Fanfiction by Issac Chong
By Issac Chong, heimdal_2000@yahoo.com
"The New Threat"The SearchAfter the bold sacrifice of Michael Fenn, Fei and his team search for the remaining two surviving people with Contact powers such as Fei. Their search takes them far from where they expect. Fei pounded the table. His frustration at finding zero traces of the last two contacts was apparent. “Where the hell am I supposed to search for when I look for these guys? I don’t even know their appearances, their names, or even their species! What the heck am I supposed to do?” Citan nodded. “We have searched for two months now and we have found no trace of those that have powers such as yours.” “Plus, this Miang2 has already activated Deus. I mean, we beat him once, but for all we know, Deus could be ten times stronger than the one we faced a year ago. We haven’t found even a legend.” Chu-chu bounced in. “Hi! I’m Chu-chu. What chu you want?” “Shut up Chu-chu. I am seriously stressed out here!” “Well, I heard legend, and I heard Miang2, and I heard Deus. I also heard hell, and I’m hungry.” “Chu-chu, if you don’t get out of here right now…” “Meanie.” Chu-chu stuck out its tongue and spit at Fei. The slobber hit him in the nose and Chu-chu bounced off to find Margie. Fei tiredly wiped off chu-chu spit off his face. “You know, I keep on wondering why we got that ball of fluff on our team. Sometimes I could just-“ Elly shouted “Fei!” “-rip it’s head off or drop it from the Yggdrasil over the sea and-“ “Fei!” “Or just do something like that.” Fei sighed and hit his head on the table many times. Bart nodded sadly. “I’m afraid you’re right. I was tempted to do that several times myself but Margie gave me a lot of money so I decided against it.” “Cheapskate.” Chu-chu jumped in. “I heard that! I’m gonna tell Margie about you! Stupid!” Chu-chu turned to Fei. “Wanna hear a legend about the guardian god?” “What’s in it for me?” “I’ll give you a lot of gold.” “’Kay.” “Once, loooooonnngg loooong ago, there was a great guardian god, yes there was.” “This is a new one.” “I think chu heard this, so I’ll tell a different one. This guardian god, before it died, made a very powerful Chu-chu, yes he did. But this Chu-chu, even though it had a lot of power, couldn’t grow like other Chu-chus, no it couldn’t. So the guardian god made a HUGGEEEE Gear and gave it to this Chu-chu, yes he did.” “How did it pilot the Gear, since it was so small?” “I dunno. Anyway, The Chu-chu was very powerful, until Grahf came and tried to kill it, yes he did. But this Chu-chu went into the forest and hid, and it had Ether powers like no other, yes it did. This Chu-chu was the ‘Contact’ Chu-chu for all chu-chus.” Fei sat straight up. “Contact?! Wait a minute! How reliable is this legend, Chu-chu?” “I dunno. I got it from the chu-chus in Shevat. They are very good storytellers, yes they are. But-“ “Shut up Chu-chu. If this Chu-chu is a contact, than it must have met the Wave Existence!” Citan nodded. “It is very likely that this legend was taken from actual real life happenings.” “Chu-chu, what forest did this Chu-chu hide in? And on what continent?” “I dunno. Ask the Chu-chu in Aveh, I think he still knows.” “All right!” Fei turned to Bart. “Bart, launch-“ “No we have to call Sig first.” “Please hurry.” “Okay.” Bart turned toward the door, then yelled as loud as he could. “SIGURD!” Sigurd came running in, dressed in pajamas. “Yes young master.” “Is the Yggdrasil ready for launch?” “No young Master. It is under repair from our escapades from before.” “Are the Gears ready?” “No young master, they have to maintained and cleaned from damage and carbon scoring on the armor. They should be ready in a month or so.” “A MONTH OR SO?” “Yes young master. They took a very bad beating. And, I didn’t want to bring this up, but…” “What?” “You remember Jason, correct?” “He was second in command of the BOULDER whatchamacallit.” “Right. Well, he wasn’t there when Michael sacrificed himself, so when we told him about Michael’s heroic feat, he-“ “Didn’t believe us and thought we killed him, right?” “You are most observant. He dismembered all his Gears and built a super model Gear, similar to Ft. Hurricane we fought with the Yggdrasil IV. Except this one is stronger, faster, more agile, and has the weaponry of a thousand Gears put together.” “Oh man! We could only beat Ft. Hurricane with a super dimensional Gear! Now we don’t have one ‘cause we crashed it into Merkava. Aw crap!” “Yes Young Master. As a result, I told all the Maintainence people to add more weapons and armor, with more fuel storage, just in case the Yggdrasil isn’t enough to handle him.” “We are really screwed, aren’t we.” “Yes young master. I’m going back to sleep.” Sigurd padded out, leaving everyone else looking down. Maria spoke up. “Well, I don’t think this is going very well at all.” Rico grumbled. “You can say that again.” “Well, I don’t think this is going very well at all.” “Shut up.” Jason sat in the seat reserved for the leader of BOULDER. Tim came in and saluted. “Sir!” “Yes.” “We have our data on Sovar and the Yggdrasil.” “Do tell.” “The Yggdrasil will not be operational for a month due to the damages inflicted upon it at the Battle of Sovar. The Gears are being upgraded due to the fact of our super dimensional