Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Seed Shadow ❯ Episode 3 The beginning P2 ( Chapter 4 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Hcps 
Anime/Manga: Gundam SEED Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Fanfiction Sequel | Uploaded On: 12.30.2011 | Pages: 12 | Words: 10.4K | Visits: 142 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Gundam SEED Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Fanfiction Sequel | Uploaded On: 12.30.2011 | Pages: 12 | Words: 10.4K | Visits: 142 | Status: Work In Progress
Episode 3
The episode opens up with our heroes being thrown into a solid room made out of the same red clay like substance as the rest of the building. The room only has one wooden bed and toilet in it. The warden standing at the only entrance has a wicked gleam in his hazel eyes.
Warden: Try breaking out of here wise ass.
With that he slams the door close; the door is made of solid steel.
Shadow: What, no dinner?
Shadow says jokingly while he feels up his jaw. Kenny begins to examine his own ribs checking to make sure nothing is broken.
Kenny: Yeah, we just cost the warden his perfect record of never allowing any of his inmates to escape so I'm sure he'd just be delighted to give us dinner. How are your injuries?
Shadow takes a moment to feel his jaw and then spits out blood. We can see that his lip is cut but the blood has stopped bleeding.
Shadow: My jaw hurts like a SOB from being nailed by the warden's gun then fist, plus I'm sure my chest is all black and blue from the beating but I don't think he broke any ribs this time around. On the bright side he missed my eyes this time, so no black eye for me.
Our optimistic friend says cheerfully. Kenny smiles at his black haired friend's sunny disposition then flinches as he feels a damaged rib.
Kenny: Lucky you, argh I'm pretty sure I fractured one of my ribs not to mention my arms and legs were kicked on a lot, heh it's a good thing the warden doesn't allow himself to break his prisoner’s limbs.
Shadow: Yea the warden wouldn't want his free laborers unable to work, what with repairing all the bullet holes his stupid goons make, cleaning the buses and we can't forget about digging the holes.
The 2 friends continue talking while they finish checking out their injuries, throughout this whole conversation Cagalli has kept quiet, mainly because of the pain. The guys get beat up on a regular bases so they're used to the pain and able to function through it but Orb's fallen princess is no street fighter.
Cagalli (Arghhhh it hurts so much God give me a mobile suit battle over this any day. Damn I don't think I've been in real fight since Desert Dawn and even then I never had to fight someone bare handed…well not counting Athrun.)
A small warm smile lights up the young woman's face as she remembers her first meeting with her lover but the pain in her sides quickly crashes her back down to reality and a moan slips from her mouth finally drawing the attention of the duo.
Shadow: Holy crap you look like shit.
In truth Cagalli probably received no more damage than they did but because of the length of time it's been since the blondes' received any serious physical damage Cagalli nor her body can take the pain well. Sweat is washing her face while her arms tightly clutch her chest as if they're afraid her ribs will fall off. Kenny glares at Shadow.
Kenny: Don't be an ass Shadow.
The computer hacker helps the injured woman onto the wooden bed, first it was the guy in black, then it was the warden, and last it was the rapist who fell off the cliff. Cagalli has had it with looking weak in front of people. Determine to appear strong she replies to Shadow's earlier comment
Cagalli: Look who's talking!
Unfortunately because Cagalli had to wait for the pain to subside before she could groan out a reply she doesn't come off as strong as she'd hoped.
Shadow: Wow talk about a delayed reaction.
Amber eyes begin trying to punch that smirk off Shadow's face but it doesn't appear to be working. Kenny begins to examine our heroine.
Kenny: Looks like Shadow's not the only one who lucked out today, you'll be bruise and sore for a while but that's about it. I'll bandage it up though just to be on the safe side.
The more mature gentleman gives Cagalli a reassuring smile which she responds to appreciatively.
Cagalli: Thank you Kenny you're such a gentleman.
Cagalli glares at Shadow while saying this. Shadow just rolls his bright green electric eyes and calls his friend over.
Shadow: Kenny come over here and let's show Ca, what's your name again?
Cagalli: CAGALLI!
The former leader of a nation is clearly not a person used to being forgotten.
Shadow: Really?
Growing even angrier our heroine snaps back
Cagalli: YES! And what about you, what kind of name is Shadow Zoomarey, what's your real name?
Shadow replies a little offended
Shadow: First of all Shadow Zoomarey is an awesome name, Second it's the only name I go by.
This relationship isn't off to a good start, maybe it's their opposing personalities or something but whatever it is, it's causing the tension in the small spaced room to soar sky-high. Kenny's light blue eyes nervously dart back and forth between the 2 desperately struggling to break the feud.
Kenny: So um yea, I better bandage your wounds Cagalli!
The mediator shouts having finally come up with a good excuse to get in-between the 2 opposing forces. Kenny dives under the bed while Cagalli finally breaks her glare from Shadow.
Cagalli: How, I doubt the warden is going to give us even a first aid kit.
Shadow: HA you underestimate us.
Exclaims the proud warrior as he walks over to the metal door, sits down, and then proceeds to pull out a small piece of the clay wall revealing a peephole.
Shadow: We're clear Kenny.
Cagalli finally gives in to her curiosity and looks under the bed. Kenny feels the seemingly flawless wall clearly looking for something.
Cagalli: What are you guys doing?
Kenny finally finds what he's looking for, slowly and delicately he slides his ring fingers along some kind of edge in the wall breaking away the clay that was hiding it. With the removal of the clay we can now clearly see a box outline within the wall.
Kenny digs his fingers in the small gap and pulls out a cube of clay.
Kenny: We're getting our stuff out.
The camera moves over Kenny's shoulder to reveal, a pile of sticks, a lighter, and a first aid kit. When he pulls the stuff out we see a cage with a bunch of rats and lizards, there's a rat hole behind the cage. He throws the first aid kit to Cagalli.
Kenny: There should be some bandages and a cream for the bruises in there.
Cagalli catches the first aid kit; suddenly she begins to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of illogical things happening.
Cagalli: How did you get this stuff? How did you manage to put a secret compartment in this isolation cell, and if this is an isolation cell why did we all get put into it together and how did we end up in the one with your secret compartment!
Everyone deals with stress in their own ways, understanding the logic in a chaotic situation happens to be Cagalli's way of dealing with stress. Kenny holds up his hands slowing the girl down before she catches on fire.
Kenny: One question at a time, one question at a time Cagalli.
Shadow glancing over his shoulder smirks.
Shadow: Yea try to save your breakdown for a different day.
Turning her fierce amber eyes on the dark figure Cagalli lashes out.
Cagalli: I am not having a breakdown it's just the absurdity of everything is driving me nuts!
To avoid another fight the smartest or at least most level headed of our heroes begins answering the questions.
Kenny: This prison wasn't designed to hold this many prisoners and only has about 5 isolation cells so the warden puts inmates in the same isolation cell. You see this one time after he starved 2 inmates for 6 days without food they snapped and went all animal on each other, and not the mating kind, the “I’m hungry I’m going to each you” kind.
Cagalli applying the cream on her bruises passes the bandages over to Kenny so he can wrap up his ribs.
Kenny: The sick bastard enjoyed it so much he does it all the time now to see if he can get anyone else to do it. We get put in these isolation cells a lot, 73 percent more often than our actual prison cells so it only made sense to have our stuff in here, plus we didn't have anything better to do, so me and Shadow dug out the hole in the wall underneath the bed.
Shadow adds something Kenny forget.
Shadow: Don't forget about our 7th escape attempt which involved digging out of here, we discovered rat tunnels, which also had lizards in them, too bad our tunnel set off ground sensors in the building getting us busted. On the bright side we now had a source of food other than from the warden.
Kenny reminds Shadow that it wasn't that easy.
Kenny: And to think it only cost us 400 credits to bribe a prison guard into giving us the information on where the rat tunnels were plus another isolation cell incident and a day to dig the tunnel and then set up the trap to catch the rats and the occasional lizard.
Cagalli: So you have a secret compartment in every isolation cell?
Kenny: Yup, whenever we got put into a new isolation cell we had to dig anyway to get to the rat tunnels and then once we had food we had nothing better to do; as for the rest of our stuff we got it from trading with other inmates or stealing during one of our escape attempts.
With great pride our black haired hero boasts
Shadow: We stole that first aid kit you're using right there during our 27th escape attempt.
Kenny having finished wrapping his ribs in bandages gathers the sticks and begins to start a fire which quickly alarms our heroine.
Cagalli: Whoa hold it! You do know that lighting a fire in an enclosed space will suffocate us all right?
Cagalli didn't mean it in an insulting way but that's still how Shadow took it.
Shadow: Oh relax the prison has air ducts, which takes the smoke away and in turn blows in fresh air. We have done this before.
Making a gesture to the upper right hand back corner of the room Cagalli notices the 2 ducts; it's understandable why she missed it the first time since they blend in with the wall perfectly and are no more than a foot long.
Kenny has started a fire, and after killing the rats and lizards puts them on sticks and then over the fire.
Kenny: Dinner should be ready in a little bit.
Cagalli looks over to where Kenny has "Dinner" going.
Cagalli: Dinner?
She doesn't sound too thrilled.
Kenny: You heard what the warden said; they're not going to give us anything to eat, so unless you want to starve you'll eat this.
Shadow smirks at her
Shadow: Sorry this isn't up to your standard princess.
The physically out of shape woman tired from being forced to do hard manual labor in the sun for half a day, and being beaten up, misses the sarcasm, and asks in surprise with a hint of hope
Cagalli: How did you know I was a princess?
Shadow meant the "princess" comment as an insult or at the least to be annoying so naturally the 2 failed escapers are surprised to hear of this.
Kenny: Wait, you're a real princess?
Judging from Kenny's neutral voice, political prisoners including royalty aren't uncommon in Slyer, of course so are conmen/conwomen. The more trusting friend though tries to pass this along as part of his master plan.
Shadow: I knew it.
Not fooled for a moment Kenny rolls his eyes.
Kenny: You did not. So what country are you from?
Cagalli answers eagerly thinking she's finally found someone that will stand up to the warden's terror and give her the answer she so desperately wants to hear.
Cagalli: Orb.
Shadow takes about 30 seconds to try to place the name with anything in his memory and when he comes up with nothing he shrugs his shoulders and replies uncaringly
Shadow: Never heard of it.
This of course pisses the once proud ruler of Orb off; Cagalli has also finished applying the cream to her bruises.
Cagalli: Orb is one of the most powerful nations on Earth, how could you not have heard of it?
Shadow shrugs his shoulders and replies casually.
Shadow: I don't care much about politics.
It's not clear if Shadow missed the "Earth" comment or ignored it but either way he doesn't respond to it unlike Kenny who begins to eye what he thinks is a nut job with pity.
Kenny (Poor girl's cracked, thinking she's a princess on Earth, good thing Shadow's too stupid to pick up on it, though I wonder how she knew about Orb? I had to hack into a top secret government information code just to find a list of current governments on Earth.)
Shadow eyeing the food eagerly says
Shadow: Dinner should be ready!
He walks over to the fire and grabs a rat, and starts eating. Kenny joins him and picks a lizard. Cagalli looks disgusted.
Cagalli: ick, are you really eating that?
She can barely watch. Shadow nods his head savoring the taste.
Shadow: Tastes like chicken.
Cagalli hesitates until her stomach growls. She blushes as Shadow and Kenny look at her.
Cagalli: Can you pass me the lizard.
She says reluctantly. Kenny passes her the lizard she takes it, looks at it, smells it, and then slowly takes a bite, then spits it back out.
