G Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ Rise, Crusade Gundam! ❯ VS Neo-Scotland's Caledonia Gundam ( Chapter 13 )

Mark sat up, and watched the waves wash against the beach. The rushing waters belied the otherwise serene nature of the day, wherein the sun shone, and the air was otherwise fairly still. The ever-changing British weather often led to sunny days like this one, which caused Bahari Tomo some consternation.

 

The pair had travelled to the south east of England for a break. For the past few months, they had trained intensely together, undisturbed by Gundam Fights. Each developed new techniques, new fighting styles, and in some ways they were eager to try these out on another opponent. However, they sorely needed a break, so Mark, Graham, Bahari and Haro had headed to a seaside resort town named Margate, just off of the coast of France, for relaxation.

 

That was the last thing on Mark's mind as a beach ball hit him squarely in the face.

 

“Alright, who threw that?” Mark picked himself up, and dusted sand off of the book he was reading. “Own up, or I'll get Haro to find out.” Bahari laughed aloud, evidently amused.

 

“I am sorry, Mark! Graham should have caught it!”

 

“What? If I caught that, I'd have broken my arm!” Graham exclaimed. He wasn't far from the truth. Bahari was dangerous whenever it came to competition, even if said competition involved throwing a beach ball about. With his incredible strength, a simple game of catch could become a life or death scenario for the untrained.

 

“I thought you weren't a fan of the sun anyway, Bahari…” Mark muttered, as he spat out some sand.

 

“No, but this is barely sunshine compared to Neo-Zaire, my friend. If you find this hot, you would cook in my homeland.” Bahari chuckled. His jovial façade belied the heart of a real fighter, serious-minded in battle, and a deadly foe. These thoughts troubled Mark. Victory seemed more and more a distant dream in the light of such great fighters.

 

“So, now we've narrowly avoided injury…what next?” Graham picked up the ball, and tossed it to Mark.

 

“We should probably put away this cannonball here, before Bahari kills somebody,” Mark joked, “and probably have something to eat. I'm getting hungry.”

 

“Ah yes, because all that sitting around with Haro will tire you out.” Graham grinned. “Alright, I'll get the barbeque running.” He walked off to the camp, and Bahari sat by Mark.

 

“So, you ready for the Final Battle? Only a month to go.”

 

“I guess. That's why I've been reading these articles on previous Gundam Fights.” He handed the magazine to Bahari, who studied the cover intensely. However, before he could say anything, a large shadow overlooked the pair.

 

“Hm, the weather forecast said nothing about clouds…” Bahari mumbled. Mark looked up, and rolled his eyes.

 

“Some holiday this is turning out to be.”

 

A Gundam stood proudly behind the pair, resplendent in the colours of red and green tartan, apparently dressed in traditional Scottish attire. The chest plate was covered by the blue and white flag of Neo-Scotland. It was fairly obvious where this fighter came from.

 

“Mark Anderson! I challenge you to a Gundam Fight!”

 

“Tough. I'm on holiday.” Mark called back. “We'll fight in the Final Battle.”

 

“Very well.” The Gundam stamped on the floor, knocking both Mark and Bahari over. “You recognise this man?” The Gundam's hand opened up, revealing the unconscious body of Graham.

 

“Damn you…” Mark growled. “Pretty cowardly of you, forcing me to fight like this. I accept.” He quickly ran to his core lander, and summoned his Gundam. The Crusade Gundam rose from the beach, sand spewing from each nook and cranny, and the core lander joined.

 

Bahari ran to Graham, and woke him up.

 

“You ok, Graham?”

 

“Been better,” coughed Graham.

 

The fight barrier, designed by Neo-Romanian scientists to prevent damage to the Earth following the Second Devil Gundam incident, enveloped the beach from Mark's core lander and the air fizzled with the energy of the beams. This signified that the fight could now begin without harm to innocents.

 

“Gundam Fight!”

 

“Ready!”

 

“Goooo!”

 

The Gundams began the fight by cautiously circling each other, waiting for one or the other to make a move. Mark noted how this Gundam had very similar equipment to his, with the lance and small shield. The Crusade Gundam was currently equipped with the sword and shield, meaning he lacked the range advantage. But, Mark had developed some new tricks in his training with Bahari.

 

“Alright, I don't know who you are, but you're going down for threatening my friend!” Mark leapt back, and drew out the George's Cross, albeit a lot smaller.

 

“Go on, throw your wee cross. You'll ken the strength of Caledonia Gundam soon enough!” These words shocked Mark. How did he know of this new technique? He'd only developed it in the past month, and not in any Gundam Fight, he thought to himself. Now paralysed by indecision, he was open to a sudden lance thrust from the Caledonia Gundam, which pushed him up against the walls of the barrier.

 

“Agh! Stupid stupid stupid…” Mark muttered to himself, as he picked himself up. He quickly grabbed his sword, and charged forwards, figuring a sudden move like this could unbalance his opponent. However, he was quickly circled by the opponent, using the lance as a pole vault. Again, another new technique.

