And now I must apologize. But you see, this grand tale of adventure does not simply involve Ms. Lucy Natsumi and the strange, old man who might possibly be a pervert. Before this adventure is over, a multitude of characters will be introduced and will play a role in the story. And as such, we must now avert our point of view from the previous scene to a new one, aboard the Atlantis.

The Atlantis was a fine Cruiser-class starship. And just like any fine Cruiser-class starship, it had a small but reliable crew of MAX (Mobile Armored eXoskeleton) pilots. Currently, a group of these pilots were returning to the ship after a training exercise. They were known as Red Team, and they were the best MAX pilots on all of Persephone.

“What was that?” the leader of the team, Akina Tomino, asked her teammate, as she got out of her cockpit and took off her helmet.

“A training exercise,” Ginger snidely remarked as he too removed his helmet and got out of his MAX.

“I’m serious, Ginger,” Akina walked briskly to Ginger and grabbed his shoulder. “It’s like you were asleep at the wheel today. Don’t tell me you’re going soft on me now.”

There were two things Ginger hated (at least more than he hated everything else): people who made fun of his name, and people who accused him of “going soft”. “There’s nothing wrong with me, Lieutenant!” he glared at Akina. “I just...” and then suddenly Ginger suffered a case of the mumbles.

“Huh? Speak up, Ginger. I’m dying to hear what you have to say,” Akina glared back at her subordinate.

“Why are we even on this stupid island, anyways?” Ginger changed the subject.

“To meet up with some hotshot from Mars, remember?” Akina decided to roll with Ginger. “The Captain thinks he can pilot the new MAX we found.”

“You mean that weird thing we dug out from under the ground?” Ginger glanced up at the MAX in question, which was being kept in the same hanger he and Akina had returned to. “I still think we should have just left that thing down there.”

“Ahaha!” Akina laughed in a slightly mocking tone. “I can’t believe it! The Fearless Ginger, scared of aliens. Ooohhh, look out Ginger! The extra-terrestrials are coming to get you and probe you anally (not that you wouldn’t enjoy that).”

“I’m serious, Lieutenant!” Ginger hissed in indignation. “This planet was completely uninhabited when we humans arrived. And then 100 years after we settle down here, we suddenly find a fully-functioning giant robot underground? What else do you expect me to think?”

“You mustn’t blame him, Miss Tomino,” the third pilot, Algy, popped into the conversation, his thick, grey mustache curling in a smile. “He’s merely worried about the safety of this planet. That’s why he pulled his punches today. He was worried a stray shot could injure civilian boats.”

“Wh-what!?!” Ginger was obviously very surprised Algy had managed to figure that out. But he quickly tried to hide his surprise with bluster. “I...uh...’pft’, c’mon! I’m not some stupid kid.”

“I made no such accusation,” Algy was one of those old folks who could see through any and all BS younger people tried to put up.

“Aw, you really do care, Ginger,” Akina laughed, which made Ginger blush in anger.

“Shut up!” he growled. “Whatever. I’m going over to the Rec Room.” And with that, he began to walk away in a huff.

“He thinks he’s so cool, acting like a jerk,” Akina smiled coyly at Ginger as he retreated. “Too bad we already know he’s just a big softy.”

“Yes, Miss Tomino,” Algy’s face crinkled in his standard smile. Then, he stretched his neck and moaned “Ooh. I think I may be starting to get too old for this.”

“Nonsense, Algy,” Akina quickly jumped to his defense. “You’re the best pilot on this ship. Well, second-best, but I’m your commanding officer, so that should go without saying.”

“You flatter me,” Algy grimaced. “But I’m afraid while Ginger was pulling his punches out there, I was not.”

Akina looked at Algy in surprise. “You mean...”

“It seems my reflexes are beginning to dull, amongst other things,” Algy sighed. “Time is starting to take its toll on me.”

“So...wait, you’re not thinking of retiring are you?” Akina looked worriedly at Algy.

“Well...” Algy postured.

“No way!” Akina’s reaction was immediate. “Algy, I meant what I said about you being the second-best pilot on this ship! You and Ginger are the only pilots I trust to be my teammates. Anybody else would just slow me down!”

“I’m well aware of that, Miss Tomino,” Algy reassured his commanding officer. “And I have no intention of retiring, especially not from this team. However, I don’t think I’m young enough to still fight in the vic-formation. I’ll have to be relegated to the back of a T-formation.”

“But if that happens, who’s going to be my third teammate?” Akina asked.

“I was thinking of asking the Captain to assign the young man coming over to our unit,” Algy explained. “He’s definitely skilled, otherwise he wouldn’t have been chosen to pilot the new MAX in the first place.”

“Good point,” Akina had to admit that any MAX pilot from Mars was going to have a lot better training and skill than anyone from Persephone. “But I don’t know how well he’ll mesh with the team. I’d have to check him out before I decide.”

“Of course, Miss Tomino,” Algy nodded. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I think a rest at the rec room sounds tops.” And with that, he walked off. Before he got too far, though, Akina called back to him.

“Hey, Algy,” Algy turned back to look at Akina. “Whether or not the new guy makes it on the team, I still want you to stay on board.” The look on Akina’s face showed she meant that with all her heart.

“I know,” Algy smiled in gratitude. “Thank you.” And with a salute, Algy went back on his regular course.

Akina kept her gaze on Algy until he was out of sight. Then, she turned her sight toward the new MAX, and sighed.

“I wonder what the new guy’ll be like,” Akina inquired aloud as she stared sadly at the robot.

“A giant robot?” Lucy was perplexed.

“Yes, exactly that,” the old man took off the hat on Lucy’s head and began to examine it. “The machine exploding proved that...yes, oh, look at you, pretty little bits of data still clinging to the...” the man then realized how strange he must have seemed, so he stopped, cleared his throat, and continued. “You have a very high amount of beta-level thought patterns. Which is exactly what I need.”

“You mentioned something about beta-wave thought patterns and piloting. What was that about?” Lucy felt a fountain of questions bubbling from her.

“Well you see...” the man began, before being cut off by Miranda.

“Look buddy!” she stepped between him and Lucy and gave the old fellow a look that would make most men wet themselves “Maybe you aren’t some old pervert, but you’re still acting really weird! And I don’t know who you are or what you’re doing here, but I’m not letting you take Lucy to pilot a giant robot or whatever!”

“Marina-” Lucy tried to stop her friend, but Marina whipped her head back to her friend before she could finish.

“Who’s side are you on, Lucy?” Marina looked hurt.

“I can understand why you wouldn’t trust me,” the man took Marina’s insulting quite well. “But believe me, if Lucy doesn’t bond with Haruhi, the world as we know it could be destroyed.”

“Oh of course it could!” Marina turned back angrily to the old man. “No offense, but that line is way too cliche for me to take seriously.”

“Look, I really can’t tell you that much,” the old man was now starting to look frustrated. “If I did-”

“The space-time continuum would rupture?” Marina snidely finished his sentence.

“Um...yes, it would,” the man blinked. “How did you know?”

“Seriously?” Marina’s eyes widened. “I was just spouting off yet another cliche sci-fi line. What, are you now gonna tell me that because of these beta-whatevers, Lucy is a jedi or a newtype or something, and only she can unlock this...Haruhi’s full potential?” She said the last part in a particularly mocking way.

“Uh...eheheh,” the old man laughed nervously.

“I can’t believe it!” Marina slapped her forehead. “All you’re doing is spouting cliche one-liners! There’s no way I can believe this.”

Even Lucy had to admit it sounded trite, though she dared not speak up and give Marina more ammunition against this man.

“Huh...I suppose it is pretty cliche,” the old man sighed and scratched his head. “Such things have happened countless times before, in countless other stories.”

“Tell me about it,” Marina said.

“But even if it is cliche, that doesn’t make it any less valid,” the man returned to seriousness. “Maybe this has happened a thousand times before, but like it or not it’s going to happen a thousand times again. Maybe to you, this is just another apocalypse, just another story of the chosen one with mystic powers and blah blah blah. But believe me, this is a very real, very dangerous, very bad thing that could happen. And yes, Lucy is the only one who can stop it.”

“Then just tell me one thing,” Lucy finally managed to speak out. “What is it that I have to do to, as you say, save the world? Just tell me exactly that.”

“Lucy, you’re not seriously-” Marina looked pleadingly to her friend.

“Marina has a valid point,” Lucy kept a steady gaze on the old man. “Sure, the prospect of adventure sounds great, but the more I think about it, the more I realize I shouldn’t just rush blindly into it. So I’ll pilot this giant robot you’re talking about, but only if you tell me exactly what I’ll have to do.”

The man paused, then grinned sanguinely. “Of course, ma’am.” he then proceeded to explain. “Because you have a very high degree of beta-level thought patterns, you are able to form a bond with a certain giant robot the crew of the Atlantis has on board. What I need you to do is form said bond with said robot, and after that, all you need to do is be in the cockpit of the robot when the big climax happens.”

“What’ll happen at this climax?” Lucy continued to prod.

“I can’t tell you that,” the old man sighed. “But I can tell you that all you have to do is be inside the cockpit at that time. You won’t have to pilot the robot in battles, like regular soldiers, so you won’t have to kill or anything. I’d recommend that you still pilot the robot frequently, to strengthen the bond between you and him, but I won’t force you to fight in him. That’s all I can tell you for now. Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Lucy nodded. “Well if that’s all, I guess I’m with you then.”

“What!?!” Marina shrieked. “You can’t be serious, Lucy!”

“If I am, as you say, the chosen one,” Lucy did not reply to Marina. “Then that most likely means it wouldn’t be wise for me to refuse the call. Really it would just complicate things, and make them more painful and difficult.”

“This is true,” the old man shrugged.

“But if, I am, as you say, the chosen one,” Lucy got an evil little thought in her head. “Then I want one concession from you.”

“Er...yes?” the old man stiffened.

“I want to still be able to talk with Marina and Nanase,” Lucy crossed her arms. “I have a feeling you wouldn’t let them come with me on this adventure, but I want them to know that I’m okay and everything. So just let me be able to communicate with them while I’m away.”

The old man raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Alright, sure,” he then reached into his pockets and pulled out two necklaces, each with a heart-shaped pendant on the end, which in turn had a small jewel on each pendant. He handed the first to Lucy and the second to Marina. “Whenever you want to talk to each other, just press the jewel on the pendant.”

Marina quickly pressed her jewel, to make sure the old man was telling the truth. And lo and behold, a hologram of Lucy’s face appeared from the jewel on Marina’s pendant. Immediately as that appeared, a hologram of Marina’s face appeared from the jewel on Lucy’s pendant. Each face moved and reacted the same way that each of the girls moved and reacted in response to this newfound wonder. And when Lucy spoke a few words to test the sound, Marina’s pendant made the same noises as she.

“I must admit, ma’am,” the old man looked amusedly at Lucy. “You’re quite genre savvy. Now then, since we seem to have things cleared up, let’s see here,” he took out his pocket-watch and did a double-take. “Good lord! We’ve only got twelve minutes before Mr. Paris arrives! We must be off!” And he motioned for Lucy to follow him as he ran off, still holding his stupid hat.

“I suppose I’m going on an adventure then,” Lucy smiled sadly at Marina, and gave her a quick hug before running off and calling out “Wish me luck!”

Marina looked distraught as her friend ran off. But then, just before Lucy was out of earshot, she managed to shout out one last time “Lucy!”

Lucy quickly turned back. “Yes?” she replied.

What could Marina say? There were a thousand and one different things one could do in this situation. Should Marina wish her friend the best of luck, make her promise to return safe and sound, tell her that no matter what happened, Marina believed in Lucy? Marina didn’t know, and it wasn’t even with her conscious realization that she finally shouted “Don’t let that old pervert touch you or anything!”

“I heard that!” The running old figure in the distance called back.

Lucy smiled, and called out “Sure thing, Marina!” before turning back and running onwards to adventure.


When Nanase finally ran back with a teacher in tow, she found Marina standing alone.

“Sorry I’m late! You have no idea how hard it is to find a teacher. Which is weird, since this is a school, but...wait, where’s Lucy?” Nanase looked around, but saw no sign of her friend.

“Is this where you said the old guy was?” the teacher also looked around. “I don’t see anyone else around here.”

“It’s fine sir,” Marina said calmly. “Sorry for disturbing you. It was a false alarm.”

“Huh?” the teacher didn’t look too happy with this news. “Well fine then, thanks for wasting my time.” And he walked off in a huff.

When he was safely out of earshot, Nanase turned to Marina and queried. “Seriously, Marina. Where’s Lucy?”

“She’s gone away,” Marina kept looking at the pendant. “Gone on some adventure, with that stupid old pervert.”

“...Are you crying?” Nanase asked.

Marina did not respond.


“So how are we going to get all the way to the Atlantis in just twelve minutes?” Lucy managed to gasp out at the old man as they ran as fast as they could.

“My guess is the bus,” the old man did not have nearly as much trouble speaking. “All we need to do is get to a bus-stop on time.”

“A bus?” Lucy panted astonishedly. “If you have a cool hat-doohickey, why don’t you have like a jet-glider or a teleporter or something?”

“I never thought to make one of those,” the man seemed genuinely surprised at the idea.

“Well you didn’t think this through very well,” Lucy sighed.

“Sorry, but I didn’t know I’d be cutting it this close. In all honesty I’m making up a lot of this as I go,” the old man did not seem particularly bothered by this fact. “Ah, hello! Bus! Bus! We’re getting on you!”

Lucy and the old man managed to jump on a bus just as it was about to leave. “To Dock Number 12! And fast!” the old man grabbed the driver’s shoulder excitedly.

“Um, excuse me, but this isn’t a taxi,” the driver seemed annoyed. “We’re going wherever the bus route goes.”

“Then where’s the next stop?”

“...Dock Number 12,” the driver sighed.

“Could you get there in under ten minutes, please?” the old man had been taught to always say “please” and “thank you” to people.

“Fine, whatever,” the driver decided the sooner he got to Dock Number 12, the sooner he’d get rid of this loony.

“Thank you very much, sir,” the old man nodded graciously and proceeded to sit next to Lucy, who had already taken one of the seats. “Well then, we’re on our way.” He grinned.

“Say,” Lucy remembered something just then.

“Mhm?” the old man turned quizzically to her.

“I never learned your name,” Lucy said.

“Ah, yes, sorry about that,” the old man placed his hand on his forehead. “Well, I’m not sure giving you my real name would be good, for reasons I can’t explain just yet. But you can call me Fuyuki. And if my context-clue-using skills haven’t dampened, your name’s Lucy, right?”

“That’s right,” Lucy nodded, and extended her hand to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Fuyuki.”

“And it’s nice to meet you too, Lucy,” Fuyuki smiled as he shook Lucy’s hand.

As the tiny little bus with Lucy and Fuyuki (who was still carrying around that stupid hat and box) was making its way to Dock Number 12, so too was a small Shuttle-class starship. Its contents were one pilot, two officers, and a very pristine-looking MAX.

The first of the officers was dressed sharply, in full-fledged dress uniform, with neatly-combed blond hair that peeked out of the cap he was wearing; along with clean teeth, blue eyes, and a very well-built physique. The second of the officers, meanwhile, was of average build, average height, and average...well, everything. He had blue eyes, which seemed incredibly nervous, short brown hair, which even after combing still stuck out in a few odd places, and was dressed merely in a semi-dress uniform. His dress uniform was in a suitcase mixed with the luggage in the shuttle.

“Don’t be so nervous,” the pretty one turned to the nervous one. “To be honest, this is the first time I’ll be on Persephone. In fact, this is my first transfer as well.”

“I know that,” the nervous one sheepishly nodded. “B-but, I’m still worried how well I’ll mesh with everyone here. To them, I’m probably just an outsider.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” the pretty one placed his hand comfortingly on the nervous one’s shoulder. “A good-looking, hard-working fellow like you. I wouldn’t be surprised if by the end of next week, you’d gotten the trust of the whole crew, and several dates as well.”

The nervous one laughed in a slightly bitter manner at that.

“Gentlemen, we’ve arrived,” the pilot turned back to the officers.

“Excellent,” the pretty one looked out the window. “There she is, boy.”

“Wow,” was all the nervous one could say. The Atlantis truly was an impressive sight.

I suppose I should give you all a full description of the Atlantis. It had twin launch-pads (for launching MAX’s) which made up the brunt of its side-bow space, and in-between those, there was the Atlantis’ Nucleon Cannon. Near the middle-stern area, there were all the hangars, various rooms, and the bridge, and at the stern, there were the primary thrusters. A fine ship indeed.

However, the sight was slightly adulterated by the presence of several civilians, all of whom were holding up signs, whilst throwing things at the Shuttle and the Atlantis. TEST Corps members were managing to keep the civilians from getting too close to either, but only barely.

“What are they doing down there?” the nervous one turned to the pretty one.

“Protesting, it would seem,” the pretty one’s expression had turned dour. “Not many people on this island take too kindly to the TEST Corps.”

“How come?” the nervous one genuinely did not know.

“A while back there was an incident,” the pretty one recounted sadly. “It was an accident, anybody could have made it. But as a result, there were a lot of civilian casualties. Since then, this island’s blamed the TEST Corps for what happened.”

“I see,” the nervous one looked forlornly at the protesters.

“I’d hoped after all these years the island would’ve calmed down a little, but I guess even three years is too short a time for these kinds of wounds to heal.” the pretty one sighed.


“Thank you sir, keep the change!” the “change” in this case involved the very stupid hat and box.

“Hey wait a-!” but Fuyuki and Lucy had dashed off before the bus driver could protest.

“Uh-oh!” Fuyuki stopped in his tracks, and Lucy followed suit.

“What is it?” Lucy looked around before she saw the mass of protesters.

“Go home, Yellowjackets!” “Get off our island!” “What do you want with us!?!” “How many civilians did you kill today, Captain!?!” And those were some of the milder insults.

Ah yes, another quick note, the standard colour scheme for the TEST Corps uniform was primary: black, secondary: yellow, and tertiary: white. Due to this, a common nickname/insult for TEST Corps members was “Yellowjacket”, since they looked akin to bees with their uniforms. Truly, the irony was staggering.

However, Lucy had no time to appreciate witty irony, because she suddenly remembered what had happened on the day the Atlantis had last come to Serenity Island. She remembered fire, and pain, and...death.

“Fuyuki?” Lucy asked.

”Mhm?” Fuyuki turned quizzically toward her.

Lucy opened her mouth, but no words came out. She tried again, but still nothing. Finally, she managed to say “Nothing. Never mind.”

Fuyuki didn’t buy it. “Are you sure?”

“Y-yeah,” Lucy nodded. “How do you suppose we get in?”

“Well....” Fuyuki logically scanned the entirety of his surroundings, analyzing everything, until finally, “A-ha!”

“Yes?” Lucy looked expectantly at Fuyuki.

“This way,” Fuyuki grinned, and dashed off once more.


Akina was tapping her foot as she waited expectantly for the new pilot. She wondered what he’d be like. She knew his name was Leon Paris, that he was a Lieutenant JG from Mars, and that he was coming in to pilot the new MAX the Atlantis had discovered. But that was all. She didn’t know what he looked like, what his personality was like, or in what unique way he fought. He was a mystery. At least she knew that he was going to be coming down this hall as he made his way to the bridge to speak with the Captain. That was where she could catch him and talk to him. Well, whatever he was like, Akina was only concerned with one thing: whether or not he would fit well into Red Team. She would not allow Algy to quit. They had been through too much for her to let him leave the team.

“Hey,” Akina woke up from her internal thoughts to see Anand Ashta, Head Security Officer and Deputy Captain, walking down the hall and waving hello to her. “So when is the new guy supposed to arrive?” He asked as he caught up to Akina.

“Right around now,” Akina looked back down the hall. “I think you should get the rest of the Security Team down here, to help with their luggage.”

“Right. I’ll do that. Thanks,” Anand waved goodbye as he jogged back the way he came.

Akina checked her watch. This Paris guy should have arrived by now. She decided to walk towards the entrance of the Atlantis. That way she’d catch up to him sooner.

As Akina turned the corner of the hall, she did a quick double-take and jumped back. There she saw three officers walking towards her. The first one was Vicks, a member of the ship, and the second was kind of cute, but the third one! The third fellow, in his sharp-dressed manner and his neatly-combed blond hair and baby-blue eyes; the third guy was hot! Akina felt a small case of missing-time, but quickly recovered her composure. Keep it cool, she repeated to herself.

Clearing her throat beforehand, she walked past the corner once again and greeted the two new officers. “Hello there, my name’s Akina Tomino. So you’re the new pilot, I presume?”

“Hm?” the gorgeous blond blinked. “Oh, I see. Well-”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Akina shook the beautiful, beautiful man’s hand. “The thing is, the team I command is thinking of adding a new member to it. So I was wondering, after I see your piloting skills on this new MAX today, whether or not you’d consider joining us. Perhaps we could discuss it over dinner tonight?” Akina congratulated herself on slipping that in there. Smooth.

“Are you asking Leon Paris out on a date?” the drop-dead pretty fellow’s eyes suddenly lit up, like he had just been presented a marvelous case of serendipity.

“I suppose I am,” Akina smiled coyly.

“Excellent,” the tall glass of water grinned, and grabbed both his companion’s hand and Akina’s, placing them together in a handshake. “What did I tell you?” He winked at the other officer.

“Wait,” Akina was confused. “I don’t follow.”

“I’m terribly sorry, but I’m not Leon Paris,” tall, fair, and handsome grinned. “My name is Kirill Magnuson. This young man here is your new pilot.”

“Huh?” Akina stared at Kirill. Then she stared at the real Leon Paris. “Huh!?!”

“Uh...h-hello ma’am!” Leon, obviously too nervous to think of anything else, positioned himself in a formal salute.

“At ease, soldier,” Kirill chuckled. “After all, this gorgeous young woman has just asked you to dinner.”

“What?” Oh god, she had, hadn’t she!?!

“Um, it’s okay if you don’t want to now,” Leon said to Akina. “I know you only asked under false pretenses.”

“Come on now,” Kirill continued to have a stupid grin on his face. “I’m sure she’d still love to have dinner with you. Right, Miss Akina?”

“Uh...well...” Akina stuttered nervously. Glancing at the real Leon Paris, she had to admit, he was kind of cute. But he just looked like such a nervous wreck! How could this guy be some hotshot pilot from Mars? He looked like one very loud noise would terrify him.

“I...I’ll have to see how your piloting skills are first, of course,” Akina quickly stammered.

“Splendid then,” This did not seem to phase Kirill in the slightest.

Akina began to wonder what she had just gotten herself into.


“Is this the right room?”

“Hold on, let me break down the gate, and...”

With a “bam” of the air-vent being broken open, Fuyuki looked out to find a multitude of engineering faces staring blankly at him.

“Ah, hello,” Fuyuki did not seem even remotely perturbed by this. “Do any of you fine lads or ladies know where I can find the hangar? Number...two, I believe?”

The engineering crew continued to stare blankly.

“Bad luck, they’re all mutes,” Fuyuki called back to Lucy.

“What?”

“I said they’re all mutes. This certainly puts a bugger on getting directions.”

“I heard what you said! Why are you asking them for directions in the first place?”

“Good point. Sorry fellas, but we’ve gotta run,” and with that, Fuyuki put the air-vent back in its proper place and continued on his original path.

After another minute or so of pause, one engineer finally said “Wait, what?”


“So if you’re Leon Paris, our new pilot,” Akina pointed at Leon. “Then what are you doing here?” She pointed at Kirill.

“Well I don’t like repeating myself, and I have to tell all this to the Captain, so why don’t you come with us to the bridge? It’ll be a good opportunity to appeal to the Captain about letting Paris on your team.” Kirill suggested charmingly.

“Well alright,” Akina shrugged, although she still couldn’t see how Paris would fit on Red Team.

“By the way,” Leon inquired. “How is the Gawain getting onto the Atlantis?”

“The Gawain?” Akina cocked her head to one side.

“Um, my old MAX,” Leon explained. “I thought that since I was going to be getting this new MAX, I could give away my old MAX to the Atlantis. You know, as sort of a present. It’s a 6th Gen model, so I thought you all would like it.”

“Isn’t he just a sweety?” Kirill giggled in such a way that Akina suddenly hoped he wasn’t gay.

Akina had to admit though; 6th Gen! That was the most recent set of MAX models. The latest anyone on the Atlantis had was a 4th Gen model, except of course for the one they had reserved for Leon. Maybe this Leon boy wasn’t very brave, but he was certainly generous.

“Well,” Akina looked down the hall. “The Security department is supposed to come out right around now to help with any large luggage or cargo you guys have. So... speak of the devil, there’s Ashta now!”

And Anand was running down the hall, along with several other Security members. However, judging from their expressions and their guns, Akina quickly realized that they weren’t here to pick up luggage.

“Anand, what’s up?” Akina stopped the Security head.

“Engineering reported a security breach. It seems two civilians broke into the ship and are making their way to Hangar 2.”

“Hangar 2?” Akina’s eyes widened. “But that’s where...”

“The MAX!” Leon eyes widened as well. Then, he remembered the civilians outside. “Oh no! Kirill?” Leon quickly turned to his companion. “Should anyone on this planet know about that MAX except for the crew of this ship?”

“No, TEST command has kept this thing tight as a pickle jar,” Kirill’s normally lax face was now angrily serious. “We shouldn’t be getting any civilian terrorists.”

“Terrorists!?!” Akina was shocked.

“Well whoever they are, our orders are to apprehend them,” Anand loaded his gun.

“Right!” Akina pulled out her blaster and dashed down the hall to Hangar 2.

“Right behind you, ma’am,” Leon did the same, all sense of nervousness gone from him.

As Anand and the rest of the group dashed down the hall as well, only one stayed behind. Kirill was deep in thought.

Strange, his face was grim. This wasn’t part of the plan. What’s going on?


“Okay, are you sure this is the right vent?”

“Positive. I asked directions at least twice, and received answers at least once.”

“Alright then.”

Once again, there was a “bam” as the air vent was dislodged. And once again, Fuyuki and Lucy poked their heads out. But this time, unlike the previous ones, they were at last in the right place at the right time. The two quickly got out of the air duct and looked around for signs of people coming.

“Looks like we’re all clear,” Fuyuki finally focused his gaze on a giant robot being held in the hangar. “And there he is.”

Lucy turned to where Fuyuki was focusing, and her eyes lit up. “Is that it?” she asked breathlessly.

“Yup,” Fuyuki leaned against the railing on the platform they stood on.

Sleek, pristine, lithe, and stainless. This robot looked nothing like what you normally saw from the TEST Corps. Its thin and agile form formed a stark contrast with the comparatively bulky and cumbersome-looking robots that Lucy had seen before in pictures and movies. And as its eyes met Lucy’s, she suddenly had the strangest feeling that the robot was somehow...alive.

“It’s beautiful,” Lucy could only whisper.

“Wait till it gets wings,” Fuyuki grinned.

“It gets wings?” Lucy awoke from her trance to turn excitedly to Fuyuki.

“Ohh yeah,” Fuyuki chuckled.

“Freeze! Both of you!!!” a voice thundered from behind Fuyuki and Lucy.

“Hm, mi scusi?” Fuyuki turned to where the voice was, only for him to find six guns pointed directly at his face.

“Oh my, guns,” Fuyuki gulped.

“Ah!” Lucy held her hands up in fright as she too faced several loaded blasters.

“Wait a minute,” one of the gun-holders, a young woman, eased her aim. “This girl’s a High School student! Stand down!” She told her bunch of soldiers, who complied.

Lucy sighed in relief, though she was still shaking, realizing how close she had just come to getting shot.

“Um, hey, what about me?” Fuyuki gave his most innocent smile. “Can’t you lower your guns on me?”

“Quiet, sicko!” the woman pointed her gun at the Fuyuki angrily. “I don’t take very kindly to people who hold hostages!”

“Hostage?” Fuyuki’s eyes widened in indignation. “Now see here, young lady...”

“Are you okay miss?” a young man came up to Lucy and placed his hands on her shoulders comfortingly.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Lucy quickly said. “But you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not a hostage! I’m with him!”

“You’re a terrorist?” the young man’s brow raised in surprise.

“Terrorist?” Fuyuki looked even more indignated. “Now see here, young man...”

“Whoever they are, we’re searching them,” another young man got into the conversation, and motioned for his men to follow his order.

“Hold on, I’ll do it,” the young woman interrupted the men who were about to search Lucy. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief.

Lucy passed the search fine. She had no weapons, only her pendant. Fuyuki, however, was still being searched well after Lucy was done. He had a look of slight annoyance on his face as the soldiers continued to pull weird gadgets out of his pockets.

“Look, I can already tell you you won’t find any weapons,” Fuyuki sighed. “I don’t ever carry weapons. And besides, you’ll just confuse yourselves trying to figure out what all this stuff is.”