fort/Gear. The two Contacts have not been found, but we are getting closer to finding one of them.” “And what of Sovar?” “Sovar was also severely damaged in the battle. Only one Gate is operational, and it is at 60% strength. They have one warship left. Approximately 200 Gears are left operational. Since Felth was incinerated in the Battle, a new leader known as Popel has taken over. They have been mining in the mountains for resources, and they have hidden with stealth technology.” “Anything else?” “The Gears we have left over are about 90% percent functional. The damage was not severe, but they have to be maintained to keep up their high performance.” “Excellent. What we will do is this: We will wait until the Yggdrasils Gears are fixed. We will follow them, if they have a lead, to the Contact. We will turn it to our side, than search for the other Contact. After we have them both, we can strike Sovar and the Yggdrasil in one hit, and destroy them both.” Bart grabbed the tech. “What do you mean, maybe?” “I mean maybe. We DO have to take care and maintain everything else too. Even a 100% raise isn’t worth fixing nine Gears in two days.” “Well, I’m the captain, and you’re my employee. SO you gotta do it, or else.” “Fine. I quit.” Bart stared after the tech. “Hey! You can’t quit! I fire you! Ha!” He turned to the rest of the group. “We’re in trouble. None of the techs are willing to take care of our Gears first, even with a million G.” “Wait a minute. How were you gonna pay them?” Bart fidgeted. “Well, I figured I could get a little more money from Margie threatening Chu-chu, but…” “But she dosen’t have that much money.” “Ah well, who cares. For now, what are we gonna do about our Gears?” Citan adjusted his glasses a bit. “Well, I suppose I could hire some engineers to look after them. They’re very professional and-“ He was cut off by Bart. “Great! Hire them and let’s get going.” “The problem is, they’re very expensive. I tried to tell you but you cut me off.” “It depends on how much. How much?” “It’s hard to say. For some Gears, the money is calculated by the damage. Other times they simply set a price.” “Call them. I don’t care how much it is. We have to get to Aveh fast!” “All right. I’ll go tell Sigurd.” “Now,” Bart said, turning to the team. “We have to try and hypothesize where the Chu-chu could be.” He pointed to the Blackmoon Forest on a map. “There’s a chance that it could be here. After all, you are pretty much isolated there and if you got Contact powers like Fei, well, no one can hurt you, right?” He pointed to the lower continents. “There’s also a chance that it could be here. This is where Solaris blew up and pretty much all the life except for Sufals were wiped out. If someone like Fei had powers, they could definitely survive there.” Citan stepped back in. “The Yggdrasil is completely repaired, but the Gears need two more days.” Bart’s jaw dropped. “Two days? Man, they work fast!” “They, er, also want their payment first.” “Okay, how much?” “Well, um, ten million G.” Bart fainted. Fei turned to Citan. “Is the Yggdrasil ready to go right now?” “They have to overhaul it a little, but when they’re finished, we will be ready.” Fei grinned at Citan. “Did the engineers really cost ten million G?” “No.” Citan admitted. “I wanted to see the look on Bart’s face when he heard about the ‘price’.” Everyone got a good laugh. Sigurd turned to Jerico. “Are we ready to take off?” “Yes sir. Whenever you say so, we can go.” “Alright.” Bart, with a bump on his head, said to Sigurd “Well, off we go to Aveh, when we hear that Chu-chu talk about a ‘Contact’ Chu-chu.” Sigurd turned away. “To tell the truth, young master, I didn’t believe Chu-chu’s story when she talked about a great ‘contact’ Chu-chu.” “Why’s that Sig?” “I think that many Chu-chus exaggerate, and well, to hear about a powerful chu-chu ready to attack Deus2 and win, well, is a bit presumptuous.” “Listen, you never thought that you would see a powerful man would have an ether ability hundreds of times stronger than ours, did you? Or to see a chuchu grow like a building? Or see us get Omni-Gears and an aerial ship, did you?” “No, young master. But I have the strangest premonition that this is all going to lead to disaster…” “Shake it off, Sig. In the business we’re in, you hesitate and that leads to death. Anyway, you had bad feelings before, and those didn’t turn out like you expected, did it?” “It was worse. I remember the time you attacked Fei in the sand cruiser, and shot down the Goliath with the Gugany missiles…” “Oh, shut up.” Fei came in and pushed Bart. “Hey. The Gears are ready, and we can go to Aveh anytime.” “Okay. We should get there in about two days, so you can rest up while we get there.” “Right. By the way, Citan wants to know where Commander Ramsus is.” Bart sighed. “I’ve had Franz search the whole continent of Ignas. There wasn’t a single trail of where they could be. Anyway, we should worry about that later.” “Okay. I’m going to be in the Gun Room.” “Right.” The Yggdrasil flew toward the Kingdom of Aveh. Fei looked around, confused of the crowd of people. He groped until he found Bart. “Where’s this Chu-chu?” “This Chu-chu is supposed to be around here. I guess we should go to the castle or something.” Fei frowned. “No…” He