Dual Fan Fiction ❯ Interstellar Dual! ❯ A New Home ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure and its characters are the property of Pioneer and whoever, not me. Interstellar Dual! originally created by Will Rogers (Xtor49).
Co-writer: Thorin Blauvelt


Italics: thoughts.
Bold: emphasized
Underlined: info from the author, such as definitions, clarifications, and the Author’s Note. Underlined text is not spoken by characters.
<>: a mecha is speaking


In the mess hall, both Mitsukis and Akane had created a literal feast. As Travis had ran ahead of Dee and Josh, he came in first, "They should be here momentarily."

The American sat next to Kazuki. Mitsuki Rara sat next to her fiancé, and Mitsuki Yotsuga sat next to her husband. Further down the table sat Akane next to Dr. Sanada, as well as Mina, Ryla, and Alice.


It wasn't long before Josh and Dee came in, holding hands. Ken almost jumped out of his skin at the sight, but calmed down. "They grow up so fast, don't they Akane?" he said quietly.


"Yes, dear, they do," Akane held Ken's hand reassuringly.


"Hey, Josh, sit over here!" Travis beckoned. Josh and Dee moved to the chairs across from Travis and Kazuki. Josh pulled Dee's chair politely, and she smiled thanks as to him as she sat down.


Dee saw Mitsuki R.'s ring, gasped, and looked at Travis and her. Travis nodded, putting his arm around Miss Rara. As Josh sat down next to her, his eyes locked onto the food in amazement.


Everyone else started eating, "Itadakimas!" Japanese word used before eating.


It was two minutes later that Travis finally realized the problem, "The food's really there, Josh. You can eat all you want. Go ahead." Josh shook his head to shake off his daze, and began to wolf down his food.


"Maybe you should slow down a bit..." Travis suggested, but Josh didn't seem to hear him. Everyone was watching him.


"He's eaten enough to feed five people...in just ten minutes," Mitsuki R. noted quietly to Travis.


"That's not too big a deal. He's not used to Japanese meals, which are small and high in carbs. His manners would impress even Reika, even at his speed," Travis replied.


Dee watched silently, a smile on her face. Before anyone but Travis was half done, Josh had eaten all the food in front of him. He took a napkin and wiped his lips, "Thank you, ladies. The food each of you prepared was exquisite. I don't suppose I could have seconds?"


Travis and Kazuki nearly fell out of their chairs from laughing so hard. Only Dee was thinking coherently enough to dish up more food for the young man, filling three plates. Travis got the idea that she would've carried more over, had she been able to.


"That's why I suggested making plenty," Travis whispered to the young woman beside him. Members of the crew had come in to enjoy the well-prepared meal earlier. By this time, word had spread about Josh and his incredible eating speed, and much of the crew had surrounded the table to watch.


After Dee came back with another set of plates, one person declared, "I bet 5000 yen he eats another set!"


"You're on!" another crewmember said.


"I bet 5000 he eats two more!"


"I bet 10000 he eats three more!" the crew began a semi-wild uproar of betting.


Travis stood up and took charge, "Alright, everyone back up, and go sit down. Anyone got a pen and paper?" A few people had some. "Right. Start taking down people's bets," Travis ordered.


As one of them passed him, he pulled the crewman closer, "Put me down for 50000 that he eats more than eight." The crewman was stunned, but did as he was told. Travis smirked as he sat back down.


Josh ate nine full sets of plates, and no one but Travis had even considered over six. Travis went around collecting his winnings, ranging from yen to jewelry to food. He put it all down on one table, "Alright, everybody. Anyone who's eaten, out of the cafeteria and back to your stations. If you haven't eaten, I think there's some left." Most of the crew had eaten while watching Josh, and so got up to leave. There were only a couple of small groups left, the largest consisting of the officers, Josh, and Akane.


Ken whistled softly, "Well Josh that was an amazing feat. How did you do it?"


"Simply stated, I always keep as much food as I can within my body to store it for when times get lean. Sometimes I would go a few days without finding any food then stumble across either a huge amount of animals, or a large field of wild crops, or a large store of preserved food. I learned quickly how to eat a large amount of food quickly in order to store it." Josh answered.