“Well if you aren’t here to sabotage the ship or steal our MAX, what are you doing here?” the second young man seemed highly annoyed.

“An excellent question, and one which I will answer gladly, but only to your Captain, as I don’t much like repeating myself,” Fuyuki answered. “So, and I’ve always wanted to say this,” Fuyuki’s voice turned strange. “Take me to your leader.”

“That would be me,” another voice thundered in the room, and Lucy looked to see a sharp-dressed woman walking the room, followed by a sharp-dressed man. “Now then,” her expression was curt and serious. “What are you two doing on my ship?”

“Now then,” Akiko Tomino, Captain of the Atlantis, leaned forward onto her desk. She sat in the Captain’s office, with all the participants in this recent escapade standing straight in front of her. “Let’s start from the beginning.

“Chief!” the Captain whipped her head to the Chief of Engineering, Lieutenant Commander Gilbert Theron.

“Yes ma’am!” Gilbert very precisely stepped forward and saluted before beginning. “At roughly 1200 hours two civilians broke into the Engineering Room. They stated that they were trying to get to Hangar 2, and my first instinct was that they were civilian terrorists, attempting to somehow harm or even destroy the MAX model 7G. So I called for Lieutenant Commander Ashta and the rest of the Security Department to apprehend the civilians, which he was successful in doing.”

“MAX model 7G. Blech!” Fuyuki stuck out his tongue like he had just tasted something nasty. “He has a name you know.”

“You will only speak when I call on you, is that understood!?!” the Captain gave Fuyuki a glare ten times as powerful as Marina’s.

“Fine,” Fuyuki grumbled.

“Did the civilians give any indication that they were terrorists or had some malicious intent?” the Captain asked Gilbert.

“No ma’am,” Gilbert responded quickly, before realizing how that must have sounded. “B-but based on the crowd that is protesting outside, and the negative way in which most inhabitants on this island view the TEST Corps, I decided not to take any chances.”

“Very good, Chief. That will be all,” the Captain turned to the next person. “Can you confirm this, Lieutenant Commander Ashta?”

Lieutenant Commander Anand Ashta stepped forward and nodded. “Yes ma’am. Around 1200 hours the Security Department and I were preparing to help load the cargo of the new arrival, Lieutenant JG Leon Paris, when we received an urgent call from the Engineering Department. We made our way to apprehend the two civilians, and along the way we picked up Lieutenant Akina Tomino and the Lieutenant JG. Once we got into Hangar 2, we searched the civilians, but found nothing dangerous. And that was when you walked in.”

“Thank you,” the Captain nodded, and went to the next person. “What were you doing with Lieutenant JG Paris, Lieutenant Tomino?”

“One of my teammates, Algy, is beginning to lag behind in terms of piloting skills, but I don’t want to drop him from Red Team. So since we have a new pilot joining the Atlantis, I thought about asking you to let him join Red Team. But first I wanted to see what he was like, and how good a pilot he was, so I decided to meet up with him first,” Akina explained.

“And do you think he would make a good member of Red Team?” the Captain asked.

“I’ll have to see how his piloting skills are first,” Akina took the safe answer to that question.

“Thank you. Can you add anything to that, Lieutenant JG Paris?” the Captain glanced at the next person.

“No ma’am, nothing,” Leon was back to his usual nervous self, and stiffly saluted.

“Very well,” the Captain narrowed her eyes as she got to the next person. “Now then, who are you and what are you doing on my ship?”

“Apologies for not explaining sooner, but, as you no doubt heard, there was a ruckus involved,” Kirill grinned apologetically.

“The report I got from Mars said that we were only getting one new crewmember,” the Captain continued to glare. “I have it right here, and it says ‘Lieutenant JG Leon Paris is to be assigned to the Atlantis with the express purpose of piloting the new MAX model 7G. We have heard of your recent problem with working the new MAX, and have also received your sampling of the strange signal that this new MAX seems to be emitting. We have chosen Lieutenant JG Paris to pilot the new MAX because we believe his brain patterns to be compatible with these emissions.’ We knew the MAX model 7G wasn’t normal the moment we dug it out of the ground. Therefore it made sense to us when TEST Command told us that we needed someone with a specific brain pattern to pilot it. However, that only accounts for Lieutenant JG Paris’s arrival. Not yours.”

“I know,” Kirill still had a demeanor of calmness and geniality about him as he said this, and pulled out a letter from his breast pocket. “However, as you can see by this report-”

“He’s a Commissar,” Fuyuki grunted.

“Commissar?” the Captain’s brow raised in surprise.

“Well, that’s one way of putting it,” Kirill looked mildly hurt. “But I’m not here to spy on anyone. If you look here,” Kirill handed the report to the Captain. “You will find that I am Lieutenant Colonel Kirill Magnuson. And my job is merely to take detailed reports on the MAX model 7G and its compatibility with Lieutenant JG Paris. This is to make sure that a) there is some congruity between them, and that b) if there are problems, TEST Command can try to find someone else to pilot the MAX model 7G.”

“I was not aware that the rank of Lieutenant Colonel even existed,” the Captain remarked as she read the report.

“That’s because, as our burglar friend here so...crudely pointed out,” Kirill glanced at Fuyuki. “The title is reserved for Political Officers; people who report directly to TEST Command on Mars.”

“It also says in this report that I am to relieve Lieutenant Commander Anand Ashta of his position of Deputy Captain, and instate you into that position instead,” the Captain looked up from the report.

“What!?!” Anand jumped in surprise and whipped his head Kirill’s way.

“Oh! Terribly sorry, I can’t believe that slipped my mind,” Kirill looked genuinely remorseful. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to do that. I know you all are a tight-knit crew, and while I am the Political Officer, I can forget protocol once if it allows the crew to function better.”

“No,” the Captain said. “If TEST Command believes you to be qualified for the position, then I agree with them. Lieutenant Ashta, you are relieved of your position as Deputy Captain. You may continue your position as Head Security Officer.”

“But...” Anand began to say something, but stopped when the Captain looked up from her report to glare at him.

“Do you have a problem?” she asked coolly.

“No ma’am,” Anand quickly replied.

“Good,” the Captain handed the report back to Kirill. “Lieutenant Colonel Kirill Magnuson, as the Captain of the Atlantis, I am promoting you to the position of Deputy Captain. Don’t disappoint me.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Kirill smiled warmly.

Anand still looked slightly annoyed, but both Kirill and the Captain ignored him as the Captain turned to the next person. “Now then,” the Captain said to Fuyuki. You have interrupted this meeting twice. Judging from that, I assume you have something very useful to say. Am I right?”

“Yes, but first,” Fuyuki held up his chained fists. “Could you get rid of the hand-cuffs?”

“No,” the Captain replied simply. “You managed to sneak on board my vessel and only managed to get caught because you were too stupid to know your way around. You are either a complete idiot or a genius; possibly both. Now tell me exactly who you are, why you were on this ship, and what you wanted to do. Also expand on the interruption you made during Lieutenant Theron’s report.”

“Lucy doesn’t get handcuffs,” Fuyuki grumbled, before sighing. “But, I did say I’d explain myself, so here goes. My name is Fuyuki. I’m here because the machine you call the MAX model 7G is actually a being named Haruhi, and if Mr. Paris tries to bond with him, it won’t end well. Well, he’ll be able to bond with Haruhi, but not strongly enough, and this will cause complications later down the road which will have disastrous consequences.”

“What kind of consequences?”

“I...can’t tell you,” Fuyuki seemed genuinely upset by this. “I’m sorry, time is fragile enough as it is.”

“So you’re a time-traveller who came to our time to prevent some world-threatening event?” Kirill raised his brow smugly.

Fuyuki blinked. “How...”

“Come now, sir,” Kirill smiled coyly. “If you can make a spot-on, intelligent guess, surely I can too.”

Fuyuki did not respond.

“Is the Lieutenant’s guess correct?” the Captain asked.

“I can’t confirm or deny anything, because as I said, time is fragile,” Fuyuki sighed. “But I can tell you that the less people who know, or even suspect, what I am, then the better.”

“And what were you doing with the girl?” the Captain looked at Lucy.

“Haruhi emits a type of transmission, as you said before,” Fuyuki explained. “Because of this, anyone who attempts piloting him has to have a certain brainwave pattern. That’s what allows for a bond to be formed with him. Lucy here has a brain much better suited for bonding with Haruhi, so my plan was to break into the Atlantis with her and have her bond with Haruhi before Mr. Paris could.”

“So the MAX model 7G can only form one ‘bond’?” the Captain said that last word skeptically.

“That’s right. Well, it formed a bond before, but that person is long dead,” Fuyuki clasped his mouth immediately after saying that, and his eyes lit up with shock.

“How did you determine that the girl was compatible with the MAX model 7G?” the Captain had a smug grin on her face.

“By measuring her beta-level thought patterns,” Fuyuki watched his words carefully this time. “The higher they are in a person’s brain, the more compatible that person is with Haruhi.”

“Beta-level thought patterns?” the Captain looked dumbfounded at the term.

“I made the term up myself,” Fuyuki looked as proud as a kindergartener who has just drawn their first crayon-picture.

Wait, he had made the term up himself? Lucy’s head shot up as she heard that last sentence. But...Lucy searched deep into the recesses of her mind, and remembered clearly. She had heard that term somewhere before! She couldn’t remember exactly where, but she knew she had heard it somewhere. But how was that possible, if as Fuyuki said, he had made up the term himself? Lucy had never met Fuyuki before until today. So how had she heard that term before?

“Can you confirm everything he just said?” Lucy’s thoughts were interrupted by the Captain.

“Huh? Um, y-yeah,” Lucy shook off the troubling thoughts in her head.

“You don’t sound so sure,” the Captain cocked an eye-brow.

“Sorry,” Lucy made her confidence clear this time. “Everything he said is true. I came here to pilot Haruhi. But then...”

“I see,” the Captain had no one left to turn to, so she merely sat silently at her desk, thinking. Finally, the silence was broken by Kirill.

“Pardon me, Captain,” Kirill asked tentatively. “But...I think it would be best for all of us if we allowed this young girl to pilot the MAX model 7G.”

“What!?!” there were cries from all the officers except the Captain, who looked questioningly at Kirill, and Fuyuki and Lucy, who in turn looked pleasantly surprised.

“Why do you think so?” the Captain inquired.

“Well ma’am,” Kirill told his plan. “The reason we chose Lieutenant JG Paris to pilot the MAX model 7G was because we believed him to be the best-suited candidate. However, this man,” he motioned to Fuyuki. “Has just told us that this is not the case. Now, he has also told us that it’s better if we don’t think about what he is or where he comes from, but if my idea on him being a time-traveller is correct, then that means one thing. Whatever event was caused by Lieutenant JG Paris piloting the MAX model 7G, it was cataclysmic enough to make this man travel back in time just to prevent it.”

“That implies he’s telling the truth,” the Captain pointed out.

“Very true,” Kirill took the criticism with a pinch of salt. “But I feel inclined to trust him, if the consequences of ignoring him might be a cataclysmic event that could destroy the world.”

“I see...” the Captain leaned back in her seat as she soaked up all the information she had just heard. Her eyes closed as the gears inside her mind worked their computations, until finally, she asked for one last piece of information. “Lieutenant JG Paris,” she still did not open her eyes as she asked this. “Did you bring any MAX’s from Mars with you?”

“Um, yes ma’am,” Paris nodded. “I brought a MAX model 6G-1 Gawain with me. I wasn’t sure how well I’d fit in with the rest of the crew, so I assumed maybe a present of some kind might be appropriate.”

“Thank you,” the Captain added this new piece of information to the formula, which allowed her to reach a decision at last. “Lieutenant Colonel Magnuson?”

“Yes ma’am?” Kirill awaited his orders loyally.

“Please take the two civilians back down to Hangar 2,” the Captain opened her eyes and sat up straight again. “Let’s see what this man has planned.”

“Are you serious!?!” Anand shouted. “How-”

“Also, bring an armed Security team with you,” the Captain ignored Anand. “If either of them make any suspicious moves, shoot them on the spot.”

Fuyuki and Lucy gulped simultaneously.

“Of course, ma’am,” Kirill saluted with a smile. Then, he turned to Anand, and asked “Would you come with me? I’m sure you’re the chief authority here on the best team for this job.”

Anand gave Kirill a dirty look, but obeyed. As Kirill, Anand, Fuyuki, and Lucy walked out of the room, the Captain turned to Gilbert and said “Chief, you may leave now and return to your station.” And then as he left, the Captain said the the two remaining officers “Lieutenant JG, I need you to fill out some paperwork now that you’re on board.”

“And what about me?” Akina pointed quizzically at herself.

“You also need to fill out some paperwork,” the Captain took out several sheets of paper. “For the Lieutenant JG to join Red Team.”

“Hey, hang on!” Akina cried. “I haven’t decided anything yet!”

“I know,” the Captain handed Leon a pen, which he used to nervously sign the papers. “However, in case you do decide to let him join, it’s easier now that the three people necessary for the proper paperwork are all here together. If you decide not to let him join, I’ll shred the paperwork. Deal?”

“Fine,” Akina grumbled.

“By the way, you do want to join Red Team, don’t you?” the Captain asked Leon.

“Um, well,” Leon stammered. “I don’t really know very much about anyone here. But considering how Lieutenant Tomino was willing to come and greet me, I think I’d like to join her team very much.”

“My sister is no pushover, you know,” the Captain allowed herself a grin. “If you join up on Red Team, she’ll expect nothing less than the best from you.”

“S-sister?” Leon whipped his head between the two young women, obviously surprised. “I...I didn’t...”

“Come on, sis,” Akina sighed. “I thought you were the one who told me as long as we were on the same ship we had to keep things professional.”

“I know,” the Captain smiled. “But seeing how such a nice young man might be joining your team, I want to make sure he’s right for you.”

“Geez, you make it sound like he’s going to be my boyfriend or something!” Akina groaned.

Leon’s face turned a deep shade of maroon at this statement, and he was at a loss for words.

“Well, you have to admit he’s cute, right?” the Captain grinned coyly.

“Wh-what?” Akina stammered, before finally regaining her composure, very quickly signing all the papers, and shouting “I keep things strictly professional between me and my teammates sis!” And with that, she stormed off in a huff.

“Ah, wait-” Leon apparently had something to say to Akina, as he dashed after her.

The Captain, now alone, stared sadly at the door her sister had just walked out of. Knowing that no one could hear her, she still whispered “I just don’t want you to be alone.”


“Honestly!” Akina was storming down the halls in a huff. “Where does she get off pimping me to boys like that!”

“Um, I’m sorry Lieutenant!” Leon ran to catch up with Akina.

“Sorry? What for?” Akina stared blankly at him.

“Um...well...” Leon tried to say something, before lowering his head in defeat. “I don’t know. But I feel like I might have been able to do something to stop that conversation from getting awkward. I don’t know what, but something. And now you’re all mad and I still don’t know anyone on this ship and I don’t want to screw this assignment up and-”

“H-hey, calm down,” Akina laughed. “I know it looked all tense back there, but this kind of stuff actually happens a lot.”

“Um...really?” Leon blinked in surprise.

“Yeah,” Akina tried to clear things up. “That was just regular sister bickering back there. So don’t feel bad or anything.”

“Oh...th-thanks,” Leon nervously scratched the backside of his head.

Akina made a mental sigh. Why was this guy assigned to the Atlantis again? Oh yeah, something about brain patterns. But if he wasn’t going to pilot the new MAX, then his brain patterns didn’t count for much anymore, and he still looked like a nervous wreck to Akina. She only hoped that he would be a decent pilot.

“Oh!” Leon whipped his finger in the air in remembrance. “Actually, there is something I’d seriously like to apologize for, Lieutenant.”

“What?” Akina wondered aloud.

“I’m sorry for reacting the way I did when I heard you and the Captain were related,” Leon answered with a serious expression on his face.

Akina blinked. “I...don’t follow.”

“I acted like it was a big deal, but it isn’t. Is it?” Leon’s nervous demeanor had given way to a calm sort of wisdom. “Knowing that you and the Captain are sisters shouldn’t make any difference in any way.”

“Well, yeah,” Akina thought about it. There had been officers on the ship who had treated her differently than everyone else, simply because she was the Captain’s sister. That’s one of the reasons she wanted to form Red Team, to prove herself. To prove that she didn’t need her sister’s involvement to make it to the top. “At least, it’s supposed to be that way. But still, why go to the trouble of apologizing?”

“Um...” Leon went back to being nervous. It seemed Akina had hit a nerve there. “Well, I know how it is, for people to treat you differently, because of who you’re related to. To be honest, that’s one of the reasons I was hoping to be assigned here, and why I’m still so nervous about screwing things up here.”

He had wanted to get away. Akina suddenly found herself staring at this strange, nervous young man, and understanding something personal about him, even though she barely even knew what it was. And for the first time, she started to see some hidden depths beneath those youthful eyes of his. Perhaps, she began to think to herself, this young man might indeed make a good member of Red Team.

“Well, apology accepted,” Akina smiled. “But my sister was right. If you want to join Red Team, I’m going to work you to the bone. And you still need to impress me out there when I check out your skills.”

“Yes ma’am!” Leon clenched his fists determinedly. “I’ll do my best in the MAX model 7-” Then, he remembered what had recently happened, and slumped. “Oh...yeah.”

That’s right. The Captain had given the go-ahead for those civilians to pilot the new MAX. “I hope sis was right,” Akina muttered as she pondered these two new mysterious strangers.

“Do you think it was the right call?” Leon asked.

“I think so,” Akina said slowly. “I trust my sister’s judgement. But still, it was a surprising decision. And there’s always the possibility of something going wrong. So I guess I’ll go with it, for now.”

“Alright,” Leon decided to go with it as well. He had to admit, even though that strange man (Fuyuki, wasn’t it?) seemed kind of loony, he also seemed to exude this odd sort of charisma, like he was crazy, but he knew he was crazy. And he also knew what he was doing, even if nobody else did. It was very strange, but also perfectly understandable at the same time.


“Question.”

“Mm?”

“What did you do with all my stuff?”

“If you’re referring to the trinkets and baubles, I believe Lieutenant Commander Theron took them to be analyzed,” Kirill smiled.

“Ah, good,” Fuyuki breathed a sigh of relief. “I was beginning to think you had thrown them all out.”

Kirill did not respond to this, merely continuing to smile. The armed Security officers walking by him did not even do that.

After a moment more of pause, Fuyuki finally broke the silence with “Another question.”

“Mm?”

“If you like what you see, regarding Lucy bonding with Haruhi,” Fuyuki had turned dead serious now. “Will you make her fight in battles and such?”

“Of course,” Kirill remarked like that was a given. “Use every resource to their fullest potential, as they say.”

“Who says?”

“They.”

“Who are they?”

“I...” Kirill’s seemingly unflappable nature gave way for just a split-second, which made Fuyuki grin maliciously.

“But seriously,” Fuyuki glared at Kirill. “I can’t let you do that. I promised Lucy when we first formed our ‘contract’ that she wouldn’t have to fight.”

“You don’t have a choice,” Kirill looked very smug indeed. “As long as you all are a part of this ship, you’ll have to obey orders.”

“I never was very good at that,” Fuyuki sighed. “What about you? Do you want to be a soldier?” He glanced concernedly at Lucy.

“No,” Lucy made her intentions quite clear. She bore no grudge against the TEST Corps, though as she remembered what had happened once long ago, she realized that by all accounts she probably should. But Lucy didn’t; she knew they had told the truth when they had reported it as a mistake; a horrible, horrible mistake. However, even so, Lucy had no intention of fighting as a soldier.

“Well, you heard the lady, that solves it,” Fuyuki pointed proudly at Lucy.

“If you weren’t intending for her to fight, then what in the world did you intend for her to do with a giant robot?” Kirill looked at Fuyuki with amused contempt.

“I....” Fuyuki stammered, before sighing. “It’s complicated.”

“Of course it is,” Kirill shrugged. “Now move along.”

As they followed Kirill’s orders, Lucy whispered discreetly to Fuyuki “I don’t suppose you have a plan regarding what to do when we get to Haruhi?”

“Yes,” Fuyuki also whispered discreetly. “Do whatever this Kirill fellow says.”

“What?” Lucy blinked and looked bewilderedly at Fuyuki. “Why?”

“Well, it’ll let us live long enough for me to come up with a proper plan,” Fuyuki grimaced.

Lucy sighed.

“You do realize I heard everything you two just said, right?” Kirill called out to the two, which caused them to both stiffen. “Fuyuki, do you want me to put the handcuffs back on?”

“Nonono!” Fuyuki frantically waved his arms.

“Well, nobody ever said adventure would be easy,” Lucy muttered to herself.


“Hey,” Anand morosely walked onto the bridge and greeted the bridge bunnies.

“Anand!” Lieutenant Minami Kinomoto, Chief of Navigation, lit up like a firefly as the Security Officer entered. Her eyes glowed brightly, her beautiful, flowing brown hair rippled like smooth waves as she turned her head, and her luscious lips curved into a heartbreaking smile.

And of course Anand noticed none of this. He hadn’t even the capacity to realize that when Minami called him by his first name with no title (but only when the Captain wasn’t around) that it meant she held him in special regard. No, unfortunately to him, Minami was no more special than anyone else on the Atlantis.

“Oh brother,” Vanessa Rial, Chief of Communications, sighed and averted her gaze from those two. It would have just been too painful to watch.

“So what was that big ruckus going on?” Minami asked excitedly.

“Yeah,” Téa Forrester, Chief of Armaments, joined the conversation, obviously very interested. “The Captain told us all to stay at our positions. What’s going on?”

“The Atlantis wasn’t attacked or anything, was it?” Helmsman Todd Washington, looked at Anand worriedly from his post.

“That would have been bad,” Susan Snow, Chief of Sciences, muttered emotionlessly.

“No, no,” Anand grunted. “It turned out to be a false alarm.”

“So then what’s up?” Helmsman Todd asked.

“I have been relieved of my position as Deputy Captain,” Anand crossed his arms as he grumbled. “Some fruitcake from Mars is taking over for me.”

Now everyone, even Vanessa, jolted up in surprise and stared at Anand.

“For real?” Vanessa was amazed.

“Oh,” the best Susan could manage was mild astonishment (though for her that was the same as...)

“B-but...” Minami was obviously devastated, though Anand was too ignorant to notice.

“You can’t leave!” Helmsman Todd bellowed. “Then I’ll be the only guy on the bridge!”

“But why?” Téa wondered aloud.

“You won’t be the only guy, Wash, and it’s because TEST Command wants a special agent dude to observe the new robot,” Anand explained. “Honestly, with this and those two loonies I’m starting to think the Captain’s going off her rocker.”

“The Captain would never go off her rocker!” Helmsman Todd quickly rushed to the defense of his leader. “I completely trust her judgement!”

“Thanks a lot, Washington,” you could always tell when Anand was angry at Helmsman Todd, because then he would always drop the nickname.

“Um, well...” Helmsman Todd realized that his loyalty to his friend and his loyalty to his Captain were in conflict with one another. “Look, even if you aren’t Deputy Captain anymore, you’re still an officer on this ship.”

“That’s right, Ashta,” Téa pointed out. “We still get to work together. It’s just now you’ll be like Dawson and Theron.”

“But we won’t get to be bridge operators together,” Minami whispered pitifully. How could this happen!?! Minami adored Anand, and adored even more the fact that she got to spend time with him on the bridge. She was even starting to work up the courage to ask him out on a date. But now, it was like the universe itself was putting up a wall between her and her love.

“Too bad,” Vanessa remarked offhandedly. “And I had just made color-coordinated bunny-ears for everyone.”

“Why bunny-ears?” Anand blinked.

“You know, ‘Bridge Bunnies’,” Vanessa placed two fingers so that they poked up from her head. “Haven’t any of you heard that phrase before?”

“I have,” Helmsman Todd excitedly raised his hand.

“Thanks guys,” Anand sighed. “Really I’m just upset at this new guy. I wouldn’t have minded all that much if we did get a new Deputy Captain. But I’d have at least liked to have some input in the decision. It looked like the Captain was determined to promote the new guy with or without my consent.”

“I don’t want you to go, Anand!” Minami managed at last to gain enough courage to say that.

“Thanks Kinomoto,” Anand sighed. “But I don’t really have a choice. I just came up here to let you guys all know. See ya.” And with that, he left the room, with his head bowed.

“Man, this really sucks,” Helmsman Todd sighed.


“Here we are at Hangar 2!” Fuyuki drawled.

“Are you going to announce it every time we enter a new room?” Kirill cocked an eyebrow at Fuyuki.

“Here we are at lift-platform!” Fuyuki answered that question with another drawl.

“You are determined to annoy me, aren’t you?” Kirill chuckled in a way that suggested it wasn’t working.

“Here we are at Landing Bay!” Fuyuki persisted, although now it seemed to be more a point of his truly enjoying this, rather than his trying to annoy Kirill.

“Is he always like this?” Kirill asked Lucy.

“Dunno. I only just met him today,” Lucy shrugged.

Twice today, Kirill’s unflappable facade was revealed, if only for a moment. “Dear me,” he sighed. “You two seem to have a maddening influence on those around you.”

As the jolly crew stepped off the lift-platform and walked along the Landing Bay, Lucy got another look at the giant MAX known as Haruhi. It still gave off the eery feeling of being alive. Which should have made sense, she reasoned, as Fuyuki had said it was some sort of sentient being.

“Here we are at Haruhi!” Fuyuki drawled once again, before getting both guns shoved into his face. “Oof,” it was hard for Fuyuki to speak, what with the two gun-barrels pressing against his cheeks. “Fine, fine. I’ll stop.”

“Excellent,” Kirill gave a very satisfied smile. “Now then, Lucy, won’t you please, er ‘bond’ with this machine?”

Lucy suddenly realized that she had no idea how to do that. “Uh...” Lucy turned desperately to Fuyuki, who managed to say “Ah, yes. Just touch it.”

“Touch the machine?” Kirill looked incredulously at Fuyuki. “Is that all? The Engineering Crew has made direct skin contact with this for several months. Give me one good reason why I should believe that something different will happen when this girl does it?”

“If it doesn’t, then you can shoot me personally,” Fuyuki was serious. “Not with the big guns these burly fellows are holding, but your own personal blaster. All officers have one on their persons, and yours is gold. That means you have a special attachment to it, as only custom-made blasters come in different colours. And I know that, despite your best protests, you do find me annoying, and you’d love to plant a bullet right between my eyes. It’d give you a great deal of satisfaction to do that, especially so with your own blaster. So I’m telling you now, if nothing happens, then you can shoot me. Deal?”

Third time’s a charm, as they say, and this time, Kirill’s unflappable nature gave way long enough for everyone involved to soak it all up. Kirill turned to Lucy. “Is he bluffing?”

Lucy stared long and hard at Fuyuki, and saw that he wasn’t. “No,” she replied slowly.

“Well then,” Kirill pulled out his blaster and held it tenderly. “I suppose you’d better touch the robot, then.”

Lucy gulped. Did Fuyuki really have that much confidence in her, that he was willing to put his life on the line, just for her? For a moment, she hesitated. But then she remembered, in all those stories, with the wise mentor and the young heroine, whenever the young heroine hesitates, whenever she starts to doubt herself, no good comes from it. If Fuyuki really was like those wise mentors in those stories she loved so much, then that meant he knew what he was doing. If he thought she could bond with Haruhi, then he was right. She could do it. All she needed to do was...

“Believe,” Lucy whispered to herself, as she steeled herself, and placed her hand on the metal foot of Haruhi.

Nothing happened.

Kirill waited, Lucy hoped, and Fuyuki smiled. But still nothing happened. Finally, Kirill gave a deep, deep sigh, and pointed his blaster at Fuyuki’s head. “May I just say that this is the strangest day I have ever had?” Kirill asked. “And may I further say that for a moment, I was starting to believe your stories?”

“Oh believe me, laddie,” Fuyuki chuckled. “Today is about to get a whole lot stranger.”

And then suddenly, a massive groaning noise pierced the air. The place where Lucy touched Haruhi glowed green, and instantly the green zoomed up Haruhi’s leg, flowing like water, and filling up the robot’s very being. The eyes that had once teased at life now burnt like two miniature suns, and the robot known as Haruhi began to move. All on his own, he moved, like a person just waking up from a very long nap. He stretched, he worked out the kinks in his body, and then, as he looked around, and then saw the group of people at his feet, he spoke.

“I LIVE ONCE MORE,” his voice was impossible to describe. Like a force of nature personified.

Lucy stared in wonder, Kirill stared in shock, the two Security Officers stared in bewilderment, and Fuyuki, well, Fuyuki simply grinned.

“Hiya Haruhi,” he waved in a friendly manner. “I see you’re still as dramatic as ever.”