pointed toward the bar. “He’s in the resturaunt.” Bart shrugged. “Okay, dude, you’re the one with ‘psychic’ powers. Let’s go.” They stumbled toward the bar, and saw the most amazing sight of their life. An Orange Chu-chu was dancing on the bar, obviously drunk because it stumbled and burped. The chu-chu starting waltz with the bar lady, and he guzzled three more Bartweisers. “Oh, I got chu do what I got chu do,” he sang. He jumped onto a table and screamed. “Oh, Aveh, Aveh.” Fei looked with an odd expression at Bart. “Is that the chu-chu?” “Has to be. No one is that stupid.” The chu-chu, tired out, went to sleep on top of a bald man’s head. Fei started toward the stairs. He ran up and picked up the chu-chu, then carried him to the hotel. There the chu-chu woke up, dazed, and confused. “Huh?” Than it threw up all over Fei. “Ohh.” Fei scraped chu-chu barf over his shirt. “Hello. Um, are you the chu-chu who lived in Shevat?” “I lived in Shevat yes I did.” “Do you know the story of the ‘contact’ chu-chu?” “Yes. Do you want to hear it?” “Please.” “Once there was a powerful chu-chu, yes there was. So powerful it could attack whole cities and still live. This Chu-chus name was Juju. It’s Gear name was Hephaetus. Now goodnight.” The chu-chu yawned. “Wait. Can you tell us where it lived?” “Yes I can, yes I can. This chu-chu lived in the forest known as Blackmoon Forest, Near Lahan village, also near Dazil.” The chu-chu fell asleep. Fei turned to Bart. “Blackmoon Forest! We were right!” “Right. We gotta move fast. Chances are that No one else has this information. Let’s get out of here and back to Blackmoon Forest.” In Xenogears, Fei looked anxiously down to the forest. “Bart, are you coming with us?” “Yeah, I’ll be out soon. Someone else has to go too.” Billy spoke up. “I’ll go in Renmazuo. I’ll be out in a second.” IN ten minutes, a red-colored Gear and a winged Gear jetted toward the forest. Fei got out of his Gear. “We can’t go much further than this in our Gears. Let’s get out and explore.” Bart hopped out and Billy soon followed suit. Billy stared at the forest. “Are there a lot of dangerous animals here?” Fei nodded gravely. “Yes, the Rankars can kill you easily.” “I’m gonna throw up…” “I’m kidding. The Rankars aren’t that difficult to kill, but keep on your toes. Remember the last time I was here, it was a year ago. So there might be some new surprises out here.” Fei radioed the Yggdrasil. “Sigurd, we’re here. We’re gonna go search in there, so if we don’t radio back in an hour, then send some people down here. Got it?” “Right-o. We’re going to land near Lahan, so if you need help we’ll come fairly quickly.” “OK.” Fei jumped out of Xenogears, sealed up the cockpit, and joined Billy and Bart near a clearing. “You went through all this huh?” “Yep. I remember most of it, but it’s not that hard to get through. Let’s go.” Fei pushed some branches aside and stepped through the bushes. He walked by some tree trunks, then noticed a net around him. “Isn’t that strange? A net around us…” The meaning quickly dawned on Fei and he pushed Billy and Bart. “Run! It’s a trap!” The net pulled up and found himself upside down and face-to-face with a plump, fat chu-chu. And the gun in its hand looked all business. Sigurd looked worriedly at the time. “It’s close to an hour. What do you suppose happened? Were they caught? Were they killed? What happened to the young master…?” Maison calmed him down. “It is quite likely that they forgot the time. You recall that Fei did not have any timing device to recall the time, and they also had no communication device either. I’m sure they’re all right.” “Yes…right. I suppose you know best Maison. How about some tea?” “Very good. I will go get the tea now…” Maison turned to Jerico. “And I don’t want you tipping the ship again. I had to buy whole new ones from last time and these are quite costly.” “Yes Maison.” Maison exited and Citan entered. “I do believe that you should calm down. Anyway, I have another question.” “Shoot.” “Do you have ANY idea where Kahr is?” Sigurd chuckled. “I got a communication from Taura. He housed the Elements and Kahr, and they’re staying there until they can make future plans.” “Well, why not invite him onto the Yggdrasil? The old Elements, minus Miang.” “I don’t think Bart would appreciate having a man who tried to kill him on the Yggdrasil. He IS captain, after all.” “But are you not the heir as well?” Sigurd sighed. “We have clearly defined roles. He takes command and choices, and I agree. I do not dislike it because I am not cut out for leadership like he is. I cannot make life and death decisions and take them like he does. You see?” “I see. Well, can’t we stop by at Taura’s for old times sake?” “Not until Fei and the others are back. I promised.” “Well, how about a drink?” Sig made a face. “No, thank you. I have to keep my soberness when I am on the Yggdrasil, otherwise I might give out a crazy order like to tip the ship over. I had Maison bringing over tea anyway.” “Well, all right. I will be in the Gun Room, swallowing the alcohol you cannot.” The fat chu-chu squinted. “Who you?” “I’m Fei. Michael sent us.” “I know no Michael.” “Michael Fenn?” The chu-chu brightened up. “Well, okay. I’ll cut the net in a few.” Fei’s jaw dropped. “How come you’re