"Ah, I understand," Ken responded.


Dee leaned over to Josh, "Do you want to invite anyone to join us tomorrow?"


"Well, I already invited Travis earlier. Mitsuki, Kazuki, and...Mitsuki, Damn, that's confusing, would you like to see the place I've called home? I'd invite you, Dr. Sanada, but you can't pilot a mech," Josh looked at them all as he talked to them.


"Quite alright, my boy. I'll get to see all of that stuff when you bring it back here," Ken sounded excited.


Kazuki cocked his head for a minute. "Did you find any hover platforms intact Josh?" he asked.


"Yes, I found several but how did you know that they exist?" Josh queried Kazuki.


"Zinv told me to ask," Kazuki replied simply.


"Ah. So will you all come with us?" Josh asked.


"I will," Travis replied.


"Count me in," Mitsuki R. said quietly, taking hold of Travis's hand.


"You bet," Kazuki answered excitedly.


"Anywhere Kazuki goes, so do I," Mitsuki S. stated.


"Then it's settled. We leave at dawn," Josh finished.


"I can't wait," Dee said smiling and giggling. She then slipped under Josh's arm and leaned up against him.


"I hope you don't mind if I steal Josh from you for a bit, Dee? I'd like to do some catching up," Travis checked.


Josh looked at Dee as if to say, "I want to, but not if you don't want me to."


Dee shook her head, "Of course I don't mind."


Josh gave her a little peck on the cheek that made her blush as he stood up. "So you're the Lt. Commander around here, eh? Third-in-command?" Josh queried as he and Travis walked out the door.


"Actually, for some reason, the ship doesn't have a Commander, so I'm second-in command. It has it's perks, but I'd rather if people followed me because they want to, not because they have to," the taller man told him.


"Think I can get a rank?" Josh's words came as no surprise to Travis.


"Probably. All the pilots have one, even Dee. I'll talk to Captain Sanada about it later," Travis assured him.


"Was I imagining things, or does Shinigami feel pain?" Travis questioned.


"Yeah, he does. And what he feels, I feel," Josh answered.


"Same for me and Tatsuma. But how did you get it?" Travis wondered.


"There's a special chamber at home. It did it to him. It doesn't work any more, though," Josh stated, "So what's been happening to you? You've been in this universe as long as I have. Something's got to have been going on."


"Let's go to the records room. You can watch some of what happened to me there. I'll fill in the rest," Travis proposed.


"Awesome!" Josh exclaimed.


* * *


The next morning at dawn, the six pilots got into their respective giant robots and stepped out of the Skylight. "It's this way," Josh took off away from the ship.


Suzue caught up with Shinigami as best as she could. The black mech slowed down slightly to run next to her.


Zinv and Sakura had started off together at the beginning.


Tatsuma complained.


Travis had the emerald robot pick up Yuriko into his arms, "The extra weight'll slow us down naturally. And it's a good excuse to hold her."


Mitsuki Rara giggled, "Yuriko says we should do this more often."


Tatsuma replied.


"Well, I guess we'll have to, then," Travis grinned. Tatsuma took off after the others, still able to catch up.


The mechs traveled for over an hour before they reached a building. As they got closer, they saw it was made up of a cobble of buildings. What the fuck?, "Josh, why's this place look like a pile of junk?"


"If it didn't, it would be too dangerous to live here. I'll explain later," Josh brought Shinigami's hands together. Suddenly, a large slab of the pile slowly split open.


"That's one way to make a door," Kazuki remarked.


Tatsuma told Travis.


"What about your withering grasp?" Travis queried.


Tatsuma explained.


"Yeah, I've never used the grasp much, since it does seem to drain you," Travis nodded.
The huge chamber inside was dark. Josh smiled as he felt Suzue clutching Shinigami. He flicked a switch inside his cockpit that turned on the lights remotely. Travis looked around. He saw numerous weapons lying around with almost little care, but also saw several small boxes that were stacked with so much care and while the drawings on them were crude they were done with a loving hand.

"Hey Josh, what's in those boxes?" he called out over the com.