Cagalli: Yuck, how can you eat this stuff?
Shadow and Kenny start laughing.
Shadow: HAHAHAHAHAHA, Sorry princess but we've gotten to the point where we're too hungry to even taste.
They continue to laugh and then Cagalli starts laughing too. They calm down then eat in silence for a moment.
Cagalli: Sorry for costing you your freedom.
Shadow and Kenny look up surprised.
Cagalli: If it hadn't been for me you guys would have been long gone.
She says while looking at the ground. Shadow smiles
Shadow: Don't worry about it; I never wanted to leave like that anyway.
Kenny looks at Shadow slightly annoyed.
Kenny: Speak for yourself, out of 47 escape plans that's the only one that worked so yeah I am still a little ticked off.
Cagalli is surprised.
Cagalli: Wait, you've tried 47 escape plans?
Shadow replies proudly
Shadow: Yep.
Kenny sighs
Kenny: After the 10th plan the warden started taking this as a personal challenge, so he ordered the prison guards not to kill us until we broke.
Shadow adds with pride
Shadow: Which we never did.
He looks at Cagalli expecting praise.
Shadow: Impressive right?
Cagalli: It's impressive that you're still in such high spirits after 47 failures.
Kenny is offended.
Kenny: 46 failures ok, the last one worked, we just didn't get away.
Shadow gets a faraway look in his eyes as he begins to think of something.
Shadow: Speaking of escape plans-
However his tired friend cuts him off.
Kenny: Already Shadow, I mean come on we haven't even been in the isolation cell for a day and you already want to come up with a new escape plan.
Shadow shakes his head.
Shadow: No, revisiting an old plan. I think we have everything we need to carry out escape plan 0.
Kenny appearing to have heard this before rolls his eyes.
Kenny: Not this again.
Cagalli curious asks
Cagalli: What's escape plan 0?
Kenny sighs; it looks like they had this conversation many times before.
Kenny: It's the first escape plan that we ever came up with.
Shadow begins explaining excitedly
Shadow: The plan itself is pretty straight forward; we just have to steal the warden's basic model Gundam.
Cagalli's not sure what he meant by “basic model” Gundam.
Cagalli: Gundam, you mean mobile suit right?
Shadow: Unm, yea, but that's kind of an old term for it.
Cagalli does not like Shadow saying she speaks like an old lady and is about to comment on it when a new thought hits her mind.
Cagalli: Hold on, are you trying to tell me that the warden has his own personal mobile suit in this prison where inmates can get a hold of it?
Naturally Cagalli looks at Shadow skeptically to which Shadow responds with sarcasm.
Shadow: Oh sure the warden parks his Gundam right outside in the courtyard and sometimes he even leaves his keys in there.
And so begins another glare off between the 2 strong willed people but never fear, for Kenny is here to explain
Kenny: I know it's hard to believe Cagalli but you got to remember, the warden and the prison guards live here too. That's the bad thing about running a prison miles away from any civilization and it's not like the thing is out in open or easy to get to.
Kenny: Its 3 floors below the prison level of the building with 5 doors with all different security codes standing in-between anyone who tries to get there that isn't supposed to, plus you don't want to forget the prison guards with guns and itchy trigger fingers patrolling the hallways, not to mention the security cameras scattered throughout the building. Which is why we've never been able to pull it off.
Shadow goes to argue.
Shadow: But we can do it now. Thanks to all of our escape attempts, we know this prison like the back of our hands and we also know all of the patrol routes thanks to the fact the guards are lazy and rarely ever change their patrol route so by combining these 2 things we can map a path that will lead us straight to the Gundam without running across a single guard.
Cagalli cuts in by asking
Cagalli: What about the security cameras?
Waving this off Shadow replies
Shadow: They've been down since last month after Kenny put a virus in their software, heh the Warden's tech people haven't been able to fix it yet, good thing they don't know Kenny's the one who put it on there.
Shadow: As for the security codes, we know 2 of them already thanks to Max's spies and the other 2 you can crack.
Becoming irritated now Kenny says
Kenny: That still leaves the last door, which must be scanned with a pass card of a level 5 prison guard that changes every day.
Grinning Shadow pulls from his pocket a card.
Shadow: You mean something like this?
Kenny's light blue eyes opens wide he grabs the card from Shadow's hand.
Kenny: Where did you get this?
Shadow boasting says
Shadow: I stole it off one of the prison guards we killed. So what do you say?
Kenny hesitates.
Kenny: We've never tried to do two escape plans in the same day before, and I'm pretty sure the Warden isn't going to let us off lightly if we get caught again, not to mention the prison guards are most likely on high alert because of our early escape plan, so the risk is nearly triple.
Shadow still with his smile and voice full of humor says
Shadow: Don't tell me you're scared Kenny; after all I can't stay here I have a dream to fulfill.
Cagalli who had remained silent asks a question
Cagalli: Dream?
Shadow smile widens and he gets a sparkle in his eye.
Shadow: That's right, in life one should have a goal or dream they want to fulfill, that will keep them strong in any circumstance. My dream is to become the world's greatest Gundam fighter!
Shadow shouts his last sentence out loud. Cagalli has never heard anything like this before and is too stunned for words. Shadow turns to Kenny.
Shadow: So what do you say buddy?
Kenny looks up his face full of determination.
Kenny: I too have my own goal to accomplish and there are people counting on me to accomplish it, so I can't waste any more time here.
They both nod their head in agreement then turn to face Cagalli.
Shadow: And what about you princess, want to come with us?
Kenny quickly adds in a serious voice
Kenny: It's going to be very dangerous, and we probably won't come back alive if we fail.
Shadow: We won't hold it against you if you're too scared to go.
The way Shadow says this is almost like a challenge; the words "too scared" trigger another flashback of the warden telling Cagalli she hid in a corner because she was too scared to move. The flashback causes Cagalli to tighten her fist in anger.
Cagalli (Never again!)
Cagalli: I'll go.
Holding out his hand in friendship the green electric eyed warrior forms and alliance with the amber eyed pacifist.
Shadow: I guess that means we're a team now.
Cagalli: Just until we escape then I'm going back to my own country. Oh and don't call me princess.
Shadow replies simply
Shadow: Then don't act like a princess.
It takes a moment for Cagalli to realize Shadow is saying she's spoiled. Offended she says
Cagalli: I'm not spoiled!
Shadow replies sarcastically
Shadow: Of course you're not.
Shadow and Cagalli start glaring at each other, until Kenny steps in-between them.
Kenny: If we're going to do this we have to do it now!
Shadow refocuses.
Shadow: Right.
Kenny takes off his left shoe and pulls out the bottom heel revealing another hidden compartment. He pulls out the lock picking device we saw in the previous episode as well as 4 identical tiny square items. He begins to explain aloud what he's doing for the benefit of Cagalli.
Kenny: One good thing about the warden never giving us new shoes means we got a nice portable hiding spot for emergency stuff.
The tech savvy friend goes to the door and begins placing the tiny squares on the hinges of the door.
Kenny: These are micro-explosives I got from Roben's cell before they cleaned it out.
Shadow: Oh yea, Roben the one and only rival we had for breaking out of here, he was also one of the only actual criminals in this place. His last escape plan of blowing up holes in the wall all the way to the buses and hijacking one was pretty good to; too bad he blew himself up.
Kenny: I always told Roben he needed at least physics level of science before messing around with advance explosives.
.
While they're talking Shadow and Kenny have flipped the wooden bed on its side and moved it as far away from the door as possible while still allowing room for people to duck behind.
Before Cagalli can question the logic of using bombs made by a bomb guy that blew himself up Kenny flips a switch and dives behind the bed as the timer counts down. Shadow and Cagalli quickly follow suit. The timer continues to beep faster and faster and then….nothing.
Cagalli: Um are you sure these bombs even work?
Shadow looks at her as if she's stupid.
Shadow: And how would we be sure, it's not like me or Kenny know anything about bombs and we're not going to waste our 4 bombs by testing one
Shadow gets cut off midsentence when the bombs suddenly explode. The explosion is huge, a lot bigger than the size of the bombs let on. The shockwave knocks the new team off their feet while at the same time ripping the solid metal door from the wall into an unlucky prison guard who came to see what the beeping noise was. He then gets slammed straight into the hallway wall.
Slowly getting up the 3 prisoners begin dusting themselves off.
Shadow: Whoa, now I know how Roben screwed up; he made those bombs way to strong, it we had been closer we would have ended up just like that guard anyway let's go.
With that Shadow and Kenny walk out of the room. Cagalli follows after them deep in thought.
Cagalli (Yes, I can't waste my time here either because I have to get back to my country!)
There's a determined look in her amber eyes. Shadow and Kenny are running down hallways and staircases, sometimes they back track, other times they hug a corner of a wall allowing patrol guards to pass.
The patrol guards radiate overconfidence, this is their house, they hold all the cards and guns, and that overconfidence makes them sloppy, easily missing the team they would have otherwise noticed if they had been doing their job correctly.
The blame doesn't lay completely with them though, the route Shadow and Kenny choose is confusing, overlapping and maze like; using detailed knowledge of the prison guards patrol routes the 3 are successful in avoiding all but 3 patrol units.
They already know the pass code of the first two doors they come across and then they come to a third door and stop.
Shadow: Do your thing Kenny.
The tech wizard steps forward and pulls his lock picking tool out of his pocket and connects it to the computer lock. His friend steps back to give him room. The untech savvy girl comes over to Shadow and starts asking him in a whisper
Cagalli: What's he doing?
Shadow replies quietly
Shadow: He's hacking the lock.
Cagalli is surprise.
Cagalli: Hacking?
Shadow nods his head and boasts for his friend.
Shadow: That's right, Kenny is a genius computer programmer, and if you give him the right equipment he can hack anything.
Cagalli already being able to tell that Shadow likes to exaggerate facts in his favor isn't sure if he's being completely honest.
Cagalli: Really?
Shadow: Yea, why do you think he's in here? It's because he hacked into a super-secret file of a politician and found out things that made the politician pay someone to have him disappear.
While they are talking Kenny disables the lock and opens the door.
Kenny: Clear.
They rush through the door. They go down a couple more hallways and flights of stairs, then they come to the forth door, Kenny quickly hacks this one too. This one opens up to a spiral staircase that leads down, they head down; at the end of the staircase is the last door.
Kenny: Let's see if this card you stole works.
Moment of truth time. Kenny swipes the card and nothing happens, he swipes it again.
Kenny: Crap, they must have changed the pass code early.
Feeling his freedom slipping away again Shadow asks desperately
Shadow: Can you hack it?
The hacker shakes his head sadly
Kenny: It's a more advanced lock, I need a special type of tool to hack it, and I don't have it.
They all stand there for a moment not ready to admit that the plan had failed, that they're screwed 3 ways to hell, that their only hope is gone, when the door opens and a prison guard walks out.
Prison Guard B: I'm going to go take a smo-
He stops midsentence as he sees them, nobody moves for a moment then as if someone hits a switch, they all start moving. The prison guard goes for his gun but Shadow punches him right in the face, at the same time Kenny grabs prison guard B's gun and opens fire first on the gun's owner, and then in the room he came out of.
The room is made of metal with a window taking up one side, there are three computer terminals and a guard at each one. The bullets spattered their guts all over the window's side wall. Fortunately though for the squeamish fans the bullets also shattered the window wall so we don't see the blood and gore for more than a second
Alarms start going off, as Shadow, Kenny, and Cagalli enter the control center of the launching bay. The tech expert goes straight to one of the computer and starts typing away, his fingers a blur.