“AH, FUYUKI,” Haruhi had no mouth, but if he had, he probably would have smiled. “IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. WHAT TIME IS THIS FOR MEETING ME?”

“This’ll be my third,” Fuyuki nodded.

“I SEE,” Haruhi absorbed this information. “AND YOU,” he turned to Lucy. “YOU ARE THE ONE WHO HAS AWOKEN ME?”

“Uh...I...” Lucy still needed a moment to absorb all of this. “I am.”

“EXCELLENT,” Haruhi knelt down like a knight towards his lady. “I AM YOURS TO COMMAND.”

And with that, Kirill started laughing; laughing like a crazy person, his arms fell limp, and he stared at Haruhi in an insane fashion. It looked almost like he had lost it. But then, he turned to Fuyuki, and grinned. “It’s true, isn’t it? Every crazy thing you said is true.”

“Yes,” Fuyuki replied simply.

“Well then,” Kirill regained his sanity as easily as a normal person would regain their composure. “I suppose the future truly is at stake then. I don’t think you can tell me any more information, time being fragile and all, but I suppose now you really will have to pilot the MAX model 7G.”

“Wait, weren’t you the one who suggested Lucy pilot Haruhi in the first place?” Fuyuki blinked.

“Actually I thought you two were either lying or crazy; possibly both,” Kirill put his blaster away. “My plan was to call your bluff, and then shoot you once you all weren’t able to pull through. Now, however...” he stared at Haruhi. “This changes everything.”

“Thank goodness for small favors,” Fuyuki muttered.

“FUYUKI,” Haruhi turned to Fuyuki. “WHAT AM I DOING HERE?”

“These boys dug you out of the ground,” Fuyuki answered. “They were going to try to pilot you, but I managed to intervene before that happened.”

“AH,” Haruhi nodded. “SO YOU SOUGHT OUT THIS GIRL?”

“Yup, and here we are,” Fuyuki held his arms out widely and grinned.

“Wait,” Lucy turned to Kirill. “Are you still going to make me fight? I made it clear I don’t want to be a soldier.”

“Yes, I know,” Kirill glanced at Haruhi. It would have been possible to coerce a young girl like Lucy into fighting; Kirill was not above subterfuge if it resulted in the continued welfare of those under his command. But convincing Haruhi sounded like too much even for him. Trying to coerce that robot into doing something would be like trying to coerce a hurricane, or an earthquake, or a black hole. So, after thinking it over, Kirill stated “I will not force you to fight. But know this. The Atlantis is a military vessel. We spend the majority of our time patrolling, training, and yes, fighting. Pirating is still a regular problem on Persephone, and the TEST Corps is responsible for fighting those pirates, along with any other force that threatens the lives of those on Persephone. Maybe you won’t have to become a soldier, but if you’re on this ship, you’ll have to at least be able to fight. Because this ship needs all the help it can get.”

“Now you’re speaking like a big-shot Admiral,” Fuyuki remarked.

Kirill merely smiled.

“ARE YOU ATTEMPTING TO COERCE MY MISTRESS?” Haruhi glared at Kirill.

“Not at all,” Kirill waved away such a thought. “However, I am asking her to realize exactly what she’s gotten herself into.” And with that, he walked away, waving goodbye. The two Security officers, not knowing what to do anymore, looked at each other before finally hurrying off after Kirill.

“Ah, that’s better,” Fuyuki rubbed his sore cheeks.

“Fuyuki,” Lucy looked at her wise mentor. “Do I have to stay on this ship?”

“Hm?” Fuyuki blinked.

“That man said if I was a part of this ship, I’d have to know how to fight,” Lucy was thinking. “But I bonded with Haruhi here. Does that mean I don’t even have to be on this ship?”

“Well...” Fuyuki sighed. “The problem is that the big climax I was talking about, the one you need to save the day in, that happened to the crew of the Atlantis. I promised you that you wouldn’t have to fight, but you’re still going to have to be a part of the ship.”

“So Kirill is right,” Lucy started to feel trapped. “I’m going to have to fight, like a soldier, and people are going to die by my hand, and, and, and.....” And she remembered everything. All the fire. All the wreckage. All the death. How could she inflict that on another person? Even if they were pirates, or whatever the Atlantis encountered. Kirill was right. This was a military vessel, and she would-

“Lucy,” Fuyuki looked confidently at the young heroine. “Do you know about the Wizard Scott?”

“What?” Lucy blinked.

“Do you know about the Wizard Scott?” Fuyuki asked again. “Y’know, a powerful wizard, travelling across the galaxy? The first story printed by an offworld colony, and later something of a symbol for the Colonial Creoles as they cast aside the ancestry of the Terran Peninsulares and developed their own cultures and governments? Truly a remarkable feat, for a simple pulp.”

“I...of course,” Lucy stammered. “He’s supposed to be some hero.”

“Not just any hero, the hero,” Fuyuki clarified. “And do you know what makes him the hero?”

“Be...cause....he’s a wizard?” Lucy guessed.

“Bzt, wrong,” Fuyuki playfully jested. “The thing that makes the Wizard Scott the greatest hero of all time is the fact that he really is powerful enough to save everybody. Most heroes have limits. They have to accept the harsh, cold reality that they can’t do enough. And the Wizard Scott has to do that, to an extent. He has to make some sacrifices. But his chief, defining characteristic is the fact that he is powerful enough to save the day, no matter how high the stakes, without taking a single life.

“You have just bonded with Haruhi, one of the most powerful beings in the universe,” Fuyuki smiled warmly up at the robot. “And because of this, you’re now like the Wizard Scott. You can save the day, without sacrificing yourself to the life of a soldier, and instead become something greater: a champion. But keep in mind, this is only so long as you remember the other thing that makes the Wizard Scott the hero. And you need to always keep that in your heart as well, no matter what.”

“What other thing?” Lucy still didn’t understand.

“Do I really need to say it?” Fuyuki chuckled, before taking Lucy and whispering it in her ear.

Her eyes widened as she heard it. It was so simple, yet so elusive. And it made perfect sense. She knew what she had to do.

“Now do you see?” Fuyuki drew back from her and grinned.

“Yes,” Lucy whispered.

“ER, FUYUKI,” Haruhi interrupted the touching moment. “NOT TO BE RUDE, BUT WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?”

“Just let Lucy pilot you from now on,” Fuyuki explained. “And aside from that, just stay here for now. Get to know your roommates. Y’know, that sort of thing.”

“ROOM...MATES?” Haruhi did not quite understand.

“Ah, I’m sure it’ll all work out,” Fuyuki shrugged as he chuckled. “After all, we’ve got Lucy around now.”

“I’ll try not to let you down,” Lucy allowed a smile onto her face.

“I know you won’t,” Fuyuki grinned proudly at her.

“Everybody’s staring at me.”

“Well, you’re the new guy, right? That’s to be expected, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but they’re all looking really peeved at me.”

Akina blinked and looked up from her meal at Leon.

“Peeved?” She asked in disbelief.

“Um, yes,” Leon looked about ten times more nervous than normal, which really was saying something. “I don’t like to curse.”

Akina had to stifle a snicker. Seriously, this new guy got more interesting every minute. Although, now that she looked around, she did notice that several officers in the mess hall they were in were indeed looking at Leon in a very “peeved” manner.

“Oh,” Akina realized. “I get it now. They’re looking at you because you’re sitting alone with me.”

“Huh?” Leon blinked.

“Well I mean, come on, we’re two young people sitting together all by ourselves,” Akina pointed out. “People are liable to assume we’re having a romantic dinner.”

Leon’s eyes bulged widely as his face turned a deep maroon. He was too nervous to speak.

“Don’t worry,” Akina went back to her meal. “Once Algy and Ginger show up, I’m sure the atmosphere will become much more hospitable.”

“O-okay,” Leon tried to ignore the multitude of faces that were all glaring at him.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the mess hall, Gilbert Theron had sat down and was eating quietly.

“Hey Jilly,” Gilbert looked up to see Anand setting his meal across from him. “How’s it going?”

“It is ‘going’ not at all well” Gilbert didn’t look pleased. “We’ve been analyzing those gadgets you nicked from that old guy all day, and yet we still don’t understand anything about them. Honestly, it’s like trying to analyze a rotary engine with a stick.”

“That bad, huh?” Anand very rarely understood any of the technical jargon Gilbert spouted out, but this time he understood it quite well. “So I guess that’s why you didn’t flare up when I called you that stupid nickname.” Anand sighed. “Pity, too.”

“Actually, I find that stupid nickname less insulting than when people mispronounce my proper name,” Gilbert admitted. “At least you pronounced the ‘g’ correctly.”

“Guess I’ll have to step up my game then, Frenchy,” Anand tried a new nickname.

“Oh, like I haven’t heard that one before,” Gilbert’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“Okay, uh....wait, what’s an insulting nickname for a...what was it....Angle?” Anand couldn’t quite remember all the old Earth nationalities.

“Englishman,” Gilbert corrected him. “I am half-Englishman, demi-Français.”

“Yeah, English, that’s what I meant,” Anand nodded.

“Of course you did,” Gilbert glared at his friend.

“So what do you think of the new guy?” Anand’s mood became much more sour.

“I think he’s the luckiest man in this room for getting to sit with Lieutenant Tomino all by himself,” Gilbert glanced at Leon. “I only hope he doesn’t attract any unwanted jealousy.”

“What?” Anand blinked. “No! I mean that other new guy! That prick Kringle-crisp, or whatever.”

“Kirill Magnuson,” Gilbert corrected his friend. “And honestly I don’t know enough about him to form an opinion. I take it you’ve already uncovered some vast conspiracy where he’s the evil leader of these aliens and he wants to destroy all the happiness and sunshine and kittens in the galaxy?”

“If only,” Anand stormed. “But I’ll bet you there’s some dirt on that guy, and I’m going to find it!”

“Let me guess, you’re planning on wiretapping his quarters?” Gilbert raised an eyebrow, guessing his friend’s insane move.

“What? N-no,” Anand stuttered before mumbling “I was gonna put security cameras in it.”

“Why?” Gilbert cocked an eyebrow. “The Captain has already appointed this man as the new Deputy Captain. And besides, it was a direct order from TEST Command. Even if you convince the Captain to let you have your old job back, you certainly won’t be able to convince all of TEST Command. Also, you told me earlier that you were fine with a new Deputy Captain.”

“I’m complicated,” Anand shrugged.

“More like immature,” Gilbert rebutted.

“Fine, fine,” Anand sighed. “I know I’m not getting my old job back. But can’t I still be a little upset about it?”

“No,” Gilbert replied bluntly. “Not if it interferes in your work. We run a tight ship here, and each of us has an exact role to fill.”

“You really need to get a girlfriend, man,” Anand groaned.

“But I don’t need relationship advice from someone who doesn’t even have one himself,” Gilbert countered.

“Fine, fine,” Anand grumbled, not noticing that his friend had stiffened as someone walked into the room.

Minami Kinomoto looked around for Anand. She had decided that, if he was going to leave the Bridge, then now was the moment, the final opportunity. She would get her food, she would sit down next to him, and then she would have a romantic dinner with him! It didn’t matter if he was surrounded by friends, or even other girls, she had at last gotten up the courage to do this, and by jiminy, she was going to do this!

Then she noticed who Anand was sitting by.

Immediately, a singular thought went through both Minami’s and GIlbert’s minds.

Uh-oh

For Gilbert, this thought was a result of the fact that he was quite simply head-over-heels in love with Minami. The one person who was able to crack through his tightly-wound, mechanical demeanor and make him think silly, illogical thoughts was her. When he saw her with another man, he suddenly felt a deep surge of jealousy rage inside him, despite the fact that he knew such thoughts were irrational and unwarranted. When he saw her laugh, he suddenly felt his blood surge and boil throughout his body, despite the fact that he was normally so calm. When he was in her presence, he suddenly found that he was unable to do or even think about work, despite the fact that his work was his life. And the best part of it all was that Gilbert barely understood any of these feelings, and they held a strange fascination over him simply because he could not rationalize or catalogue them.

For Minami, this thought was a result of her first meeting with Gilbert, which had been extremely awkward and which would take an entire chapter to explain.

Needless to say, this was a horrible case of a love triangle. Gilbert loved Minami loved Anand didn’t really know what was even going on. It was a vicious cycle, and sadly, just as much a part of any good story as a grand adventure with a young heroine and a wise mentor. Truly, all parties involved were in for an awkward supper.

Meanwhile, as one awkward situation was started, another ended as Ginger and Algy finally sat down at the same table as Leon and Akina. Leon breathed a sigh of relief as most of the stares that had hounded him now surrendered themselves back to their meals.

“So you the new guy?” Ginger shoved his face close to Leon, which caused no end to rekindling his nervousness.

“Um....yes,” Leon stammered. “You’re invading my personal space.”

“Don’t let it bother you,” Akina grunted. “He only does that to boys he thinks are cute.”

“What!?!” Ginger forgot all about Leon and whipped his head to Akina. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hello there, my name’s Algy,” Algy took Leon’s hand in a firm handshake as his thick mustache curled in a smile.

“I think you can venture a guess,” Akina grinned slyly at her teammate.

“Um, hi, I’m Leon Paris,” Leon matched Algy’s strong grip.

“Hey, I’m completely, 100% straight!” Ginger shouted.

“My, that’s quite a handshake,” Algy liked Leon immediately.

“You know, they say those who defend it the loudest are usually the least truthful,” Akina enjoyed teasing Ginger.

“Thank you, sir,” Leon also liked Algy immediately.

“Why you...” Ginger seethed and glared at Akina, who merely grinned back silently.

“Tell me, I don’t suppose you’re related to-”

“Yes, I am,” Leon sighed.

“You’re nothing like him,” Algy remarked.

“Huh?” Leon blinked.

“You’re nothing like your father, you know,” Algy nodded. “I’ve met him before, and I can safely say you only resemble each other on the outside.”

Leon could only stare. People had always said he was just like his father. This man, Algy, was the first person to ever say the opposite. That was...

“Thank you,” Leon said.

“When you get my age, you can tell a lot about a man, just by shaking his hand and talking to him for a little while,” Algy smiled before sighing. “You also start to fall behind in terms of MAX-piloting. I assume Miss Tomino has told you why she wants you to have dinner with all of us?”

“Um,” Leon glanced at Akina. “She’s told me that she’s interested in getting a new teammate, but she hasn’t said the reason behind the dinner-thing exactly.”

“Well, use your head,” Algy pointed at his cranium. “What’s your first guess as to why this could be going on?”

After thinking about it for a moment, Leon replied “I suppose it’s to see how well I mesh with you all. If I want to be a part of the team, I have to get along with everyone else.”

“Good,” Algy grinned. “So how do you think you’re doing so far?”

“Not sure,” Leon glanced at Ginger.

“Algy, what are you, some miracle-worker?” Akina asked. “You’ve managed to get this boy to stay calm for more than five seconds.”

“Why nothing, Miss Tomino,” Algy smiled.

“So how d’ya like Red Team so far?” Ginger glared at Leon.

“Um...” Leon stiffened at Ginger’s gaze.

“I think Mr. Paris will make a wonderful addition to the team,” Algy said to Akina.

“Well, I still need to check out his piloting skills,” Akina remarked. “But honestly, I think you’re right. He and Ginger seem to be getting along greatly.”

“And I must admit, Miss Tomino,” Algy whispered into his leader’s ear. “This young man’s quite a looker, too. Very cute.”

“Algy!” Akina laughed. “You dirty old man!”

“Oh, Miss Tomino,” Algy tutted. “How rude.”

“What?” Leon hadn’t caught a word of that side-conversation.

Meanwhile, another table away...

“Um...” Minami stood stiffly at Gilbert’s and Anand’s table.

“Um...” Gilbert sat stiffly at the table.

“Hm?” Anand glanced at both Minami and Gilbert, not really knowing what was going on.

But then, then he got an idea. An awful idea. Anand got a wonderful, awful idea.

They must be lovers, he thought incorrectly. And he was in the way, albeit indirectly. He must find a way to leave discreetly. So that the two lovebirds could gossip quite peacefully.

“But how?”, he wondered, he puzzled aloud (and thus drew some odd looks from the surrounding crowd). It had to be subtle, he had to have tact. And quickly, this plan, he had to enact.

“Oh dear I seem to have come down with a slight case of bladder incontinence would you please excuse me gotta go!” Anand jumped out of his seat and ran out of the room before either Minami or Gilbert could react.

“Um...” Minami blinked.

“Um...” Gilbert blinked.

“I should...” Minami discreetly walked away.

“Ah! Wait!” Gilbert realized too late that this would have been a good opportunity to talk to Minami. But now she was too far away, and Gilbert slumped back down despondently.

“How pathetic,” he muttered to himself. He briefly wondered how everyone else’s dinners were going. Probably a lot better than his.


As a matter of fact, Fuyuki was greatly enjoying his meal. After all, it was his most favorite dish that was being served: Eel! He loved eel. Whether they were jellied, smoked, broiled, filleted, or wrapped in green flax leaves and cooked over embers, he adored eels of all kinds. And at that moment, he was showing his adoration by scarfing down the meal served before him.

“You know, if you really love a meal, it’s better to simply savor each bite, and not rush things,” Kirill seemed to be slightly beleaguered by Fuyuki’s behavior.

“I know, I know,” Fuyuki moaned. “But when I see eel, it’s like a beautiful woman! I can’t stop myself from plunging straight into heated passion!”

“But if you plunge in, without taking your time, it’s over in an instant, and you get a stomach-ache,” Kirill tried to keep to the original topic, and not stray into metaphor-territory.

“And no woman likes a man who doesn’t take her needs into account,” the Captain had no problem with metaphor-territory.

Lucy did not speak, merely eating her food quietly.

After reporting to the Captain about Haruhi, Kirill had suggested that Lucy and Fuyuki eat dinner in the Captain’s quarters, rather than the general mess hall. Fuyuki had been excited about the prospect of a dinner invitation, but Lucy...

Lucy looked around herself at the room. She wondered how she could be so calm. It was an accident, she reminded herself. She had to keep reminding herself that.

“So Fuyuki,” the Captain looked at the man who was hungrily scarfing down eel. “As the Captain of the Atlantis, am I supposed to do anything out of the ordinary? I know you can’t confirm this, but I’m operating under the assumption that something big is going to happen to my ship. So do I have to do anything special to help you prevent whatever event is going to destroy the future?”

“‘Fraid not,” Fuyuki swallowed before speaking. “Just keep doing what you normally would. Lucy, Haruhi, and I are the x-factors here. You and everybody else are just as important, but none of you have to do anything besides what you normally would do.”

“But doesn’t your mere presence cause there to be some slight variation in our normal behaviors?” Kirill asked. “After all, I’m sure I’d be behaving quite differently this evening if a crazy old man, a High School girl, and a giant, sentient robot hadn’t popped into my day.”

“True,” Fuyuki acknowledged. “But I’ve accounted for that. As I said before, you only have to do what you’d normally do.”

“Very well,” Kirill resigned himself. “I suppose we’re all just following your lead, then.”

“I wouldn’t put it that way exactly,” Fuyuki seemed to balk at that statement.

“Oh, Lucy,” the Captain left the first conversation to start another. “I noticed you don’t have any clothes with you, aside from your school uniform.”

“Huh?” Lucy blinked before realizing that this was indeed true. How had she managed to forget this?

“Well, I was thinking, since you’re a civilian, I could lend you some of my more normal clothes,” the Captain offered. “I’m not sure how well they’d fit you, but I’d assume you’d feel more comfortable in them than in a soldier’s uniform.”

“Oh,” Lucy replied slowly. She began to feel uncomfortable. With what had happened all those years ago, Lucy had never really stopped to think about the people on the Atlantis. All she had ever known about them was the “incident” they caused. But now, now she was becoming a part of the ship’s crew. Now she was starting to see this crew as people, as individuals. Now she was eating dinner with the Captain!

The Captain who had killed her parents!

Wait, no, no, no. Calm down. Where had that come from? It was an accident. You know that. If the Atlantis hadn’t come, a lot more people might have died. But people HAD died! And it was the Atlantis’s fault!

But don’t you remember what Fuyuki said? It had only been this very day! Are you going to forget it already?

BUT IT’S SO HARD!!! And it shouldn’t be! This woman, the Captain, seems like such a wonderful, kind, caring person. But because of her, Lucy’s parents were dead! Did the Captain know this? Did she realize who this young girl she was having dinner with was? If she didn’t, how would she react if she found out? All Lucy knew was that she couldn’t stay in the room any longer. She was starting to feel suffocated.

“Um...excuse me,” Lucy rose quickly and exited the room. Her head kept on feeling fuzzy, kept on feeling nauseous.

“Hm?” Fuyuki didn’t understand. So he excused himself, and went out the door after Lucy.

He found her curled up on the floor in one of the hallways. She looked almost sick.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Fuyuki ran up to her and squatted down. “Are you feeling sick? Was it something you ate?”

“No,” Lucy buried her face in her crossed arms. “I’m fine.”

“I don’t believe you,” Fuyuki replied bluntly. “What’s wrong?”

“I said I’m fine!” Lucy shouted.

“Then why are you crying?” Fuyuki asked.

“What?” Lucy looked up and felt her face, only to realize that yes, tears were streaming down her face. “Why...why...I...”

“Please Lucy,” Fuyuki’s tone was calm, comforting. “What’s wrong?”

Lucy did not respond at first. How could she tell something so personal, so private, to someone she had only just met that day? But then, who else was there to tell? She felt a burning need to tell someone, to vent out her sorrow. But who was there that she could depend upon, besides her newfound wise mentor?

“I...” It was a while before Lucy finally replied. “Three years ago, my parents died.”

Fuyuki gave a sharp intake of breath. It was a while before he responded. “I...I’m sorry for your loss.”

“That’s not what’s upsetting me,” Lucy buried her face in her arms again. “What’s bothering me is the reason why they’re dead.

“Three years ago, the Atlantis came to Serenity Island. There was a band of pirates that had come to our island. They hadn’t targeted us specifically, they just decided to hit somewhere, and we just happened to be there.

“Because we were being raided, the Atlantis quickly came to help us. But...” And then it got hard to talk.

“If you don’t want to give me details, that’s fine,” Fuyuki quickly made that clear. “I don’t want to force you.”

“No,” Lucy shook her head. “It’s...it’s fine. But...the Atlantis had just installed a new shield system. It was supposed to be an energy field of some kind, and when the Atlantis attacked the pirates’ ships, they decided to test it out.

“But something went wrong. A short circuit, I don’t know. But the field malfunctioned. And as a result, there was an explosion, and a lot of people were caught in the blast. Two of those people were my parents. They...they had left me home alone to go shopping that day.” And then Lucy couldn’t hold back her sadness anymore. She sobbed, as she remembered what it was like.

Just another day. Mom and dad are just going shopping. Just another day. I wonder when they’ll be back. They’ve been gone awhile. Their car didn’t break down, did it? That would have been bad. I’m hungry. How long have they been gone? I thought they said they’d be back before lunch. What’s that noise? Is it pirates? Did pirates come to the island? Then mom and dad...

Run outside! See what’s going on! Where are the pirates? The Atlantis. It’s here. It’s okay. Mom and dad are safe. The TEST Corps is-

Flash of light. Too bright! What....?

Fire. Wreckage. Death. It smells....deep. Most scents, they waft gently into your nose. Sometimes they have a smelly tinge, and they stick a bit. But most scents are still like gases. This smell, I can always remember it. It smelled like a solid. Like a molten slag, that sludged and mucked its way up your nose and filled up your lungs, until you drowned in it. I was drowning in the horrible, horrible scent. And all I could think of were two words.

Mom!

Dad!

“So that was why you wanted to leave the ship,” Fuyuki had placed a comforting arm over Lucy. “That was why you were feeling uncomfortable earlier. What you wanted to tell me when we arrived at the Atlantis. Isn’t it?”

Lucy could only nod mutely.

Fuyuki looked downward sadly. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m a time-traveller, I should have looked into your history before I...oh, what am I saying? That makes it sound like I’m just some emotionless cataloguer. I just....I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Lucy couldn’t even say an “It’s fine” or an “It’s not your fault”.

“Do you blame the Captain for what happened?” Fuyuki asked.

“I...I thought I didn’t,” Lucy finally managed to speak. “B-but...on this ship...just remembering it all...I...”

“You feel the need to blame something,” Fuyuki finished her sentence. “Because if you don’t blame someone or something else, you start to blame yourself. You start to wonder what you could have done. How you could have prevented this. How you could have changed it all, if only you did something differently.

“But at the same time, you realize how silly that is. And so now, you don’t have anyone to blame. You don’t have anywhere to focus what you’re feeling.” Fuyuki was staring off into the distance. Lucy felt herself looking up at his face, and she remembered that he was a very, very old man.

He looked so ancient. His face looked so tired. And Lucy wondered if he was remembering something painful as well. If he had lost someone before.

“But if you don’t release that pain, then it just stays inside you and eats at you,” Fuyuki stood up. He seemed to be thinking something, before finally speaking. “Hit me.”

“Wh-what?” Lucy sputtered.

“Hit me. Go on. I can take it,” Fuyuki seemed perfectly serious.

“But...why?” Lucy couldn’t understand.

“Don’t you feel awful?” Fuyuki looked despondent. “Don’t you just feel horrible? You feel like you just want to hit something, anything, just to vent, just to finally get over what happened. So do it! Hit me!”

“I can’t do that!” Lucy stood up and shouted. “How could you suggest something like that!?!”

“I can take it!” Fuyuki shouted back as he held his arms out wide. “If you need to vent, if you need to grieve, if you need to take it out on something, then take it out on me! I can handle it!”

Lucy couldn’t believe what was going on. It was all just so ridiculous. How was she supposed to react to this?

“Come on!” Fuyuki seemed to be almost pleading.

Lucy stood there, staring. Then, she slowly formed a fist, and socked Fuyuki right in the jaw. The force was enough to send him reeling, and then skidding on his bottom on the sleek floor.

“Ouch!” Fuyuki clasped his bruised jaw and screeched in pain as he finally came to a halt. “Ow...atatata...” slowly he calmed down, and looked up at Lucy with a sheepish smile. “Did that help?”

“No,” Lucy looked at Fuyuki like he was crazy. “I hit you.”

“What?” Fuyuki blinked. “But...wait, you don’t feel better at all?”

“No,” Lucy really didn’t. “Now I just feel bad for hitting you!”

“But...but....” Fuyuki got up and stuttered confusedly. “I....wait. Um...”

“You’re crazy!” Lucy shouted at Fuyuki, and she genuinely believed that. “You are absolutely insane!” She didn’t even notice as she kept on shouting, that her tone was becoming less and less saddened. “You are unbelievable!” And then she didn’t notice that slowly, she was starting to laugh. “You are...completely....utterly...you...” And then she was laughing and sobbing at the same time. A giant fountain of emotion was bubbling out of her, and she didn’t even realize it until it was mostly gone. She had no control over the tears, over the laughter, over the feelings she was feeling. It just sort of...erupted. Until finally, she was standing there, face drenched in tears, and lungs tired from laughing, but heart feeling a little less heavy. “You’re crazy,” she smiled sadly at this strange, strange man she had only just met that day.

“I know,” Fuyuki gave a smile that was half-acknowledgement, half-apology. “Um...now do you feel better?”

Lucy wasn’t sure, but she had a strange feeling that she was. “I...” she remembered everything; every last detail of her parents death. And it hurt. It hurt so much to remember losing them. But now, she didn’t feel a need to blame something. It had happened. And it was a horrible, horrible thing for it to happen. However, for the first time since it had happened, Lucy was starting to accept that. “I think so.” she finally said.

“Well, good,” Fuyuki clutched his face and flinched. “‘Cause I’m not sure I’d have been able to handle another punch like that.”


“When you’re the Captain of a ship, you have to accept the fact that sometimes people will die under your command,” the Captain was looking sadly at her glass of wine. “So when it happens, you rationalize it. You convince yourself that because those people died, other people were able to live. You try to think of the bigger picture.”

“But that isn’t always easy. Is it?” Kirill’s face was expressionless, but his eyes betrayed a sense of understanding.

“Of course it isn’t,” the Captain sighed. “But you have to do it. And if you’re lucky, you never get to meet the family or friends of those people who died because of you. But sometimes, you do. And when you do, you realize that this person you’re looking at, because of you, part of them is dead.”

“You know who Lucy is?” Kirill asked.

“Yes,” the Captain replied. “I read through the entire list of the people who died that day; both soldiers and civilians. I still remember every one of those names.”

“And so you see Lucy as a chance for atonement,” Kirill ventured a guess.

“What?” the Captain glanced up.

“Because you know who Lucy is, you feel the need to somehow make up to her for what you did,” Kirill went on. “Thus inviting her to dinner. And offering her clothes. You see her as a chance to atone for all the people who died that day.”