"The bodies of the dead people I uncovered during my search yesterday. Mostly bones, though. Almost all the flesh of any body I have found had either rotted away or stripped away by scavengers decades ago," Josh replied in a level voice that Travis recognized as the voice he always used when controlling large amounts of pain.


"Do you need some help burying them, bro?" Travis asked knowing how Josh must be feeling right now.


"No. The only person that I will let help bury these dead is Dee. But only if she asks me to let her. I don't want her to know what is in them. That is why I answered you on a mecha to mecha link," Josh turned away from the caskets.


Abruptly, a loud and annoying siren filled the chamber. "What's that noise?!" Mitsuki Y. wondered.


"Oh, no! They've returned already," Josh said, his second line strangely calm after the fear in the first.


"Who’ve returned?" Travis queried.


"I call them the Devastators. They over fly this planet every so often to make sure it is still uninhabited. Any life that they see they immediately blast. That is the reason my home looks like a hunk of…..Oh shit!!! Your ship. It's exposed to them. If they see it they will destroy it," the worry in Josh's voice returned.


"Captain Sanada, this is Travis! Move the Skylight at maximum atmospheric speed to our location now!" Travis radioed the ship.


"You heard him, everyone, get to it! What's this about, Travis?" Dr. Sanada asked.


"Josh says there's an enemy fleet coming that'll blow you up if they spot you! There's room enough for the Skylight here," Travis explained.


* * *


The Skylight arrived within a couple of minutes. We should've come here in the ship in the first place, saved some time, Travis thought, "Okay, everyone back in the mecha bay!" All the robots got inside the artifact ship, except Shinigami.


"Doctor, fly the Skylight inside. Be careful not to hit anything," Josh ordered. The ship went inside the opening. Shinigami closed the entrance much like he had opened it earlier. "Shut down all of the Skylight's systems right away, and keep everyone silent," Josh told the bridge.

The ship set down on the ground, and grew dark as its power was turned off. Shinigami entered the mecha bay, kneeling down so Josh could get out easier.


After a few minutes, loud explosions could be heard outside. All the robots had been braced to avoid falling over. Some of the explosions caused the Skylight to shake. The six pilots were the only ones in the mech storage area as they clung tightly to each other. The detonations continued for about an hour, and then stopped as quickly as they had began. Holding Dee close to him, Josh went to sleep.


* * *


Hours later, Josh awoke to find everyone but Travis had also fallen asleep. The Lt. Commander was sitting with Mitsuki Rara laying her head in his lap, as he looked towards Tatsuma as if they were talking. Probably are, Josh thought. He moved next to his blood brother, speaking quietly as he sat down, "What's up?"


"Tatsuma was just telling me about what he determined from those Devastators of yours. He believes that the army that nearly destroyed us was connected to them. So, how often do these attacks happen?" Travis raised an eyebrow.


"Once a month or so. It varies sometimes. I'm never sure. That's why I depend on that alert system. It keeps me alive. I tried fighting them once, and almost paid with my life. As it is they penetrated the cockpit and damaged one of my arms nearly beyond salvation. Luckily I had found a healing tank earlier that week, so I was able to survive."


He looked down at his right arm, almost in despair. Then he looked up at all of them. "But now that all of you are here we have a chance. With three Artifact Mechas and six Core Robots, I know we can win. Especially with all the equipment I can upgrade the Core Robots with. I know I can add some of the blast spheres like Shin has on his chest to them," Josh explicated.


"A little extra firepower's good," Travis nodded. "I've also got some grav-shell cannons they might carry. No where near the power of Shin or Zinv, and they don't carry many shots, but they'll take out more at a time than the rifles could," the younger American shrugged.


"I'm sure we'll find something else in here to use, with a little bit of looking," Travis didn't sound enthusiastic.


"What's wrong?" Josh asked.


"I knew that we'd have to fight again; the Overseers told me that. But I was hoping...it seems the more we fight, the worse the enemy gets. One of these days, our luck's gonna run out, and we're gonna lose somebody. I don't want to lose any of my friends...my new family. I don't know what I'd do if I lost Mitsuki..." Travis brushed a strand of hair from his fiancée's face.