Shadow: See, everything worked out fine in the end.
Shadow says this as if this was his plan all along which of course annoys Cagalli to the extreme.
Cagalli: By fine, you mean how we almost got shot, and now all the alarms are going off!?
Shadow shrugs his shoulders.
Shadow: Could be worse.
Cagalli not quite believing his positive attitude in the face of doom yells at him
Cagalli: How!?
Shadow: We could not have this beautiful thing to look at.
The moron's statement is so bizarre, so out of place in this moment of doomsday that Cagalli is caught completely off guard, on impulse she turns to see what Shadow's looking at. The camera slowly turns around and looks over Cagalli's shoulder through the shattered window and at the object of Shadow's desire.
It's a Gundam, a basic Gundam but a Gundam nonetheless. It's hard to see what Shadow finds so beautiful about this, it has no paint on it nor any weapons we can see, plus its overall size and armor thickness looks a little small, even the Strike with no striker packs looked more powerful than this thing.
It probably isn't a stretch to say that this Gundam looks the most bland out of any of the mobile suits we've seen in the Cosmic Era. To any other person including Cagalli this Gundam doesn't look like anything special, the opposite really.
Cagalli (A Gundam? I've never seen that model before, but it looks too weak to be a new model. Maybe it's an earlier prototype from the original G-series mobile suits but in a real battle that thing looks like it would get shot down in minutes.)
The battle veteran understandably has concerns about using such a weak mobile suit to escape especially if the enemy has current mobile suits. She turns to Shadow once again to voice her opinion when she stops dead in her tracks.
A look of absolute marvel shines in the escapee's electric green eyes, an angel might has well descend to Sora and appeared before him. The look is so sincere, so full of pure happiness that Cagalli can't resist double checking to make sure she didn't miss something.
Shadow begins to talk, more to himself then Cagalli.
Shadow: I first saw him when I first came here, the bus I was riding on passed him as the wind blew the sheet hiding him off.
While he's talking we have a flashback with Shadow on a bus looking bored while looking out a window at a truck pulling something covered by a huge sheet, suddenly the sheet gets blown off by the wind revealing the Gundam.
Shadow: At that moment I knew this would be my Gundam, my partner.
Cagalli is looking at the Gundam fanatic like he's nuts.
Cagalli (What's with this guy? I never heard anyone describe a mobile suit as if it were another human being before.)
Before she has time to question him Kenny calls out
Kenny: Alright I hacked the launching bay, and activated the launching sequence.
We hear shouting coming from the other side of the door. Shadow points to it as he says
Shadow: Good thing, because from the sounds of things they're going to be here in less than 3 minutes.
Kenny smiles.
Kenny: Don't worry I've got that covered too.
The door shuts close and the locks click back on.
Kenny: I've reprogrammed the security code, so that should keep them busy for a little bit.
Shadow smiles too.
Shadow: Let's get going then.
They exit through the door leading to the launching bay. They're running down the steps as Cagalli asks their pilot
Cagalli: So what experience do you have with piloting a mobile suit?
Like a pet peeve Shadow annoyed snaps
Shadow: Look first of all it's called a Gundam, Gun-Dam; if you're going to talk about him can you at least call him by modern terminology!?
They're on the platform now heading to the Gundam. We look up to see that the prison guards have reached the door. When they realize that their cards aren't working they start banging on the door. We go back to the others, Cagalli is slowing down out of breath.
Kenny begins working on the Gundam's cockpit lock while Shadow just stands there and stares up at his fellow green eyed partner.
Shadow: I've waited a long time to finally meet you Gundam. From this day on you're going to be my Gundam and I'm going to be your pilot.
The Gundam of course doesn't say anything back. Cagalli finally catching her breath ignores Shadow's statement and manages to spit out.
Cagalli: Fine, Gundam, have you ever piloted one before?
Shadow turns around and answers Cagalli
Shadow: Nope, this will be my first time.
Unbelievable, leave it to Shadow to come up with an escape plan using a Gundam even though he's never piloted one before. The insanity of this stuns Cagalli too much for words. A speaker inside the Gundam activates.
Gundam: Opening hatch door.
Right where the platform and the chest of the Gundam meet, we hear a hissing sound as a circle portion of the Gundam's chest sinks in, then opens in a circular motion, making a metal cling sound.
Shadow runs in first, Kenny follows, Cagalli taken by surprise by the opening, goes in last. The first thing we see in the cockpit is a lot of space, in the center, the floor is sunken down a foot, and it's also pretty dark, almost no light. Cagalli stands their once again in shock.
Cagalli: W-What is this, where's the cockpit?
Kenny has moved over to one of the walls and after finding a handle pulls it open to reveal a black pilot suit, he throws it at Shadow.
Kenny: Look we don't have time to explain how a Gundam cockpit works, Shadow put that on, and yes that includes the helmet!
Shadow sticks out his tongue at Kenny as he begins to put on the suit. Kenny runs to the other corner, gets on his knees and pulls out what can best be describe as a seat belt.
Kenny: Cagalli get over here, the anti-gravity will only help the pilot, we got to buckle down or we're going to get thrown around like a baseball.
The ex-princess still in shock talks herself down.
Cagalli (relax this is just a new cockpit design, yeah, that's it, that's why this Gundam isn't armed it's just testing the new design, Shadow has never seen a real one before so he wouldn't know and Kenny must have hacked the information about it somewhere)
Cagalli feeling better thanks to her delusion goes over to where Kenny is and takes another seat belt from the wall and buckles down. Shadow dressed now in his black pilot suit goes to the sunken-in floor and stands in the middle with his helmet in hand.
Shadow: Begin Gundam activation system.
The lights click on Cagalli buckled down is surprised.
Cagalli (This thing is voice activated?)
Gundam: Activating S-generator
The camera cuts into a metal room to show a crystal or something like it in the center. We see multi-colored liquids inside the crystal, suddenly a bolt of eclectically hits it creating a large boom, and then what can best be described as a mini sun appears. We cut back to Shadow.
Gundam: Error, pilot not registered, must activate new pilot sequence.
Shadow surprised turns to look at his source of information, Kenny who just shrugs his shoulders.
Shadow: Ok, activate new pilot sequence.
Gundam: Activating new pilot sequence.
A part of the floor lifts up and reveals a gauntlet.
Gundam: Please pick up and place the Neon gauntlet on your arm.
Shadow picks up the Neon gauntlet and puts it on his left arm. We see it tighten on his arm, as the screen on the Neon gauntlet lights up.
Shadow: Ow.
Shadow jumps in surprise.
Gundam: Blood sample taken, analyzing, beginning body scan.
A scanner pops out of the floor and completely scans his body. Kenny is getting nervous.
Kenny: Can we hurry this up.
Gundam: Body scan complete, DNA lacks SG radiation, preparing for S-generator energy wave.
Kenny turns white.
Kenny: Oh, crap.
He unbuckles his seat belt and opens a hatch on the floor of the Gundam cockpit.
Kenny: We have to get out of here; it that wave hits us we're going to fry.
Cagalli unbuckles her seat belt.
Cagalli: What about Shadow?
Shadow: Don't worry about me I'll be fine.
Kenny is already down the hatch. Cagalli hesitates looking at Shadow, and then the back wall of the cockpit opens up revealing the S-generator. The S-generator is huge, the size of a car. True to its name it looks like a mini sun, but it seems to be pulsing.
Then a strong light fills the cockpit, and everything goes white. The light dies down, Shadow is on his knee and Cagalli is on her stomach they're both breathing hard but seem ok. Kenny pops out of the hatch.
Kenny: You guys ok?
Shadow: I'm fine, Cagalli?
Cagalli doesn't say anything for a moment then groans
Cagalli: Yes, I'm alright too.
Gundam: S-generator exposure complete, please enter pilot's name.
Kenny helps Cagalli up then they head back to their seats, and buckle up. Shadow stands up.
Shadow: Shadow Zoomarey.
Gundam: Name: Shadow Zoomarey, recorded. Please enter Gundam name.
Shadow pauses for a moment to think about this, which causes the already uneasy Kenny to yell at him.
Kenny: Would you just pick a name already. I'm pretty sure the door isn't going to hold much longer.
Shadow snaps back
Shadow: Hey, don't rush me this is a big decision to make that I'll have to live with for the rest of my life.
We go back to the door and watch it explode. The prison guards rush in led by the warden.
Warden: Now where are they?
The warden looks angry. Prison guard C has gone over to a computer terminal.
Prison Guard C: Sir, it seems that they activated the launching sequence.
The warden starts yelling at him.
Warden: Well don't just stand there, turn it off!
Prison guard C is typing on the computer, nowhere near as fast as Kenny.
Prison Guard C: We're trying sir, but it seems that they locked the codes in.
The warden screams in frustration.
Warden: WELL THEN GO AND TAKE THEM OUT BY FORCE!
The prison guards start rushing towards the Gundam. We get back into the cockpit to see Shadow still pondering, and then his green eyes spark brightly like a current that just went on.
Shadow: I've got it. Gundam from this moment on you shall be known as Nightwing.
Nightwing: Understood, Gundam Name Nightwing. New pilot sequence complete beginning launching sequence.
We go back outside to see the prison guards on the platform. The speaker comes on as the locks holding the Gundam in place release, and the platform the Gundam is standing on begins to rise.
Speaker: Launching sequence engaged.
Warden: What are you all doing, stop it; stop them!
The warden is yelling at the prison guards but they are unable to do anything other than stop and stare at Nightwing. We go back inside Nightwing; Shadow has put his helmet on.
Nightwing: Activating NS system.
We see something being released on the floor; it looks like a black fog. It hits Shadow's feet; red lines start appearing on his suit. The camera is circling him showing the red lines climbing and spreading throughout his suit, until it gets to his helmet. The lines appear on the back of the head as the black fog gets absorb by the suit. Shadow was yelling and tensing in pain as this happen and Cagalli looks on transfixed. The lines disappear and Shadow stops yelling.
Nightwing: Activating Zero-gravity.
The floor where Shadow is standing starts to light up a little bit and a bubble type thing seems to form around Shadow, he gets lifted up into the air a few inches off the ground. We go back outside to see that Nightwing has entered the launching catapult. The floor makes a click as it locks in. The lights are all on and the arrows are pointing towards the now dark sky.
Nightwing: All systems check, all systems ready to go on pilot's command.
Shadow is breathing heavily, and then he straightens up and says in a loud voice
Shadow: Alright Nightwing time for our first launch, Shadow Zoomarey in Nightwing launching!
With that the catapult launches Nightwing into the night sky of the desert. Nightwing goes up pretty high, hangs for a moment than falls back to the ground. Nightwing lands on one leg, the leg slips out causing the Gundam to do a summersault landing on its back.
We go back in the cockpit to see Kenny and Cagalli screaming as they get flipped around. After Nightwing lands on its back hard they all take a moment to catch their breath. Kenny turns to Cagalli.
Kenny: Aren't you glad you put the harness on now?
Because of the anti-gravity bubble Shadow doesn't get thrown around, he's also laying on his back in what appears to be mid-air. Shadow sits up, which causes the Gundam to sit up, and begins rubbing his helmet.
Shadow: Ow, that hurt.
Cagalli snaps
Cagalli: What did you expect with that crap you call piloting!
The rookie pilot is offended.
Shadow: Hey, this isn't as easy as it looks!