speaking perfect English when a few minutes ago you were talking like a pig?” The Chu-chu laughed. “Well, I do this sometimes to scare people off. When they don’t mention Michael I threaten their lives. Works well too.” “How come you don’t say ‘chu’ like other Chu-chu?” Juju’s face darkened. “I’m smarter then that. I’ve perfected my English so I don’t say that damn thing over and over again.” “Could you cut us loose?” “Oh yeah! Oops, just a second.” Juju pulled out a blade and cut the ropes loose. “So what did Michael want? Did he need help or something?” Fei looked around and fidgeted. Billy zoned off. Bart turned. “Well?!” “He’s…dead.” Juju stared at them .”What happened, and how did you find me here?” “Michael killed himself because he needed to destroy the Grahf Crystal. You ever hear of that?” “Yeah, he talked about it on a few occasions.” “He blew himself up with Ether power, and he told us about the other two Contacts. We got a few Chu-chu legends from that guy in Aveh, and we tracked you down. That’s pretty much it.” “And what do you play in this?” “I’m a Contact. Just like you.” “Well, goodness! It’s about time! I thought me and Mike were the only ones with these damn powers. So what else is there? I can read minds, you know. Something…wrong.” “Sovar and BOULDER, are after you. BOULDER was created by Michael, but it’s been taken over and now they want to hunt you down.” “Ah. I always knew that this would happen someday to me. Anyway, do you want to see my Gear?” They nodded. The Chu-chu pushed a button in his house, and a net fell apart. Fei gasped. “Wow, that’s big!” The Gear was as large as Seibzehn, but different structure. It held a huge hammer in its fist. “This Gear is Hephaetus. Given to me by what you call the ‘Wave Existence’. It’s about five times as strong as a regular Gear. I can’t tune it up in here since I have no supplies, so I hop into town as get the supplies I need. What do you think about it?” “I think my Gear’s more powerful.” “Be quiet. Anyway, so there’s my Gear. Now, is there anything else you-“ Juju was interrupted by a crashing noise in the forest. He turned. “What’s that?” A Rankar charged out and hit Billy. He fainted and Bart jumped out of the way. “Oh, crap! A Rankar!” Juju pulled out a crossbow and threw away the gun. “Ha! I can beat him with my crossbow!” “Whatever! Just get ready to fight!” Bart pulled out his whip and lashed the Rankar across the face. The Rankar roared and stomped toward Bart. “Ahh! Fei, could you help me here?” Juju calmly put an arrow in his crossbow. “Wait a minute please.” “I can’t wait a minute! This Rankar wants to eat me!” “Well, that IS what Rankars do, you know.” Fei ran toward Bart and tackled him, moving him out of the Rankar’s path. Juju fired the crossbow, which hit the Rankar in the side. He armed his crossbow again and shot it once more into the eye. The Rankar moaned and rolled over. Fei stood up while Bart checked his pulse to see if he was living. “Pretty strong. What are those crossbows made of? Iron?” “Steel. I also put some poison in the arrows, so it kills them even if the arrow nicked them a little.” “Nice. Okay, when do you want to get out of here?” Juju frowned. “Get out? What do you mean?” “Well, we need you to fight against Sovar. And BOULDER. We can’t do it alone. With your power, we could probably get rid of them quick.” “No way.” Juju turned toward his tent. “I can’t go. I promised someone-“ Bart spoke up after checking his pulse. “Look, we have to stop Sovar. Don’t take your powers for granted. We need more people like you willing-“ “Willing to what? Fight? Die? Make other people die? Juju turned back. “I can’t do it. I’d be happy to help in anything, but not this.” “Well, will you at least look at our Gears? I want you to make some comparisions to your Gear and ours.” “All right. I’ll even tune them up, but of course you have to pay me.” Fei and Bart led Juju through the forest, while Juju carried Billy who was still passed out, to the landing site. Fei walked out of the forest and motioned Juju to follow. “This is my Gear, Xenogears.” Juju examined it. “Not bad. Where’d you get this from?” “Stole it from Kislev, modified by the Wave Existence.” “Hmph. Where’re the other Gears?” Bart showed him Andvari. “See, I have an Omni-Gear.” “It yours?” Bart looked away. “Well, techically yes but then I don’t really OWN it, you know? It’s the Fatima-“ “Treasure, isn’t it?” Juju nodded approvingly. “I read a bit about those in Aveh before Shakhan took over.” Fei looked at the clock. “Oops! I forgot to radio back Sigurd!” “How far along is it? I mean, he won’t care if it’s a couple of minutes.” “Two hours.” “Oh. Then in that case, better radio them back.” As Fei climbed into the cockpit, he heard a humming noise. “What’s that sound? I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before.” Juju’s eyes widened. “Super model Gear, Year 2051. It’s in fairly good shape. A bit rusty.” “How did you…Never mind. We got to get out of here. It’s probably BOULDER. Wake up Billy.” “Billy. Wake up.” Billy awoke with a snort. “What?” “Jason’s here. Ride Renmazuo back to the Yggdrasil, and tell them to get the Depth charges ready. Got it?” “Right. See you later.” Bart muttered under his breath. “If there is a later.” The humming