“No,” the Captain shook her head. “I’ve made my peace with that day already. I don’t feel any need to atone for it. I invited Lucy to dinner because I didn’t think she’d feel comfortable in the mess hall, full of people she didn’t know. And I offered her clothes for the same reason I said I did. Although, I think she might blame me slightly for what happened, so I guess my first idea wasn’t a very good one. Still, if she’s supposed to help save the world, I want her to be a part of my ship, even if she blames me for her parents’ deaths.”

Kirill did not respond to this.

“Although,” a dark, sad look crossed the Captain’s face. “There is one man on this ship who does still blame himself for what happened on that day. If he found out who Lucy was, I don’t think he’d react very well.”

“And who would that be?” Kirill asked.

The Captain merely gave a sad smile.


At that moment, that man was sitting in the mess hall, eating his food and feeling sorry for not taking the chance to have dinner with Minami.

“This is Lieutenant Tomino, requesting permission to launch.”

“Right, ma’am. ready to launch.”

“Tomino, launching!”

Akina and her MAX zoomed across the launchpad, before being released and falling onto the island the Atlantis had just stopped at.


“This is your Captain speaking,” the Captain got onto the ship’s intercom. “We shall now be leaving Serenity Island. All hands on deck.”

“I think I’ll be glad to get off this island,” Minami mumbled to herself, as taking a look at her navigational readings, she still saw several very angry dots protesting outside the ship.

“Now then,” the Captain turned her attention to everyone on the bridge. “As you know, we have a new officer here, Lieutenant Colonel Magnuson. Despite the fact that Lieutenant Commander Ashta was a good friend to all of you, I don’t want any of you to hold resentment towards the Lieutenant Colonel because he replaced Ashta. If you have a problem with the Lieutenant Colonel, you have a problem with me. Understood?”

“Ma’am yes ma’am!” each of the bridge-members knew not to raise a fuss. They all didn’t like that Anand was gone, but they knew that if the Captain had ordered it, there was nothing they could do about it. It was better just to get along with the new guy.

However, that still didn’t stop Minami from casting a resentful glance at Kirill, who stood dutifully by the Captain’s seat. He looked to Minami like a snake, charming his new master with lies. He merely smiled back at her.


“This is Lieutenant JG Paris, requesting permission to launch.”

“Right, ready to launch.”

“Paris, I’m off!”


“So, run this by me again,” Akina tried to wrap her head around the situation. “We’re going to Trinity Island, which is good training grounds and whatnot, so that I can get a good look at the Lieutenant JG’s piloting skills.”

“Not just you,” the Captain interjected. “You may need the Lieutenant JG for your team, but I need him for my ship, too. I want to see what he’s capable of just as much as you do.”

“Okay, okay,” Akina still hadn’t gotten to the part she was confused over. “But what does the new girl, Lucy, have to do with this?”

“Again, if she’s going to be a part of my ship, I want to see how well she pilots the MAX model- how well she pilots Haruhi,” the Captain caught herself. “Also, Fuyuki said that she needs to pilot him frequently, so now’s as good a time as any for her to start.”


“This is Lucy Natsumi and Haruhi.”

“You need to request permission to launch.”

“I do? Oh, sorry, um, requesting permission for launch.”

“Very good, we are ready for launch.”

“Now say something cool.”

“What?” Vanessa was confused. Who was this new person on the commwaves?

“Pardon?” Lucy was confused.

“Say something cool,” Fuyuki had hacked into the commwaves. “When you launch. It’s really superheroic and all.”

“I...” Lucy was a bit at a loss for words.

“Fuyuki, how’d you get onto the commwaves?” the Captain grabbed a headset and inquired angrily.

“Uh-oh, exit stage left,” Fuyuki popped off the commwaves as quickly as he had come.

The Captain was not amused.

“A-anyways,” Vanessa went back to Lucy. “We’re ready for launch.”

“R-right,” Lucy concentrated back on the job at hand. “Lucy and Haruhi....let’s do this!”

And with that something cool she had said, Lucy and Haruhi launched onto Trinity Island.


“Heya,” Fuyuki caught up to Lucy. “So I take it you’re going off to pilot Haruhi now.”

“Yeah,” Lucy said. “The Lieutenant is taking me to get fitted for a pilot’s suit.”

“Ah, yeah,” Fuyuki nodded. “That won’t really be of much use to you surface-side, but it’s vital if you’ll ever go out into space.”

“I’ll be going out into space?” Lucy raised her brow.

“Ah....” Fuyuki didn’t seem to be very good at keeping secrets. His nervous expression and stiff posture gave away any alibi he could’ve come up with. “B-but anyways,” Fuyuki turned serious. “How are you holding up?”

Lucy’s expression slightly darkened at that question, but it was with honesty that she replied “Alright. I think I’ll be fine.”

“Alright then,” Fuyuki looked very happy at that. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Thanks,” Lucy smiled.

“Hey, Lucy,” Akina backtracked to Lucy. “I thought I’d lost you there for a sec. Come on, we’ll be arriving shortly.”

“Oh, sorry,” Lucy waved goodbye to Fuyuki before following Akina.

“Have fun,” Fuyuki waved back.


“Alright then,” Akina held up three enormous flags that she had brought with her. One was red, one was blue, and one was green. “As you can tell already, Trinity Island is small, grassy, with little to no tall plant life, and has three distinct peninsulas that make up its landmass. As you might have guessed from the flags, today we’re going to play one giant game of capture the flag.”

“Seriously?” Lucy was surprised at this idea.

“Yup,” you couldn’t see it, but inside the cockpit where Akina sat in, she was grinning. “Each of us gets a flag. Then, we each go to the edge of one of the three peninsulas. And then finally, we each try to capture the others’ flags. The first person to get all three flags wins.”

“Alright...” Lucy wasn’t sure. She may have been bonded with Haruhi, but Akina and Leon were both much more experienced in terms of MAX-piloting than her. She hoped she was able to keep up.

“DO NOT WORRY, CHILD,” Lucy heard a voice inside her head, and knew that it was Haruhi. “I SHALL BE WITH YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. JUST RELAX, AND HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF.”

“Ya got that, Paris?” Akina asked Leon, who hadn’t spoken since launching.

“Yes ma’am,” Leon’s voice had visibly changed. The fear was gone.

“Perfect then,” Akina was looking forward to seeing what Leon could do. “Then you take the south peninsula” she tossed Leon the blue flag. “And you take the north,” Akina tossed Lucy the green one. “I’ll take the west,” Akina kept the red flag.


“Alright, alright, let’s see,” Akina was rummaging around the spare pilot-suits in the girls’ locker room. “We always have a couple spare space suits in case of civilians coming on board. But spare pilot suits...those are hard to come by.

“But don’t worry,” Akina grinned up Lucy, who was waiting beside her patiently. “I’m sure we’ll find you one.”

“Thanks,” Lucy nodded. As Akina rummaged through the suits for a while longer, Lucy asked “Have you been on this ship for very long?”

“Only two years,” Akina answered. “But I’ve managed to climb up pretty far since then.”

“Oh,” Lucy replied. Two years. So she had become a crew-member after-

“If you’re going to ask me something like what kind of a woman the Captain is,” Akina grinned slyly at Lucy. “I can tell you right now that she’s the best Captain I’ve ever met. She doesn’t let it on to anyone, but she was really shaken up by what happened three years ago,” Akina’s expression had turned sad. “I’m pretty sure she’s memorized the names of everyone who died that day.”

Now Lucy was starting to feel bad. She hadn’t meant to pry this deeply about the Captain.

“And really, I’m proud to serve under her,” Akina straightened up, with a proud expression on her face, before becoming embarrassed. “B-but don’t tell her I said that. She’d gloat like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Why?” Lucy blinked.

“Because she’s my sister,” Akina sighed.

“Wait, really?” Lucy was surprised.

“Yes, please don’t make a big deal about it,” Akina groaned.

“Actually, I think that’s pretty cool,” Lucy admitted.

“Really?” Akina blinked.

“Yeah,” Lucy nodded. “I mean, you probably wouldn’t have been allowed to serve on this ship if you couldn’t keep things professional between you and the Captain. So I just think it’s cool to find out about your relationship with her. It’s a nice touch.”

“Touch to what?” Akina cocked her head to one side.

“To you,” Lucy cocked her head to one side as well.


“So, where’s a good place to put the flag?” Lucy wondered aloud.

“I WOULD SUGGEST THE ALCOVE WHERE THE BIRDS HAVE GATHERED, ON THE EDGE OF THAT CLIFF,” Haruhi’s limbs moved without Lucy’s consent to point to the edge of the peninsula.

Lucy blinked. She hadn’t realized there was an alcove on that cliffside. However, when she moved over to look down the cliff, she saw that there it was indeed. One could very easily place the flag in there. There weren’t any nests there, so she might scare away some birds, but it really was an ideal spot to put the flag. Except...

“Won’t this make the flag unnecessarily difficult to find?” Lucy asked Haruhi. If the flagpole’s bottom was in the alcove, then its top would barely poke up from the cliff’s surface.

“AKINA DID NOT SPECIFY THE RULES FOR WHERE TO PLACE THE FLAGS,” Haruhi’s voice was the same booming, melodious monotone as before, but now, there was a slight hint of mischief in it.

“Well alright then,” Lucy chuckled, as she kneeled down and carefully placed the flag within the alcove. Some birds were indeed scared off, but none of them were hurt.

As Lucy rose, a question suddenly popped into her head. “How’d you know there was an alcove there?”

“IT SPOKE TO ME,” was all Haruhi said.

“And here I thought Fuyuki could be cryptic,” Lucy sighed.


“How’s the suit fitting you?” Fuyuki waved to Lucy as she walked onto the hangar.

“It’s a little snug,” Lucy felt slightly embarrassed at how form-fitting the suit was.

“Don’t worry, it’s like that to increase mobility while still protecting you from the vacuum of space,” Fuyuki chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll get used to it soon.”

“If you say so,” Lucy still felt a little uncomfortable. “So what are you here for?”

“I’m here to help you with Haruhi’s controls,” Fuyuki motioned his head in the robot’s direction.

“FUYUKI, I’M BORED,” Haruhi seemed almost to sigh. “THERE IS NOTHING FOR ME TO DO IN THIS HANGAR, AND MY ‘ROOMMATES’ ARE FRIGHTFULLY DULL IN TERMS OF CONVERSATION.”

“Aw, don’t worry,” Fuyuki assuaged Haruhi’s concerns. “You’re getting to go out today.”

“REALLY?” Haruhi’s eyes had a hopeful gleam in them.

“Yup, just as soon as I get Lucy adjusted with all the controls,” Fuyuki said.


“Oh, by the way,” Lucy asked Haruhi as she walked back towards the center of the island. “Um, could you not take control of the limbs like that again? I don’t want to sound rude, but I’d like to see how well I do on my own today.”

“I SEE. APOLOGIES, THEN. I SHALL KEEP THE CONTROL OF MY LIMBS TO YOU.”

“Thanks.”

“I SHALL, HOWEVER, ALSO TELL YOU THAT AKINA HAS JUST JUMPED OUT FROM BEHIND YOU AND IS ABOUT TO KICK YOU RIGHT IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD.”

“WHAT?” Lucy quickly turned around in enough time to see a foot slam into her field of vision. She then careened through the air, before becoming reacquainted with the ground and skidding for a good while.

“Ha! Too easy!” Akina wasn’t pulling her punches.


“Okay,” Fuyuki and Lucy were now on a lifting platform, and had opened up the back bulging part of Haruhi. Inside was a seat with two hand-controls of some kind. The walls were a perfectly smooth, concave surface. Aside from that, there was hardly anything at all inside the cockpit. “Piloting Haruhi is really a simple matter. You just sit in the seat, place your hands on the controls, and think about moving.”

“That’s it?” Lucy had expected more.

“Yup,” Fuyuki motioned for her to get inside.

“But if all I do is think,” Lucy pondered. “Why are there even hand-controls to begin with?”

“They’re there for you to shove forward every time you want to charge forward or do something awesome,” Fuyuki said it like it made perfect sense.

“IT LOOKS VERY COOL,” Haruhi added.

“But...I’m going to be inside the middle of a cockpit,” Lucy was feeling slightly exasperated. “Who’s going to be there to admire how cool I look, unless they have X-Ray vision?”

“Well...” Fuyuki looked like he hadn’t thought of that. “I...I don’t know. But haven’t you ever seen one of those groovy tv shows, where the hero is inside the Super Robot, and they charge into battle while screaming some battlecry and shoving their arms forward?”

“I was always more a Real Robot girl myself,” Lucy wasn’t very amused.

“Same here!” Lucy looked behind her to see Akina also on a lift-platform, and also about to get inside a robot; specifically the robot right next to Haruhi. “Real Robot pilots always had to have skill and ingenuity, not just testosterone and bravery.”

“Tell me about it,” Lucy was really starting to get along with Akina.

“Well...too bad, because Haruhi here is a genuine Super Robot, and since you now pilot him, that makes you a Super Robot heroine,” Fuyuki appeared miffed.

“Aw,” Lucy gave a mock complaint before getting into the cockpit.

“Okay, remember, just think,” Fuyuki reminded Lucy before closing the cockpit door.

“Right,” Lucy concentrated on the task at hand. She had to strengthen the bond between her and Haruhi, and in order to do that, she needed to pilot frequently.

Once the cockpit door was closed, and Lucy had placed her hands on the controls, the concave surface lit up, and she could see all around her, just like normal vision. Lucy thought about walking, and then, just like that, she felt Haruhi’s leg move forward, before she tripped and almost fell flat on her face.

Thankfully, Haruhi intervened, and moved his limbs on his own so as to reassert his balance.

“Huh?” Lucy looked around in surprise, wondering how Haruhi had regained balance without her thinking it.

“IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO THINK QUICKLY ENOUGH TO ACT, I MAY REASSERT MY DOMINANCE OVER MY MOTOR CONTROLS TO MAKE UP FOR YOU,” Haruhi’s voice now resounded within Lucy’s head.

“Oh,” Lucy’s mouth moved silently as she then understood.

“Don’t worry, everyone trips their first time,” Akina had gotten into her robot, and Lucy heard her electronic voice inside the cockpit.

Akina’s robot was a MAX model 4G-3.5 Aslan. MAX models were organized by the generation they had been built in, and then in what order they had been built. The Aslan was a 4th Gen model, and the fourth model in that line. Prototypes, which were always the first models in lines, were given the number 0. And Akina’s Aslan had the number 3.5 because she had personally tinkered with it to improve its controls, speed, and performance. It now moved with three times the speed of a normal Alsan. And yes, it was painted red.

“That’s an....Aslan, right?” Lucy only knew a little bit about MAX models. “Why is it red? I thought most Aslans were gold.”

“Red’s my favorite colour,” was Akina’s honest response. “Anyways, we’ve still got a bit of time before we reach Trinity Island. Why don’t you practise walking? I’ll help you once the mechanics get my RAZr add-ons attached.”

RAZr’s (nobody really knew what the acronym stood for) were similar to roller skates, and could be attached to the ankles of MAX’s for increased mobility and speed on most terrain. Akina didn’t really need them, her Aslan was already fast without the RAZr’s, but she preferred to work with them on.

“Alright,” Lucy gulped, as she tried once more to walk. It was more difficult than she imagined it would be. However, even before Akina got her RAZr’s attached, Lucy seemed to have gotten the hang of it.

“By the way, where’s Lieutenant Paris?” Lucy looked around, but didn’t see any other MAX’s being prepared.

“He’s in the other hangar,” Akina said. “Don’t worry. We’ll see him soon.”


“What the-” Lucy could hardly react in enough time to scurry out of the way as Akina leapt up to deal another strike. As Akina’s Aslan slammed into the ground, Lucy felt the ground shake, and she started to panic.

“DO NOT PANIC, CHILD,” Haruhi calmed her. “I AM HERE.”

“Right, right,” Lucy quickly turned around to get Akina in her sights again.

“Come on, Lucy,” Akina stood facing Lucy excitedly. She was obviously having fun. “I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a civilian.”

“Bring it on!” Lucy didn’t even realize she had shouted the words until they had left her lips. Uh-oh.

“Alright!” the wheels on Akina’s Aslan zoomed as she sped towards Lucy.

“Keep calm, keep calm,” Lucy’s mind was focused. She knew that if she leapt up at the right moment, she would be able to deliver a strike to the Aslan’s head.

The Aslan got its name from the fact that most MAX’s had only one viable camera from which the pilot could view the outside world: the head. As such, if one were to take out the head of a MAX, it would essentially be flying blind. The Aslan, however, was built with a “mane”, a protective shield that covered itself around most of the Aslan’s head. The price was, of course, limited visibility, but the Aslan was still considered better than the MAX model 4G-1 Dasypus or the MAX model 4G-2 Triceratops in terms of performance and handling. Only 120 degrees of visibility (rather than the standard 360) seemed like a small price to pay for a 4th Generation model that was still being used as 6th Generation models were coming out.

But enough of the narrator geeking out about MAX’s. It’s not my job to go off on tangents, but rather, to tell the story. So then, back to the action. Where were we?

Ah yes, Lucy was waiting for the proper moment to strike. Because the Aslan was charging directly at her, that meant its head was exposed. It was a totally crazy idea, but just crazy enough to work. However, before she could do this, something happened that neither she nor Akina expected. A flash of blue was all Lucy saw before she realized that Leon had shown up.

He spoke no words, merely moving his MAX as lithely and gracefully as his own body. His body twisted into a drop-kick, as he prepared to kick Akina dead-center in her blind-spot.

Akina, however, had other ideas, as she quickly turned around and blocked Leon’s kick. Leon gracefully rebounded from this block, and landed on his feet in perfect balance, every bit the picture of skill and efficiency.

The MAX model 6G-1 Gawain was the Test Type for the 6th Generation of MAX models. It was the first mass-produced model sent out to be used in the field, and it was the cutting edge of MAX technology. Haruhi was slender and statuesque; far more so than the Gawain, but considering the fact that Haruhi was some sort of sentient, incredibly powerful being and the Gawain was a mass-produced machine, the Gawain far outshone Haruhi. Its distinctive head had four frills sticking out from the front, each of which had an eye at its base. This allowed for greater visibility, and a sort of radar as well in the Gawain. The Gawain stood taller than either the Aslan or Haruhi, and its pose held a sense of power that made Lucy gulp in trepidation.

“I thought that you wouldn’t be able to detect me, what with your mane,” Leon spoke.

“Ha! If I had a nickel for every punk pirate who thought that, I wouldn’t be stuck in the service,” Akina sounded like she was just warming up. “But I don’t need visibility back there so long as I have instinct.”

“Of course, ma’am,” When he was in the MAX, Leon seemed almost like a totally different person. Calm, confident, and powerful, just like the MAX itself. Akina had to admit, she was liking this new development of him.

Lucy also had to admit...she was feeling completely screwed.

Akina was the first to charge. Using her RAZr’s to give an added boost of speed, she very quickly managed to catch up to the Gawain. An ordinary pilot would have immediately been trapped, forced to take a deadly blow. However, somehow, somehow despite all the odds saying it was nearly impossible, Leon’s reflexes were fast enough for him to block Akina’s punches. Not only block them, but hold onto her Aslan’s fists with one hand and try for a punch with the other. But if Leon could dodge a dash, Akina could prevent a punch from pugilistically pummeling her. Crouching down so that the mane took the brunt of the blow (which it handled easily), Akina then flipped herself forward so that her RAZr-augmented legs could deliver a kick to the Gawain’s head.

And then Leon revealed his true strategy. By forcing Akina to use her legs, Leon was able to utilize one of the key flaws with the RAZr’s design: they were very large and stuck out. Letting go of the Aslan’s arms, and thus depriving Akina of an axis upon which to spin, Leon took advantage of her momentary disorientation to grab hold of one of the RAZr’s and wave it around like a fishing pole.

“Oof!” Akina had the wind knocked out of her as her Aslan slammed against the ground.

“Are you okay, ma’am?” Leon revealed a hint of his former self as he nervously asked. “I didn’t mean to seriously injure you, merely immobilize you.”

Akina did not respond at first, and Leon thought for a moment that he had indeed seriously hurt the Lieutenant. But then, quietly at first but progressively growing louder, he heard...laughter emanating from the Aslan.

“Are you kidding?” Akina was having the time of her life. This kid was good! “I’m just getting started!” Then in an effort to deploy psychological warfare, she added “You’re a man after my own heart.”

“Hnh?” Leon blushed, and laxed his attention enough for Akina to disengage the RAZr he held. Now with newfound freedom, but hampered mobility, Akina used what little time she had left of Leon’s disorientation to get into an appropriate position and disengage her other RAZr...right towards Leon’s face. Leon managed to use the first RAZr as a baseball bat to bash the second RAZr away, but because he was focused on that, he didn’t realize until it was too late that Akina had leapt up and grabbed the Gawain’s head. It only took one strong heave for her to rip it off.

“Aggggh!” Leon screeched as the Gawain reeled. The head was gone! And with it, the main camera!

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you need that?” Akina smirked as she held the head triumphantly.

“No, not really,” Leon said before two frills opened from each of his shoulders, and he quickly punched out Akina’s head.

“What? H-how!?!” Something that had never happened to Akina before was suddenly happening now. She had been caught unawares. And as a result, she was completely blind. She cursed herself for overconfidence. But how? How could he have been able to see well enough to deal a blow that precise?

“Do you remember why the 5th Generation MAX models stopped using the mane-armor?” Leon calmly asked Akina.

Certainly she knew. “It was because instead of trying to guard a single camera, they wanted to build a MAX with multiple cameras, so that the head being taken out wouldn’t disable the MAX.” Of course! She realized now.

“The process was finally perfected with the MAX model 6G-0 Merlin,” Leon continued. “And is now built into the frame of all 6th Generation MAX models.”

So while Akina was really flying blind now, Leon was perfectly fine. Akina cursed under her breath. Well, that’s what she got for going up against the latest piece of technology. But the Aslan had tangoed with the best of the 5th Generation of MAX models, and always come out on top. If she could beat them, she could beat the Gawain.

“Well then great!” she shouted. “I guess it wouldn’t be as fun if it were really that easy to beat you! But don’t think you’ve got the upper hand! If I can make up for 240 degrees by instinct, I can make it up for 3-”

Before she could finish, the Gawain punched her in the chest, causing her to fly through the air in the same way Lucy had earlier, and hit the ground in the same way as well.

It was then that Lucy realized she had been standing there, staring at the battle. She had to admit, the fight between Akina and Leon was truly an impressive sight. But Lucy also had to admit that she was hopelessly outclassed. If she entered the fray, she would be soundly defeated within several seconds. But then how, how was she supposed to prove what she could do when she was going up against titans?

“HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE POINT OF THIS EXERCISE?” Haruhi’s voice resounded in Lucy’s mind.

“Huh?” Lucy blinked. Wait, what had been the- She smacked her head.

Capture the flag.

Leon and Akina were fighting because it was easier to get the flags against an immobilized opponent. However...

“ONE COULD STILL CAPTURE THE FLAGS WITHOUT FIGHTING,” Haruhi reminded her.

That was right. But...wouldn’t that sort of be underhanded? Letting Akina and Leon duke it out while she snuck off to claim the victory?

“THE ONLY THING WE WERE SUPPOSED TO DO IN THIS EXERCISE WAS CAPTURE OUR OPPONENTS’ FLAGS,” Haruhi assuaged Lucy’s doubts. “TO END THIS WITHOUT FIGHTING ANYONE IS NOT UNDERHANDED. IT IS MERELY FOLLOWING THE OBJECTIVE SET OUT FOR US IN THE MOST STRAIGHTFORWARD WAY POSSIBLE.”

That’s right. All she was supposed to do was get the flags. Fighting for them was merely an added variable.

“Thanks, Haruhi,” Lucy felt glad she had two wise mentors by her side as she quietly snuck off away from the battle.

“Hey!” Akina shouted. “You interrupted my monologuing! You should never interrupt a lady while she’s monologuing!”

“Sorry ma’am,” Leon seemed genuinely apologetic. “However, you left yourself wide open because of it. The pragmatic thing to do was take advantage of the situation.”

“Do you always do the pragmatic thing?” Akina said the word with a particular amount of venom.

“Only in battle, ma’am,” Leon leapt up to deal another strike.

Only this time, Akina was ready. She hadn’t been bluffing when she said her instinct could make up for blindness. And it was purely on instinct that she managed to dodge Leon’s blow. Unfortunately, dodging was about the only thing instinct would allow her to do. There was just one way to fix this.

The entrance to Haruhi’s cockpit was on his back, however, most MAX’s had their entrances on the front. And if Akina opened up the entrance, then she would be able to see Leon again.

Of course, this would increase her vulnerability; and more specifically, her own body’s vulnerability, not the MAX’s. But hey, you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette. Akina opened up her cockpit and regained her bearings.

“Um, ma’am?” Leon suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Good, that would work to Akina’s advantage.

“What’s the matter, hon?” Akina grinned maliciously. “Lost your nerve?”

“Ma’am, if I deliver a blow to you now, it could seriously injure you. You could even fall out,” Leon relaxed the stance of his Gawain. It seemed he had no intention of continuing the fight.

Which was too bad, because Akina certainly intended to carry this on. As Leon laid down his arms, Akina yelled a battlecry as she charged ahead.

And completely missed her target. Leon jumped out of the way in enough time.

“What?” Akina’s jaw dropped. Leon had shown he was fast, but that fast? She had had no idea.

“Ma’am, I’m not going to risk you getting seriously hurt,” Leon had regained every bit of his old nervousness as he cried out.

“Oh come on!” Akina was not very happy. “I’m a big girl! I know what I’m doing! Don’t treat me like some porcelain doll!”

“Um...are you sure?” Leon seemed reluctant.

“Of course!” Akina was the opposite of reluctant. “I can do this all day!”

“Well...alright then,” and with that, Leon leapt towards Akina, and gave her another kick, which she countered with another block.

“Don’t hold back on me!” Akina shouted even as her body was pummeled. “What about that thing you just did against my charge?”

“What? You mean the Dash?” Leon continued to parry his punches against Akina. “Um, I can only do one of those about every hour or so. Otherwise the engine overheats.”

“Well then I guess you don’t have any more aces up your sleeve!” Akina was glad to hear that.

“This is very true,” Leon wailed as he realized this.

“And that means I can win this!” Akina felt great as adrenaline and endorphins pumped through her veins. This was what she lived for. The rush she felt as she gauged an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, as she pushed herself in battle and realized her full potential. It was the greatest feeling in the world. And this shy, nervous young boy, this newbie from Mars, this kid who had fear written all over his face when she first met him, he was providing the best battle she had ever fought in. “Hey!” she decided to add something before she finished this. “However this ends, Paris, whether I win or lose, consider yourself a member of Red Team!”

“Huh? R-really?” Leon had a brief moment of pause, as his brain registered this new information.

And that was all Akina needed for her to deliver a stomach punch to the Gawain. Using all the strength in her Aslan’s pistons and motors, she slammed into the most vulnerable part of any MAX: right where the pilot was located. The Gawain left the ground before falling flat on its back, with a force deadly enough to take any MAX out of a fight.

“And that’s why I’m the Lieutenant,” Akina removed her pilot’s helmet and tossed her hair confidently. Seriously though, who knew such a shy little boy could be so good in battle?

“Um, ma’am,” the perfectly-fine voice of Leon emanated from the Gawain’s speakers. “I don’t want to disappoint you, especially since I consider you the Lieutenant and- wait, you are a Lieutenant. Um, wait, I mean, hold on, um-”

Akina’s jaw dropped for the second time that day. “No way!” She couldn’t believe it. “You’re still ready for more? Keep this up hon, and I’ll have to ask you out to dinner. On purpose this time.”

“Um...” It was almost as though the Gawain’s face was the one that turned bright red, which didn’t make any sense, as its head had been torn clear off. Come to think of it, where had Akina tossed that head? “W-well,” the Gawain slowly, jerkily, but surely stood back upright. “I actually can go further. If you want me to, that is, ma’am.”

“Sounds good to me, hon,” Akina readied her stance, preparing to go back into the fray. “Ready when you are.”

“Alright then,” Leon also readied his stance, and confidence began to seep back into his voice. “In that case-”

“Um, hold on!” Lucy stood there, holding all three of the flags. “I....I got all the flags! So that means the game’s over, right?”

“Uh...” Akina blinked.

“Um...” Leon blinked.

Wait....

“You got all the flags!?!” Leon and Akina shouted in unison.

“Well, you all were so busy fighting, so I just decided to finish the task that was set out for us,” Lucy felt a little nervous after the outburst from Leon and Akina. “Really though, it was Haruhi’s idea. I shouldn’t be the one to take credit for it.”

“That’s...that’s...” Akina could only stammer.

