I do know you! You're Zero, the Winged Knight!"
"O-oh, yes, milady!" Zero said, his eyes watering. "And I apologize for taking so long to fulfill my promise to you!" With that, Zero buried his face in his arm, sobbing happly.
"But the important thing is we did it!" Shute cheered, and turned to Captain. "Right, Captai? This world is being restored!"
"Yes, and with the princess' help, we can utilize the White Bagubagu to accelerate restoration." Captain replied.
Shute gave another cheer. "Woo-hoo! The Gundam Force rules! I knew we could do it!"
Because the three members of the Force were busy celebrating, none of them were looking at the princess. If they had, they would seen her holding up the palm of her hand. And if they looked at the palm, they would have seen a tiny magic circle in the center.
Deathscythe's magic circle.
-z-
From his lair, Deathscythe watched the action in the bridge within a larger magic circle on the wall.
He giggled malevolently. Everything is falling into place just as I planned! He turned to look at another statue of Princess Rele. The real princess remains hidden away here, petrified and in my possession, He sighed almost lustfully. "You're more beautiful than the fabled violet rose. Soon you're sweet eyes shall see the brilliance of my strategy! When you're restored, you're destined to be my beloved soul mate!"
Deathscythe's ghostly formed vanished in an instant. Standing in its place was a knight, whose body was hidden by a black material wrapped around- it seemed almost alive. The face was also hidden, by a mask like that of the black dragon's.
Deathscythe, Knight of Darkness laughed wickedly. Soon…very soon…
