SD Gundam Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ My Justice For You ❯ Follow The Leader ( Chapter 2 )

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

Took me long enough. =o In case you couldn't guess... yeah, I failed NaNo horribly xD But I'm gonna keep the story going as best as I can~

There are parts of this that I really don't like, but am unsure how to fix. Oh well; fodder for a later edit-sweep.

Edit: Edit-sweep, like right now. Bleh! Well, that was a stupid error. It's fixed now.
Don't worry, I /do/ remember what's going on with Genki and Cobra. ^^;

Wordcount: 1,462 for the chapter, and 3,243 overall.

Copyrights not mine, etc. Onwards!

Deep within the Minov Sea, three figures floated.

The Dark Knights of Thunder and Storm, Mercurius and Vayeate, were channeling their power into keeping their leader stable and alive. Tallgeese, the Knight of Tempest and ruler of Lacroa after his forced takeover, had been gravely injured in his last battle with the Winged Knight Zero. All the same, they were confident that he would recover; it was just a matter of time, and once he was awake, they could tackle the next problem... Getting out of the Sea of interdimensional space.

Until then, though, they had a lot of time to kill.

"Hey, Vayeate," Mercurius called out to his brother on the other side of the magic field.

"Heard it!" Vayeate called back, amused.

"But I didn't even say what it was!" Mercurius protested.

"And you've only started with 'hey Vayeate' when it's going to be a joke."

"All right, but how would you know if you'd heard it already?"

"Because I know all the jokes you use."

"But how do you know that you know?"

"I just do."

Mercurius pfted.

Suddenly, a noise like a bell sounded, drawing their attention to a point of Dark Mana forming in the Sea. It coalesced into a disc, and the image of its caster appeared in the center; and Deathscythe, Knight of Darkness, spoke.

"Mercurius. Vayeate."

"Deathscythe.." Vayeate was surprised; did he know that he could do that?

"The situation has changed. You are needed to find the Gundam Force, for they have vanished somewhere in the Sea."

"Huh? Wait! It's not our business where they get themselves lost, and certainly not when Lord Tallgeese is injured like this!" Mercurius said indignantly.

Deathscythe's mask flashed in irritation. "It is our business."

Mercurius looked away pointedly. "Well, I'm not abandoning our lord. Our. He's yours too, or have you forgotten," he added snidely.

The Knight of Darkness snarled. "Fine. I don't need you. Vayeate!"

The Knight of Storm shook his head. "I agree with Mercurius. If you want to track them down, you will have to do it yourself."

Deathscythe was livid. He started to say something, then thought otherwise, and merely dismissed the communication spell.

The two Knights looked to each other, worried. They had not wavered in their defense of Tallgeese, nor did they plan to. Deathscythe's lack of regard for their leader was troublesome indeed.

Their worry was not misplaced. Immediately after cancelling the communication spell, the Knight of Darkness began to plot his next move. If no one would do as he wanted, then he would simply do it himself. He prepared the castle for his leaving; among other things, strong magical seals were laid wherever he wanted no one to enter.

Satisfied with those, he turned his attention to the magical anchor he had left near the location of the rift.

Through it, he stared at the rift. Despite what Gerbera had said, he knew they were still alive.

Zero was not dead. He could feel it.

His revenge would be complete.

Unaware of the great interest held in their fate, the Gundam Force and their new acquaitence, the police officer Cybil, walked through the deserted town. They were in search of Harry Mason, the man Cybil had met shortly after entering the town. Their progress was hampered by partially-collapsed buildings and huge blast-holes in the streets, some of which the 'Force could have sworn were not there when they had arrived; but between Captain and Shute's booster-backpacks and Zero's flight magic, they persevered.

"I do not like this, Mercurius," Vayeate said uneasily. Ever since Tallgeese had unsealed them from their prison in the Dark Hole, things just seemed to go from bad to worse...

That was when the fissure suddenly appeared in the side of the Sea, its irresistible force pulling the three Dark Knights in.

Zero and Bakunetsumaru froze; Baku, already looking strained, turned white as a sheet.

"What is it?!" Shute asked half-panicked. "Is it that thing from before--" He was interrupted by a violent rumble in the ground, rattling all around and causing the buildings surrounding them to creak and groan omniously.

"Watch out!" Captain called out, pulling Shute away from where he was standing as a streetlight fell with a resounding metallic screech.

The boy eyed the fallen pole nervously. "Thanks Captain, you saved me.."