 

“Not too bright, are ye?” The fighter laughed. Mark swiftly turned back, and hurled the shield with all his might. Luckily, his opponent couldn't stop it, due to the intense speed of the shield. Now on the floor, Mark leapt onto the Caledonia Gundam, and aimed his sword at the neck of his opponent.

 

“You were saying? Now, I'd like to know. Where'd you learn all my techniques? Even your weapons are the same as mine.”

 

“Bark your answers in hell, bairn!” He kicked Mark into the air, and rolled out of the way. “Neo-Scotland's ultimate weapon! Andrew's Cross!” In the hands of the Caledonia Gundam, a white energy weapon exactly the same as Mark's George's Cross.

 

Mark shuddered. His ultimate weapon, his work and design, now in the hands of another. He quickly threw a miniature cross to the Caledonia Gundam's legs, hoping for a quick cripple. While they had nowhere near the same brute power as the full sized cross, they could still deal some damage. However, it just bounced off of the armour, leaving Mark with only a few options.

 

“Alright. I don't know who you are, why you're doing this, or what your problem is, but this ends now! Neo-England's ultimate weapon! George's Cross!” Now the Crusade Gundam stood resolute, carrying both sword and cross. “Are you ready, Neo-Scotland fighter?”

 

“Hodge yer wheesht!” The Caledonia Gundam leapt forward, landing on the Crusade's right arm (which held the sword), pinning it down. Mark responded by slashing at the shoulder with the cross. It had been weakened by diverting the power towards producing a smaller cross, but was still capable of shearing a limb off with ease. Mark kicked him off, and stepped back.

 

“We're too evenly matched,” Mark thought to himself. “We're capable of countering each move the other makes. How the hell am I going to beat this guy?”

 

On the beach, Bahari and Graham watched with fear. All the hard work of the months past seemed completely worthless now, in this fairly pathetic battle, where Mark could do nothing but react.

“I don't get it! I thought he was improving!” Graham yelled. “What the hell is going on?”

 

“I don't know! He doesn't seem to be fighting as well as he has done in the past!”

 

“The Crusade Gundam seems slower, too…what if it's been tampered with?”

 

“Who would do have the means, or the motive?” Bahari then realised. “Oh. I see.” Graham tried to avoid thinking of Bahari in such a fashion, but it all made sense. “You don't trust me, Graham?”

 

“I do…but…” He bit his bottom lip. Bahari couldn't blame him for his suspicions. After a moment of silence, a voice called out.

 

“I'd have thought Mark Anderson would have improved by now. I guess not.” The voice was low, and dark in tone. “Well? Defeat him, Anderson! Don't make my travels worthless!”

 

Mark, distracted momentarily, looked down at the beach. He could see a black core lander parked by the sea, and a familiar figure standing before it.

 

“Vlad? What's he doing here?” Mark then focused his attentions on defeating the Caledonia Gundam. It was charging forwards, the fighter roaring wildly. “Let's end this!” He grabbed the sword, and hurled the full power cross at the Caledonia Gundam. As expected, the fighter used the Andrew Cross to deflect it. However, it was in that moment, its guard was let down. Mark rammed the sword with all of his might into the neck section of the Caledonia Gundam, severing the head.

 

“That's more like it, Anderson,” applauded Vlad. Graham and Bahari were less audible in their celebrations, but both breathed a huge sigh of relief.

 

Mark climbed out of his Gundam, and into the Caledonia Gundam's now-inert frame. He pulled out the fighter, a bearded, red-headed man of about 30, massively muscled.

 

“Good job, Mark Anderson.”

 

“Who are you?”

 

“I'm Wullie Johnstone, Neo-Scotland's fighter. What do you want from me?”

 

“Information.” He could hear Graham, Bahari and Vlad run up to meet them. “I'm a gentle man, really. But if you don't speak, I'll have to let my friend Vlad have dinner.” Vlad grinned. Instilling fear and terror into others was always a hobby of his, and his vampiric Gundam made that very easy.

 

“Ye don't scare me. I'll speak though…you want to know why my Gundam's got all your moves, huh?” Mark nodded in response. “I never planned to win that fight. Our country readily gave up all notions of winning exchange for the amount of money we were given.”

 

“A bribe? From whom?”

 

“Someone in your country…sold us the designs, and I was trained in every detail of your fighting styles, prepared just for this fight.”

 

“Who? Who sold you the designs?”

 

“It was…” Suddenly, he screamed. His face suddenly distorted, his eyes wildly staring ahead, bloodshot, while his tongue lodged in the back of his throat, saliva dripping from the corner of the mouth. Graham quickly took a pulse reading, and stepped back, dumbfounded.

 

“He's dead. Looks like his superiors didn't want him spilling the beans.”

 

“Damn! But we need to know who betrayed us!” Mark slammed his fist on the sandy ground. “Who on earth would do this?” Graham's eyes unwittingly shifted towards Bahari.