“We got so caught up in fighting, we completely forgot about the actual flags,” Leon bowed his head in shame (his real head, not the Gawain’s, since that had been ripped off).

“So I guess this is a win for me then,” Lucy grinned.

“Right you are, Lucy,” the Captain spoke through the commwaves to all three pilots. “Game over, kids. Today’s victory goes to Lucy.”

“Thanks Haruhi,” Lucy patted the concave surface in her cockpit.

“DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT,” Haruhi replied. “YOU HAD THE SENSE TO ACTUALLY LISTEN TO MY ADVICE, AND ALSO TO GATHER THE FLAGS IN ENOUGH TIME TO PREVENT THOSE TWO FROM SERIOUSLY HURTING EACH OTHER.”

“Yeah,” Lucy had to admit that. “Although, they seem to have had a good time.”


Gilbert could only gibber as he saw the mess Leon and Akina had made of the Aslan and Gawain.

“Y-you...you completely totalled the bloody machines!!!” Gilbert screamed at Akina, the closest of the two pilots.

“Aw, come on, Jilly,” Akina pouted cutely as she placed a finger on her chin and spoke in a baby-voice. “We were only having a little fun.”

“I have seen the Aslan in better conditions after it has been in battles!” Gilbert did not calm down. “Battles!!! And you write this off as a ‘little fun’!?!”

“I have to admit, he was pretty amazing,” Akina had the voice and expression of one who has just done something else that would deserve such a response. But then she cleared her mind up as Lucy came over. “But I can’t forget the actual winner of this. Good job Lucy!” Akina raised her hand to give out a high-five.

“Th-thanks,” Lucy returned the gesture.

“Oh fine then, just ignore me!” Gilbert’s eye started to twitch as he screamed and stormed off towards the damaged Aslan.

“Um, will he be alright?” Lucy looked worriedly at Gilbert.

“Hm? Oh yeah, don’t worry. He may complain and scream, but he’ll have both our MAX’s good as new before you know it. Seriously though, good thinking back there,” Akina was now starting to look a little embarrassed. “I have to admit, I do have a tendency to rush into battle. I don’t always have enough sense to realize a peaceful outcome. I’m glad you aren’t like that.”

Lucy was feeling very flustered. She didn’t feel like what she had done was particularly special, but people were acting like it was. Trying to change the conversation, she glanced at the Gawain, which was now also in Hangar 2. “S-so, why is Leon now in the same hangar as us?”

“Oh, well now that he’s a member of Red Team, he’s gotta be in the same hangar as us,” Akina turned her head that way as well. “I should probably offer Paris some congratulations as well, although first...” Akina unzipped some of her pilot suit and started to fan herself. “Whooh, piloting like that really worked up a sweat.”

“Uh, Miss Tomino?” Lucy quickly glanced around, hoping nobody noticed the young woman who was practically stripping nearby.

“Oh, just call me Akina,” Akina smiled.

“Um, alright, Akina. You realize you’re kind of stripping in the middle of the hangar, right?” but as Lucy finished her sentence, she realized Akina had left already. “Ah!” Lucy blanched as she imagined how this situation could end.

“Hey, Paris,” Akina waved hello to the young pilot, who was currently helping the engineers out.

“Ah, Lieutenant,” Leon turned around before his eyes got huge and his face turned red and his mouth zipped shut.

“What?” Akina didn’t seem to see the problem.

“Um...” Leon took a deep breath, coughed, and calmed himself. “Yes ma’am? Is there any way I can help you?”

“I just wanted to say good job out there, and I’m really looking forward to working with you,” Akina was curious now. “Seriously. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, ma’am,” Leon assumed that Akina was still testing him. It was understandable. She was.....highly attractive, even if she was his superior officer. And if he wanted to be a part of the team, he had to be able to look at her as an officer, instead of as a very beautiful young woman. Alright, that was doable. He was a gentleman’s gentleman, after all. And so Leon, despite the temptation, kept his eyes focused on Akina’s face, rather than....best not to think about that. “And I am honored to be a part of Red Team.” He saluted.

Akina seemed to notice what was going on, as she glanced downward and blushed slightly. “Oh. I....s-sorry,” Akina zipped herself back up. “I just....I was hot, from the piloting. So I...uh...” She started to stammer. “I’m not testing you or anything, don’t worry,” she laughed nervously. “Sorry. It’s just, I’m used to being around Algy and Ginger, and neither of them are.....uh yeah. God, this is really embarrassing. Sorry,” Now she was the one to be unusually flustered.

“Wait, both of them?” Leon raised his eyebrows.

“Well, Algy’s confirmed, but Ginger’s still in denial. Why, is that a problem?” Akina’s tone hardened.

“Ah! No, no, no, not at all,” Leon waved his hands frantically. “I just didn’t realize, is all. I’m not very good at noticing those kinds of things. Don’t worry, I hold no illusions concerning my attractiveness.”

Akina felt the need to contend that statement. “Aw, don’t sell yourself short, hon,” she patted his shoulder. “I know for a fact that Algy finds you very cute.” And if it weren’t for the fact that she really did keep things professional between her and her pilots, Akina would have added that she thought so too.

“Huh?” Leon had regained his composure, but that statement caused him to lose it all over again. “I...b-but....there’s a significant age difference and I don’t really swing that way and I...I....I...”

“Calm down,” Akina laughed. She couldn’t believe this nervous wreck was the pilot who fought her to a draw.

“Well that seems to have ended better than I anticipated,” Lucy sighed as she saw Akina and Leon making small-talk. She had to admit, she really liked Akina. Lucy was starting to see her as a friend on board this ship, and friends are always very valuable things to have; both for life in general and for adventuring.

“Hey-o,” Lucy turned around to see Fuyuki walking up. “You’re probably a little uncomfortable concerning your newfound congratulatory fame, so let me just say hello, rather than shower you with more undesired praise.”

“Thanks,” Lucy was glad someone was that way. It’s not that she didn’t like being praised, just that she didn’t see how what she had done was that noteworthy.

“So how are the two lovebirds doing?” Fuyuki peered over to where Akina and Leon were talking.

“What, those two?” Lucy blinked in surprise. “They only just met yesterday.”

“Well yeah, but look at how splendidly they’re getting along,” Fuyuki had a mischievous grin on his face.

“Oh no,” Lucy buried her face in her palm. “Warning. Shipper on Deck.”

“What?” Fuyuki looked embarrassed at this assessment. “I was merely making an objective, rational observation.”

“Of course you were,” Lucy grinned in a way that showed she didn’t believe this for a second.

“Razzum frazzum. Just try to start an innocent conversation, and then bam! Get shot down by evil, assuming people,” Fuyuki grumbled comically, before returning to seriousness. “Uh-oh. Heads-up.”

“What?” Lucy followed Fuyuki’s gaze to find the Captain walking towards her. Oh no, was she going to give some big speech concerning how proud she was of Lucy? Lucy didn’t know if she could take that.

“Hello, Lucy,” the Captain held up a roll of paper that she held in her hands. “I have in my hands here a sheet promoting you to the position of Advisory Officer.”

Wait, position? “I thought I said I didn’t want to be a soldier,” Lucy furrowed her brow.

“I know. And that isn’t what you’ll become. We give out the title of Advisory Officer to civilians who play an important role on the ship. Typically, it’s only reserved for politicians or reporters and the like. However, I think you fit the criteria for this position as well.

“As an Advisory Officer, you are not required to participate in combat, like regular officers are,” the Captain continued. “However, you may fight if you feel that it is an appropriate response to the situation. You may continue to sleep in the reserve civilian quarters and eat in the Captain’s quarters like you did last night, or ingratiate yourself with the rest of the crew. Either is acceptable. I don’t want to force you into combat, but I do think you’ll make a valuable addition to the ship, even if you do blame me for your parent’s death.”

Lucy’s eyes got wide as the Captain spoke that last line. “I don’t-” Lucy started, before becoming unable to finish her sentence. “I mean...” Lucy for some reason could not elucidate her feelings to the Captain. Some unknown force compelled her.

“Um, do I get a cool Advisory Officer position or anything?” Fuyuki grinned hopefully.

“I considered it, but decided against it after that little stunt you pulled today,” the Captain had obviously not forgotten about the commwave interruption. “Look, Fuyuki. Even if you are here to save the future, I don’t want you interrupting the workings of my ship simply for your own amusement. Understand?”

“Aw,” Fuyuki looked very down at the idea of not getting an Advisory Officer position, but still added “Of course, ma’am.”

“Good,” the Captain handed off the paper to Lucy and walked away.

Lucy unrolled the paper and read it over.

“An Advisory Officer, huh?” Fuyuki read over Lucy’s shoulder. “Well, that seems to be the healthy compromise we’ve been looking for. What do you think?”

“I think I might still blame the Captain a little bit over what happened to my parents,” Lucy sighed. “But I still want to be a part of this ship, and I don’t have anything against the Captain as a person. Is that at all normal?”

“Well...” Fuyuki considered it. “I don’t think I’m the best person to ask such a question to. After all, I’m hardly normal. But I do think it’s good that you aren’t still wallowing in grief. Forgetting your parents is hardly something I should expect you to do. But not giving into unrelenting despair and never moving on is something I’m glad you’ve avoided.”

“Thanks,” Lucy said.

It seemed that now the adventure had truly begun. Lucy had successfully bonded with Haruhi, was now an official part of the Atlantis, and had just completed her first sortie. Lucy had passed the point of no return without even realizing it. And the best, and worst, of it all was yet to come.

Analynn strode triumphantly through the halls of her ship. She hadn’t actually done anything important, but today just felt like such a good day, she decided to go full-fledged empress-mode. As soon as she walked onto the bridge, her trusted advisor and Executive Officer, Hilary, noticed her attitude.

“Today is a good day, I presume, your excellency?” Hilary had a whole slew of titles to call Analynn, depending on her mood. When Analynn was in empress-mode, the appropriate title was “your excellency”.

“Yes it is, Hilary!” when Analynn was in empress-mode, she always said everything in a booming voice, along with making epic gestures with her arms. “Verily, today is so good, I feel like plundering an innocent little Atoll of peaceful villagers!”

“I’m not sure if those still exist, your excellency,” Hilary pushed up her enormous glasses.

“What? Why not?” Analynn looked aghast. “There used to be an Atoll on every sunrise! What happened to them all?”

“Well, we blew them up, your excellency,” Hilary reminded her Captain.

“Oh, that’s right. We did, didn’t we?” Analynn remembered, and was rightfully disappointed.

“Yes, your excellency,” Hilary nodded.

“Well, jeez. What happened to all those people?” Analynn never really thought of the morality of her actions, but she was at least concerned about the possibility of genocide on her hands.

“We always managed to evacuate the civilians from the Atolls, your excellency.” Well, Hilary had been the one to do that. Analynn hadn’t really been paying attention when that happened.

Oh, a word of note: Hilary and Analynn aren’t actually talking about atolls as in the ring-shaped coral structures, but rather the Atoll-class floating island ships which were designed to be viable means of colonization for humans on Persephone. They were built because since Persephone didn’t have much landmass to begin with, there wasn’t much room for people to settle on. The Atolls were a way of allowing people to live comfortably without taking up what little landmass was available. However, they were also prime targets for pirates, and after several years of attacks, the Atoll-class colony ships stopped being developed, and what little of them that remained had TEST Corps security installed on them. All the refugees from the destroyed Atolls were allowed to move to other planets or settle on the actual landmass of Persephone, and there weren’t very many casualties involved. However, the TEST Corps had lost millions of BitSterlings due to the Atoll-class colony ships, and so pirates like Analynn who had participated in their destruction were all given very large prices on their heads.

Although, you had to wonder if Analynn even realized this. She was in pirating mostly just to blow stuff up. She rarely, if ever, paid attention to the affairs of the TEST Corps. Any important thinking on her ship was mostly left to Hilary.

“Alright. That’s good. But still, that really puts a damper on my day,” Analynn went from empress-mode to saddened-schoolgirl-mode. “What am I going to do now?”

“Well Analynn,” when Analynn was in saddened-schoolgirl-mode, it was best to simply call her by her normal name. “I hear that the Atlantis has recently gotten a new pilot. He’s supposed to be from Mars.”

“What in the world is the Atlantis?” Analynn was now in inquiring-conquistador-mode.

“The ship, madam, the TEST Corps ship.” You can probably guess the title for inquiring-conquistador-mode. “There is a TEST Corps ship which has recently acquired a new pilot, who has come all the way from Mars.”

“Is he cute?”

“I don’t know. However, I presume that due to him coming from Mars, he is likely to be most skilled as a pilot. So skilled, that I might even presume him to be a viable candidate for the position of madam’s head rival.”

“Head rival!?!” back to empress-mode. “Mein gott, Hilary! This is marvelous! Wunderbar! Star Bars and Milky Ways and Coconut Ice Cream!

“Imagine,” Analynn had a glowing, romantic look in her eyes. “If he turns out to be a real cutie, then that makes for an excellent story! Our love will blossom, despite me being a pirate and him being a soldier. Oh, cruel world, why hath thou done such a thing to us? Why must we hide these feelings, when our love is truer than that of Romeo and Juliet! Wait, no, they’re a bad example. Um.....”

“Tristan and Iseult?” Hilary suggested.

“No, no, I don’t know who those two are,” Analynn waved away the idea (which in empress-mode was quite a sight). “Oh! Wait, I got it! Why must we hide these feelings, when our love is truer than that of Helen and Paris!”


Meanwhile, on the Atlantis, Leon stopped what he was doing and turned his head, as though he were in a trance.

“Hey, Paris. What’s up?” Akina asked him.

“Um, nothing,” Leon turned back to Akina. “I just felt a strange, unearthly chill down the back of my neck.”

“Huh,” Akina grunted.


That feeling Leon felt was something called Dramatic Irony. And it was that Dramatic Irony which Analynn completely missed as she shouted out “Warp one, engage! Make way to the Atlantis!”

The bridge of Analynn’s ship was managed by three identical young men, none of whom ever spoke. The first of the young men, the helmsman, obeyed his Captain’s orders and brought the engines of Analynn’s ship to life.

“I hope he’s a cutie,” as her ship sped ahead, Analynn was now in giggling-fangirl mode. In that mode, Hilary found that it was best simply not to say anything to her Captain.


“Heya, hey-o,” Fuyuki popped up from behind Lucy, who was currently sitting in the hangar. “What’s up? You seem to be spending a lot of time here now.”

“I just feel the most comfortable here, is all,” Lucy shrugged without looking at Fuyuki. Her attention was focused on the pendant he had given her back in Chapter 3. “And as for what’s up, I was thinking of calling Marina.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Fuyuki remembered giving the pendant to Lucy. “You can do that. So do you want me to leave?”

“No, it’s fine,” Lucy shook her head. “It’s just, I don’t know if she’s in school right now or not.”

“Really? Why not?” Fuyuki blinked.

“Well, we’ve been travelling so much on the Atlantis since I got here,” Lucy was looking a little sad. “I don’t know if we’re in a different time zone or not.”

“Ah, I see,” Fuyuki sat down nearby Lucy. “Well, if you’re wondering about the time zone thing, we haven’t even left the current one. So as for school...” Fuyuki pulled out his pocket-watch before suddenly gaining a shocked look upon his face. “Waitaminute, school!!!” Whipping his head back to Lucy, Fuyuki screeched “You’ve missed almost a week of school!”

Lucy’s eyes widened as she realized that yes, this was true. “Oh no!” Lucy clasped her head. “What if I get back and there’s a huge test or something, and I- wait, how long should this adventure last?”

“Uh.....” Fuyuki grimaced. “I don’t know. You can never really predict how long adventures like these last. But, if I triangulate using the day I met you and the day of the climax...” he calculated in his head before coming up with “It should only take about a year.”

“A year!?!” Lucy stood up in shock. “How am I supposed to make up a whole year of school?!?”

“Uh...” Fuyuki didn’t seem to have an answer for that one. “W-well, Haruhi, what do you think?”

“I THINK YOU WERE VERY IRRESPONSIBLE TO FORGET THE FACT THAT LUCY HAS A LIFE TO GO BACK TO, WHICH COULD BE RUINED DUE TO YOUR FORGETFULNESS,” Haruhi seemed to almost give Fuyuki a chiding look.

“Hey!” Fuyuki pouted. “How was I supposed to know that Lucy would be an ordinary High School student with an ordinary High School to attend and everything!?!”

Given the genre of this story, how could Lucy have possibly been anything else?

“Oh great, now even the narrator’s turning against me!”

Now calm down, Fuyuki. I wasn’t trying to-

“You! Shut up!”

But if I shut up, the audience won’t have anything to go on except dialogue.

“Gah, fine! But please, could you all stop nagging me?” Fuyuki looked rightfully embarrassed with himself. After a deep breath, he calmly asked Lucy “Alright. What level of High School were you in?”

“I was in the 10th grade over at Munroe High School,” Lucy answered.

“Alright, alright,” Fuyuki pressed the bridge of his nose with both hands as he concentrated. “In that case...”

“IS THERE ANYONE ON THE ATLANTIS WHO MIGHT BE ABLE TO TUTOR LUCY?” Haruhi inquired.

“The only person I can think of would be me, and I’m trying to remember at what level of education the 10th grade is,” Fuyuki was still pressing the bridge of his nose. “Although I don’t suppose it’d hurt to ask, considering that so far I’m drawing a blank here.”

“Well-” Lucy was about to say something, but before she could finish, sirens began to blare and red flashing lights appeared.

“What the-?” Fuyuki ceased his mental calculations and looked just as surprised as Lucy.

“IT SEEMS WE ARE UNDER ATTACK,” Haruhi turned his head toward the hangar door, as though he was staring straight through it.

“Oh for the love of-” Fuyuki smacked his forehead. “Can’t they come back later? We don’t have time for this!”

“If we’re under attack, then-” Lucy was once again interrupted, this time by the intercom.

“Advisory Officer Lucy Natsumi and Fuyuki report to the bridge immediately!” that was the Captain.

“IT SEEMS YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUIRED,” Haruhi said. “I WILL AWAIT FOR YOUR FURTHER ORDERS, LUCY, IF YOU HAVE ANY.”

“R-right,” so this was it. The Atlantis had finally run into a full-fledged battle. Lucy wasn’t sure how to feel about this. She knew she wasn’t going to have to fight, but something unexpected entered her thoughts; she wanted to be useful, somehow.


“Ah, good, you’re here,” when the Captain was captaining, she was all business.

“Yes ma’am,” Lucy nodded. She wasn’t sure if she needed to salute or not, but decided not to.

“I’ll get straight to the point, Lucy. There’s a pirate ship approaching us at ramming speed. We haven’t gotten an identification on it, but we assume that it’s coming after us. However!” the Captain pointed at Lucy. “There is also a small coastal town about a mile away from us, and as such there is the possibility that the pirates are after that. I want you, Haruhi, and a security team to go over to the town and set up defenses there, just in case. And meanwhile, we’ll go after the pirate ship. Got it?”

“Oh, uh y-yes ma’am,” Lucy felt very relieved. Defending sounded like a great idea. She could be of use without having to fight. Maybe. But really, it sounded like something she’d be able to do.

“Well then get going!” the Captain shouted.

“R-right!” Lucy ran off.

“What did you want me for?” Fuyuki pointed at his nose.

“Lieutenant Commander Kinomoto is having trouble getting a lock on the ship,” the Captain said. “Could you help her out?”

“Why certainly,” Fuyuki clapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. “How would I best go about doing that, ma’am?” he asked Minami.


“Hey there,” Anand was waiting for Lucy in the hangar, along with several armed security guards. “Lucy, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Lucy finished zipping up the last of her spare pilot suit as she nodded. “And you’re in charge of the security team, right?”

“Yup. Name’s Anand Ashta,” Anand replied.

“I remember,” Lucy recalled the meeting she had with the Captain, back when she first got on the ship. “So, how are we getting to the town?”

“We have a shuttle over there,” Anand pointed to a shuttle in the hangar. “It’s big enough to hold all of us and the MAX model 7G.”

“Alright then,” Lucy was too caught up in the current proceedings to correct Anand’s semantic mishap.


“Alright then,” Fuyuki had attached a small key-padded device to Minami’s station via wires and was furiously tapping at it. “We’ve got a lock on the ship.”

“Records indicate that this is the pirate ship called...” Minami blinked when she noticed the name. “Analynn’s ship.”

“Not very original,” Fuyuki had to admit.

“She never was,” the Captain did not look very happy at the mention of this person’s name.

“Madam, permission to fire on Analynn’s ship?” Téa inquired.

“Wait!” Vanessa jumped in before the Captain could give the order. “She’s hailing us! I think she wants to talk.”

The Captain paused before glancing at Kirill. He merely shrugged.

“Very well then, let’s talk,” the Captain settled grimly at her seat.

“Pulling up Commscreen,” Vanessa pulled up a holographic display for everyone to see.

The display showed a young woman with flowing green hair, regal pirate clothing, and a smug, empress-like expression on her face. Next to her stood a short, slouching, disheveled young woman with messy orange hair and giant opaque glasses.

“Ohohohoho!!! I am Analynn, pirate queen of all the seven seas, and I am here to issue a challenge!” she made wild gesticulations with her arms as she spoke.

“Seven seas?” Fuyuki paused. That wasn’t quite right.

“Actually, the planet of Persephone has twelve seas, along with eight oceans,” Kirill clarified.

“What?” Analynn obviously had not realized this. “But...I thought there were seven seas!”

“That would be the Earth,” Kirill said. “And actually, that term originated from seven regions of one sea, the Mediterranean.”

“Your argument is invalid,” Fuyuki chuckled at Analynn.

“W-well, um...” Analynn tried to come up with a snappy comeback.

“Cut the crap, Analynn,” the Captain looked at Analynn the way one would look at a spoiled brat, which was a pretty appropriate way of looking at Analynn. “What do you want?”

“Oh, yes!” Analynn regained her composure and pointed epicly at the Captain. “I hath heardeth thateth youeth hath received...um, eth, a new pilot from Mars! I wish to battle him!”

“Give me one good reason why I should do that,” the Captain was running out of patience.

“Um....” Analynn hadn’t anticipated resistance.

“There’s a peaceful town nearby,” the glasses girl whispered to Analynn.

“Haha! Right you are!” Analynn grinned maliciously. “If you don’t let me battle your new pilot, I’ll blow up the-”

“Try that and I open fire on your ship. With extreme prejudice,” the Captain hissed.

“Ah! Not my ship!” Analynn blubbered.

“I take it you know this woman, so permit me to ask, is she always like this?” Fuyuki whispered to Minami.

“Last time we met her she was raiding a Hostess ship,” Minami replied. “She thought it was a Cadbury ship.”

Fuyuki blinked. “I’m....going to take that as a yes.

“I wonder how Lucy’s doing,” he sighed.


“Everyone, we’re with the TEST Corps, and there is a pirate ship approaching your town,” Anand shouted into a speaker to the townspeople as he stood on the docks of the island. “If you have any place to evacuate to, we will help guide you there, but we need you all to remain calm and orderly. Understand?”

The townspeople seemed cooperative enough, and after talking with a spokesperson (Lucy assumed him to be the mayor or someone important), Anand ordered several of his men to help escort the people.

“Well, this seems to be going smoothly enough,” Lucy gave a relieved sigh from within the cockpit.

“LET US HOPE IT STAYS THAT WAY,” Haruhi, for some unknown reason, seemed apprehensive.


“Hilary, what are we going to do?” Analynn whined.

Hilary grunted.

“Well, regardless of your intentions, you’re still a dangerous pirate with a bounty on your head. As such, we’re taking you in,” the Captain turned to Téa and said “Open fire.”

“Nononono!” Analynn threw a temper tantrum. “This isn’t turning out like I expected at all!”

It was then that Analynn’s flailing arms accidently hit a certain button. This button’s job was to fire an explosive missile in a random direction (it was Analynn’s favorite). And as luck would have it, the direction that that missile went to was directly towards the town.

“NO!” the Captain screamed.


A flash of light was all that Lucy noticed as the missile launched. However, that was enough for her to turn around to get a better look.

“Hm?” Lucy wondered what that flash was. She squinted, but couldn’t make anything out, until suddenly she realized there was a missile headed straight for the town.

“Anand!” Lucy screamed into her comm at the Security Chief. “There’s a missile coming straight towards us!”

“What!?!” Anand still hadn’t evacuated all the people.

“Haruhi, do you have any weapons or anything that could shoot that missile before it hits us?” Lucy pleaded with the robot.

“I DO NOT CARRY WEAPONS.”

“No!” Lucy shouted.

How were they going to stop that missile!?! It was closing in on them fast, and Lucy didn’t know how to stop it. The shuttle may have had weapons, but by the time someone got in and readied the guns, it’d be too late! There wasn’t time for that! There wasn’t time to shoot it down! There wasn’t time to do anything! The missile was coming in hot, and they were caught completely unaware!

“No, no, no,” Lucy remembered what had happened to her own town, her own family. She couldn’t let that happen here. She couldn’t! But how, how could she stop the missile? It was right there! “STOP!” Lucy held out her hand and screamed.

And then Haruhi held out his hand, and a shield appeared. The missile hit a giant wall of pure green energy, which absorbed all the force of the explosion, before disappearing as though it had never been there at all.

“Wh-what?” Lucy couldn’t believe it. She stared at her (Haruhi’s) hands. How had she done that? “Haruhi, I thought you said you didn’t carry any weapons.”

“I DO NOT.”

“But then what was that?” Lucy was still shocked.

“A SHIELD,” Haruhi did not clarify further.


“What was that?” the Captain stared in shock out the window where the missile had been deflected.

“Extraordinary,” Kirill and Fuyuki whispered at the same time, before casting surprised glances at each other.

“Hey!” Analynn perked up. “That must be the new pilot! Only Mars could come up with awesome technology like that. Warp one, engage!”

“Like hell!” the Captain growled. “Forrester, blow that ship to kingdom come!”

“With pleasure,” Téa pressed several buttons in rapid succession, which fired several missiles directly at Analynn’s ship.


“Ah! Warp two, engage!” Analynn curled up in a ball.

The second young man on Analynn’s ship quickly pressed some buttons to call up the shields. However, even so, some stray shots got in, causing several explosions.

“Ah!” Analynn squealed as debris fell from the bridge’s roof.

“Your excellency, might perchance we use our new weapons?” Hilary asked calmly.

“Yes, yes, do it!” Analynn screamed.

“Of course, your excellency,” an evil grin made its way to Hilary’s face as she pressed a big red button at her station.

What happened next was hard to describe. But it was almost as though the yellow beams that shot out of the guns of Analynn’s ship possessed another dimension of space. Apologies, as I said, it was hard to describe. But it was like whereas most objects are three-dimensional, the energy coming out of those guns was four-dimensional. The beams moved in an almost zig-zag fashion as they erupted out and made their way to the Atlantis. And when they hit the Atlantis’ bow, an immense explosion occurred, rocking everyone on the ship.


“What the-!?!” Fuyuki recognized this energy. “How did someone like her get her hands on that kind of energy!?!”

“You’re familiar with it, I presume?” the Captain righted her position.

“I am,” Fuyuki looked worriedly back at the Captain. “And I know that if we want to survive, we need to call Lucy back now!”

“You mean this energy is akin to the shield Lucy pulled up?” Kirill furrowed his brow.

“They’re prepping for another strike!” Téa shouted.

“Shields! Now!” the Captain screamed.

The shields did almost nothing. Now most of the hull was completely destroyed.

“Lucy!” the Captain vociferated into her comm. “I need you to get back to the ship ASAP!”

“But what about the town?”

“The town isn’t their target! That was a stray shot! We need you to make one of your shields here!”

“But I don’t even know how I did it!”

“Well find out soon, because otherwise the Atlantis is going to be completely destroyed!”


“Oh no,” Lucy bit her lip. She had no idea what she was doing, but she couldn’t let the Atlantis be destroyed, so she shouted at a security officer nearby. “You! Can you prep up the shuttle? I need to get back to the ship!”

“NO NEED,” Haruhi took control of his limbs and ran towards the coast of the island. “LUCY. I NEED YOU TO CONCENTRATE. THINK OF YOURSELF AS ICE-SKATING. CAN YOU DO THAT?”

“Um, s-sure?” what an odd request. But Lucy complied. Calmly she tried to think of the motions, the balance, the posture, of the human body when it skates. And then, using that concentrated thought, Haruhi ran onto the water, and skated along it as though it were a solid. Bits of green energy emanated from his feet as he sped across the water.

“Holy-!” Lucy was astounded.

“KEEP CONCENTRATING. MY POWER IS LIMITED ON ITS OWN. I SHOULD ONLY HAVE ENOUGH ENERGY BY MYSELF TO MAKE IT BACK TO THE ATLANTIS. AFTER THAT, YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE THE SHIELD YOURSELF.”