Getting up slowly we can see that Shadow's helmet screen has lit up. The camera does a split screen to show Nightwing mimicking Shadow's action. Shadow looks at his hands and begins to rotate them in awe and amazement.
Shadow: Wow, this is so weird.
We see from his point of view that he's looking at his hands but because of the helmet screen he sees Nightwing's hands. He turns them around and then clenches them into a fist, he looks up and sees the desert, he looks around. We are flipping back and forth between him inside the cockpit and Nightwing. Kenny finally has had enough.
Kenny: Alright already, can you start running please!
Shadow answers as if he was just reminded to throw out the trash.
Shadow: Oh right.
Shadow begins to run. We see that because of the anti-gravity his feet aren't touching the floor, making it look like he's running in place. We cut to outside of the Gundam to see it running away from Slyer. Its arms are moving as if it's jogging. We go back inside to see Cagalli leaning over towards Kenny and asking
Cagalli: How's he controlling the Gundam?
Kenny: Through the NS system.
Cagalli doesn't understand.
Cagalli: NS system?
Kenny: Neuron Synchronizer system.
Seeing that Cagalli still doesn't understand the know-it-all explains
Kenny: The NS system works by having billions of nanites attach themselves to the pilot's nervous system, making them feel the same thing their Gundam feels, at the same time it makes the Gundam mimic their movements. The screen on his helmet shows the pilot outside through the Gundam's eyes, and the anti-gravity bubble keeps him slightly off the ground so that he doesn't move around in the cockpit.
Cagalli puts two and two together.
Cagalli: And because of the NS system, he feels the ground under the Gundam's feet, so his body gets tricked into thinking it's on solid ground, so he moves normally even though he's in mid-air.
Kenny nods his head impressed.
Kenny: That's right.
We cut to back outside; suddenly blaster fire comes out of nowhere hitting the sand mound in front of Nightwing. Nightwing dives to the side.
Shadow: What the hell!? That was a beam rifle!
Shadow yells, as Nightwing falls on one knee. We see another Gundam appear charging straight for Nightwing. This one looks just like Nightwing only it's been painted brown, and is holding a beam rifle. It's also moving a lot faster than Nightwing.
We can see the propulsion system coming out of its back and legs. It stops and points the beam rifle at Nightwing. We cut back to Shadow to see him tense himself preparing to dive right or left to avoid another shot from the beam rifle when we hear the warden's voice coming from the Gundam.
Warden: I must say Shadow you've given me a lot of trouble but that all ends today.
We cut back to the cockpit to see that Shadow is surprised.
Shadow: The warden, damn where the hell is his voice coming from!?
His eyes dart back and forth as if the warden would pop out any moment.
Warden: From your helmet you moron, looks like you didn't know that Gundams automatically set up a communication link with all other Gundams within a mile radius.
A video window of the warden opens up on Shadow's helmet screen. The warden is also wearing a pilot's suit, smiling his evil smile. Shadow jumps back with surprise, causing his Gundam to jump up and almost fall down. After swinging his arms he gets his Gundam back on balance. The warden is laughing.
Warden: hahahahaha, when I said I'd like to see you break out of solitary confinement I didn't actually mean it but I guess I should thank you for pointing out my prison guards sloppiness to me. I knew they had gotten lazy and sloppy but I didn't realize the extent of the problem till you showed me.
Warden: I'll have to remember to kill them all when I get back and get new replacements. Since you showed me this flaw the least I can do for you is fight you without my beam rifle.
With that statement he throws the beam rifle away. Shadow has regained his composure and charges intending to punch the warden as he yells
Shadow: Don't you underestimate me!
However his Gundam's movements are slow and awkward. The warden's Gundam easily moves to the side to avoid it and counter attacks with a punch of his own, unlike Shadow's this one is fast and accurate. It hits Nightwing right in the face; Shadow stunned takes a step back, trips on the uneven ground and falls down on his butt. The warden starts laughing again.
Warden: hahahaha, I hate to break this to you, but you overestimate yourself.
Nightwing gets up and charges, it throws two more punches, but the warden's Gundam using the propulsion system is easily able to avoid the attacks. Then the warden's Gundam goes on the offensive, his punches are a lot faster, and natural.
We cut back into the cockpit to see Shadow gritting his teeth in pain; we cut back outside to see the Nightwing trying to block or evade the blows but it's too slow and awkward when it moves in comparison to the warden's Gundam. The warden starts talking as he pounds away at Nightwing.
Warden: Since I'm sure that I won't be able to get my Gundam back without it being damaged, I figure that I'll at least get to enjoy a nice Gundam fight, so I threw the beam rifle away because I wanted this fight to last as long as possible!
With that he delivers an uppercut to Nightwing, sending it backwards, causing it to trip and fall flat on its back. Shadow is getting frustrated.
Shadow: Damn it!
Shadow says as he struggles to his knees, he's breathing heavily.
Warden: What happen to your cocky attitude Shadow?
Kenny and Cagalli screamed every time Nightwing gets thrown.
Kenny: What are you doing Shadow, use the propulsion system, or the beam saber?
Shadow frustrated snaps
Shadow: If I knew how, I would have already, now shut up and let me concentrate!
The warden smiles hearing the conversation.
Warden (Fools, they have no idea that the NS system isn't something someone can get used to in a few minutes, it took me a month before I fully mastered the NS system, there's no way he can win this fight)
Shadow: Beam Saber activate!
Shadow shouts out, nothing happens. We cut to the warden to see that he's looking at Shadow like he's a moron. We cut back to Nightwing's cockpit, to see Shadow standing there waiting for something to happen. When nothing happens he says
Shadow: Well that didn't work.
Kenny: Of course it didn't work you moron!
Kenny shouts at him panic in his voice. Shadow not liking being shouted at shouts back
Shadow: I don't see you coming up with any ideas!
The warden is getting annoyed.
Warden: Not to interrupt but I'm about to kill you now so could you pay attention.
Shadow turns to face the warden's Gundam just in time to get punched in the face. The warden's Gundam begins to pound on Nightwing again, and Shadow used to getting punched begins to think quickly.
Shadow (Damn it, what am I doing wrong, why are my movements so slow and awkward compared to his, and how is he using the propulsion system, and to top it off I'm starting to get a pretty bad headache, damn it!)
While he's thinking this Nightwing keeps trying to hit the warden but the warden is easily avoiding his punches and in turn punches Nightwing, but unlike Shadow all his punches are hitting Nightwing.
Despite all these punches Nightwing isn't really taking much damage, sure it's getting a little dented here or there but a Gundam's armor is a strong thing after all and the warden's punch isn't strong enough to do any real damage it's just the pain that's getting to Shadow.
The warden suddenly jumps up and delivers a flying kick to Nightwing’s chest, sending it once again to the ground. The warden begins to talk like that of someone who's finished a workout.
Warden: Well this was fun, but all good things must come to an end, so goodbye Shadow.
With that the hilt of a beam saber comes out of a compartment in the right leg of the warden's Gundam. The warden's Gundam grabs and activates it in one swift motion.
Warden: Was this what you were trying to do earlier?
He asks in a mocking voice. The warden's Gundam jumps up into the air, its beam saber pointed down ready to stab Nightwing in the chest.
Shadow still on the ground seeing the attack coming, puts Nightwing's hands flat on the ground then pushes intending to slide away but the propulsion system on Nightwing's back suddenly turns on causing the Gundam to roll backwards and land with one knee still on the ground.
The warden's Gundam stabs the ground that Nightwing was just lying on. We cut inside to see the warden looking shocked.
Warden (He used the propulsion system, that's impossible it took me a week before I accidently used it, that's right accidently, it was just a fluke there's no way he could have figured out the NS system in just this short amount of time!)
He thinks this to himself and calms down. We cut to Nightwing's cockpit to see Shadow staring at his hands.
Shadow (Just now for a moment I felt the propulsion system kick in. Felt, that's it! I have to stop thinking of myself as Shadow Zoomarey and start thinking of myself as Nightwing!)
The warden starts talking to Shadow in his self-assured voice
Warden: Why don't you give up Shadow and let death take you peacefully? After all there is no way you can win.
Shadow responds back with a smile on his face, the type of smile someone makes when they see the winning move in front of them.
Shadow: You're wrong warden, not only can I still win this battle but I'm going to, after all someday I'm going to be the world's greatest Gundam fighter!
The warden's smile disappears clearly not liking Shadow's new found confidence. He charges at full speed, his saber prepared to make a downward strike as he shouts out
Warden: Then prepare to die!
Time seems to slow down as Shadow begins thinking to himself. We can hear his breathing slow and steady.
Shadow (I am a Gundam, I AM A GUNDAM,I AM NIGHTWING!)
His eye's opens wide (No, not seed mode) we look down to his right arm where the Neon gauntlet is. It's changing colors from a plain grey metallic color to midnight black and then the Neon gauntlet starts to slightly glow. We cut outside and see Nightwing's eyes flash bright green.
The propulsion system on Nightwing's back starts to fire up. The warden’s Gundam stops right in front of it and begins its downward swing of its beam saber. Shadow steps quickly to the side out of the way and then counter attacks by punching the warden's Gundam right in the face.
This time his punch is fast and natural, Nightwing begins to pound on the warden's Gundam. The warden is too shocked to raise a defense.
Warden (He's using the propulsion system and his movements are more natural, it's impossible he couldn't have mastered the NS system in this short amount of time.)
Nightwing jumps up and suddenly the hilt of the beam saber comes out of its right leg compartment, and Nightwing quickly grabs it and turns it on as it comes down; slamming the saber into the warden's beam saber.
The warden's Gundam is forced back and thrown off balance. Nightwing charges and uses an upward beam slash cutting right through the warden's Gundam. There's a moment's pause as both of the Gundams are facing away from each other.
Then the top half of the warden's Gundam falls backwards, while the bottom half falls forward. Nightwing keeps standing still both hands on the beam saber, the saber is pointing up. We cut back into the cockpit to see Shadow breathing even heavier than before.
We go to see Cagalli and Kenny still tied down by the seat belt, they're breathing and sweating heavily too. Then suddenly the realization of his victory hits Shadow, he smiles and then starts laughing, a laughter full of joy and relief.
Shadow: Hahahahaha, I did it, I won; I am the winner, WE DID IT NIGHTWING!
He shouts in joy, he jumps up and punches the air. The jump causes Nightwing to jump too, startling Kenny and Cagalli.
Kenny: Shadow, you won already, so can you refrain from doing any movements with the upper body?
Shadow turns to face Kenny as he lifts up his helmet screen he's still laughing and with a bright smile on his face; his eyes have a light of pure joy in them.
Shadow: Hahaha, sorry but I did it Kenny, I'm finally an official Gundam fighter, I'm finally on the path that will lead to my dream!
Kenny and Cagalli just stare at him surprised by the nut job's statement, and then they burst into laughter.
Kenny: Hahahahha, an official Gundam fighter.
Cagalli: Hahahhaha, on a path to my dreams, what kind of idiot says that after almost getting killed.
Shadow's in too good of a mood to care.
Shadow: Hahaha, you're lucky I'm in such a good mood, or else I'd kick your ass.
After he says this, they all break into even more laughter. Close ups are made of each one of them. After a moment they calm down. Cagalli settles down first.
Cagalli: So what now?
Kenny thinks about this for a moment then says
Kenny: Shadow start heading west, we should hit the closest city in a full day and night.
Shadow puts his helmet screen back down.
Shadow: Ok, let's head out to the next chapter in our lives!
The rising warrior's words cause the fallen princess to ponder her own fate for a moment.