noise got louder as the Super Model Gear descended. “Haha! Murderers! I see you got the Contact Chu-chu, Might as well hand him over. This Gear is much stronger than yours.” Juju looked at Fei. “I’d rather go with you than with him.” Fei nodded. “Want to help kick his butt?” “Why not?” Juju ran and disappeared into the forest. Fei called to him. “Hey, where are you…never mind. We can handle him.” Bart climbed into Andvari and fired up the engines. “I’m ready.” Fei opened the cockpit and climbed in. “Okay, let’s try to hold him off for a long time so Sigurd can hurry up with those Depth Charges.” At that moment, Hephaetus rose out of the trees and charged at The Super Model Gear. Jason wasn’t expecting an attack, so it toppled over and lay there for a few minutes. Juju called in. “I was getting Hephaetus. Sorry I took so long.” “Took so long? You took a minute!” “I know. I usually get my Gear in a few-“ Juju was cut off by Bart. “Forget it. We got bigger problems.” Bart gesticulated toward Jason. The Gear was getting up and winding it’s vulcan gun. Hephaetus twirled it’s hammer like a baton. “I can take him on. Let’s rumble.” Jason looked at his diagnostic screen. “Well well, only 20% loss of Armor. Doesn’t matter, I can still take you on.” Hephaetus raised its hammer and struck at the arms. “Well. Doesn’t seem like your Gear is that powerful.” “Powerful enough to take on a stupid ball of fluff and weak Gear like yours.” “Well, now I’ve decided that I better go with these people. You insulted me.” Xenogears hit the Gear with Kishin, almost disabling everything. “Your Gear is weak! I hit Deus with Kishin and he didn’t die.” Bart agreed. “And to think I was scared of you!” Jason growled and suddenly The Super Model Gear loaded on its weapons. Axes, maces, whips, and chain guns all clicked into place. “Well, better trust your instinct.” Sigurd looked worriedly at the clock. “Okay. In five minutes we’re going over there, I don’t care what happens.” One of the techs came over. “Sigurd, Renmazuo just came in. Billy says that Jason came over with the Gear, and everyone’s fighting it. He said we should fire the depth charges as soon as possible.” Sigurd ran over to the weapons station. “Arming charges…Okay. What are their coordinates, Franz?” “Two-oh-three, west and three five oh north. Crosshairs locked on. Commence firing.” Three depth Charges rose and sped toward the forest. Xenogears hit Jason’s Gear three more times before breaking down. “Oh man! We ned a miracle, and fast!” Sigurd came on the channel. “This is Sig. Depth charges are away!” “Okay.” Fei charged up his energy and made Xenogears stumble away from the Gear as the charges hit. The charges hit the Gear in the sensors and the cockpit. Bart sighed. “Nice timing Sig.” “Billy came in at the most opportune time. We prepared the charges very easily.” “I need my Gear fixed,” Fei said. “It kinda got banged up in the fight.” “Right. As it’s fixed, we need you to get to the Gun room. We have to find the last ‘Contact’ and get him fast.” They gathered around the Gun Room once more, sipping Maison’s tea. Fei started the conversation. “Okay, now we have been successful. BOULDER’s been hit, and we got Juju. I’ll introduce him. He was born in Aveh, then moved to Shevat, than finally isolated himself at the Blackmoon Forest. “His Gear is about as strong as Xenogears, but not quite as fast. His highest Ether rating, supposedly is 1200. I doubt that though.” Juju arched an eyebrow. “You don’t think I could wipe out a city with my Ether strength? I bet I could beat you.” “Yeah? Well I-“ Citan cut him off. “We don’t care. This last issue is about the last Contact.” He pointed toward the library. “I searched in the Aveh and Kislev Libraries, as well as Nisan, and Shevat’s old books. There is not one trace of another Contact.” Elly frowned. “Hmm, what about legends and mythology?” “I tried that too. Didn’t work. For now, I think we should go to oral legends for information.” Elly sat up. “Hey, wait a minute.” Rico looked at her. “Got something to say?” “Yes. When I was in Gebler, I was training in Jugend. There was this legend floating around about this four- armed person trying to get into Gebler. I don’t recall real well, but this four-armed person was really powerful. She had an Ether rating equal to Ramsus, but they wouldn’t accept her ‘cause of the arms.” Citan concentrated. “I remember that legend. Ramsus was always bragging about how he could beat her, but I don’t think I ever knew her.” “What about Ramsus?” “It’s possible. Sig might know some about her.” Sigurd cleared his throat. “Her name is Amethyst, but she’s usually called Ame. Let’s get to where Ramsus is, and find the bottom of this mystery.” The Yggdrasil flew toward the sea of trees east. Sigurd looked at the display screen. “We’re almost at Taura’s house. We should get there in about five minutes.” Bart nodded. “I don’t care if Ramsus gets on my ship, as long as we find the bottom of this stupid mystery! We’ve been on this search for eight days now. I’m really starting to get sick and tired of this mystery.” Sigurd turned toward Bart. “Would it be better if we went and picked Ramsus up, then headed for Aveh? It’s roomier in the castle. This ship is a bit cramped.” “Sure.” Bart agreed. “What about the