 

“I'm afraid I have no help for you, Mr. Anderson. I merely visited to see if I could regain my faith in the Gundam Fight.” Vlad grimly responded.

 

“Why would you, of all people, lose faith, Vlad? You're easily one of the best fighters I've met…” Mark asked, as he and Graham picked up the dead body.

 

“Look up the records of my last fight. That should tell you all you need to know.” It was obvious it was still a sore point, and nobody asked any more.

 

“Anyway…what do we do now?” Bahari asked.

 

“First, we'd better contact the PM and see what he thinks of this situation. He and Kitchener better beef up security and do a few background checks, if you ask me,” Graham suggested.

 

“Sounds fair enough to me,” Mark replied, as he climbed into the cockpit of the late fighter's Core Lander, placing the body inside. Seeing the body of a man who, mere moments ago, was a deadly enemy now a lifeless doll made Mark feel sick. He clearly didn't commit suicide, whoever was behind this ploy executed him for speaking too much. There was far too much corruption in the Gundam Fight, Mark thought, and it was all essentially legal. This `controlled war' was just as savage as any armed conflict, but because the bloodshed was behind closed doors it was all ok.

 

Graham called up Barclay and Kitchener and informed them of this incident. Within the hour, they had reached the beach.

 

“I cannot believe this,” Barclay said. “This is just terrible.” He put his hand on Mark's shoulder in a display of affection. “How are you, Mark? You're not hurt, are you?”

“No, I won the fight without any injury. It came pretty close, though.”

 

“Bah. I don't like this one bit,” Kitchener muttered. “A security leak, and we have two enemies standing around…and you wonder how this information got out?”

 

“Yeah, but if we had better security, it wouldn't have happened, huh?” Graham grinned. “The damage is done. We'd better just make sure we don't get any more nasty surprises.” Kitchener glared at Vlad and Bahari.

 

“If it wasn't for the fact that Mark's got Barclay wrapped around his little finger, I'd have some serious words with him…” Kitchener twirled his moustache, and stormed off, writing something onto a clipboard. Graham rolled his eyes and followed. Vlad and Bahari started at each other.

 

“So, you're the fighter Mark Anderson is training with.” Vlad eyed him up like a piece of meat. “You certainly look strong enough.”

 

“And you're the great Vlad? I remember Mark telling me about your fight. He can't wait to fight you again, you know.” Bahari grinned, and offered out his hand in a gesture of friendship. Vlad glanced at the hand, and curled his lip in disgust. He folded his arms. Bahari withdrew his hand, and smiled. “You know, I was planning to challenge you after Mark, if he didn't want to train. I can see you would've rejected my fine offer.”

 

“So, why do you fight?”

 

“Ha ha…you're a funny one, you are. I fight because I love this planet. I love to travel, and being a Gundam Fighter is the best way to travel. For free, no less!” Vlad raised an eyebrow.

 

“Your sole purpose for fighting is travel?”

 

“Well, it's not the only reason, but it's the most pleasurable part of the job!” Vlad instantly recognised Bahari as one of those annoying tourists who would wander around his home, wearing a cloak and acting like a vampire. He was all of a sudden a lot gladder that Mark took him in to train. He turned, and walked away. Bahari shrugged his shoulders.

 

“What a grump.”

 

“Right. We'll deliver this body to Edinburgh, so his government can give him a proper burial. In the meantime, why don't you Gundam Fighters return to London, and get something to eat, huh? I can imagine you're pretty tired.” Barclay smiled at Mark, who was stumbling about. “Mark, what's wrong?”

 

“Feel…a little light headed. Nothing that…won't pass, sir.” He put a hand to his forehead, and realised his was sweating terribly. This feeling soon passed, and he shook his head, confused by this sudden bad turn. Suddenly, Kitchener started yelling.

 

“Mark! What the hell have you been planning here?”

 

“I'm sorry?”

 

“We've just received word that the Pope and the fighter from Neo-France have just turned up in London, looking for you! All these Gundam Fighters appearing seems a little too coincidental to me!” Bahari laughed upon hearing this.

 

“Well, looks like a party's starting! We can't afford to miss this!”

 

“Anderson, do you mind if I come along? I would like to meet these fighters,” Vlad asked.

 

“I guess. Well, let's get going then guys! Let's see what they want…” Mark and the other fighters leapt into their core landers, and drove off. Graham watched them leave, and felt a twinge in his gut.

 

“Tell me, general, do you like how Mark's gotten so pally with all these fighters?”

 

“Heh heh, jealous, are we?”

 

“No! I…just…think it's a little strange, that's all.”

 

“To be honest, no. I don't like it one bit. He doesn't seem to care that we've had a major security breach, and that our country is being compromised in the greatest ways by allowing all these foreigners in. But, we can't do a thing, not while Barclay is in charge.” Graham sighed. He knew he was jealous of Mark, very much so. He knew too well he would never have the same bond with him as fellow Gundam Fighters. He softly waved goodbye, knowing it would be ignored, just he was feeling.