Cagalli (To the next chapter of our lives huh, so be it.)
The episode ends with Nightwing beginning to run west. The propulsion system is working so Nightwing's moving faster than it was at the beginning, but still slower than most Gundams.
The episode opens up with our heroes being thrown into a solid room made out of the same red clay like substance as the rest of the building. The room only has one wooden bed and toilet in it. The warden standing at the only entrance has a wicked gleam in his hazel eyes.
Warden: Try breaking out of here wise ass.
With that he slams the door close; the door is made of solid steel.
Shadow: What, no dinner?
Shadow says jokingly while he feels up his jaw. Kenny begins to examine his own ribs checking to make sure nothing is broken.
Kenny: Yeah, we just cost the warden his perfect record of never allowing any of his inmates to escape so I'm sure he'd just be delighted to give us dinner. How are your injuries?
Shadow takes a moment to feel his jaw and then spits out blood. We can see that his lip is cut but the blood has stopped bleeding.
Shadow: My jaw hurts like a SOB from being nailed by the warden's gun then fist, plus I'm sure my chest is all black and blue from the beating but I don't think he broke any ribs this time around. On the bright side he missed my eyes this time, so no black eye for me.
Our optimistic friend says cheerfully. Kenny smiles at his black haired friend's sunny disposition then flinches as he feels a damaged rib.
Kenny: Lucky you, argh I'm pretty sure I fractured one of my ribs not to mention my arms and legs were kicked on a lot, heh it's a good thing the warden doesn't allow himself to break his prisoner’s limbs.
Shadow: Yea the warden wouldn't want his free laborers unable to work, what with repairing all the bullet holes his stupid goons make, cleaning the buses and we can't forget about digging the holes.
The 2 friends continue talking while they finish checking out their injuries, throughout this whole conversation Cagalli has kept quiet, mainly because of the pain. The guys get beat up on a regular bases so they're used to the pain and able to function through it but Orb's fallen princess is no street fighter.
Cagalli (Arghhhh it hurts so much God give me a mobile suit battle over this any day. Damn I don't think I've been in real fight since Desert Dawn and even then I never had to fight someone bare handed…well not counting Athrun.)
A small warm smile lights up the young woman's face as she remembers her first meeting with her lover but the pain in her sides quickly crashes her back down to reality and a moan slips from her mouth finally drawing the attention of the duo.
Shadow: Holy crap you look like shit.
In truth Cagalli probably received no more damage than they did but because of the length of time it's been since the blondes' received any serious physical damage Cagalli nor her body can take the pain well. Sweat is washing her face while her arms tightly clutch her chest as if they're afraid her ribs will fall off. Kenny glares at Shadow.
Kenny: Don't be an ass Shadow.
The computer hacker helps the injured woman onto the wooden bed, first it was the guy in black, then it was the warden, and last it was the rapist who fell off the cliff. Cagalli has had it with looking weak in front of people. Determine to appear strong she replies to Shadow's earlier comment
Cagalli: Look who's talking!
Unfortunately because Cagalli had to wait for the pain to subside before she could groan out a reply she doesn't come off as strong as she'd hoped.
Shadow: Wow talk about a delayed reaction.
Amber eyes begin trying to punch that smirk off Shadow's face but it doesn't appear to be working. Kenny begins to examine our heroine.
Kenny: Looks like Shadow's not the only one who lucked out today, you'll be bruise and sore for a while but that's about it. I'll bandage it up though just to be on the safe side.
The more mature gentleman gives Cagalli a reassuring smile which she responds to appreciatively.
Cagalli: Thank you Kenny you're such a gentleman.
Cagalli glares at Shadow while saying this. Shadow just rolls his bright green electric eyes and calls his friend over.
Shadow: Kenny come over here and let's show Ca, what's your name again?
Cagalli: CAGALLI!
The former leader of a nation is clearly not a person used to being forgotten.
Shadow: Really?
Growing even angrier our heroine snaps back
Cagalli: YES! And what about you, what kind of name is Shadow Zoomarey, what's your real name?
Shadow replies a little offended
Shadow: First of all Shadow Zoomarey is an awesome name, Second it's the only name I go by.
This relationship isn't off to a good start, maybe it's their opposing personalities or something but whatever it is, it's causing the tension in the small spaced room to soar sky-high. Kenny's light blue eyes nervously dart back and forth between the 2 desperately struggling to break the feud.
Kenny: So um yea, I better bandage your wounds Cagalli!
The mediator shouts having finally come up with a good excuse to get in-between the 2 opposing forces. Kenny dives under the bed while Cagalli finally breaks her glare from Shadow.
Cagalli: How, I doubt the warden is going to give us even a first aid kit.
Shadow: HA you underestimate us.
Exclaims the proud warrior as he walks over to the metal door, sits down, and then proceeds to pull out a small piece of the clay wall revealing a peephole.
Shadow: We're clear Kenny.
Cagalli finally gives in to her curiosity and looks under the bed. Kenny feels the seemingly flawless wall clearly looking for something.
Cagalli: What are you guys doing?
Kenny finally finds what he's looking for, slowly and delicately he slides his ring fingers along some kind of edge in the wall breaking away the clay that was hiding it. With the removal of the clay we can now clearly see a box outline within the wall.
Kenny digs his fingers in the small gap and pulls out a cube of clay.
Kenny: We're getting our stuff out.
The camera moves over Kenny's shoulder to reveal, a pile of sticks, a lighter, and a first aid kit. When he pulls the stuff out we see a cage with a bunch of rats and lizards, there's a rat hole behind the cage. He throws the first aid kit to Cagalli.
Kenny: There should be some bandages and a cream for the bruises in there.
Cagalli catches the first aid kit; suddenly she begins to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of illogical things happening.
Cagalli: How did you get this stuff? How did you manage to put a secret compartment in this isolation cell, and if this is an isolation cell why did we all get put into it together and how did we end up in the one with your secret compartment!
Everyone deals with stress in their own ways, understanding the logic in a chaotic situation happens to be Cagalli's way of dealing with stress. Kenny holds up his hands slowing the girl down before she catches on fire.
Kenny: One question at a time, one question at a time Cagalli.
Shadow glancing over his shoulder smirks.
Shadow: Yea try to save your breakdown for a different day.
Turning her fierce amber eyes on the dark figure Cagalli lashes out.
Cagalli: I am not having a breakdown it's just the absurdity of everything is driving me nuts!
To avoid another fight the smartest or at least most level headed of our heroes begins answering the questions.
Kenny: This prison wasn't designed to hold this many prisoners and only has about 5 isolation cells so the warden puts inmates in the same isolation cell. You see this one time after he starved 2 inmates for 6 days without food they snapped and went all animal on each other, and not the mating kind, the “I’m hungry I’m going to each you” kind.
Cagalli applying the cream on her bruises passes the bandages over to Kenny so he can wrap up his ribs.
Kenny: The sick bastard enjoyed it so much he does it all the time now to see if he can get anyone else to do it. We get put in these isolation cells a lot, 73 percent more often than our actual prison cells so it only made sense to have our stuff in here, plus we didn't have anything better to do, so me and Shadow dug out the hole in the wall underneath the bed.
Shadow adds something Kenny forget.
Shadow: Don't forget about our 7th escape attempt which involved digging out of here, we discovered rat tunnels, which also had lizards in them, too bad our tunnel set off ground sensors in the building getting us busted. On the bright side we now had a source of food other than from the warden.
Kenny reminds Shadow that it wasn't that easy.
Kenny: And to think it only cost us 400 credits to bribe a prison guard into giving us the information on where the rat tunnels were plus another isolation cell incident and a day to dig the tunnel and then set up the trap to catch the rats and the occasional lizard.
Cagalli: So you have a secret compartment in every isolation cell?
Kenny: Yup, whenever we got put into a new isolation cell we had to dig anyway to get to the rat tunnels and then once we had food we had nothing better to do; as for the rest of our stuff we got it from trading with other inmates or stealing during one of our escape attempts.
With great pride our black haired hero boasts
Shadow: We stole that first aid kit you're using right there during our 27th escape attempt.
Kenny having finished wrapping his ribs in bandages gathers the sticks and begins to start a fire which quickly alarms our heroine.
Cagalli: Whoa hold it! You do know that lighting a fire in an enclosed space will suffocate us all right?
Cagalli didn't mean it in an insulting way but that's still how Shadow took it.
Shadow: Oh relax the prison has air ducts, which takes the smoke away and in turn blows in fresh air. We have done this before.
Making a gesture to the upper right hand back corner of the room Cagalli notices the 2 ducts; it's understandable why she missed it the first time since they blend in with the wall perfectly and are no more than a foot long.
Kenny has started a fire, and after killing the rats and lizards puts them on sticks and then over the fire.
Kenny: Dinner should be ready in a little bit.
Cagalli looks over to where Kenny has "Dinner" going.
Cagalli: Dinner?
She doesn't sound too thrilled.
Kenny: You heard what the warden said; they're not going to give us anything to eat, so unless you want to starve you'll eat this.
Shadow smirks at her
Shadow: Sorry this isn't up to your standard princess.
The physically out of shape woman tired from being forced to do hard manual labor in the sun for half a day, and being beaten up, misses the sarcasm, and asks in surprise with a hint of hope
Cagalli: How did you know I was a princess?
Shadow meant the "princess" comment as an insult or at the least to be annoying so naturally the 2 failed escapers are surprised to hear of this.
Kenny: Wait, you're a real princess?
Judging from Kenny's neutral voice, political prisoners including royalty aren't uncommon in Slyer, of course so are conmen/conwomen. The more trusting friend though tries to pass this along as part of his master plan.
Shadow: I knew it.
Not fooled for a moment Kenny rolls his eyes.
Kenny: You did not. So what country are you from?
Cagalli answers eagerly thinking she's finally found someone that will stand up to the warden's terror and give her the answer she so desperately wants to hear.
Cagalli: Orb.
Shadow takes about 30 seconds to try to place the name with anything in his memory and when he comes up with nothing he shrugs his shoulders and replies uncaringly
Shadow: Never heard of it.
This of course pisses the once proud ruler of Orb off; Cagalli has also finished applying the cream to her bruises.
Cagalli: Orb is one of the most powerful nations on Earth, how could you not have heard of it?
Shadow shrugs his shoulders and replies casually.
Shadow: I don't care much about politics.
It's not clear if Shadow missed the "Earth" comment or ignored it but either way he doesn't respond to it unlike Kenny who begins to eye what he thinks is a nut job with pity.
Kenny (Poor girl's cracked, thinking she's a princess on Earth, good thing Shadow's too stupid to pick up on it, though I wonder how she knew about Orb? I had to hack into a top secret government information code just to find a list of current governments on Earth.)
Shadow eyeing the food eagerly says
Shadow: Dinner should be ready!
He walks over to the fire and grabs a rat, and starts eating. Kenny joins him and picks a lizard. Cagalli looks disgusted.
Cagalli: ick, are you really eating that?
She can barely watch. Shadow nods his head savoring the taste.
Shadow: Tastes like chicken.
Cagalli hesitates until her stomach growls. She blushes as Shadow and Kenny look at her.
Cagalli: Can you pass me the lizard.
She says reluctantly. Kenny passes her the lizard she takes it, looks at it, smells it, and then slowly takes a bite, then spits it back out.
Cagalli: Yuck, how can you eat this stuff?
Shadow and Kenny start laughing.
Shadow: HAHAHAHAHAHA, Sorry princess but we've gotten to the point where we're too hungry to even taste.