Elements? Should we pick them up too?” “It’s better for Taura if we take them out of his house. So we might as well.” “Do you want us to tell them about what happened to the Zohar? It might get them mad at us.” “We should tell them. Otherwise, they might think that their mechanical skills are nothing.” Sigurd replied. “Let’s go.” Ramsus sat in Taura’s nanomachine room. After spending two hours in there to relieve his pain, he still felt battered. Dominia entered. “Commander, the Yggdrasil is heading over here. Taura says that we should meet them, because they’re gonna move us to Fatima Castle, where the old Solaris base was. They want you to explain about someone named Ame, I think.” Ramsus nodded. “I guess I should. It’d be nice to meet Hyu and Sig again.” He stood up, and clutched his long sword. “Get the other Elements. We’re goin’ out of here.” They gathered around Ramsus in the Gun Room. Ramsus looked at each of them, trying to figure out why he hated them. He saw Elly and his ears burned, reminiscing the time when he almost killed her in Vendetta. Citan came in and sat next to Ramsus. The Elements stood together in a group, near the bar. Citan started off. “Ramsus, old friend, it is good to see you. We have a few questions about old Jugend. Do you mind answering them?” “Not at all. Fire away.” “What’s this four-armed person legend floating around in Jugend? Is it true or not real?” Ramsus tiredly rubbed his eyes. “Okay, well, this person was Amethyst. She had a mutation due to the radiation used in the Zeboim era. Supposedly her ancestors got contact with pure radiation, and it got passed down through the genes. “She uses all four arms to her advantage. She’s very good at every weapons but uses the chain more often than others. Her Ether amplication was ten times that of Miang’s, so she was very strong. Supposedly she’s a politically very strong, she has lots of power in all the countries. She has family in Kislev, Aveh, Nisan, Solaris, and even Sovar. So she’s very strong. “She said she got contact with a floating block that gave her a lot of power. We didn’t believe her since we only got our power from ourselves.” Citan agreed. “I think Jessie said something about she getting her strength from the cafeteria food, but we hated the food.” Ramsus continued. “Her Gear is Arachnid, and it’s very powerful. Probably as powerful as Fei’s Gear. She’s very dangerous and very smart.” Fei raised his hand. “Do you have an idea where she is?” “She’s probably living either in Nisan, Aveh or Kislev. I think you’ll need my help so I’ll join you in searching for her.” Rico nodded. “I can check the records in Kislev, since I own it.” Bart agreed. “Here in Aveh I can have Sig and Maison check up on the records too.” Billy turned to Margie. “Is it possible that you could…?” “Yes, I can check the records in Nisan. If we have a bit of info I can let you guys know.” Fei stood up. “So what’s the next step?” Citan cleaned his glasses. “We can scout around right now, and check up or find some leads as to where she is. I think Fei and Juju should go, along with Ramsus. Your Gears will be helpful here.” Ramsus held up a hand. “Wait a second. Two things. First of all, I don’t have a Gear. Second, what made the Gears all screwy?” Bart cleared his throat. “Well, Deus had an energy engine-thingy called the Zohar. When we killed Deus, the Zohar modifier…went out too. So only our Gears and a few more work. But…” He turned to Chu-chu. “When you used the Grahf Crystal, what exactly did you say?” Chu-chu fidgeted. “Wellchu, I said…Can all our Gears be fixed and working again.” “And what were you thinking about at that time?” Chu-chu looked away. “Umchu, I was thinking about…” Chu-chu looked innocent. “The whole world?” Fei groaned. “Now every Gear works. Not only our Gears, but Sovar’s, BOULDER’s and enemy Gears too! Great job Chu-chu!” He said sarcastically. “Thank Chu. I did a pretty good job, now didn’t I?” Ramsus still looked glum. “Well, I still don’t have a Gear. What am I gonna do?” Citan smiled. “No, no, absolutely not!” Balthasar shook his head empathetically. “I can’t waste my time. Now due to the act of Chu-chu, I have a million gears to look over!” Citan pleaded. “Old man, we need this. Would you rather have the Solaris Second Advent get a ‘slayer of god’ or BOULDER, or us? Think REAL hard about it.” Bal frowned. “I can’t build a whole Gear with nothing! I need some material! I need some money!” Bart arched an eyebrow. “Money? You’re selling your gifts?” Bal shrugged. “I need to make a living.” Rico growled, pushed through the team, and handed Bal’ 1 million ‘G’. “Listen old man, I got materials, and I got money, now go build us a damn Gear, dammit!” “Right.” Bal rubbed his hands and got his tools out. “Well, what are we waiting for?” Balthasar built a gear in two days. He christened it Ransom. “Well, you would have threatened me if I didn’t do anything. What am I supposed to do?” Ramsus sighed. “I guess it’s better than no Gear. What’s the armor on that thing, old man?” “Gold 100/100. The best I had on hand. The weaponry, well, I wasn’t too sure or what you wanted, so I put something I made up on there.” Bal’ pressed a button, and two sheathed retractable claws popped out on each hand. “I knew you were good with