“What?” Lucy was worried, even as she kept her concentration. “But I don’t even know how I did that!”

“JUST BELIEVE IN IT,” was all Haruhi said as he skated.

“Believe?” Lucy furrowed her brow.


“Miss Forrester,” Fuyuki leapt across the bridge to Téa. “I think I can hotwire your shields and make them powerful enough to buy us time for-”

“Do it!” the Captain barked.

“Yes’m,” Fuyuki pulled out another doohickey and rapidly started pressing its key-pad as he attached it to Téa’s station.


“I GROW WEARY,” Haruhi’s green glow began to dampen. “I NEED YOU TO TAKE OVER.”

“What?” Lucy wasn’t sure of herself.

“BELIEVE,” Haruhi reminded Lucy, before giving all control to her.

Alright, believe, believe, believe. Lucy concentrated on the idea of skating, on the idea of almost flying. She thought about doing exactly what Haruhi had just done on his own.

It didn’t work. Haruhi’s glow went grey and dead, and as he lost his balance, Lucy felt herself hop and skip across the water like a pebble on a pond. Tumbling, rolling, slamming repeatedly onto the water. Lucy lost all sense of direction before she finally hit the Atlantis’ side. Desperately grabbing onto a gun turret so as to not fall into the ocean, Lucy slowly regained her composure.


“Lucy! Glad you’re here!” the Captain shouted into the comm. “I need you to form a shield and-”

“Lucy!” Fuyuki grabbed the Captain’s comm. “Get onto what’s left of the ship’s hull and concentrate on absorbing the energy from those beams. Don’t concentrate on a shield, just concentrate on absorbing.”


Absorbing? Lucy had enough trouble as it was, trying to think of how to make a shield. Now she had to do something she hadn’t even managed with Haruhi’s help? How was she supposed to do that?

“Haruhi, are you still there?” Lucy asked.

No response.

“Guess that means I’m really on my own,” Lucy grimaced.

Alright, well, she should be able to make it to the hull. She at least knew basic motor functions on her own. Concentrating, Lucy climbed up onto the gun turret, and then jumped up to the hull’s top. As she climbed up, she noticed the beams firing one more time. Oh no! She wasn’t ready yet!


“Shields activating!” Fuyuki quickly pressed a button and called up a giant sphere around the ship. It managed to absorb most of the yellow energy, but then suddenly Fuyuki’s device exploded in a poof of smoke, and the last bits of the beams made it through.


“Ah!” Lucy shielded herself with her arms as her position shifted back from the explosion.

“Lucy, concentrate now!” the Captain barked into her regained comm.

“I...okay, hold on!” Lucy needed to focus. Ignore the explosions, the fear, the immense thumping her heart was making. So this was battle, huh? Lucy admitted, she hadn’t quite been prepared for anything like this. But she had to concentrate. Everyone was depending on her.

“Believe, believe,” Lucy tried to believe, but nothing was happening and the pirate ship was charging up for another attack and now Lucy was panicking. How was she supposed to do this? How, how, how? She couldn’t...she couldn’t...

Wait.

A miniscule thought popped into her brain. This was an adventure. A common-sense level observation, but one that reminded her of another thought. In adventures, the heroine always started out unsure of herself. She always needed help. But then there would always be a moment, one moment when everyone was counting on her, on the heroine. And she would have to save the day all by herself. It would always be scary, always be close, but if the heroine cleared her mind, and remembered everyone who was counting on her, she would always win. Lucy remembered Haruhi, and Fuyuki, and Akina, and Leon, and the Captain, and Kirill, and Anand, and Gilbert, and everyone else on the ship. They were all counting on her, and they were all behind her. She just needed to believe in them, and believe in herself.

And then just like that, Haruhi’s grey and dead limbs regained their greenish hue. They lit up like a shooting star, and Lucy felt a deep energy pulse inside her.

The beams fired. But now, Lucy was ready for them. Holding out her arms, Lucy drew in the beams towards her, felt their energy fill her up. It was a sickening feeling. Absorbing the beams felt like eating something nasty which made you want to vomit. But Lucy kept it all in.


“Yes!” Fuyuki jumped up in pride at Lucy’s performance, before quickly speaking back into the Captain’s comm. “Alright, Lucy. Now I need you to fire it back at the ship, but!” Fuyuki had to make this clear. “Only aim at the guns! Don’t aim anywhere near the center of the ship.”

“What?” the Captain shouted. “Those pirates almost killed an entire town! You want to let them just walk away?”

“I won’t turn Lucy into a killer,” Fuyuki matched the Captain’s glare. “Maybe this time around, the heroic thing to do is also the stupid thing to do, but so be it. I’ll accept the consequences!”

That made the Captain flinch, which Fuyuki interpreted as a go-ahead. “You got all that, Lucy?”


“YES,” Lucy’s voice was ethereal and monotone as she obeyed. Aim only to disarm, to incapacitate, not to kill. And with that thought, the energy released itself from Lucy and made its way back to Analynn’s ship.


“What the-?” Hilary’s jaw dropped as she saw her own attack come back at her.

“Ah! Run away, run away!” Analynn wailed.

But it was too late. The beams made a mess out of the ship, and left it a barely mobile husk of its former self. Analynn looked around her ship, seeing if there were any casualties, but found that everyone was alive.

“Warp one, engage!” Analynn cried. “Get us out of here!”


“Even though I won’t make Lucy kill, I never said anything about incarceration,” Fuyuki looked back up at the Captain. “If those people are wanted pirates, take them in.”

“Thank you,” the Captain still looked troubled, but she ordered Helmsman Todd to catch Analynn’s ship.

“Interesting,” this time it was Kirill alone who made this observation of Lucy’s abilities.


Lucy slumped down. She was exhausted. She felt like sleeping for three days. No, twenty days. No, three whole weeks. That had just taken so much out of her.

“REST, LUCY,” Lucy heard Haruhi’s voice again. “YOU DID WELL.”

“Haruhi?” Lucy wondered aloud. “I thought you-”

“YOU HAVE REPLENISHED MY ENERGY SUPPLY WITH YOUR BRAVERY. NOW BOTH OF US MAY REST PEACEFULLY.”

“Th-thanks,” Lucy managed to get out before she dozed off.


“So then,” Fuyuki grinned from the ship’s deck as he looked at the apprehended pirates, who were now sitting handcuffed on a shuttle. “The town was saved, the pirates were arrested, another ship was in the area and able to take them off our hands, Lucy levelled up, and despite the repairs that still need to be done, the ship’s doing fine. How’s the crew?”

“Multiple wounded, but no casualties,” the Captain had joined Fuyuki and breathed a sigh of relief. “Dawson’s treating them as we speak.”

“Well then, all in a day’s work, eh?” Fuyuki looked exhausted, but relieved.

“There’s one more thing,” the Captain was looking cross-armed and seriously at him. “You recognized that energy Analynn was using. How?”

Fuyuki’s expression darkened. “Oh, yeah, that. I can’t give any details concerning how I know it. But as for what it was, the energy is...hatred.”

“What?” the Captain didn’t understand.

“The energy Analynn used was a concentration of pure hatred,” Fuyuki explained. “I don’t know how she harnessed it, but somehow she did.”

“But how could Analynn do that?” the Captain asked. “Sure, she’s insane and a spoiled brat, but she shouldn’t be that hateful.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Fuyuki sighed. “But someone gave her that energy.”

The Captain furrowed her brow, deep in thought.


“Waaaah! No fair, no fair, no fair!” Analynn cried as she lay handcuffed in the brig. “I didn’t even get to meet the new pilot!”

“Cheer up, Analynn,” HIlary tried to comfort her leader. “I’m sure you’ll get to meet him one day. Although, now that I think of it, didn’t he just trash our ship? Why are you still infatuated with him?”

“Oh Hilary, he was just doing his job,” Analynn sniffed. “Can you blame him?”

“Whatever,” Hilary sighed. Although, it was weird. Hilary knew that somehow the ship had been blown up, but for some reason she didn’t remember any of it. All she remembered was Analynn launching the missile, then a bright flash of light, and then nothing until she awoke in the debris-filled bridge. How odd.


Lucy slowly felt consciousness return to her, and as she opened her eyes, she found that she was in the reserve quarters.

“Hey, Lucy,” Lucy groggily looked to her side to see Akina sitting in a chair by her bed. Leon was standing in the doorway.

“H-how long was I asleep?” Lucy slowly sat back up.

“Only a few hours,” Akina said. “You were asleep when we found you in the cockpit, so Paris here carried you back to the reserve quarters.”

“Oh,” Lucy slowly absorbed the information. “Thank you,” she turned to Leon.

“No problem,” Leon smiled. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”

“Isn’t he a sweetie?” Akina chuckled.

“Ah!” that made Leon blush.

Suddenly, Lucy remembered what had happened. “The ship!” she grabbed Akina’s arms. “Is everyone okay?”

“The ship’s damaged badly, but still holding up,” Akina calmed Lucy down. “We deposited the pirates over to another ship, and now we’re headed to another island to get repairs.”

“Oh, alright,” Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that today’s crisis had been averted. Now all there was to do was....

“Oh no!” Lucy reached inside her pilot’s suit and pulled out her pendant. “I still haven’t talked to Marina.”

“Marina?” Akina didn’t know who that was.

“She’s my friend, from back home, and I was planning on talking to her today,” Lucy pressed the button on the pendant. “I also wanted to ask her what we’re studying right now.”

“Oh yeah, you’re a High School student, aren’t you?” Akina remembered.

“Hello?” Marina’s voice emanated from the pendant, and her face appeared in a holographic display. “Lucy?”

“Marina!” Lucy felt ecstatic seeing her friend again, especially after having a close brush with death back there.

“What’s up? You sound excited,” Marina looked concernedly at her friend. “And you haven’t called me since you left.”

“I know Marina. I’m sorry, I just...” and Lucy felt tears well up in her eyes. It was only then that she realized she really could have died in that battle. And she would never have gotten the chance to talk to Marina again. A multitude of questions and conversation topics filled Lucy’s head like a fountain, but in the end, she settled on a simple “How’s school?”

“School’s fine,” Marina replied. “Mr. McCarthy’s making us do the Law of Cosines. I’ve actually been taking an extra set of notes for you when you get back.”

“Really?” Lucy lit up. “That’s great! Could-”

“Lucy!” Fuyuki popped into the room with a Security Officer. “This man here has agreed to tutor you.”

“I have a license in teaching,” the Officer said.

“Oh, hey Vicks,” Akina waved hi to the Officer.

“Actually, it turns out that Marina’s been taking extra notes for me,” Lucy looked at Akina and asked “Can the Atlantis receive mail?”

“I’m pretty sure it can,” Akina shrugged. “We get packages every now and then.”

“Then Marina can mail all the extra notes to me, and I can learn from that,” Lucy proposed.

“Or I could just give them to you over this,” Marina suggested. ”I mean, you get video and audio with this thing.”

“Say, that’s actually quite brilliant!” Fuyuki grinned.

“Yeah, I think it’s a good idea as well,” Leon nodded. “But what about...wait, where’s Vicks?”


Vicks was currently curled up in a corner, sunk in depression.

“I could’ve become a recurring character. Maybe even a main character. I’d have settled for anything, though. Just anything to get out of being a peripheral character.”

Aw, don’t cry Vicks. I still love you.

Vicks would have cried on my shoulder, if I had existed in that place and time. Actually, do I exist at all? I never really thought about it. I mean, I tell the story, but I’m not any of the characters. So how do I-

“Oy, quit your monologuing and get back to the actual story,” Fuyuki growled.

Ah, yes sir. And so it was settled. Marina would give Lucy her notes, from which Lucy would study, and they also agreed on a more regular schedule of talking: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 20:00. The Atlantis was damaged, but making its way to an island where it could receive repairs, and even after that harrowing battle, a happy ending was reached for this chapter.

Thomas Menlowe was unhappy. He had dumped flour all over unsuspecting passerby from his office window, but even that had not managed to cheer him up. You see, he had just had an argument with his father, and that always put Thomas in a bad mood.

“Daddy, what’s wrong with shaving my head?” Thomas had asked. “It’ll make me look so much more imposing, especially if I grow a goatee along with it.”

“Your head’s the wrong shape to pull of going bald, for one thing,” Thomas’ father had answered. “But besides, if you shave your head and grow a goatee, it’ll make you look evil, and Menlowe Electronics cannot have an evil-looking CEO.”

“But daddy!” Thomas had whined. “We’re a secret weapons developer that sells our services to the highest bidder, regardless of whose side they’re on! We make our profit from warmongering! We might as well change the name of the company to Evil Co.!”

“Oh, and of course this is all about profit, isn’t it?” Thomas’ father had bristled with resentment. “Just because a man makes something of himself and tries to feed his family, that obviously makes him a criminal!”

“Daddy, we have four houses and scores of personal servants!” Thomas had screeched. “We can afford to cut back a little! And besides, all I want to do is shave my head and grow a goatee! This has nothing to do with profit! It has to do with my own personal fashion choices! Why must you always treat me like a child?”

“Oh, hush little princess, you know I never mean to be angry at you,” Thomas’ father had tried to calm him down. “Forgive me?”

“No!” Thomas had been too angry, and stormed out of the room. “Now my mind is made up! I’m shaving my head whether you want it or not!”

Thomas looked at the mirror he had on his desk. He hated to admit it, but his father had been completely right. Thomas could not carry off baldness. His head looked like a giant, hairless gömböc, and it didn’t look like a goatee would help any. Thomas sighed and slumped his head back onto the top of his chair.

Just as he did that, however, the telephone on his desk rang. Perking his head up, Thomas grabbed the phone and asked “Yes? Evil C- I mean, Menlowe Electronics.” That had been a close one there.

“Yes, hello?” Fuyuki was on the other end. “I don’t know who you are, but seeing as how almost everyone else is busy keeping this ship still mobile, I was instructed to tell you that the TEST Corps ship Atlantis will be docking in...wait hold on, Westingburg? Good lord, what an awful name! What is it named after?”

“George Westinghouse,” Thomas was confused. “I’m sorry, did you say the Atlantis?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Fuyuki got back to business. “Y’see, we’ve recently had a nasty run-in with pirates, and we desperately need repairs. The Captain here said that you were the man for the job, and told me to call you beforehand to let you know we’ll be arriving in Westingburg soon.”

“I see,” Thomas was unsure how to proceed. On the one hand, this man sounded like a complete nutter, and he didn’t sound like anyone Thomas knew from the Atlantis. However, if the Atlantis really was in need of his services, then the damages to the ship must have been highly severe. So severe, that it would have been foolish to simply dismiss this man’s claims. Thomas may have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he did know basic business. “Alright then, could you just tell me one thing?”

“Uh-huh?” Fuyuki asked.

“About what time will you be arriving?”


“So, remind me again,” Kirill stood by the Captain with a perplexed look on his face. “Why exactly are we going to a private corporation to receive repairs?”

“Menlowe Electronics isn’t just your average private company,” the Captain explained as she sat on her chair in the bridge. “They’re secretly a weapons manufacturer that deals in black market affairs.”

“Then why in the world don’t we arrest them?” Kirill was now more confused. “I presume you have evidence concerning their illicit activities, so why not alert the proper authorities?”

“Menlowe Electronics is a multi-planet corporation,” the Captain sighed. “It’s sadly not as simple as that. Their influence spreads almost as far as the TEST Corps, and trying to put a stop to their more illegal activities would require too much time and effort for any of the paper-pushing higher-ups over at TEST Command to even consider. Plus, if we did decide to pursue that action, the resulting chaos would put a lot of Menlowe employees out of jobs, along with playing merry hob with the market. We’d be viewed as the bad guys by the product-consuming public.”

“Hm,” Kirill still seemed skeptical. “Well, that may be the case, but that still doesn’t explain why we’re asking for their help.”

“The head of the Persephone branch for Menlowe Electronics is the son of the company’s founder and Chief CEO. He’s your average privileged rich boy, but he hates his dad’s black market dealings. So...” the Captain grinned. “As such, he only gives the best of his services to the TEST Corps. He still does the occasional underground deal, so that his dad won’t suspect anything, but he gives the Persephone branch of TEST Command a report on all those dealings, along with every other black market transaction the entire company makes. We can’t stop the dealings, but we can be prepared for them anytime one of our ships runs across a pirate ship with Menlowe upgrades.”

“So to screw over the old man,” Kirill now got it. “He gives us free repairs and upgrades?”

“Exactly,” the Captain was glad Kirill got it.

“Sounds like someone I’d like to meet,” Kirill smiled.


“Come on people!” Gilbert was running himself ragged making sure everyone was doing their jobs. “We can’t afford to slack off here!” Unfortunately, after that recent attack, Gilbert was understaffed and having to deal with engines that could give out at any moment. Gilbert had even needed to call up the MAX pilots and Security Officers just to get enough people to keep the Atlantis running. He only hoped they made it to Westingburg in enough time.

“Hey, Theron?” Anand pointed to a big red, blinking light at the station he was at. “Is it supposed to do that?”

“AGGGHHH!!!” Gilbert screamed, and gave a glare at Anand that made him almost wet himself.

Lucy, meanwhile, was carefully watching the post she had been assigned to. Nothing was going wrong so far, and all the readings were within the safe range Gilbert had told her about, but she still hoped there wasn’t anything she had missed.

“Man, I hope the fellow doesn’t give himself an aneurysm over there,” Fuyuki popped up.

“I thought you could only get those from old age or something like that,” Lucy didn’t seem the least bit surprised by Fuyuki’s sudden appearance.

“Oh, really? I’m not quite sure, I never studied medicine,” Fuyuki sighed.

“Don’t you have twenty or so magical doohickeys that could make this trip easier?” Lucy asked.

“No need,” Fuyuki turned his back to Lucy and leaned against her station. “It looks bad, but I checked everything. The ship should be fine until we make it to Westingburg,” he said the city’s name with a level of disgust. “I don’t need to use any Augmenters or anything.”

“You probably should tell Mr. Theron that,” Lucy pointed to Gilbert, who was screaming lacerations at Anand.

“Yeah, but I have a feeling that if I did, he’d just bless me out,” Fuyuki sighed.

“Didn’t you say you hoped he didn’t get an aneurysm?” Lucy pointed out.

“Ye......ah,” Fuyuki remembered that statement. “Alright, I guess I’d better save Anand over there.” And with that, he waved goodbye and walked over to the screaming scene.

“I hope we get there soon,” Lucy sighed.


A wig, or a hat? Thomas was wondering which would be the most discreet when suddenly his secretary called.

“They’re here, sir,” she said.

Of course they were. Thomas sighed and decided to go with the hat.


Gilbert had needed three lemon bars to successfully calm down even after receiving the information that the ship was okay. The cooks of the ship briefly wondered how Gilbert had managed to even consume lemon bars, when their supply roster hadn’t mentioned any such foods. However, a certain elderly gentleman with bright green eyes, spectacles, and a winning smile had assured them it was alright, so they decided not to worry too much about it.

“I swear, you’d think they’d have made space food by now,” Fuyuki sighed comically as he sat across from Gilbert in the mess hall. “I mean, this is 0199 AG for pete’s sake.”

“We’ve never really felt a need to adopt such a system,” Gilbert munched on his third lemon bar. “The human race isn’t starving anymore, thanks to planetary and Lagrangian colonies. I hear the Julian Foundation is even going to cordon off the Earth once they’re finished healing it. Make it one giant garden again.”

“That’d be nice,” Fuyuki sighed. “The Earth would become Eden again. Humans would only go down there to retrieve food and the occasional resource. But I don’t think that’d last,” Fuyuki’s face had darkened. “As long as there are resources, some people will continue to exploit them.”

“But there’s no need to,” Gilbert finished his lemon bar. “The human race is rich enough now that we can afford to splurge food even on every TEST Corps ship in the galaxy.”

“And shortly after I realized I had plenty, I realized there was plenty more,” Fuyuki quoted.

“You don’t sound like you have very much faith in the human race,” Gilbert stared at Fuyuki.

“Oh no, I do,” Fuyuki lightened up a little. “If I didn’t I wouldn’t even be here. But I’d say I have my doubts.”

“Fair enough,” Gilbert shrugged. “After all, we humans can be unpredictable at times. But I think we’ll pull through. A few hundred years ago they thought there’d never be planetary colonies outside our solar system. And a few hundred years before that they never thought there’d be a unified Earth. And a few hundred years before that-”

“There was still slavery, rampant poverty, and disease throughout the Earth,” Fuyuki finished Gilbert’s sentence. “There were also obtrusive bureaucrats and corpulent generals and avaricious aristocrats.”

“Those are still around,” Gilbert rested his head on his right hand.

“Exactly.”

“But in a much lesser degree than a thousand or so years ago,” Gilbert pointed out.

“You mean within the TEST Corps regions,” Fuyuki would have leaned back if there had been a back to the seat he sat on. “There’s still the Vulcan regions. Y’know, the planets that declared their independence so that they could continue to foster their aristocratic classes and impoverished masses? I can only imagine what the generals and bureaucrats are like.”

“You sound like quite an expert on the subject,” Gilbert was intrigued. “Almost like you were there when it all happened, so many years ago.”

“Well-” Fuyuki was interrupted before he could unintentionally spill the beans on anything.

“Attention everyone. This is your Captain speaking. We have safely arrived at Westingburg. I repeat, we have safely arrived at Westingburg. After we safely land, you all are temporarily relieved of your stations. I think we could all use a rest. Over and out.” The intercom buzzed.

“I guess that means we’re here,” Fuyuki brightened up. “I think I’d like to see this city, even if it does have a simply horrid name.” And with that, he left his seat and left the room, leaving Gilbert still sitting there, suspicions abounding in his mind.


“Mr. Menlowe,” the Captain extended her hand towards Thomas as she stood on the runway to the Menlowe Airbase. The Atlantis had successfully landed inside one of the massive hangars in the area. “Might I ask what’s up with the hat?”

“Daddy and me had a fight,” Thomas grumbled.

“Daddy and I,” Kirill whispered curtly under his breath. When the Captain and Thomas glanced up at him in surprise, he merely smiled his default grin.


“Here we are at Westingburg!” Fuyuki looked around excitedly. “I must admit though, it’s a little....small.”

“That’s because we haven’t left the hangar,” Lucy sighed.

“What are you talking about?” Fuyuki sniffed indignantly. “We haven’t even been in the Atlantis’ hangar all day!”

“No, I mean this hangar,” Lucy held her arm up to indicate the Menlowe hangar they were currently in. “The ship-hangar. We haven’t left it.”

“Oh,” Fuyuki blinked in realization. “Well, that would explain it.”

“It certainly would.”

“I don’t suppose we could go outside and take a look around?” Fuyuki looked at Lucy for approval.

“I don’t know,” Lucy chose her words carefully. “The Captain said we were all relieved of our stations temporarily, but leaving the ship entirely might be considered going AWOL.”

“Ah, but I’m not an official officer!” Fuyuki wagged his finger excitedly at Lucy. “Therefore and thusly, if I leave this ship, it won’t count as going AWOL!”

“And as such, we’ll be able to leave you behind if we like,” Lucy had to chuckle at the thought of Fuyuki chasing after the Atlantis as it launched.

“Oh...um...” Fuyuki hadn’t thought of that.

“Are you guys thinking of leaving the ship?” Fuyuki and Lucy both jumped in surprise as they saw Akina standing there, grinning mischievously.

“Um...” Fuyuki and Lucy stammered, both unsure of how to respond.

“Don’t worry,” Akina chuckled. “I won’t turn you guys in. In fact, it’s actually quite common for officers to leave the ship when we land somewhere for several days.”

“It is?” Fuyuki and Lucy blinked in surprise.

“Yeah,” Akina explained. “I mean, Menlowe Electronics does all the repairs for us in Westingburg, so with the exception of some of the more micromanaging engineers on the ship-”


Somewhere on the Atlantis, Gilbert was sneezing.


“-A lot of us don’t have anything to do but sit on our elbows. Just wait, I’m sure any sec now sis or that Magnuson guy’ll give us an estimated time of departure, and after that, it’s just making sure you’ve cleared what you want to do with the Captain and getting back to your station before we leave.”

“Huh,” Fuyuki liked the sound of that. “That sounds pretty nice.”

“Hey,” Lucy had an idea. “Would you like to come into town with us, Akina?” Lucy really would have liked to spend time with her new friend.

“Ah, sorry,” Akina was genuinely apologetic. “But I want to take the rest of Red Team out for some training. Did you know there’s an entire underground facility here dedicated solely to MAX training simulations? State-of-the-art. I’d be foolish not to take advantage of it.”

“Oh,” Lucy was a little crestfallen at that news. “Well, have fun.”

“Thanks,” Akina waved goodbye before saying “And I am sorry. But don’t worry. maybe this evening we’ll get to have a girls’ night out.” And with that, she left.

“I’m sorry, Lucy,” Fuyuki saw that Lucy was disappointed. “I’m sure we can still have fun.”

“Actually, I’m not thinking about that,” Lucy revealed. “I’m wondering, if there is a training facility for MAX pilots here, then shouldn’t I also take advantage of it as well? I do need to keep up my bond with Haruhi.”

“That’s true,” Fuyuki pondered the suggestion. “However, I’m not so sure about that idea.”

“Why not?” Lucy was confused.

“Those training simulations will most likely be of combat situations, where you’ve got to shoot down the enemy and rack up kill points and whatnot,” Fuyuki made the motion of shooting a gun. “And remember, I promised you you wouldn’t have to become a killer.”

“I see,” Lucy understood now. Come to think of it, she didn’t much like the idea of shooting people down, even if they were only simulations.

“Still,” Fuyuki conceded. “You do have a valid point concerning the fostering of your bond with Haruhi. It’d be an awful waste if all we did while we were here was goof off.”

“So what do you think is the best course of action?” Lucy asked.

“Funny you should ask,” Fuyuki got a sly grin on his face.


“Please run that by me again,” the Captain was sorting through papers in her office. “Because there are only two possibilities to explain why you said what you just said, and they are that either I am high or you are high.”

“Let’s take Haruhi throughout the town!” Fuyuki looked elated, while beside him, Lucy looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her up right then and there.

“Okay, you’re the one who’s high,” the Captain grunted. “Just wanted to confirm that.”

“I don’t take no chem’cals,” Fuyuki stated quite proudly.

“Then you’re naturally mad,” the Captain stopped her paperwork to glare at Fuyuki. “Because there is no way I would ever allow for a giant robot, and one which is technically still a military secret, to simply go gallivanting around the city for everyone to see. Does Lucy approve of this?”

“Well-”

“No,” Lucy quickly got in.

“Then it’s settled,” the Captain went back to her paperwork.

“But come on,” Fuyuki looked slightly hurt that Lucy had turned against him. “This way we can kill two birds with one stone! You can go out and have a fun time in the city whose name I refuse to speak, whilst at the same time getting to strengthen the bond between you and Haruhi. It’s a great idea.”

“No it isn’t,” Lucy sighed. “It’s a terrible, terrible idea. The Captain’s right. Haruhi’s supposed to be a secret to everyone. And besides, how would you react if a MAX started parading through your town?”

“But you’re thinking of it like Haruhi is an ordinary MAX,” Fuyuki said. “Remember, Haruhi looks like a giant-”

“A giant robot!” Lucy interrupted. “That’s what I’ve been saying!”

“Yes, but...” Fuyuki obviously wasn’t getting anywhere, so he turned to Kirill, who was sitting at another desk, also filing papers. “Kirill, help a fellow out.”

“You haven’t given me anything to go on in terms of helping,” Kirill didn’t look up from his paperwork.

“What are the various duties of the TEST Corps?” Fuyuki asked him.

Kiril blinked. He obviously had no idea what that had to do with anything, but he proceeded. “The TEST Corps serves as a unifying organization for various planets that have been colonized. Also, as a military organization it helps defend planets against threats of interplanetary significance, or sometimes merely domestic problems such as pirating. Aside from that, it mainly serves as a communication network between planets, helping to spread-” And that was when he got it. His face lit up in realization, and he quickly pulled out a small communications device. “Menlowe? Forgive me, but are there any important entertainment events going on in Westingburg right around now?” A pause. “Oh really? I see. Thank you.” With that, he hung up, and nodded at Fuyuki. “We would have to clear it with their agents, but I think we could make it work. It’s still quite risky though.”

“What are you all talking about?” the Captain’s curiosity was piqued.

“The TEST Corps, despite being mainly a military organization, is also responsible for the interplanetary distribution of entertainment and other such media,” Fuyuki explained. “Taking that into account, there are two goals which I seek to address.”

“Explain,” the Captain didn’t have much patience, but was starting to become interested.

“My goals are for Lucy to enjoy the city and what it has to offer, and also for her to foster her bond with Haruhi,” Fuyuki continued. “And as Mr. Magnuson has just confirmed for me, there is a concert going on in this city for the famous idol group Zeta Star. My idea is that Lucy could go out in Haruhi, and help as a publicity event for the concert.”