They continue to laugh and then Cagalli starts laughing too. They calm down then eat in silence for a moment.
Cagalli: Sorry for costing you your freedom.
Shadow and Kenny look up surprised.
Cagalli: If it hadn't been for me you guys would have been long gone.
She says while looking at the ground. Shadow smiles
Shadow: Don't worry about it; I never wanted to leave like that anyway.
Kenny looks at Shadow slightly annoyed.
Kenny: Speak for yourself, out of 47 escape plans that's the only one that worked so yeah I am still a little ticked off.
Cagalli is surprised.
Cagalli: Wait, you've tried 47 escape plans?
Shadow replies proudly
Shadow: Yep.
Kenny sighs
Kenny: After the 10th plan the warden started taking this as a personal challenge, so he ordered the prison guards not to kill us until we broke.
Shadow adds with pride
Shadow: Which we never did.
He looks at Cagalli expecting praise.
Shadow: Impressive right?
Cagalli: It's impressive that you're still in such high spirits after 47 failures.
Kenny is offended.
Kenny: 46 failures ok, the last one worked, we just didn't get away.
Shadow gets a faraway look in his eyes as he begins to think of something.
Shadow: Speaking of escape plans-
However his tired friend cuts him off.
Kenny: Already Shadow, I mean come on we haven't even been in the isolation cell for a day and you already want to come up with a new escape plan.
Shadow shakes his head.
Shadow: No, revisiting an old plan. I think we have everything we need to carry out escape plan 0.
Kenny appearing to have heard this before rolls his eyes.
Kenny: Not this again.
Cagalli curious asks
Cagalli: What's escape plan 0?
Kenny sighs; it looks like they had this conversation many times before.
Kenny: It's the first escape plan that we ever came up with.
Shadow begins explaining excitedly
Shadow: The plan itself is pretty straight forward; we just have to steal the warden's basic model Gundam.
Cagalli's not sure what he meant by “basic model” Gundam.
Cagalli: Gundam, you mean mobile suit right?
Shadow: Unm, yea, but that's kind of an old term for it.
Cagalli does not like Shadow saying she speaks like an old lady and is about to comment on it when a new thought hits her mind.
Cagalli: Hold on, are you trying to tell me that the warden has his own personal mobile suit in this prison where inmates can get a hold of it?
Naturally Cagalli looks at Shadow skeptically to which Shadow responds with sarcasm.
Shadow: Oh sure the warden parks his Gundam right outside in the courtyard and sometimes he even leaves his keys in there.
And so begins another glare off between the 2 strong willed people but never fear, for Kenny is here to explain
Kenny: I know it's hard to believe Cagalli but you got to remember, the warden and the prison guards live here too. That's the bad thing about running a prison miles away from any civilization and it's not like the thing is out in open or easy to get to.
Kenny: Its 3 floors below the prison level of the building with 5 doors with all different security codes standing in-between anyone who tries to get there that isn't supposed to, plus you don't want to forget the prison guards with guns and itchy trigger fingers patrolling the hallways, not to mention the security cameras scattered throughout the building. Which is why we've never been able to pull it off.
Shadow goes to argue.
Shadow: But we can do it now. Thanks to all of our escape attempts, we know this prison like the back of our hands and we also know all of the patrol routes thanks to the fact the guards are lazy and rarely ever change their patrol route so by combining these 2 things we can map a path that will lead us straight to the Gundam without running across a single guard.
Cagalli cuts in by asking
Cagalli: What about the security cameras?
Waving this off Shadow replies
Shadow: They've been down since last month after Kenny put a virus in their software, heh the Warden's tech people haven't been able to fix it yet, good thing they don't know Kenny's the one who put it on there.
Shadow: As for the security codes, we know 2 of them already thanks to Max's spies and the other 2 you can crack.
Becoming irritated now Kenny says
Kenny: That still leaves the last door, which must be scanned with a pass card of a level 5 prison guard that changes every day.
Grinning Shadow pulls from his pocket a card.
Shadow: You mean something like this?
Kenny's light blue eyes opens wide he grabs the card from Shadow's hand.
Kenny: Where did you get this?
Shadow boasting says
Shadow: I stole it off one of the prison guards we killed. So what do you say?
Kenny hesitates.
Kenny: We've never tried to do two escape plans in the same day before, and I'm pretty sure the Warden isn't going to let us off lightly if we get caught again, not to mention the prison guards are most likely on high alert because of our early escape plan, so the risk is nearly triple.
Shadow still with his smile and voice full of humor says
Shadow: Don't tell me you're scared Kenny; after all I can't stay here I have a dream to fulfill.
Cagalli who had remained silent asks a question
Cagalli: Dream?
Shadow smile widens and he gets a sparkle in his eye.
Shadow: That's right, in life one should have a goal or dream they want to fulfill, that will keep them strong in any circumstance. My dream is to become the world's greatest Gundam fighter!
Shadow shouts his last sentence out loud. Cagalli has never heard anything like this before and is too stunned for words. Shadow turns to Kenny.
Shadow: So what do you say buddy?
Kenny looks up his face full of determination.
Kenny: I too have my own goal to accomplish and there are people counting on me to accomplish it, so I can't waste any more time here.
They both nod their head in agreement then turn to face Cagalli.
Shadow: And what about you princess, want to come with us?
Kenny quickly adds in a serious voice
Kenny: It's going to be very dangerous, and we probably won't come back alive if we fail.
Shadow: We won't hold it against you if you're too scared to go.
The way Shadow says this is almost like a challenge; the words "too scared" trigger another flashback of the warden telling Cagalli she hid in a corner because she was too scared to move. The flashback causes Cagalli to tighten her fist in anger.
Cagalli (Never again!)
Cagalli: I'll go.
Holding out his hand in friendship the green electric eyed warrior forms and alliance with the amber eyed pacifist.
Shadow: I guess that means we're a team now.
Cagalli: Just until we escape then I'm going back to my own country. Oh and don't call me princess.
Shadow replies simply
Shadow: Then don't act like a princess.
It takes a moment for Cagalli to realize Shadow is saying she's spoiled. Offended she says
Cagalli: I'm not spoiled!
Shadow replies sarcastically
Shadow: Of course you're not.
Shadow and Cagalli start glaring at each other, until Kenny steps in-between them.
Kenny: If we're going to do this we have to do it now!
Shadow refocuses.
Shadow: Right.
Kenny takes off his left shoe and pulls out the bottom heel revealing another hidden compartment. He pulls out the lock picking device we saw in the previous episode as well as 4 identical tiny square items. He begins to explain aloud what he's doing for the benefit of Cagalli.
Kenny: One good thing about the warden never giving us new shoes means we got a nice portable hiding spot for emergency stuff.
The tech savvy friend goes to the door and begins placing the tiny squares on the hinges of the door.
Kenny: These are micro-explosives I got from Roben's cell before they cleaned it out.
Shadow: Oh yea, Roben the one and only rival we had for breaking out of here, he was also one of the only actual criminals in this place. His last escape plan of blowing up holes in the wall all the way to the buses and hijacking one was pretty good to; too bad he blew himself up.
Kenny: I always told Roben he needed at least physics level of science before messing around with advance explosives.
.
While they're talking Shadow and Kenny have flipped the wooden bed on its side and moved it as far away from the door as possible while still allowing room for people to duck behind.
Before Cagalli can question the logic of using bombs made by a bomb guy that blew himself up Kenny flips a switch and dives behind the bed as the timer counts down. Shadow and Cagalli quickly follow suit. The timer continues to beep faster and faster and then….nothing.
Cagalli: Um are you sure these bombs even work?
Shadow looks at her as if she's stupid.
Shadow: And how would we be sure, it's not like me or Kenny know anything about bombs and we're not going to waste our 4 bombs by testing one
Shadow gets cut off midsentence when the bombs suddenly explode. The explosion is huge, a lot bigger than the size of the bombs let on. The shockwave knocks the new team off their feet while at the same time ripping the solid metal door from the wall into an unlucky prison guard who came to see what the beeping noise was. He then gets slammed straight into the hallway wall.
Slowly getting up the 3 prisoners begin dusting themselves off.
Shadow: Whoa, now I know how Roben screwed up; he made those bombs way to strong, it we had been closer we would have ended up just like that guard anyway let's go.
With that Shadow and Kenny walk out of the room. Cagalli follows after them deep in thought.
Cagalli (Yes, I can't waste my time here either because I have to get back to my country!)
There's a determined look in her amber eyes. Shadow and Kenny are running down hallways and staircases, sometimes they back track, other times they hug a corner of a wall allowing patrol guards to pass.
The patrol guards radiate overconfidence, this is their house, they hold all the cards and guns, and that overconfidence makes them sloppy, easily missing the team they would have otherwise noticed if they had been doing their job correctly.
The blame doesn't lay completely with them though, the route Shadow and Kenny choose is confusing, overlapping and maze like; using detailed knowledge of the prison guards patrol routes the 3 are successful in avoiding all but 3 patrol units.
They already know the pass code of the first two doors they come across and then they come to a third door and stop.
Shadow: Do your thing Kenny.
The tech wizard steps forward and pulls his lock picking tool out of his pocket and connects it to the computer lock. His friend steps back to give him room. The untech savvy girl comes over to Shadow and starts asking him in a whisper
Cagalli: What's he doing?
Shadow replies quietly
Shadow: He's hacking the lock.
Cagalli is surprise.
Cagalli: Hacking?
Shadow nods his head and boasts for his friend.
Shadow: That's right, Kenny is a genius computer programmer, and if you give him the right equipment he can hack anything.
Cagalli already being able to tell that Shadow likes to exaggerate facts in his favor isn't sure if he's being completely honest.
Cagalli: Really?
Shadow: Yea, why do you think he's in here? It's because he hacked into a super-secret file of a politician and found out things that made the politician pay someone to have him disappear.
While they are talking Kenny disables the lock and opens the door.
Kenny: Clear.
They rush through the door. They go down a couple more hallways and flights of stairs, then they come to the forth door, Kenny quickly hacks this one too. This one opens up to a spiral staircase that leads down, they head down; at the end of the staircase is the last door.
Kenny: Let's see if this card you stole works.
Moment of truth time. Kenny swipes the card and nothing happens, he swipes it again.
Kenny: Crap, they must have changed the pass code early.
Feeling his freedom slipping away again Shadow asks desperately
Shadow: Can you hack it?
The hacker shakes his head sadly
Kenny: It's a more advanced lock, I need a special type of tool to hack it, and I don't have it.
They all stand there for a moment not ready to admit that the plan had failed, that they're screwed 3 ways to hell, that their only hope is gone, when the door opens and a prison guard walks out.
Prison Guard B: I'm going to go take a smo-
He stops midsentence as he sees them, nobody moves for a moment then as if someone hits a switch, they all start moving. The prison guard goes for his gun but Shadow punches him right in the face, at the same time Kenny grabs prison guard B's gun and opens fire first on the gun's owner, and then in the room he came out of.
The room is made of metal with a window taking up one side, there are three computer terminals and a guard at each one. The bullets spattered their guts all over the window's side wall. Fortunately though for the squeamish fans the bullets also shattered the window wall so we don't see the blood and gore for more than a second
Alarms start going off, as Shadow, Kenny, and Cagalli enter the control center of the launching bay. The tech expert goes straight to one of the computer and starts typing away, his fingers a blur.
Shadow: See, everything worked out fine in the end.
Shadow says this as if this was his plan all along which of course annoys Cagalli to the extreme.