Josh's face grew somber, and he glanced toward Dee, "I know how you feel. I never would've guessed I'd need somebody so much, so soon after being alone for years."


Travis looked at Josh, "There may come a time...when I ask you to do something...and you won't understand what I'm planning. I'll need you to just do it, without questions. Even if what I'm thinking might be suicide, I'll need you to trust me, and help the others to trust me. Can you do that?"


Josh didn't like the sound of Travis' words, but he nodded, "You got it, bro."


"Thanks, bro. Think it's safe yet?" Travis checked.


"Yeah, they should be long gone," Josh assured him.


"In that case, why don't you get in Shinigami and radio the bridge and tell them? I'd do it, but it's a bigger climb up to Tatsuma's cockpit," Travis suggested.


"Sounds good. You gonna wake them up while I'm at it?" Josh stood.


"Might as well," Travis leaned down to awaken Miss Rara with a deep kiss. Her arms wrapped around his head after a moment.


When the kiss ended, her eyes opened, "Hi."


Josh chuckled as he walked over to the black robot.


* * *


The Skylight came back on, and Shinigami opened the doors for it to go back outside. All the mechs stepped out of the bay. "So, what's the plan?" Ryla asked.


"We're gonna start loading all we can onto the Skylight. There's quite a bit, so this may take a while," Travis answered.


Shinigami was already stacking all the caskets on a hover platform to carry it off.
As Josh took the caskets off in the distance, Dee queried, "Travis, where is Josh going?"


"To go take care of something he has to do. I wouldn't bother him," Travis replied, looking on after Josh as well, "He'll be fine. Let's keep loading."


* * *


About twenty minutes later, Josh returned. He wordlessly began to help in emptying his house out. Finally, after about an hour's work it was fully empty. Josh motioned for everyone to get back, holding some of the additional gravity shell cannons. He began by firing off a grav-shell from his arm at the floor, and the ground collapsed.

He continued this until the main room was about eight times its original size, switching to the additional cannons when Shinigami ran out. Now there was plenty of room for the Skylight to fit inside of the shelter, as well as have everyone outside the Skylight, to make small houses for any who wanted them, and store everything that Josh had collected. Josh turned and looked at one wall.


Using more gravity shells, he created large hollows that the Mechas could be placed in. After that, Josh saw that there was a large lip at the entrance. He stared at it for a moment, "Maybe I could fix that somehow...a gravity shell won't work; they don't move far enough on planet."


Travis saw how Shinigami stared, "What's up?"


"I'm trying to think of how I could make that into a slope or something," Josh stated.


"I got this one," Travis replied. Tatsuma climbed inside and used his chest beam to eat away at the ground, shaping it into a gentle slope.


"Excellent!" Josh exclaimed.


* * *


In the conference chamber, the officers and Josh got together. "Alright, now there is enough room for everyone and everything within my home. The walls are nearly impenetrable, with the way I used the gravity shells," Josh told them.


"Shall we move in?" Mina questioned. The entire crew liked the idea of a planetary home.


"Not just yet. There's some things to do first," Ken stood up and moved over to Josh, "Travis tells me you'd like to be an officer. Are you sure?"


Josh nodded. The captain pulled a small box from the lab coat he wore over his uniform, "Then you are hereby given the rank of Lieutenant." Josh accepted the box, which held his rank insignia.


Not Lt. Junior Grade, huh? I guess Doc feels Josh is a good enough leader for that rank, Travis thought, "Congratulations, bro."


Next, Ken moved to the door and stuck his head out it, "Ms. Hayase, would you get the Holographic Transceiver? I want that fat blowhard to be here at least partially when we move in."


"Right away, Captain," she responded. Kauro moved the device on a rolling platform into the room a minute later.


"What is it, you spiky-haired birdbrain?" Professor Hiroshi Rara queried as his image appeared shortly after the machine was turned on.


"I just thought you should know we're on Jintaro, the planet the Skylight and Zinv are from," Dr. Sanada grinned, "Travis pushed that orange button we always left alone, saving us from an alien attack and causing a fold-space jump that brought us here."