The Captain blinked. ‘You mean, like a parade balloon, but a MAX?”

“Sure,” Fuyuki grinned. “Why not? Idol groups do publicity stunts like this all the time.”

“But won’t this cause Haruhi to get a lot of attention?” the Captain was still reluctant. “The reason we kept him secret originally was because we had no idea what he was or what he was capable of. We still don’t, really.”

“Yes, but remember, an entire pirate ship and town have already seen Haruhi,” Fuyuki pointed out. “Word will spread pretty quickly regarding him. So wouldn’t it be a good idea to reveal him to the world, but with an alibi?”

“You mean come up with a fake backstory, to hide the factual one from the general public?” Kirill was interested.

“It sounds plausible enough, except if word is going to spread, then it’ll spread concerning Haruhi’s combat abilities, as he demonstrated in that battle,” the Captain still wasn’t convinced.

“That’s right. If we come up with a fake backstory, it’ll make people suspicious once they hear the factual one,” Lucy said.

“Yes, but people are always talking conspiracy about the TEST Corps,” Fuyuki didn’t give up. “How will this be any different from that? Oh no, you say this MAX is some super weapon? Why that’s absurd, I saw him at a concert for Zeta Star, and he was perfectly harmless. Why, he doesn’t even look like a Real Robot. He’s totally got a Super Robot vibe, and you know those don’t exist.”

“Fine, fine, you’ve made your point,” the Captain sighed. “But that still doesn’t change the fact that we’re only going to be in Westingburg for a few days. As soon as our repairs are finished, we’re leaving, and we’re taking Haruhi with us. Don’t you think people will grow suspicious when Haruhi is touted as a mascot for an idol group, but only ever appears for one concert?”

“No,” Fuyuki blinked. “If it’s only a publicity stunt, then I shouldn’t expect it to last more than one concert.”

“Well I still think it’s too unwieldy and crazy of a plan to approve,” the Captain went back to her paperwork.

“Ma’am, with all due respect, everything I’ve done up to this point has been unwieldy and crazy,” Fuyuki said. “And has it ever blown up in our faces?”

The Captain had no defense for that. It was true, from sloppily sneaking into the Atlantis, to spontaneously hot-wiring the shields, the worst one could say about Fuyuki’s actions were that they were annoying, and yes, unwieldy and crazy. But they had helped. Might this be yet another good idea in disguise? The Captain glanced at Lucy.

“Lucy, what do you think?” the Captain left it to her to decide.

Lucy had been thinking similar thoughts to the Captain, along with several thoughts of her own. She remembered the zaniness that seemed to emanate from Fuyuki, and how everything he did was quite nearly insane. But then she remembered that he was the crazy old mentor, and even when the crazy old mentor did something....well, crazy, he knew what he was doing. And after hearing Fuyuki’s explanation for his initial crazy idea, Lucy had to admit, it was starting to make more sense to her. So, as she took a glance at Fuyuki, Lucy finally decided “Sure. Why not?”

“Great!” Fuyuki grinned. “Kirill, you mentioned something about calling Zeta Star’s agent?”

“Done,” Kirill hung up the communications device. “They’ll be waiting for you at the West Plaza at 14:00 with refreshments.”

“Alright, this is Lieutenant Tomino, all things working on my end. How about you guys?”

“Lieutenant JG Paris, and things seem to be fine here.”

“You don’t have to speak your rank here, doofus. This is Ginger, and I’m fine.”

“This is Lieutenant JG Algy, and everything is in working condition over here. Don’t blame Ginger, Mr. Paris. He’s just upset that he’s the only Ensign on the team.”

“What!?! N-no I’m not!”

“Cut it out, Ginger. That’s an order,” Akina was all-business at that point.

“Fine, fine,” Ginger grumbled.

The members of Red Team were inside their respective MAX’s, and currently floating in the middle of space. Little stars poked through the darkness with light, and asteroids sprinkled it with brown, but for the most part, their surroundings were that of a vast, empty, black void. And the only things separating them from being sucked into that void were some layers of metal and a pilot suit.

“Alright then, Ginger, you take my left; Paris, you take my right,” Akina assigned positions. “Algy, how are your backward thrusters working?”

Algy was smoothly moving backwards through space. “Spot on.”

“Alright then, you take rear,” Akina ordered. “Now there’s supposed to be a Vulcan ship coming to this area soon.”

“What class?” Leon questioned.

“Either Destroyer or Cutter,” Akina answered.

“You mean you don’t know?” Ginger scoffed.

“‘Fraid not,” Akina shrugged. “That’s why we’re going in to investigate it. If it’s a Cutter-class, we just make sure it steers clear of our own ship, and keep hidden. If it’s a Destroyer-class, then we have one goal: Eliminate it.”

“Understood,” all three men under Akina’s command nodded.

“Then let’s go,” Akina took off, with Leon, Algy, and Ginger closely following.

Just because space doesn’t allow for any noise, that doesn’t mean you can simply go gallivanting out towards your targets. They have sensory equipment that can pick you up if you’re stupid, so a common strategy for MAX-pilots is to use asteroids like ground forces would use any other form of cover. The idea is that, because sensory equipment picks those up as well, if you’re stealthy and smart, they’ll assume you’re just another rock in space.

Of course, another common strategy was simply to put a MAX inside an inflatable, hollow cover. That way, when enemy MAX’s showed up near you, you could pop out of the “asteroid” when they got close enough, and they wouldn’t even know you were there until you had already gotten the drop on them.

“Holy-” Ginger was the first to notice them as they popped out and lunged for the team. “Six of them! Ten O’Clock!!!”

By the time Akina and the rest of the team even had enough time to react, Ginger was already shooting the enemy MAX’s. Akina had to grin as she readied her own MAX’s gun. Ginger may have been a pain sometimes, but his reflexes were impeccable.

“Die, Yellowjackets!” One of the Vulcan MAX’s charged at Akina with, she could hardly believe it, a freaking sword! Akina shot him down before he even came close.

“Hey, what can I say but never bring a sword to a gunfight?” Akina had always wanted to say that.

However, just after Akina took out that Vulcan soldier, another came directly behind her; this time with a gun.

“Watch out, Miss Tomino!” Algy managed to shoot the Vulcan’s camera out before it got her.

“Thanks Algy,” Akina was outwardly thankful and inwardly chastising herself for not noticing the MAX before it had been too late.

Leon, meanwhile, had pulled out his gun, but had it knocked away before he could use it. It seemed swords could be used in a gunfight after all, depending on the combatants’ speed. And Leon hated to admit it, but he didn’t have the best reflexes. But what he lacked in neurobiological instincts, he made up for in resourcefulness. Thrusters in full reverse, Leon narrowly managed to avoid getting lopped in half with the Vulcan’s blade. He briefly thought of using his Dash, but decided not to waste it. However, something he could do was use the environment to his advantage.

The reason asteroids make such good cover is the fact that they’re very big; big enough to use as a shield. However, while their size is perfect for defense, they’re typically too big to use for offense. Unless of course you happen to be the pinnacle of MAX technology, in which case lobbing an asteroid at your foe is within the realm of possibility.

And that’s exactly what Leon did. Quickly moving behind an asteroid, Leon hid as his enemy closed in on him. Unbeknownst to Leon, unfortunately, this Vulcan MAX had a weapon he hadn’t anticipated. Placing its free hand on the asteroid, the MAX melted a giant hole through the rock, culminating in an explosion of molten slag all over the place.

However, it didn’t really matter, since Leon hadn’t been meaning to use that asteroid anyhow. Just as the Vulcan triumphantly blew the space boulder to bits, Leon had already shoved another one directly into their face. The resultant momentum was enough to knock the wind out of his opponent and to send them careening off into the deep, endless void.

But just as Leon had secured his victory, the world around him dissipated into a bunch of pixels, which in turn dissipated back into his proper vision, which was covered by a visor. Leon was sitting in a cockpit just like that of his Gawain, but this cockpit wasn’t inside a MAX, rather one of several simulation-generators on the Menlowe Electronics premises.

“I don’t understand,” as Leon took off his visor, his brow furrowed in confusion. He thought he had been doing fine. Why had the simulation ended?

“Paris!!!” an angry scream pierced the air, and Leon knew that whatever had caused the simulation to end, it had been his fault.

Sure enough, when Akina burst into his cockpit, she confirmed this by shouting “Where were you!?!”

“Ma’am, I was fighting the Vulcan MAX, and-” Leon was interrupted by Akina grabbing his collar and pulling him in close.

“Yeah, and where were you when Ginger needed backup?” Akina asked inflamedly.

“I...” Leon then realized what he had done wrong.

“Remember, we’re a team, Paris!” Akina continued to glare at Leon. “We stick together. Don’t try to be some hotshot and fly out of formation.”

“Yes ma’am,” Leon nodded sadly.

“Good,” Akina shoved Leon back into his seat. Sighing, she wondered aloud. “Honestly, what did they teach you at Mars?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Leon was mentally cursing himself for forgetting one of the most important rules of MAX-piloting.

“Don’t apologize, just fix what you’re doing,” Akina snapped, causing Leon to flinch.

“S-sorry,” Leon apologized for apologizing.

“I thought I told you not to apologize!” Akina yelled, causing Leon to flinch even more.

“S- I mean, yes ma’am,” Leon caught himself.

“Let’s try it again,” Akina sighed as she got out of Leon’s cockpit.

“Right!” Leon was ready to rectify his previous mistake.

As Akina went back to her respective simulator, she briefly wondered how Lucy was. However she was doing, it had to be better than what Akina was going through.


And as a matter of fact, Lucy was having a very good day indeed. She, Fuyuki, and Haruhi were currently meeting with the members of Zeta Star, along with their agents. Lucy had needed to alert Haruhi before they left the Atlantis that he was not supposed to talk or make any indications that he was sentient; but Haruhi had been a rather good sport about that, so there were currently no problems.

“So ‘dis ‘ere is da MAX?” Luigi Funghi, one of the agents, smoked a fag as he looked at Haruhi through thick sunglasses.

“Why are you talking like that?” Fuyuki blinked.

“Wha? Canna fella jus’ ask’n ordinary question wifout gettin’ ‘eckled?” Luigi got defensive.

“Now look, see,” Luigi’s brother, Mario Funghi, leapt to his sibling’s defense. “Yer makin’ my bruvver lose ‘is tempa.”

“What an odd thing to say,” Fuyuki could not wrap his head around these brothers’ crazy accents.

“Um, sorry,” an elderly man with a normal voice came up to Fuyuki. “I’m Yoshiyuki Fujiwara; the normal one. You can just call me Yoshi, though. I take it you’re the one who called us?”

“Actually that was the gentleman named Kirill Magnuson,” Fuyuki shook Yoshi’s hand. “I’m merely this young lady’s escort,” Fuyuki motioned to Lucy with his free hand. “My name’s Fuyuki.”

“Hi,” Lucy gave a standard wave hello.

“So you’re the pilot?” the leader of the girls excitedly walked up to Lucy. “Hi! I’m Izumi Tsukino, the leader of Zeta Star.”

“H-hi,” Lucy was noticeably more nervous saying hello to an idol singer than to a suit. When Lucy saw Izumi, the first word she thought was “princess”, and it was easy to see why. Izumi was the most beautiful of all the five members of Zeta Star, with long, luscious, flowing hair, full lips, and eyes that sparkled like a true idol. Wait....five members. “Um...” Lucy couldn’t help asking. “Why is your band called Zeta Star? I thought Zeta was the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet, but you’ve only got five members.”

“Oh, that,” Izumi gave a mock-smack on her cranium. “We have five members because of the five points of a star, hence the Star-part. The Zeta-part is just there to sound cool.”

“Huh,” Lucy had to admit, Zeta did sound kind of cool. But still....there were several other Greek letters that sounded cool. Lucy was probably over-thinking things though, so she decided to just go with it...for now. “Okay.”

“So, have you heard of us before?” Izumi grinned expectantly at Lucy.

“Uh....” No. No, she hadn’t. She hadn’t at all. She hadn’t heard of them until Fuyuki mentioned that they were performing here today.

“Izumi,” another girl walked up with her arms crossed. “Don’t put her on the spot like that. Remember, this is our first official concert outside of the Ark-Angels.”

“Yeah,” another member also walked up. “Don’t make her nervous.”

“Ohhh,” Izumi pouted, while Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. “I guess you’re right. Anyways, I should probably introduce you to the rest of the group. This is Miho Nagai,” Izumi motioned at the first girl. “And this is Tomomi Takahashi.” Izumi motioned at the second girl. “Over there, no doubt bickering, are Shinobu Yokoyama and Mirai Ichijou.” Izumi motioned to the other two members stationed elsewhere. “Got all that?”

So many new names, it was a while before Lucy managed to confidently say “Yes...I believe so.” Lucy did a quick scan of each of the girls to get some basic first impressions. The first words Lucy thought when she saw Miho were “dark”, “refined”, and “cool”. The first words Lucy thought when she saw Tomomi were “pink”, “odd”, and “scatter-brained”. The first words Lucy thought when she saw Shinobu were “glasses”, “short” and “whale-spout”. And finally, the first words Lucy thought when she saw Mirai were “My god woman, what did you pay for those?”. From that, Lucy managed to get a basic understanding of who she would be working with.

“So Lucy,” Miho looked up at Haruhi. “What’s it like being a pilot?”

“Not that exciting, actually,” Lucy went to her prepared alibi. “I’m still a cadet, so they don’t let me do anything outside of sims. Except, of course, for this.”

“Ah,” Miho chuckled. “Yeah, if you’re really desperate to pilot, then I can see why you’d jump at this chance; even if you don’t have any idea who we are.”

“Hehehe, you got me,” Lucy chuckled sheepishly.

“You at least know about the Ark-Angels, right?” Tomomi looked worried for some reason.

“Of course,” Lucy blinked. The Ark-Angel Lagrangian Colony ships were, as one could probably guess from the name, mobile Lagrangian colonies. Of course, by being mobile that technically meant they weren’t Lagrangian, but the basic cylindrical, cycling design that was a staple part of Lagrangian colonies was also a staple part of the Ark-Angels. It just so happened that, yes, the Ark-Angels were mobile, while the normal Lagrangian colonies stayed in orbit around planets. However, while technically Colony ships, the main goals of the Ark-Angels were actually national and cultural preservation. What with interplanetary colonization, the old national identities of Earth began to crumble and fall. So to preserve what little was left, the Ark-Angels were built, each of them housing a unique culture and nation. You could find recreations of every famous monument throughout the Ark-Angels, as well as listen to scores of different tongues that had become obsolete everywhere except on those ships. If you had the time and resources available, you could take a trip to the Statue of Liberty and dine on French delicacies and converse with someone in Indonesian and partake in a Mexican fiesta and have a Spanish siesta when you were all done. And believe me, after travelling to all those Ark-Angels, you would definitely need a siesta. “So...judging by your names, I’d say you all are from the Ark-Angel...” Lucy went through a mental catalogue of all the Ark-Angels she knew. “...Yamato.”

“That’s right!” the three girls near Lucy clapped in congratulations.

“Ain’t she a smart one?” Fuyuki popped up behind the three girls, causing them all to squeal and jump in surprise. “What?” Fuyuki blinked, unaware of his ability to surprise people.

“You can have a unique sense of clarity and density at the same time. Did you know that?” Lucy raised her eyebrows and smiled sardonically.

“Really?” Fuyuki obviously didn’t.

“Ah, so this must be your superior officer or something,” Tomomi made the wrong assumption.

“No,” Lucy cut in before Fuyuki could do something grandiose in response to that statement.

“Aw...” Fuyuki pouted. “You didn’t even let me do something cool.”

“I know,” Lucy replied.

“But anyways, I’ve just had a talk with Yoshi over there, and your job is simple really,” Fuyuki clapped his hands together and grinned. “Can you dance?”

“Uh...” Lucy’s eyes widened with a creeping sense of apprehension.


“Paris!!!” Akina’s screech caused Leon to jump in surprised horror. He didn’t understand! They had completed the simulation just fine. What had he done wrong?

As Akina burst into his pod again, Leon went through a mental calculation of everything he had done. But for the life of him he couldn’t think of anything! And she was staring angrily at him and he was starting to panic and-

“Good job,” Akina smiled soothingly at the nervous, close-eyed, and frightened Leon.

Leon blinked. “P-pardon?” he opened his eyes confusedly, only to find Akina laughing.

“I...phahaha, sorry, but....hahaha! Ah, you should see your face!” Akina was doubled over in laughter. “Seriously though, good job. You’re really fitting well into the team. You....hahahahaha. I’m sorry, I need a- I need to reassert myse-”

“Will there be any more training simulations today, ma’am?” Leon mechanically stood up and asked calmly, his face downcast.

“What? Oh no, I think that’s enough for one day,” Akina did not notice Leon’s coldness until he brushed past her.

“In that case I think I’ll take a break. I’m glad my performance was satisfactory, ma’am,” Leon did not look at Akina as he walked away.

“Paris?” Akina only just started to realize the potential adverse consequences of her actions. “Hey, is something wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong ma’am,” Leon’s mechanical tone and refusal to look at Akina suggested otherwise. However, everything else about him was polite and professional, like he was simply going to have to get used to something. And this seeming contradiction was enough for Akina not to rush in and question Leon.

“Paris?” Akina bit her lip, worried.

“Dear me,” Algy popped up. “We’ve barely had him and you’ve already broken him.”

“What?” Akina found that statement ridiculous. “But all I did was just play a stupid joke! How was I supposed to know he didn’t have a sense of humor?”

“Maybe a stupid joke like that can be brushed off by Ginger or myself, but I don’t think Mr. Paris is that sort of fellow,” Algy’s eyes got a little glazed as he said infatuatedly “He’s the shy, gentle type.”

“Well....” Akina did feel a twinge of regret over her actions, but still, she bristled slightly in indignation. “I can’t be expected to just know what kind of a person he is so quickly!”

“But wasn’t that the entire point of having dinner with him and playing that game of capture-the-flag?” Algy pointed out.

Akina stammered. She had no defense for that, because, after all, it was true.

“Look, it’s perfectly understandable,” Algy conceded. “You are used to flying with Ginger and myself, and now that Mr. Paris has joined our team, you want him to become just another one of the girls. But I don’t think he is just another one of the girls. He’s the shy, introverted boy who hangs out with the girls because he gets picked on by the other boys. He can get along well enough, but he’ll still be a boy. Do you get what I’m saying?”

Akina sighed, thinking about it. It would have been so much simpler if Leon had been just another ace pilot. After several hours of simulations, she had gotten used to his personality in the cockpit; that of a pragmatic warrior. But as a result, she had forgotten that he was only that way 10% of the time. 90% of the time, he was still a nervous, bumbling autist. “I...you’re right,” Akina hated to admit it. “What do you think would be the best way to proceed?”

“Just apologize,” Algy shrugged. “And maybe ask him to dinner.”

“What?” Akina blushed slightly. “Why in the world would you suggest that?”

“Well, the first time obviously didn’t take,” Algy replied.

“Yes mom,” Akina sighed. She had fought with Algy long enough to trust him both in and out of the battlefield.

“Good girl,” Algy’s mustache curled into a smile.


Akina found Leon near a vending machine, sipping on a bottle of water.

“Um, hey, Paris,” Akina uncomfortably walked up to Leon. She had been so eager to find Leon, she had completely forgotten what she would say once she found him.

“Hm?” Leon turned around, and, once he saw Akina, quickly saluted. “Yes ma’am!”

“Ahhh,” Akina didn’t want him to be like that. “Please, um, don’t salute. You don’t need to salute. It’s fine.” It would have been even more difficult to apologize to Leon if he was being formal.

But then again, that was how he normally was. Geez, Akina hated how confusing Leon could be.

“Um...yes ma’am,” Leon seemed confused, but eased his posture.

“Thank you,” Akina sighed. She was terrible at apologies. Her naturally brusque and hot-headed demeanor was not suited for such activities. “Um....anyways, I just....I have two things to say. First, I wanted to apologize for that stupid joke I played on you earlier. I understand you must have felt really nervous, and I wasn’t helping matters by being like that. So I’m sorry,” Akina managed to spit all that out without too much trouble.

“Oh no, ma’am,” Leon frantically waved his arms. “I’m used to it. Believe me. It’s fine. I have no problems with your jokes.”

“Huh?” Akina hadn’t expected that. “But...but....” wait, now she had no idea what to say! If he had accepted her apology, she might have been able to come up with something, but now; how could he have been fine!?! “You didn’t look fine after I played that joke!” Akina remembered.

“Oh,” Leon stiffened, but still managed to say “W-well, I...I was just caught unawares. Don’t worry, pretty soon I’ll be able to take jokes like that with great frequency.”

That made Akina snap. “No, shut up! Shut up!” Akina couldn’t stand how Leon was like right now; so submissive, so willing to crawl on his stomach. Akina hated people like that! “If you don’t want me to play jokes like that, just say so!!!”

“...W-want?” Leon stuttered the word; as though it were a foreign concept. As though he could not wrap his brain around the idea of wanting anything for himself.

“Gah!” Akina screamed and threw her arms up in the air. “I don’t get you! One second I think I do, but then the next second, you suddenly do something that throws those assumptions right out the window! Why are you so complacent!?! You don’t make any sense!” Akina didn’t know how to continue this conversation, or even if she wanted to. She was starting to feel sick to her stomach just looking at Leon. “Never mind,” she started walking away.

“B-box!” Leon stammered and stuttered, until finally something made it out through his lips.

“What?” Akina furrowed her brow; anger replaced with puzzlement.

“Um...” Leon looked uncomfortable talking, but went on. “W-when I was a kid, my favorite toy was an empty box. I liked to get in it and pretend that it was a spaceship or a TARDIS or a MAX or something like that. I didn’t have any friends growing up, so I would always just go into the box and...pretend.”

“Paris, what does any of this have to do with-”

“Please!” Leon shouted, causing Akina to be surprised at his sudden bout of emotion. “Ah! I mean, sorry, sorry. But...but...my dad is Admiral Hermann Paris.”

“What!?!” Akina’s eyes widened. “You mean the huge war hero from back in-” Akina suddenly realized what she was doing, as she saw Leon stiffen and his expression darken. “I mean...oh.” she tried to look unimpressed.

“It’s fine,” even though it was obvious that Leon still didn’t like it when people reacted like that. “I did the same thing when I found out your sister was the Captain. B-but...I guess, because I was the son of someone famous, everyone always either expected a lot out of me, or nothing at all out of me. I-if I ever did poorly in school, or in training, people would either yell at me, like ‘how dare you not live up to the legacy of your great and wonderful father’, or just sneer at me, like ‘it doesn’t matter, ‘cause your daddy’ll just help you out’. I...I hated that.”

“Then why become a MAX pilot in the first place?” Akina didn’t understand.

“Because....because of my box,” Leon was dodging eye contact, and playing with his water bottle, so nervous was he. “Because, even if nobody ever tried to make friends with me growing up, or if I got harassed by my teachers, I could just go back inside the box, and I’d feel calm again. When I grew too old to fit in the box, I got into a real MAX cockpit, instead of just a pretend one. And even if I got a lot of grief from the other officers, it was alright, just so long as I had my...box to go back into.” Leon sighed. “I’m sorry. You just...you said you didn’t get me....and I just...rambled for...for....never mind.”

“Paris...” Akina looked concernedly at her teammate, before shouting “That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard!”

“I....” Leon cringed. “S-sorry ma’am, I know-”

“I’m not talking about your story!” Akina marched back to Leon and got in his face. “I’m talking about you! Are you saying you just let everyone walk all over you, right from the beginning of life!?!”

“I...I guess so,” Leon didn’t seem to understand what was wrong with that.

“Why didn’t you ever stand up for yourself! Or at least tell someone what was going on! If your dad really is Hermann Paris, then he should have been able to put a stop to all that harassment from those officers!”

“What?” Leon couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Have you ever been bullied before? Standing up for yourself doesn’t ever do any good unless you have enough power to back yourself up! Maybe you could have just beaten up anyone who taunted you growing up, but I couldn’t! And I was never clever enough to win an argument, or even to stand up for myself! And if I had told my dad, wouldn’t that be doing exactly what the other officers were accusing me of? Calling in favors from my all-powerful daddy?”

“So what, you just got used to being bullied, and accepted that as the norm!?!” Akina boomed angrily.

“Yes,” Leon answered simply, still not seeing anything wrong with that.

“How...how...” Akina stammered in anger and frustration, before realizing something. “You thought I was like everyone else.” her eyes widened as it sunk in.

“Well, no,” Leon admitted. “You’d have to do a lot worse to match what my previous commanders were like. But-”

“You were starting to get worried,” Akina closed her eyes and pressed her hands against her temples. “You were starting to think, ‘oh no, this isn’t going to be my one big chance to have an actually decent life after all, in fact it very well might just be exactly like my previous life’. That about right?”

“I.....” it was a while before Leon answered “Yes.”

“I see,” Akina sighed. “Well don’t ever think that at all ever!!!” Akina’s eyes opened, lit up and glared at Leon. “I told you earlier today that we’re a team, and at how teammates look out for each other, right? Well you’re a part of the team! We’re supposed to look after you just as you’re supposed to look after us! Okay?”

Leon blinked, still not understanding. “Why?”

“Because you’re an amazing pilot, and because it’s the right thing to do, and because...” Akina sighed. “I still have a lot to learn about you before I understand you. And it’s obvious you have a lot to learn about basic human decency. So...” she couldn’t believe she was saying such an insanely cliche line. “I want to be your friend, when we’re not piloting. Inside the cockpit, I’m your commanding officer, and I don’t want you to forget that. But outside, I want you to be good friends with Algy, and Ginger....and with me.”

Leon didn’t know how to respond. “I....don’t know anything about making friends, you know,” he managed to say at last.

“Well then, I guess that’s what we’re here for,” Akina shrugged. “You wanna have dinner with me?”

“Pardon?” Leon blinked.

“That was the second thing I was going to ask you,” Akina sighed as she smiled.


“Everything working fine up there?” Fuyuki called up to Lucy as she was in Haruhi’s cockpit.

“Yup,” there wasn’t actually anything to work in Haruhi, with the exception of the handles, but Lucy tried to keep up the appearance that she was pressing buttons or something. “All systems go.”

“Alright then,” Fuyuki adjusted his headset and flipped through the sheets that had been given to him. “Now because you’re in a giant robot, your dance moves are actually quite simple, so don’t worry. Let’s go through the first couple steps, ‘kay?”

“‘Kay,” Lucy breathed a sigh of relief, as she wasn’t that good at dancing. However, she wondered “Wait, are you going to be teaching me?”

“Of course!” Fuyuki grinned. “I’m a professional-level danseur. The other boys laughed at me as they played football, but my father always said ‘real men take ballet lessons’!”

“Huh,” Lucy tried imagining Fuyuki as a young boy, learning how to do ballet. The image conjured in her head was enough to make her stifle a couple snickers.

“Oy!” Fuyuki puffed his cheeks in indignation. “Let’s get practicing!”

“Right, right,” Lucy calmed her laughter and concentrated on the task at hand.


“Ah,” Helmsman Todd was sitting in the Rec Room, peacefully sipping tea as he lay on a love-seat..

“Hey Helmsman,” Vanessa popped up nearby and smiled gently down at her crewmate. “Feeling better?”

“Indubitably,” Helmsman Todd managed to say that word without coming off as a know-it-all prick. With him, it sounded as natural in his vocabulary as any other word. “I’m glad the trip’s over.”

“I’ll bet,” Vanessa chuckled. Gilbert may have stressed out about the workability of the engines, but so had Helmsman Todd. After all, he had been the one who needed to steer the Atlantis to safety without overstressing anything. He had been on edge right until they had successfully docked. It was understandable that he needed a break.

“Right now, all I want to do is sit, drink cups of tea, and relax,” Helmsman Todd’s eyes glazed over with relaxed satisfaction.

“What?” Vanessa dramatically pouted and looked offended. “No time for me?”

“What?” It took a while for Helmsman Todd to realize what he had done wrong. But once he did, he leapt up and shouted “Of course not! I always have time for you, darling!” It would have been a lot more cute if it weren’t for the fact that as Helmsman Todd leapt up, he managed to spill tea all over his uniform. “Ah! Hothothot!!!”

Normally when this sort of thing happened, Vanessa would have waited for Helmsman Todd to beg a little longer. However, the spilt tea caused her to rush to her beau’s aid. “Oh, hold on. Let me get that for you.” she pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe away the tea with.

“Thanks,” Helmsman Todd’s voice had become squeaky with the sudden arrival of steaming hot liquid on his lap. And yes, I realized it the moment I narrated it. Apologies.

“Honestly, what would you do without me?” Vanessa sighed.