Cagalli: By fine, you mean how we almost got shot, and now all the alarms are going off!?
Shadow shrugs his shoulders.
Shadow: Could be worse.
Cagalli not quite believing his positive attitude in the face of doom yells at him
Cagalli: How!?
Shadow: We could not have this beautiful thing to look at.
The moron's statement is so bizarre, so out of place in this moment of doomsday that Cagalli is caught completely off guard, on impulse she turns to see what Shadow's looking at. The camera slowly turns around and looks over Cagalli's shoulder through the shattered window and at the object of Shadow's desire.
It's a Gundam, a basic Gundam but a Gundam nonetheless. It's hard to see what Shadow finds so beautiful about this, it has no paint on it nor any weapons we can see, plus its overall size and armor thickness looks a little small, even the Strike with no striker packs looked more powerful than this thing.
It probably isn't a stretch to say that this Gundam looks the most bland out of any of the mobile suits we've seen in the Cosmic Era. To any other person including Cagalli this Gundam doesn't look like anything special, the opposite really.
Cagalli (A Gundam? I've never seen that model before, but it looks too weak to be a new model. Maybe it's an earlier prototype from the original G-series mobile suits but in a real battle that thing looks like it would get shot down in minutes.)
The battle veteran understandably has concerns about using such a weak mobile suit to escape especially if the enemy has current mobile suits. She turns to Shadow once again to voice her opinion when she stops dead in her tracks.
A look of absolute marvel shines in the escapee's electric green eyes, an angel might has well descend to Sora and appeared before him. The look is so sincere, so full of pure happiness that Cagalli can't resist double checking to make sure she didn't miss something.
Shadow begins to talk, more to himself then Cagalli.
Shadow: I first saw him when I first came here, the bus I was riding on passed him as the wind blew the sheet hiding him off.
While he's talking we have a flashback with Shadow on a bus looking bored while looking out a window at a truck pulling something covered by a huge sheet, suddenly the sheet gets blown off by the wind revealing the Gundam.
Shadow: At that moment I knew this would be my Gundam, my partner.
Cagalli is looking at the Gundam fanatic like he's nuts.
Cagalli (What's with this guy? I never heard anyone describe a mobile suit as if it were another human being before.)
Before she has time to question him Kenny calls out
Kenny: Alright I hacked the launching bay, and activated the launching sequence.
We hear shouting coming from the other side of the door. Shadow points to it as he says
Shadow: Good thing, because from the sounds of things they're going to be here in less than 3 minutes.
Kenny smiles.
Kenny: Don't worry I've got that covered too.
The door shuts close and the locks click back on.
Kenny: I've reprogrammed the security code, so that should keep them busy for a little bit.
Shadow smiles too.
Shadow: Let's get going then.
They exit through the door leading to the launching bay. They're running down the steps as Cagalli asks their pilot
Cagalli: So what experience do you have with piloting a mobile suit?
Like a pet peeve Shadow annoyed snaps
Shadow: Look first of all it's called a Gundam, Gun-Dam; if you're going to talk about him can you at least call him by modern terminology!?
They're on the platform now heading to the Gundam. We look up to see that the prison guards have reached the door. When they realize that their cards aren't working they start banging on the door. We go back to the others, Cagalli is slowing down out of breath.
Kenny begins working on the Gundam's cockpit lock while Shadow just stands there and stares up at his fellow green eyed partner.
Shadow: I've waited a long time to finally meet you Gundam. From this day on you're going to be my Gundam and I'm going to be your pilot.
The Gundam of course doesn't say anything back. Cagalli finally catching her breath ignores Shadow's statement and manages to spit out.
Cagalli: Fine, Gundam, have you ever piloted one before?
Shadow turns around and answers Cagalli
Shadow: Nope, this will be my first time.
Unbelievable, leave it to Shadow to come up with an escape plan using a Gundam even though he's never piloted one before. The insanity of this stuns Cagalli too much for words. A speaker inside the Gundam activates.
Gundam: Opening hatch door.
Right where the platform and the chest of the Gundam meet, we hear a hissing sound as a circle portion of the Gundam's chest sinks in, then opens in a circular motion, making a metal cling sound.
Shadow runs in first, Kenny follows, Cagalli taken by surprise by the opening, goes in last. The first thing we see in the cockpit is a lot of space, in the center, the floor is sunken down a foot, and it's also pretty dark, almost no light. Cagalli stands their once again in shock.
Cagalli: W-What is this, where's the cockpit?
Kenny has moved over to one of the walls and after finding a handle pulls it open to reveal a black pilot suit, he throws it at Shadow.
Kenny: Look we don't have time to explain how a Gundam cockpit works, Shadow put that on, and yes that includes the helmet!
Shadow sticks out his tongue at Kenny as he begins to put on the suit. Kenny runs to the other corner, gets on his knees and pulls out what can best be describe as a seat belt.
Kenny: Cagalli get over here, the anti-gravity will only help the pilot, we got to buckle down or we're going to get thrown around like a baseball.
The ex-princess still in shock talks herself down.
Cagalli (relax this is just a new cockpit design, yeah, that's it, that's why this Gundam isn't armed it's just testing the new design, Shadow has never seen a real one before so he wouldn't know and Kenny must have hacked the information about it somewhere)
Cagalli feeling better thanks to her delusion goes over to where Kenny is and takes another seat belt from the wall and buckles down. Shadow dressed now in his black pilot suit goes to the sunken-in floor and stands in the middle with his helmet in hand.
Shadow: Begin Gundam activation system.
The lights click on Cagalli buckled down is surprised.
Cagalli (This thing is voice activated?)
Gundam: Activating S-generator
The camera cuts into a metal room to show a crystal or something like it in the center. We see multi-colored liquids inside the crystal, suddenly a bolt of eclectically hits it creating a large boom, and then what can best be described as a mini sun appears. We cut back to Shadow.
Gundam: Error, pilot not registered, must activate new pilot sequence.
Shadow surprised turns to look at his source of information, Kenny who just shrugs his shoulders.
Shadow: Ok, activate new pilot sequence.
Gundam: Activating new pilot sequence.
A part of the floor lifts up and reveals a gauntlet.
Gundam: Please pick up and place the Neon gauntlet on your arm.
Shadow picks up the Neon gauntlet and puts it on his left arm. We see it tighten on his arm, as the screen on the Neon gauntlet lights up.
Shadow: Ow.
Shadow jumps in surprise.
Gundam: Blood sample taken, analyzing, beginning body scan.
A scanner pops out of the floor and completely scans his body. Kenny is getting nervous.
Kenny: Can we hurry this up.
Gundam: Body scan complete, DNA lacks SG radiation, preparing for S-generator energy wave.
Kenny turns white.
Kenny: Oh, crap.
He unbuckles his seat belt and opens a hatch on the floor of the Gundam cockpit.
Kenny: We have to get out of here; it that wave hits us we're going to fry.
Cagalli unbuckles her seat belt.
Cagalli: What about Shadow?
Shadow: Don't worry about me I'll be fine.
Kenny is already down the hatch. Cagalli hesitates looking at Shadow, and then the back wall of the cockpit opens up revealing the S-generator. The S-generator is huge, the size of a car. True to its name it looks like a mini sun, but it seems to be pulsing.
Then a strong light fills the cockpit, and everything goes white. The light dies down, Shadow is on his knee and Cagalli is on her stomach they're both breathing hard but seem ok. Kenny pops out of the hatch.
Kenny: You guys ok?
Shadow: I'm fine, Cagalli?
Cagalli doesn't say anything for a moment then groans
Cagalli: Yes, I'm alright too.
Gundam: S-generator exposure complete, please enter pilot's name.
Kenny helps Cagalli up then they head back to their seats, and buckle up. Shadow stands up.
Shadow: Shadow Zoomarey.
Gundam: Name: Shadow Zoomarey, recorded. Please enter Gundam name.
Shadow pauses for a moment to think about this, which causes the already uneasy Kenny to yell at him.
Kenny: Would you just pick a name already. I'm pretty sure the door isn't going to hold much longer.
Shadow snaps back
Shadow: Hey, don't rush me this is a big decision to make that I'll have to live with for the rest of my life.
We go back to the door and watch it explode. The prison guards rush in led by the warden.
Warden: Now where are they?
The warden looks angry. Prison guard C has gone over to a computer terminal.
Prison Guard C: Sir, it seems that they activated the launching sequence.
The warden starts yelling at him.
Warden: Well don't just stand there, turn it off!
Prison guard C is typing on the computer, nowhere near as fast as Kenny.
Prison Guard C: We're trying sir, but it seems that they locked the codes in.
The warden screams in frustration.
Warden: WELL THEN GO AND TAKE THEM OUT BY FORCE!
The prison guards start rushing towards the Gundam. We get back into the cockpit to see Shadow still pondering, and then his green eyes spark brightly like a current that just went on.
Shadow: I've got it. Gundam from this moment on you shall be known as Nightwing.
Nightwing: Understood, Gundam Name Nightwing. New pilot sequence complete beginning launching sequence.
We go back outside to see the prison guards on the platform. The speaker comes on as the locks holding the Gundam in place release, and the platform the Gundam is standing on begins to rise.
Speaker: Launching sequence engaged.
Warden: What are you all doing, stop it; stop them!
The warden is yelling at the prison guards but they are unable to do anything other than stop and stare at Nightwing. We go back inside Nightwing; Shadow has put his helmet on.
Nightwing: Activating NS system.
We see something being released on the floor; it looks like a black fog. It hits Shadow's feet; red lines start appearing on his suit. The camera is circling him showing the red lines climbing and spreading throughout his suit, until it gets to his helmet. The lines appear on the back of the head as the black fog gets absorb by the suit. Shadow was yelling and tensing in pain as this happen and Cagalli looks on transfixed. The lines disappear and Shadow stops yelling.
Nightwing: Activating Zero-gravity.
The floor where Shadow is standing starts to light up a little bit and a bubble type thing seems to form around Shadow, he gets lifted up into the air a few inches off the ground. We go back outside to see that Nightwing has entered the launching catapult. The floor makes a click as it locks in. The lights are all on and the arrows are pointing towards the now dark sky.
Nightwing: All systems check, all systems ready to go on pilot's command.
Shadow is breathing heavily, and then he straightens up and says in a loud voice
Shadow: Alright Nightwing time for our first launch, Shadow Zoomarey in Nightwing launching!
With that the catapult launches Nightwing into the night sky of the desert. Nightwing goes up pretty high, hangs for a moment than falls back to the ground. Nightwing lands on one leg, the leg slips out causing the Gundam to do a summersault landing on its back.
We go back in the cockpit to see Kenny and Cagalli screaming as they get flipped around. After Nightwing lands on its back hard they all take a moment to catch their breath. Kenny turns to Cagalli.
Kenny: Aren't you glad you put the harness on now?
Because of the anti-gravity bubble Shadow doesn't get thrown around, he's also laying on his back in what appears to be mid-air. Shadow sits up, which causes the Gundam to sit up, and begins rubbing his helmet.
Shadow: Ow, that hurt.
Cagalli snaps
Cagalli: What did you expect with that crap you call piloting!
The rookie pilot is offended.
Shadow: Hey, this isn't as easy as it looks!
Getting up slowly we can see that Shadow's helmet screen has lit up. The camera does a split screen to show Nightwing mimicking Shadow's action. Shadow looks at his hands and begins to rotate them in awe and amazement.
Shadow: Wow, this is so weird.