"What?! You lucky son of a bitch! Why did I ever listen to her?!" Hiroshi shouted.


"Don't worry; we'll come get you when we figure out how to use the fold-space drive," Ken laughed.


"On one condition," Travis interrupted.


"Eh? What's that?" Hiroshi wondered.


"Ayuko stays on Earth," Travis stated.


"...Deal," Hiroshi agreed happily.


"I assume you want to stick around while we explore the new place?" Dr. Sanada raised both eyebrows.


"That's the most rhetorical question I've ever heard," Prof. Rara answered.


Ken pushed the cart out of the room himself and spoke to the bridge crew, "Let's get the Skylight inside, shall we?" He took the cart towards an exit out of the ship, talking to Prof. Rara as if he was right next to him and not light years away.


"Uh...dismissed," Travis shrugged, used to Captain Sanada saying that.


* * *


A few days later, Travis watched the finishing of the last home from his room aboard the Skylight. Josh stepped in, as the door had been left open, "I thought I might find you here, bro. Nervous about the wedding? Why haven't you moved your stuff yet?"


Travis turned around, leaning back against the wall, "I'm not going to. I don't really need any of it. I'll leave it here on the ship. As for the wedding, it's in two days. Fuck yeah, I'm nervous."

Josh laughed.

"So, what about you and Dee? You two seem to have hit it off better than Mitsuki and I did. Are you planning on joining us?" Travis asked.


"Nah, bro. It's way too early for Dee and me to get married. We are going to wait for our marriage until the one year anniversary of the landing of Skylight on the planet Jintaro. We want to make it a special occasion, and also we don't want to crowd in on your wedding. You two deserve this alone bro," Josh replied.


"There's something that worries me, though," the younger man began. Travis raised an eyebrow. "The main thing that concerns me right now is the food supply. I know Skylight is currently stocked with enough food for five years but what happens then? We can't farm here as long as the Devastators are the de facto rulers of this planet. We need to annihilate them. Once I put a recorder probe on one of the Devastator's ships to see what they did. It turns out that this is the only planet that they try to annihilate all life on but on over 300 other planets they have conquered the populations and are constantly expanding," Josh explained.


Travis sighed, "I had a feeling it was something like that. Really, that's part of why I haven't moved my stuff. I wish I knew what's so special about Jintaro that they won't allow any life to continue. When can we start the upgrades? I want to be ready in about three weeks when they return."


"Travis, I don't want you to get your hopes up too much; the force that bombards here is large by our standards, say the equivalent of the entire Rara army, but to them it's like sending out a squad of ten men when you have ten trillion. Their army is immense. I hope we can win but it will most likely be one squad at a time," Josh warned.


"True, but we're used to overwhelming odds. Shinigami can overload his Light Hawk Wings, right?" Travis queried.


"Yeah. It won't overload quite the same with a grav-shell, though. Zinv should be able to use it with the micro-black hole, but his systems will be out for a couple of hours; he's not really designed to overload," Josh stated.


"We'll have to be near him to pull him out of harms way, if we have to use that. I hope that we won't get in a situation where even that won't be enough to win, but we could," Travis responded.


"Well, we should be done upgrading the mechs in a couple of weeks," Josh said.


"That long?" Travis was surprised.


"Dr. Sanada wants to study everything before installing it, make sure that it won't cause any side effects and is in perfect working order. Besides, cutting through the armor to install the blast spheres isn't a quick process, even on the CRs," Josh clarified,


"Anyhow, everyone's looking for you. The Lt. Commander should be there for the celebration of the finishing of the houses."


"Alright, I'm coming," Travis groaned as he moved for the door.


* * *


The day of the wedding came, and everyone was invited. Mitsuki Rara was trying on a dress made by the Mitsuki Y., Akane, Dee, Ryla, Mina, Alice, and Ms. Hayase. All of those women were helping her put it on. She looked in the mirror, "Umm...isn't this dress cut a bit low?"


"No dear, you look wonderful," Akane complemented.


"I wish my father could be here, but I guess having him here as a hologram will have to be good enough," Mitsuki R. said sadly. Ken could be heard laughing outside, where he was waiting. Mitsuki Y. opened the door and slapped him, shutting him up.