swords, so I put this type in. It ain’t too difficult, so you’ll get used to it fast.” Ramsus assessed the claws for a long moment. “It’ll do,” he said finally. Bal’ grunted. “Hmph. Anyway, I think I’m going to visit Taura. Gaspar said he might go there, and I have nothing else to do.” Citan watched the old man shuffle away. “For a genius, he seems a bit odd.” “Who cares. We should get to Amethyst before BOULDER, so let’s go.” Jason sat in the council room of BOULDER. He smacked the table. “Has anyone, ANYONE, find a clue of the next ‘Contact?” Timothy raised his hand. “We planted microphones in Bartholomew’s room, and it seems that they are going to Kislev to find the last Contact.” “Any chance that it’s fake?” Timothy shook his head. “Our mikes are concealed better than even Aveh’s. No way they could have known about our presence.” “What about Sovar?” A bearded old man raised his cane. “I learned from my spy network that the Elders are almost completed, and the second Deus is ready this moment. Miang2 has taken advantage of the Chu-chu’s glitch, so she built another Gear like her previous one.” Jason stroked his chin. “It seems we have two targets. Should we strike at Sovar or the Yggdrasil?” “Sovar is already weakened from previous injuries, and they would be an excellent target.” “But if we strike Sovar, then the Yggdrasil might get the last Contact.” Jason raised his eyebrows. “I think we shall attack the Yggdrasil. Sovar can always be defeated, but another contact cannot be made.” Ramsus checked his radar. “Fei, we are almost at Kislev. Are you ready?” “Wait a minute. There’s a whole platoon of Gears waiting outside…” Rico radioed in. “I did that to make sure Jason and Sovar don’t try to invade. You’re free to get in, get Ame, and get out.” Ransom landed and sheathed its claws. Xenogears descended and shut down. Fei jumped out and looked toward Ramsus. “Are you ready?” “Anytime.” “We still need one more person. Who do you want to come with us, Ramsus?” “I’d rather have the Elements, but that’s not possible, so how about that contact chu-chu you got?” “I’m calling…Juju is coming out and he’s ready. Let’s go.” Hephaetus flew out and landed near the Kislev Kastle. Ramsus drew his sword. “We have to be prepared. I think something is up.” Juju agreed. “I haven’t been to places this silent since a long time ago.” A reaper peeked out, and Fei whirled. “I think I saw some Wels.” Ramsus frowned. “Okay, let’s keep on going. Who knows, they might be hallucinat-“ He was interrupted by the sound of growling reapers. “Or maybe not.” Two Wels leaped savagely toward Ramsus. He quickly sidestepped and slipped his sword into the Reaper’s back. Blood spurted out and the reaper screamed. The other Wel tore off its arm and threw it at Fei. The arm was pinned down by an arrow from Juju. Fei attacked two reapers, kicking until they lay in a bloody mess. “Well, I don’t think I was imagining things.” Ramsus crept to the door, and kicked it down. He stepped quickly inside, then slashed at something with his sword. “Cocoons. They’re starting to breed in here. Was Banderas lying when he said it was safe?” Fei frowned. “I bet it’s a trap. Amethyst must be waiting for us.” A slender figure drifted down. “Yes, I am.” Ramsus whirled and got into his mirror stance. “Hello Ame.” Amethyst smiled. “Hello Kahran. How pleasant to meet you here right now.” She brought out a chain and lashed it lightly in the air. “Not the best place for a reunion, however.” Ten Wels stepped out, savagely hungry. With a vicious smile, Amethyst said “Reapers, attack.” Jason checked his radar. “Timothy, is this the right place?” “Yes sir. There seems to be some fighting inside Kislev Kastle, and Sovar is coming here quickly. Whatever you plan to do sir, do it fast.” “Roger.” The Super-Dimensional Gear pushed forward with it’s thrusters, and flew toward Kislev Kastle. Popel looked at his status sensors. “This Leader Seraph 21, over.” “Go ahead Leader 21.” “I saw the Super Dimensional Gear, and there’s also a fort of Gears guarding the Kastle. Attack the line of Gears wide enough to let me and my team inside to get the Contact. Don’t deplete too much energy, or we’ll have a hell of a time recharging. Keep some energy for the Gates as well.” “Very well.” A beam of a powerful laser shot toward the line of Gears, scattering and destroying them. Popel radioed to his team. “Let’s go squadron.” The Reapers came forward and leaped at Ramsus, Fei, and Juju. Fei smacked two Reapers with Raijin, and kicked another one down. “We can’t take these many on!” Juju used his Ether energy to wipe out three reapers. Ramsus whirled his wrist in infinity loops, slashing the last four reapers. “We have to go. I hear two Gears outside, the Super Dimensional Gear and a regular offensive Gear, sounds like another squadron is out there too.” Juju said. “Oh, no. You’re not going yet.” Ame lashed the chain and hit Fei in the leg, tripping him. Juju fired an arrow at her, but she caught it and threw it back at him, missing him a few inches. Ramsus chopped at the chain, snapping it, and Fei broke free. Ame growled. “Well, I can still hit you with my Gear.” With that, she hurried out and the sound of a hovering Gear resounded through the Kastle. Fei sighed. “We might as well. We can’t do