Then, just as suddenly, the earthquake ceased. The Gundam Force looked around, worried.

The old woman frowned. This wasn't right... This shouldn't be happening.

What was going on?

Mercurius and Vayeate bolted up nearly as soon as they regained consciousness, and stared at their new surroundings; a ruined town, dark and unfamiliar...

"Where... how?" Vayeate murmered, thinking aloud, before remembering -- "Tallgeese!" He cast his gaze about, looking for the lord.

Some feet away, behind a pile of rubble, a flash of gold caught their attention, and the two Knights flew over. They heard a hacking cough, and then Tallgeese pulled himself up and into view.

"Tallgeese!" they shouted.

The Knight of Tempest steadied himself on the pile of rubble and flexed his Griffin wings. "That Zero will pay for this..." he growled under his breath before looking up to his relieved subordinates. "But first..."

"How are you?" Vayeate asked uncertainly.

Tallgeese smirked, released his hold on the rubble and stood straight. "Never been better."

"Harry!" Cybil ran toward the man just within sight through the fog.

The man looked up from the door he was just about to open, startled. "Cybil! Is that you?"

The Gundam Force hung back, letting Cybil and the man catch up before introducing themselves.

"...And that's when I ran into these guys," Cybil concluded, gesturing to them.

Harry leaned over to look, and made a sound of surprise. "R.. robots?"

"Specifically, Gundams. I am Captain Gundam, from the city of Neotopia," Captain clarified.

Zero nodded. "I am the Winged Knight Zero, of Lacroa.."

"And I am Bakunetsumaru, the Blazing Samurai of Ark!" Baku introduced himself in his usual flashy manner, brandishing his twin katana.

Shute fist-pumped, smiling. "I'm Shute! I'm from Neotopia, like Captain."

Harry was speechless.

There was silence for a few moments, before Shute piped up, "Cybil told us about your daughter--"

Harry perked up. "Cheryl! Have you seen her?"

"--No.. we haven't... but we'll help you find her!"

The man sagged down. "Oh... I see... Thank you, though." He smiled sadly.

"Do you have any leads, Harry?" Cybil asked.

"Um... that Dahlia lady told me to find the 'other church'. I've been just about everywhere... I'm going to look here now," Harry said uncertainly.

"In the antique store?" Cybil asked doubtfully, eyeing the shop's worn sign.

Harry just shrugged, and went in; Cybil and the Gundam Force followed, and the jingle of the bells on the door echoed hollowly in the fog.

It wasn't a very large shop, so it was a rather tight fit for all of them. Harry tapped parts of the walls and tugged the shelves as the others either mimicked him or watched, mystified.

After an hour, Shute slumped in a rickety rocking-chair. "I'm hungry..." he mumbled. Captain drifted over to him. "Is there any food around here?..."

Harry looked up from the bookcase he was examining. "There's at least one café in town. You could try looking there.."

Shute perked up. "A café, huh? Where is it?"

Cybil paused, looked to Harry and then to Shute, and spoke up. "I know where it is, I could take you there... Harry, would you be all right?"

"Sure, I'll be fine." He blew the dust off a stylized sculpture of a human head and examined it. A wayward shaft of light refracted in gems hidden within the eyes, making them flare suddenly, and he startled. He put the head back on the shelf. "I'll be fine," he repeated.

Cybil looked uncertain for a moment, before turning to Shute. "All right. Getting food isn't a bad idea, so let's go hunting," she smiled. "Shute... and Captain, you're with me. Zero, Baku...netsu-maru," she pronounced carefully, "...you keep an eye on Harry."

Harry stumbled out of a part of the shop that had been quartered off with shelves, "What?" A cloud of dust trailed after him.

Cybil sighed. "Shute, Captain and I are heading out. Stay here until we get back, okay?"

Harry nodded. "Right. Be careful out there, Cybil."

After the others had left, Harry returned to inspecting the walls. Not a minute later, a crash sounded, drawing Zero and Bakunetsumaru to the sound's source. Through the dust, they saw Harry standing in front of a large hole in the wall.

Harry coughed. "Found it."

"This?" Zero questioned, eyeing the hole suspiciously.

Harry nodded and stepped through.

"Wait! You don't know what's in there!" Zero hopped up into the air and flew threw the hole after him.

"Zero!" Bakunetsumaru wailed and rushed through the door after him.

Before they could reach him, though, a sound like fire roared and when the reached the room... Harry was not there.