Akane then looked seriously at Mitsuki R. "What about your mother, dear. Don't you want her to be here?" she asked.


"Um, well, not really Aunt Akane. I'd rather not after what she did to Travis and me," Mitsuki R. shuddered slightly, "Dad is the one I wish was here."


"I can certainly understand that, dear. After all, she did do that to you twice. But just relax and enjoy the wedding," Akane said soothingly.


"Alright, Aunt Akane. Thank you so much, all of you, for all that you have done." She then smiled at everyone surrounding her.


* * *


In another room, Josh and Kazuki were with the bridegroom. "Don't worry man. If I managed to get married without any trouble I know that you can. Just relax and remember that you're marrying the woman that you love with all of your heart. You will be too happy to be able to mess up very much," Kazuki told his friend.


"I don't claim to know anything about marriage bro, but I can tell you're getting a wonderful woman. Like I told you whenever we went through the rapids…" Josh said.


Travis joined him in saying the last part remembering it well. "Just sit back, watch for the rocks, and enjoy the ride," they said together then they both started laughing.


Kazuki looked at both of them as he thought about it, then he joined in the laughter as he realized that his marriage with Mitsuki S. could easily be described in just that way. "That's a good saying for life in general, Josh."


Then Kazuki paused for a minute, his face displaying the fact that he had realized something he deemed to be important. "You know what guys? In one year we will all be brothers."


Travis looked thoughtful, "If you think about it, we're already cousins."
"How's this all work?" Josh wondered. "You'll be Kazuki's brother-in-law when you marry Dee. You're my blood brother, so Kazuki will also be my brother. My Mitsuki is Dee and Mitsuki's cousin, so we'll all be cousins-in-law," Travis explained.


Kazuki laughed, "You're right! We are cousins."


Josh laughed as well, "It sounds like a stereotypical redneck family or something."


"Still, it'll be nice when we're brothers," Kazuki smiled.


It's not really not a big deal, but I'm glad Kazuki's enjoying it, "Yeah. It will be," Travis replied.


"Alright, you got the ring?" Josh checked, changing the subject. Travis pulled it out of his chest pocket and put it right back again. "Okay, then. Looks like we're ready. Let's get to our places," Josh advised.


* * *


Mitsuki R. looked up at the altar where her beloved stood waiting for her. She then sighed as she looked at the hologram of her father standing there waiting for her. She walked over to it. She knew her father could see her and would move with her but it just wasn't the same. She stood beside the hologram, thinking how real it looked.
Hiroshi extended his elbow to his daughter. She slowly put her arm into what she thought was only a hologram then gasped as she encountered solid flesh.


"Dad?!" Mitsuki R. exclaimed.


"Yes, my little Mitsuki, I am really here," Hiroshi said with a smile.


"B...b...but how??" Mitsuki stammered.


"Ken and I figured out how to make a small fold-space jump from Jintaro to Earth and back. I'll explain it later. And don't worry. The hologram of your mother is really a hologram. Ken and I didn't want her to come along, but the real reason she didn't is Travis threatened to shove her out an airlock if she tried to board the Skylight. It seems he has the same opinion of your mother as you do, only more so. She listened to him. Besides, she is content to remain on Earth. But enough of this dreary conversation, it's time for you to finally get married," Hiroshi said as he started walking a startled Mitsuki R. up to the altar.


Ken, who was watching this whole thing, was somewhere between a laughing and crying. He watched through his tear filled eyes as Hiroshi walked Mitsuki R. up to the altar. Her dress was even more daring then Mitsuki S.'s had been but Travis also was a more mature man then Kazuki was. Instead of whistling at Mitsuki R.'s stunning appearance he simply smiled at her. The ceremony carried on through as Ken, who was in charge of marrying the happy couple being the captain of the ship, pronounced them man and wife before the entire colony. Travis and Mitsuki kissed, sealing the union.

Will’s Note: once again, this chapter is a reworded version of what Thorin sent to me. About 85% of the credit is his, not mine. In Chapter 10, you shall read of the true power of Shinigami: Triangular Disintegration