anything other than fight to get out of here. Let’s go.” Fei climbed into Xenogears and powered up the systems. “This is Fei. Is everybody ready?” Ramsus answered. “We’re ready. Let’s go.” Xenogears glided toward Arachnid. Ame sounded angry. “Where were you? I was waiting for at least half an hour!” “Sorry. We weren’t in a hurry to die.” Arachnid lashed Ransom with the chain. “Don’t mouth off to me Ramsus! You know that I could always beat you at Jugend. Do you want to be defeated over and over again?” Ransom unsheathed its claws, and slashed Arachnid in the sensors. “You could beat me, but you always were too egotistical and self centered. And that’s why I became Commander-in-chief and you didn’t!” Fei pulled them apart and flung Arachnid away. “We can’t waste time squabbling. There are some Gears over there-!” A squadron of Attack Gears flew in and rammed the four unsuspecting Gears with force. “Hello. I am Popel, Leader of the Solaris Second Advent. Hand over the Contact.” Just then, Jason’s Gear flew in. “Hello Fei. It’s payback time.” Ame could feel frustration. “What the heck is going on?” Fei answered quickly. “They are after you, because you have Contact powers and we came here to get you and away from these guys, so they don’t brainwash you.” “I can’t stay here for long. I have to get back to Kislev Kastle.” Jason growled. “Well, that’s too bad, ‘cause you’re coming with us.” “No, she’s coming with us,” Popel argued. Ramsus replied, “You’re both wrong, because she’s coming with us and that’s decided. Right, Ame?” “NO, I decided not to decide what to decide before I decide to decide who to go with, or something like that.” Jason brought out a huge vulcan gun. “She’s coming with me, and nobody’s gonna argue with me.” Popel frowned. “Nice Gun. But, I think Sovar’s gun as a mite stronger.” He signaled to Sovar, and a blinding beam of light hit Jason in the shoulder, disabling it. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, we ought to be going.” Xenogears sprouted its Infinity wings. “No way. We can’t let you do that.” “Then I guess we have to fight, don’t we? Fighter Squadron, forward, attack.” Xenogears reacted instantly, charging and wiping two Gear out by smashing them with his infinity wings. Hephaetus swung his hammer and knocked out the sensors of three more. Ransom unsheathed its claws and swung them, disconnecting the torso of another Gear. Popel felt his anger as his squadron was wiped out. “No! This can’t be happening!” Arachnid jerked toward him. “Well, it’s happening.” Arachnid swung its chain, winding up Popel and leaving him tied up. “Okay, now I’ll leave.” “Like hell!” Jason’s Gear got up and managed to shoot two Gear sized slugs before breaking down. “Ahhhhh!” Ame felt the cockpit burning, and the electrical shock made her pass out. Fei waited patiently for Amethyst to wake up. She woke up, and looked dazedly around her. “Huh? What?!” Fei smiled. “Good to see you up and running too.” She frowned at him. “What am I doing here, and who are you?” “I’m that guy you tried to kill with Ramsus and Juju. What happened was that you passed out, and we had to take you to Aveh so you could heal. I think the slugs from Jason overloaded your systems.” “So where am I now?” “The desert town Dazil. We rented a room, and Bart’s been pulling out his hair about your decision to join us or not.” “I hope he’s not bald.” Fei chuckled. “No, no. He told me to wait for you to wake up, and so here we are.” The four-armed person sat back. “Well, I have no other choice, seeing how you treated me so kindly. But keep in mind that I’m not going to stay because I want to, no, I’m staying here as a sense of duty.” “Okay.” Ame arched an eyebrow. “You weren’t mouthing off, were you?” “No. I was being smart.” “Be quiet. Is my Gear fixed, by the way?” “The repairs need a few more days. In the meantime, we got some unfinished business. Do you remember Michael Fenn?” She focused. “Yeah. What about him?” “He’s dead.” She recoiled in shock. “What?” “He died a few weeks ago. We were fighting and he sacrificed himself, so we could find you.” “I see. I met him before and he told me about what happened earlier. I think I’m kinda confused.” “We’ll fill you in later.” “Okay. Thanks a lot.” Fei smiled. “It’s my job. Hehe.” He walked out, leaving Amethyst thinking on what he was talking about. Jason sat in the council room of BOULDER. He looked angry and confused. “All right, this is it! We’re going in for the big kill. Prepare yourselves. This is the final Confrontation.” Popel sat, in the room with the Elders, along with Miang2. He nodded. “All our squadrons are ready, Elder 2.” Miang2 also added something. “It seems that our friends in BOULDER are getting ready to attack Deus2. BOULDER has all their Gears left over flying to Deus. The Yggdrasil is already getting ready. What is your analysis on the situation, Elders?” The sphere rotated. “The Search for the Contacts is over. No matter. Deus2, as you say, will be strong enough to take on both BOULDER and Fei. And we will be there to fight as well. This new warship, as you say, is going to be enough for one measly aircraft.” The sphere rotated to a different Elder. “As we said before, we are ‘gods’.” End of Part 2
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