We see from his point of view that he's looking at his hands but because of the helmet screen he sees Nightwing's hands. He turns them around and then clenches them into a fist, he looks up and sees the desert, he looks around. We are flipping back and forth between him inside the cockpit and Nightwing. Kenny finally has had enough.
Kenny: Alright already, can you start running please!
Shadow answers as if he was just reminded to throw out the trash.
Shadow: Oh right.
Shadow begins to run. We see that because of the anti-gravity his feet aren't touching the floor, making it look like he's running in place. We cut to outside of the Gundam to see it running away from Slyer. Its arms are moving as if it's jogging. We go back inside to see Cagalli leaning over towards Kenny and asking
Cagalli: How's he controlling the Gundam?
Kenny: Through the NS system.
Cagalli doesn't understand.
Cagalli: NS system?
Kenny: Neuron Synchronizer system.
Seeing that Cagalli still doesn't understand the know-it-all explains
Kenny: The NS system works by having billions of nanites attach themselves to the pilot's nervous system, making them feel the same thing their Gundam feels, at the same time it makes the Gundam mimic their movements. The screen on his helmet shows the pilot outside through the Gundam's eyes, and the anti-gravity bubble keeps him slightly off the ground so that he doesn't move around in the cockpit.
Cagalli puts two and two together.
Cagalli: And because of the NS system, he feels the ground under the Gundam's feet, so his body gets tricked into thinking it's on solid ground, so he moves normally even though he's in mid-air.
Kenny nods his head impressed.
Kenny: That's right.
We cut to back outside; suddenly blaster fire comes out of nowhere hitting the sand mound in front of Nightwing. Nightwing dives to the side.
Shadow: What the hell!? That was a beam rifle!
Shadow yells, as Nightwing falls on one knee. We see another Gundam appear charging straight for Nightwing. This one looks just like Nightwing only it's been painted brown, and is holding a beam rifle. It's also moving a lot faster than Nightwing.
We can see the propulsion system coming out of its back and legs. It stops and points the beam rifle at Nightwing. We cut back to Shadow to see him tense himself preparing to dive right or left to avoid another shot from the beam rifle when we hear the warden's voice coming from the Gundam.
Warden: I must say Shadow you've given me a lot of trouble but that all ends today.
We cut back to the cockpit to see that Shadow is surprised.
Shadow: The warden, damn where the hell is his voice coming from!?
His eyes dart back and forth as if the warden would pop out any moment.
Warden: From your helmet you moron, looks like you didn't know that Gundams automatically set up a communication link with all other Gundams within a mile radius.
A video window of the warden opens up on Shadow's helmet screen. The warden is also wearing a pilot's suit, smiling his evil smile. Shadow jumps back with surprise, causing his Gundam to jump up and almost fall down. After swinging his arms he gets his Gundam back on balance. The warden is laughing.
Warden: hahahahaha, when I said I'd like to see you break out of solitary confinement I didn't actually mean it but I guess I should thank you for pointing out my prison guards sloppiness to me. I knew they had gotten lazy and sloppy but I didn't realize the extent of the problem till you showed me.
Warden: I'll have to remember to kill them all when I get back and get new replacements. Since you showed me this flaw the least I can do for you is fight you without my beam rifle.
With that statement he throws the beam rifle away. Shadow has regained his composure and charges intending to punch the warden as he yells
Shadow: Don't you underestimate me!
However his Gundam's movements are slow and awkward. The warden's Gundam easily moves to the side to avoid it and counter attacks with a punch of his own, unlike Shadow's this one is fast and accurate. It hits Nightwing right in the face; Shadow stunned takes a step back, trips on the uneven ground and falls down on his butt. The warden starts laughing again.
Warden: hahahaha, I hate to break this to you, but you overestimate yourself.
Nightwing gets up and charges, it throws two more punches, but the warden's Gundam using the propulsion system is easily able to avoid the attacks. Then the warden's Gundam goes on the offensive, his punches are a lot faster, and natural.
We cut back into the cockpit to see Shadow gritting his teeth in pain; we cut back outside to see the Nightwing trying to block or evade the blows but it's too slow and awkward when it moves in comparison to the warden's Gundam. The warden starts talking as he pounds away at Nightwing.
Warden: Since I'm sure that I won't be able to get my Gundam back without it being damaged, I figure that I'll at least get to enjoy a nice Gundam fight, so I threw the beam rifle away because I wanted this fight to last as long as possible!
With that he delivers an uppercut to Nightwing, sending it backwards, causing it to trip and fall flat on its back. Shadow is getting frustrated.
Shadow: Damn it!
Shadow says as he struggles to his knees, he's breathing heavily.
Warden: What happen to your cocky attitude Shadow?
Kenny and Cagalli screamed every time Nightwing gets thrown.
Kenny: What are you doing Shadow, use the propulsion system, or the beam saber?
Shadow frustrated snaps
Shadow: If I knew how, I would have already, now shut up and let me concentrate!
The warden smiles hearing the conversation.
Warden (Fools, they have no idea that the NS system isn't something someone can get used to in a few minutes, it took me a month before I fully mastered the NS system, there's no way he can win this fight)
Shadow: Beam Saber activate!
Shadow shouts out, nothing happens. We cut to the warden to see that he's looking at Shadow like he's a moron. We cut back to Nightwing's cockpit, to see Shadow standing there waiting for something to happen. When nothing happens he says
Shadow: Well that didn't work.
Kenny: Of course it didn't work you moron!
Kenny shouts at him panic in his voice. Shadow not liking being shouted at shouts back
Shadow: I don't see you coming up with any ideas!
The warden is getting annoyed.
Warden: Not to interrupt but I'm about to kill you now so could you pay attention.
Shadow turns to face the warden's Gundam just in time to get punched in the face. The warden's Gundam begins to pound on Nightwing again, and Shadow used to getting punched begins to think quickly.
Shadow (Damn it, what am I doing wrong, why are my movements so slow and awkward compared to his, and how is he using the propulsion system, and to top it off I'm starting to get a pretty bad headache, damn it!)
While he's thinking this Nightwing keeps trying to hit the warden but the warden is easily avoiding his punches and in turn punches Nightwing, but unlike Shadow all his punches are hitting Nightwing.
Despite all these punches Nightwing isn't really taking much damage, sure it's getting a little dented here or there but a Gundam's armor is a strong thing after all and the warden's punch isn't strong enough to do any real damage it's just the pain that's getting to Shadow.
The warden suddenly jumps up and delivers a flying kick to Nightwing’s chest, sending it once again to the ground. The warden begins to talk like that of someone who's finished a workout.
Warden: Well this was fun, but all good things must come to an end, so goodbye Shadow.
With that the hilt of a beam saber comes out of a compartment in the right leg of the warden's Gundam. The warden's Gundam grabs and activates it in one swift motion.
Warden: Was this what you were trying to do earlier?
He asks in a mocking voice. The warden's Gundam jumps up into the air, its beam saber pointed down ready to stab Nightwing in the chest.
Shadow still on the ground seeing the attack coming, puts Nightwing's hands flat on the ground then pushes intending to slide away but the propulsion system on Nightwing's back suddenly turns on causing the Gundam to roll backwards and land with one knee still on the ground.
The warden's Gundam stabs the ground that Nightwing was just lying on. We cut inside to see the warden looking shocked.
Warden (He used the propulsion system, that's impossible it took me a week before I accidently used it, that's right accidently, it was just a fluke there's no way he could have figured out the NS system in just this short amount of time!)
He thinks this to himself and calms down. We cut to Nightwing's cockpit to see Shadow staring at his hands.
Shadow (Just now for a moment I felt the propulsion system kick in. Felt, that's it! I have to stop thinking of myself as Shadow Zoomarey and start thinking of myself as Nightwing!)
The warden starts talking to Shadow in his self-assured voice
Warden: Why don't you give up Shadow and let death take you peacefully? After all there is no way you can win.
Shadow responds back with a smile on his face, the type of smile someone makes when they see the winning move in front of them.
Shadow: You're wrong warden, not only can I still win this battle but I'm going to, after all someday I'm going to be the world's greatest Gundam fighter!
The warden's smile disappears clearly not liking Shadow's new found confidence. He charges at full speed, his saber prepared to make a downward strike as he shouts out
Warden: Then prepare to die!
Time seems to slow down as Shadow begins thinking to himself. We can hear his breathing slow and steady.
Shadow (I am a Gundam, I AM A GUNDAM,I AM NIGHTWING!)
His eye's opens wide (No, not seed mode) we look down to his right arm where the Neon gauntlet is. It's changing colors from a plain grey metallic color to midnight black and then the Neon gauntlet starts to slightly glow. We cut outside and see Nightwing's eyes flash bright green.
The propulsion system on Nightwing's back starts to fire up. The warden’s Gundam stops right in front of it and begins its downward swing of its beam saber. Shadow steps quickly to the side out of the way and then counter attacks by punching the warden's Gundam right in the face.
This time his punch is fast and natural, Nightwing begins to pound on the warden's Gundam. The warden is too shocked to raise a defense.
Warden (He's using the propulsion system and his movements are more natural, it's impossible he couldn't have mastered the NS system in this short amount of time.)
Nightwing jumps up and suddenly the hilt of the beam saber comes out of its right leg compartment, and Nightwing quickly grabs it and turns it on as it comes down; slamming the saber into the warden's beam saber.
The warden's Gundam is forced back and thrown off balance. Nightwing charges and uses an upward beam slash cutting right through the warden's Gundam. There's a moment's pause as both of the Gundams are facing away from each other.
Then the top half of the warden's Gundam falls backwards, while the bottom half falls forward. Nightwing keeps standing still both hands on the beam saber, the saber is pointing up. We cut back into the cockpit to see Shadow breathing even heavier than before.
We go to see Cagalli and Kenny still tied down by the seat belt, they're breathing and sweating heavily too. Then suddenly the realization of his victory hits Shadow, he smiles and then starts laughing, a laughter full of joy and relief.
Shadow: Hahahahaha, I did it, I won; I am the winner, WE DID IT NIGHTWING!
He shouts in joy, he jumps up and punches the air. The jump causes Nightwing to jump too, startling Kenny and Cagalli.
Kenny: Shadow, you won already, so can you refrain from doing any movements with the upper body?
Shadow turns to face Kenny as he lifts up his helmet screen he's still laughing and with a bright smile on his face; his eyes have a light of pure joy in them.
Shadow: Hahaha, sorry but I did it Kenny, I'm finally an official Gundam fighter, I'm finally on the path that will lead to my dream!
Kenny and Cagalli just stare at him surprised by the nut job's statement, and then they burst into laughter.
Kenny: Hahahahha, an official Gundam fighter.
Cagalli: Hahahhaha, on a path to my dreams, what kind of idiot says that after almost getting killed.
Shadow's in too good of a mood to care.
Shadow: Hahaha, you're lucky I'm in such a good mood, or else I'd kick your ass.
After he says this, they all break into even more laughter. Close ups are made of each one of them. After a moment they calm down. Cagalli settles down first.
Cagalli: So what now?
Kenny thinks about this for a moment then says
Kenny: Shadow start heading west, we should hit the closest city in a full day and night.
Shadow puts his helmet screen back down.
Shadow: Ok, let's head out to the next chapter in our lives!
The rising warrior's words cause the fallen princess to ponder her own fate for a moment.
Cagalli (To the next chapter of our lives huh, so be it.)
The episode ends with Nightwing beginning to run west. The propulsion system is working so Nightwing's moving faster than it was at the beginning, but still slower than most Gundams.