“I’d probably be assigned to the Brunei, like my dad originally intended,” Helmsman Todd misinterpreted her question.

“Not what I was trying to get at.”

“What?”

“You know, you can be really dense sometimes,” Vanessa sighed once more, but this time her slight exasperation was tinged with an even slighter hint of affection.

“I can?” Helmsman Todd blinked.

“You can,” Susan appeared out of nowhere, causing Helmsman Todd and Vanessa to jump in fright. Susan seemed to have that uncanny ability to sneak up on people without even realizing it.

“Way to spoil the moment, Susan,” Vanessa was very cross at having the moment interrupted.

“Sorry,” Susan gave no indication of remorse. Of course, she gave no indication of any other emotion either. “But you know I only ship Todd and Anand.”

Helmsman Todd stiffened and shivered at the same time with that statement, while Vanessa crossed her arms and grumbled “Still? Todd and I have been dating for years now, and neither he nor Anand swing that way anyways. Why do you continue to insist on the idea of them being romantically involved?”

“I...can’t help myself,” a flicker of emotion crossed Susan’s face, as she blushed lightly, placed her hands on her cheeks, and gave an ever-so-small smile. “Everyone knows chocolate and caramel go together so much better than chocolate and vanilla.”

“Tell that to Mondelēz Interplanetary!” Helmsman Todd gave the best retort he could muster (which really wasn’t that good).

“Forget it, Todd,” Vanessa sighed. “There’s no reasoning with rabid yaoi fangirls.” Then to Susan “Is there a reason for you coming here? Y’know, aside from sabotaging our romantic moments?”

“Two things, actually,” Susan regained her serious, emotionless state. Wait, is seriousness an emotion? I don’t know. Hold on, wait, not important right now. What is important is that Susan held up a finger and stated “First, there are talks of Lieutenant Tomino asking Lieutenant JG Paris out to dinner.”

“Is that important?” Helmsman Todd blinked, not understanding.

“It could be,” Vanessa’s spider-sense was tingling. The matchmaker/gossiper/that-girl-who-meddles in her was going through all the possibilities and implications of this recent development. “Paris is obviously emotionally retarded; my guess is difficulty making friends as a child. And Tomino has a very strong personality. So if the two of them start to spend time together casually, and not just as teammates, then Paris could potentially latch onto Tomino in a dependent way, like a shy boy asking the popular girl out in school. And you know how that always ends.”

“Wait, how do you know he’s mentally retarded?” Helmsman Todd bristled. “His mental acuity seems fine to me.”

“Emotionally retarded, dear. Don’t mix the two up,” Vanessa corrected him. “And I can tell quite a lot about people by simple body language.”

“Yeah right,” Helmsman Todd didn’t believe her. “Body language. That’s as silly as saying that someone is lying ‘cause you can ‘see it in their eyes’.”

“Body language is a very legitimate way of gleaning information regarding someone,” Vanessa sniffed. “And I stand by my previous attestment. This could very easily end very badly for both Paris and Tomino.”

“I think you’re missing the point,” Susan interjected.

“Oh?” Vanessa and Helmsman Todd blinked in surprise, and turned their heads to Susan. “And what is this point that we’ve missed?” Vanessa asked.

“Think about it,” Susan said. “If Paris goes after Tomino, then that means the Kirilleon pairing is ruined.”

“Kirilleon?” Helmsman Todd was scared to ask.

“Magnuson and Paris,” Susan showed a flicker of emotion (and a flicker of insanity) as she launched into her spiel. “Think about it. Both of them coming from Mars, in an unfamiliar new setting. The only flicker of familiarity in their lives is each other. Soon, they’ll emotionally bond together, to take on this strange, new environment, and it’ll all culminate in them having wild, hot, bondage-”

“Stop!” Vanessa screeched. “Stop! No, no, no! No way! Not possible! Get it out of your mind as I try to rinse mine of that horrible image! Gah!” she shuddered.

“But I’ve already written copious amounts of fanfiction and everything,” Susan said.

“Already?” Helmsman Todd was surprised at Susan’s quickness with the pen.

“Well, it doesn’t take much talent to write fanfic,” Vanessa commented.

“I take offense to that comment,” said Susan.

“So what was the second thing?” Helmsman Todd hoped it wasn’t another guy-on-guy pairing Susan had come up with.

“Oh yes,” Susan coughed slightly before saying “The idol group Zeta Star is performing in this city tonight and tomorrow night.”

The eyes of Helmsman Todd and Vanessa widened as Susan revealed this new information to them.

“Does-”

“She doesn’t know,” Susan was back to emotionlessness. “However, I assume she’ll find out soon enough.”

“Unless we keep her on the ship,” Helmsman Todd suggested. “Maybe if we do that, she won’t find out anything, and she’ll be fine.”

“If Susan found out about it though, then that probably isn’t a good plan,” Vanessa shot that idea down. “After all, Susan never leaves the ship.”

“Oh yeah,” Helmsman Todd bit his lip, trying to come up with another idea.

“Do you have any ideas?” Susan asked Vanessa.

“No,” Vanessa sighed. “Except maybe simply being there for her with ice cream and tissues.”

“That usually helps,” Helmsman Todd nodded.

“Then a girls’ night out?” Susan suggested.

“Yay!” Helmsman Todd grinned before realizing “Wait, that means I don’t get to join you guys for ice cream.”

“‘Fraid not, honey,” Vanessa said.

“Shoot.”


“Hey Fuyuki.”

“Si.”

“Don’t look now, but Ms. I-musta-paid-a-fortune has been eyeing you ever since we arrived,” Lucy was taking a break from her dance lessons, as she swigged down some water.

“Why did she pay a fortune?” Fuyuki appeared genuinely curious.

“You’re serious?” Lucy cocked an eyebrow as she glanced back at Mirai. As Fuyuki quizzically followed her gaze, Mirai did indeed wave flirtingly at him.

“Ohhh,” Fuyuki realized. “Huh. Yes. I assume they must have cost quite a lot.”

“A fortune, even,” Lucy chuckled.

“Well now, there’s no need to be rude. After all, you will be working with them,” Fuyuki pointed out.

“Yeah,” Lucy sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Fuyuki inquired.

“It’s just, I’ve tried talking to them...” Lucy had a look of contemplation about her. “And they seem kind of....vapid.”

“Vapid?” Fuyuki required further clarification.

“They don’t seem to talk about much except being an idol and makeup and clothes and frilly, flighty things,” Lucy explained.

“What about boys?” Fuyuki ventured.

Lucy was about to make some snide remark before realizing “Actually, no. No mention of any kind of boys.”

“Really?” Fuyuki raised his eyebrows at that. “Strange. I’ve met other idol groups before. And they always talked about boys. Well, no, I take that back. That’s giving you the wrong impression. They were idols, after all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lucy didn’t understand.

“An idol is supposed to be...well, an idol,” Fuyuki clarified. “She’s supposed to belong to the masses, not just to one person. She’s the person who young girls look up to and who young boys feel the first tingles of puberty for. She’s supposed to be there for everyone, and she’s also supposed to remain....” Fuyuki tried to search for a word. “Pure?”

“Pure?” Lucy snarked. It sounded like some dirty old man’s fantasy.

“I know, that makes it sound like some sick fantasy that creepy guys drool over,” Fuyuki sighed. “But really, as I said, idols are supposed to be idols. They’re not supposed to be like normal girls. At least, not in certain areas.”

“So what, idols aren’t supposed to talk about boys?” Lucy found that to be a constricting idea.

“No, remember I said the idol groups I met would talk about boys,” Fuyuki straightened that out. “However, they were always very discreet about it. It’s like, they thought about boys, and occasionally dated, but they didn’t make it a part of their public life as an idol. They made sure to keep it under tabs, and they made sure to keep a part of their heart exclusively for their fans.”

Lucy furrowed her brow, starting to understand. “I guess that makes sense. Still, I wouldn’t want to go through life without being able to be open about my love for boys.”

“Ah-ba-da-eh?” Fuyuki did a double-take at that comment.

“What?” Lucy seemed genuinely curious.

“Well...I just...I suppose it’s normal for....oh but....but I’m not ready for you to date yet, Lucy!” Fuyuki whined like a two-year old. “I just can’t stand the thought of some little scamp coming along and....and...no!”

“Calm down,” Lucy ignored his antics. “You’re making a scene.”

“But if you were to get your heart broken, I’d be distraught!” Fuyuki blubbered. “I’d find the little rapscallion and beat him black and blue!”

Lucy had to laugh at that. When Fuyuki put it like that he almost sounded like...

Like a dad.

Lucy stopped laughing. Her lips closed, and then parted ever-so-slightly once more, ready to speak something. But then-

“Hey!” Mirai jumped up to Fuyuki and grabbed his arm. “Why are you two looking so lonely over here? Come join us!”

“I just go where Lucy goes,” Fuyuki shrugged, not noticing that Lucy had been about to say something.

“Awww, then I guess I can’t ever get you alone?” Mirai gave her best cutey-pout face and pressed her impressive bosom against Fuyuki.

He didn’t notice at all, and didn’t even seem to register that she had spoken. “So Lucy, d’you want to go over to the other idols?”

Lucy had been ready to say something, but now that Mirai had come, it would have merely spoiled the new moment.

“Sure,” Lucy shrugged.

“Well then I guess we’re coming with you, then,” Fuyuki smiled at Mirai. “Andiamo, signorina.”

“Oh, you speak French,” Mirai giggled.

For some reason, Fuyuki found that comment hilarious.

“Um...did I say something wrong?” Mirai looked distressed.

“I think she’s hitting on you,” Lucy wondered if Fuyuki even realized that.

“Hitting on me?” Fuyuki said it like it was a foreign phrase. “Why that’s absurd. She isn’t using a bat, a club, or even a stick.”

“No, I mean she’s coming onto you. She’s making advances towards you. She’s courting her affections to you. She’s romantically interested in you,” Lucy made it as clear as possible.

Mirai lit up a deep shade of maroon at that comment, but Fuyuki merely stared blankly at Lucy before saying “Why that’s absurd. She isn’t using a bat, a club, or even a stick.”

That certainly got a few odd stares his way.

“What?” Fuyuki blinked. “Can’t an old man enjoy a few odd pleasures?”

“Ladieeeeeeeees aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-” he went on like that for a full fifteen seconds. “-aaaaaaaand gentlemen. It is my honor, it is my privilege, to welcome to you tonight, a new talent. Well, I’say new, but really, they’ve been around for quite some time. However, this’ll be their very first concert outside of their home, so please, make them feel welcome. And remember, no a’smokin’ and no a’flash photography of any kind. Thank you, and put your hands together for....Zeta Star!” Fuyuki bowed as the mass of people applauded.

As he walked off the stage, Lucy remarked in her comm “My, you seem to have enjoyed doing that.”

“I’ve always wanted to be a crazy announcer guy,” Fuyuki giggled gleefully in the way only drooling idiot fanboys and people on nitrous oxide can.

“I’ll bet,” Lucy chuckled.

“Break a leg out there.”

“Will do.”

And with a bright flash of light, the five idols standing readily on stage, and Lucy ready to go as the crowd cheered, the concert had begun.


Leon was waiting patiently. He hadn’t made a very big deal about what to wear. After all, he knew this was only a date for chums, rather than lovers. However, even without the romance, Leon was flustered even more than usual. He had never had a friend before. He briefly realized how insanely sad and cliche that must have sounded for a man his age, but it was true. Good lord, it was true. He had no idea what to do.

“You look like you need some assistance,” as Leon looked up he saw Kirill coming his way, along with his standard, smug-yet-sympathizing smile.

“Thanks, but...” Leon had a brief desire to shoulder the effort of a friendship on his own, but realized that there was really no reason why he shouldn’t at least see if Kirill had something useful to say. “I g-guess so.”

“You look just like someone I used to know,” Kirill leaned against the wall near Leon. “He was always eager to please. And I presume you’re very eager to please whoever it is you’re meeting up with.”

“The Lieutenant,” Leon clarified.

“Ah, yes, Miss Tomino. Well, the younger of the two, to be precise,” Kirill surprised Leon by not making any cute remarks. “For such a lucky young man, you look remarkably unhappy.”

“I just...” Leon sighed. “I really don’t know how to make friends. And yes, the Lieutenant is...very attractive. And I don’t want to grow dependent on her.”

“Eh?” Kirill raised his brow. “What d’you mean by that?”

“Well, I know in terms of relationships, I’m sorely lacking many important faculties,” Leon explained. “But I at least know enough to realize what would happen if I invest too much in someone. I wouldn’t be able to function without them, and I’d be trading one crutch for another. And I’m more afraid of becoming a leech than remaining alone.”

“But if you can recognize a potential problem, what’s to stop you from preventing it?” Kirill asked.

“I don’t really have that much confidence in myself. I never do, unless I’m in my box,” Leon cast his head down.

“Box?” Kirill did not understand the reference.

“Oh, sorry. I just...it’s a long story,” Leon apologized.

“You didn’t seem to have a box with you when you rushed off to apprehend Lucy and Fuyuki, back when they first snuck on-board,” despite not getting the reference, Kirill still understood the basic gist of it.

Leon blinked. He hadn’t realized that. When he heard of the potential danger to the Atlantis, he had simply assumed the same mindset as when he was in the cockpit. It hadn’t occurred to Leon to be scared or unsure back then, because the same things were at stake there that were at stake when he piloted. It had been mere reflex for him to act like he had been in his box.

“Look, I can understand your apprehension, but if you’re smart enough to realize what could happen, then you should be smart enough to prepare for it,” Kirill’s smooth voice was neither coddling nor condescending; merely cogitative. “Although, if you want a little push, I have something you might like,” Kirill reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small necklace, with a cubical shape attached to it, like a square pendant almost. “That friend of mine I told you about? He used to carry this around. Eventually he outgrew it, but still, I think you might find it useful. This way, you can carry your ‘box’ with you, wherever you go.”

Leon was surprised at this generous gesture, but accepted it gladly. “Th-thank you,” Leon’s gaze was fixated on the cube. As he put the necklace around his neck, he asked Kirill “This friend of yours, what happened to him?”

“Hey, Paris!” Akina called out to Leon as she approached.

“Well, you’d better get going,” Kirill patted Leon on the shoulder. “It’s best not to keep a lady waiting.”

“Yeah, s-sure,” Leon, though nervous, strode up to Akina, ready to have an enjoyable evening. As the two exchanged greetings and semantic trivialities before leaving, Kirill placed his hand on the breast pocket that had held that necklace for years. It was as though he had given a piece of his soul away, and even though Kirill felt that Leon was a worthy receiver, it still hurt to part with it.

How long had it been? Since he had last lit a candle and sung one of the old songs; the song for those departed. Kirill could not remember. Perhaps tonight, yes tonight, this was as good a night as any. Tonight he would light the candle and sing the song, as he remembered the piece of him that had died that day.


“Hey,” Vanessa knocked on the door to a friend’s quarters. “Since we don’t have anything to do tonight, d’you wanna watch a movie or something? The rest of us were thinking of just having a girls’ night. But we can’t have one without you.”

No response.

Vanessa sighed, and tried again.


Currently Suspicious Figure A was talking very suspiciously into his suspicious-looking comm as he suspiciously tried to blend in with the crowd at the concert. Truly, he was a suspicious sight to behold. But thankfully nobody was paying attention to him. Their eyes were all glued to the members of Zeta Star, who were singing and dancing their hearts out.


“So, Paris, where d’you want to go?” Akina asked.

While Leon had not put much thought into his attire, and was thus merely in his semi-formal uniform, Akina had decided to go a little more casual. She had on street clothes, and even a little blush, which had caused Leon to second-guess his own choice of appearance.

“I thought you had a plan,” Leon replied honestly.

“What, me? No way,” Akina chuckled. “This is supposed to be your night out, so I was going to let you decide where to go.”

“Well...” Leon tried to think of things which he found fun. “Does this town have a book store?”

“A book store?” Akina gave Leon an amazed look. “An entire city of stuff to choose from and you pick a book store?”

“I guess that’s not very fun for groups of people, is it?” Leon sighed. “But it’s my favorite place to go when I go out. Do you have anywhere you like to go?”

“Of course man; the arcade!” Akina lit up.

“The arcade?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Akina glared at Leon.

“Nothing, nothing,” Leon frantically waved his arms. “It’s just I’ve never really seen the point in them.”

“Well I’ve never really seen the point in sitting around with my nose in stuffy, old books,” Akina sniffed.

“Aw come on, Lieutenant,” Leon didn’t like it when people sassed his favorite hobby. “What about all the cool stories you can find?”

“Oh yes kids, reading opens you up to a world of adventure,” Akina mockingly repeated. “Seriously, they tried that strategy back in Grammar School. If I want a story, I can just watch some tv, or read a comic book.”

“Well books are a lot more interesting than wasting your money on some stupid game you never win,” Leon grumbled.

“Never win?” Akina laughed proudly. “I always win!”

“Always?” Leon doubted that.

“Yes!” Akina puffed her chest out proudly. “Remember, I’ve got the reflexes of a pilot. A simple arcade game is no match for my superior speed and mental acuity.”

“Then why do you enjoy them, if you always win?” Leon asked.

“Because when I’m totally awesome, a crowd always gathers, and getting all that attention makes me feel great,” Akina sighed wistfully. “Knowing that all those people are admiring me, and hoping for me, and wanting me to win just as much as I want to myself, it makes me push myself harder.”

Leon shuddered at the thought of a mass of people all staring at him, but admitted that for someone like Akina, such a situation was certainly appealing.

“I’ve never really liked being the center of attention,” Leon scratched the back of his head. “I guess that’s why I prefer books. I can enjoy them by myself, without needing anyone else. And there isn’t any pressure of winning or losing, just a clear beginning, middle, and end, where I’m simply there for the ride.”

Akina didn’t really like the idea of “simply being there for the ride”. If something was going on, she wanted to be an active part of it. But she admitted that for someone like Leon, such a situation as reading a book was certainly appealing.

“Tell you what,” Akina proposed a deal. “If I can try to get you hooked on arcade games, then you can try to get me hooked on books. Sound fair?”

“Sure,” Leon liked the sound of that.

“Then it’s a deal,” Akina grinned. “Although...” she looked around. “First we need to find out where the arcade and book store are.”


“And now, just for you, we’ve got a little somethin’ special!” Fuyuki was back on stage and hamming it up, and Lucy knew that it was almost time for her to appear. “A spectacle that must be seen, to be believed. Heck, I won’t even tell you what it is. I’ll just let it happen. Ladies and gentlemen, the night has just begun!”

And as he pirouetted off the stage (quite spry for an old man), the platform which Haruhi had been crouching upon started to rise. Zeta Star began another tune, and as the fireworks erupted from the stage, so did Haruhi, who stood up to his full glory, before dancing in the same fashion as the idols. The crowd went wild.


“This is Goldilocks to Pooh Bear,” Suspicious Figure A managed to say those stupid names without laughing once. “We’ve got a confirmation.”


“Hey, are you even in there?” Vanessa was starting to get worried. “I’m coming in.”

When Vanessa saw the empty room, her eyes grew wide, and she ran off quickly.


Music pulsated through Lucy like a living thing, like some unearthly force, which she was lucky enough to partake in. Like a powerful drug, Lucy felt her individuality and mortal feelings dissolve in a sea of ecstasy, a vast ocean of sound, movement, and energy. She moved with it, swam in it, was it. And then, she suddenly became AWARE.

Her eyes began to glow, and Haruhi’s greenish hue pulsated and shone brighter than ever. The audience all thought it was a special effect, and cheered even louder. And then, something new happened.

Lucy could see the sea. She could see a fountain of green energy flowing outward from the crowd. All their joy, their excitement, their love, it cascaded like a tsunami, and as Lucy reached out her hand, some of this sea lapped onto Haruhi, and Lucy felt a deep, beautiful sensation fill her to the brim. It was wonderful, feeling all their positive emotion. But even as Lucy felt the love flow through her, a tinge of regret, of sorrow, of unending sadness tainted this feeling ever-so-faintly.

Lucy knew that somewhere in the crowd, someone was feeling pain. Who was it? Lucy scanned the crowd, and then, even amongst the sea of green, she finally found a spot of blackness. Lucy squinted, trying to discern this person’s identity.

When she saw who it was, Lucy’s eyes widened.

Lucy didn’t know the person by name, but she recognized her. She was one of the officers on the bridge of the Atlantis. What was she doing here? And why was she feeling such sadness?

“MINAMI KINOMOTO,” Haruhi’s voice spoke in Lucy’s head. “HER NAME IS-”


“Minami,” a small voice managed to distinguish itself from the huge crowd, to make its way to Minami’s ears. Minami quickly turned to see who it was.

“Theron,” Minami’s eyes widened as she saw Gilbert standing there.

“I thought you’d be here,” Gilbert’s lips curved in a sad smile. “You know, Miss Rial and the other girls are probably very worried about you.”

“Don’t treat me like a child, Theron!” Minami hissed venom at him, before muttering “You haven’t changed a bit.”

“And you think you’re any better?” Gilbert admitted to himself, part of the reason he loved Minami so much was because she was so unpredictable. He was a being of logic, someone who saw the world through routines and constants and cause & effect. But Minami was an x-factor. She scoffed at all that logic and chose to be flighty and free and spontaneous. And of course, this made it absolute murder to try and argue with her, because you never could predict what she would say to counter your points. But this time, ever since Gilbert had learned of Zeta Star’s presence in Westingburg, he had known there was one action of Minami’s he could predict. And going off that, he had spent the majority of that day doing nothing but coming up with possible reactions Minami could have when he finally confronted her.

“What?” Minami glared angrily at Gilbert.

“You continue to see the world in black-and-white, and you make impulsive decisions which you stick by even if you receive contradicting evidence. Look, even now, after you supposedly renounced this, you still come here, because you still want to-”

“Shut up!” Minami slapped Gilbert, causing him to careen backwards slightly. “You don’t know anything!”

“Don’t I?” Gilbert pressed on. “You’re one of the most amazing people I know, Minami. But you can’t let go. You still want to be an idol! Even after what happened!”

“I don’t!” Minami clutched her ears and screamed.

“Then why are you here!?!” Gilbert shouted. “Why are you even at this bloody concert!”

“Because...” Minami struggled to come up with an answer.

“Because you can’t stand to see those stupid cows still singing and dancing like nothing happened after you were tossed in the mud,” Gilbert placed his hands gently on Minami’s shoulders. “You still remember the bright lights and the music and the waves of people all moving as one. And the fact that you can’t ever have that again eats at your insides like a rabid animal.”

It was a while before Minami replied. “I thought I was okay. But...”

“But then you found out about this concert, and you realized that you weren’t,” Gilbert smiled sadly.

“It hurts,” Minami was crying now.

“I know,” Gilbert waited before slowly, tentatively wrapping his arms around Minami in a hug.

They stood there, silently, not moving. Just feeling each other’s lungs breathe; feeling each other’s hearts beat.

Finally, Minami broke the silence. “I’m...I’m sorry for slapping you.”

“It’s alright,” Gilbert gave a sheepish laugh. “It still kind of stings though.”

“No, not that,” Minami said. “I mean when we first met.”

Gilbert blinked, before slowly smiling contentedly and replying “It’s alright. I didn’t know about what happened, so I must have seemed pretty insensitive.”

As the two officers had started arguing, some people had started to stare. Once Gilbert and Minami hugged and made up, however, there were even louder cheers.


“Goldilocks to Pooh Bear, have you got Major Tom and crew standing by?” Seriously, if it weren’t for the giant robot and the beautiful idols and the catchy tunes with a nice dance beat and slight Trance influences and the tender scene between Gilbert and Minami, over twenty people would have called the police on this guy. Because he was so suspicious-looking.

“Yes,” Pooh Bear never really spoke a lot.

“Good. Then we can proceed,” Suspicious Figure A cast a smile that would have gotten fifty calls for the authorities. Slowly, he pulled out a suspicious-looking revolver, pointed it up in the air, and-


BANG! BANG!

“Ha! Die you slugs!” Akina was vociferously blasting away the zombies as an evil grin lit her face. Leon, meanwhile, stood nervously by, with his Player-2 pistol being held close to his chest.

“C’mon Paris! What’s the matter? Lost your nerve?” Akina managed to still blast zombies with deadly accuracy even as she was looking directly at Leon.

“There are people staring,” a cold sweat had begun to form on Leon’s brow.

“Come on, Paris,” Akina placed her hand on his shoulder. “Remember, they don’t want you to fail; they want you to succeed.”

They still bothered Leon, though. However, as Akina placed her hand on Leon’s shoulder, and Leon’s hand instinctively moved to his new necklace, Leon felt the nervousness die down slightly.

“Y-you’re right,” Leon took a deep breath and readied his blaster...just as the GAME OVER screen lit up. That sort of spoiled the moment.

“Hm? Oh, oops,” Akina chuckled sheepishly. “Guess I was too concentrated on you to notice the zombies. Another round, then?”

“Sure,” Leon sighed.

However, neither of them were to get another round, as suddenly, Leon’s comm lit up and squawked.

“Huh?” Leon and Akina both stopped their tomfoolery and quickly pressed the comm’s receiver-button.

“Hello? Calling all TEST Corps comms! This is Fuyuki, and there seems to be a situation at the concert. I repeat, there is some sort of situation going on here and- Unh!” There was the sound of a metal beam hitting something, and then silence.

“The concert!” Akina’s eyes widened.

“Comm, track the signal of the last call!” Leon called into his comm, and then, when an address lit up on the commscreen, he dashed out of the arcade. “Let’s go!”

“Right!” Akina quickly ran off after Leon.

“Ma’am!” Leon shouted as the two of them ran side-by-side down the street. “How do you think we should deal with the situation?”

“If we call in MAX’s, it’ll be a fiasco,” Akina answered. “Those things are so big, they could cause more harm than good. Our first priority is finding a way for the civilians to escape. We should scope out the area of the concert to get a better picture of what’s going on, but until then, just follow my lead.”

“Yes ma’am!” All thoughts of a pleasant evening out on the town were gone from Leon’s mind.


“Hello, ladies and gentlemen,” Suspicious Figure A was on the stage in all his suspicious glory. He wore a set of elegant but practical robes, some gloves, and a mask that covered his entire face, save for an opening to show his serpentine smirk. Surrounding him (and holding guns against the idols heads) were several of his thugs, all dressed in a similar manner to him. “I do detest violence, but you all must understand, if I don’t get my way, I can start to have a tantrum. I’m just spoiled, I suppose,” he shrugged.

Lucy was trying to think of a way out of this. There weren’t any thugs surrounding Haruhi, so that probably meant that this guy didn’t actually know he was a MAX. For all Lucy knew, Suspicious Figure A could just believe Haruhi was some sort of automaton, with no independent thought of his own, and no motion beyond pre-programming. If that were the case, then Lucy could use that to her advantage. All the members of Zeta Star had guns to their heads, and Lucy knew that if she made any suspicious movement, they would probably be shot, but....moving wasn’t the only thing Haruhi could do.

Lucy tried to concentrate on making five shields. They had to be small, small enough to cover each of the idols, without including the guns or goons. No small feat, but Lucy was currently pumped up on energy received from the people at the concert, so there was a chance.

“I WILL HELP YOU,” Haruhi whispered in Lucy’s mind, and Lucy thanked him.

However, just before Lucy was about to make the shields, a goon came out from backstage, dragging the limp body of Fuyuki. Lucy gasped in shock as she saw the blood-stain on his head, and the metal beam that the goon held in his hand.

“Ah, Thurgood, excellent,” Suspicious Figure A smiled. “I was wondering where you’d toddled off to. I see you’ve made a new friend.”

“He was calling for the TEST Corps,” Thurgood gave Fuyuki to Suspicious Figure A, who tutted disapprovingly.

“Naughty boy,” Suspicious Figure A pouted. “If you were conscious, whoever you are, I’d scold you. But...” Suspicious Figure A wrapped his arm around Fuyuki’s neck and placed a gun to his head. Then, turning to Haruhi, he said “If there is a pilot in that thing, which I am 86% certain there is, then I want you to come out of the cockpit and surrender your MAX. If you don’t, then I shoot the old man.”

Lucy’s breath froze.

“What if the thing’s just an automaton?” Thurgood asked.

“Then I guess it’s another nice suit ruined,” Suspicious Figure A sighed. “Seriously though,” he called up at Lucy. “I don’t know who you are or if you even exist, but I presume that this old man is important to you in some way. And if you don’t exist and I’m just making a fool of myself talking to you, I’ll still shoot him. So, the only way that this man will live is if a)you, the pilot, exists, and b)you give yourself up. Alright?”

No, no, no! Lucy tried to calm down. This was simple, really. She just had to make one more shield. One more tiny shield, this one around Fuyuki, and it’d be alright. She didn’t have to give herself up, she just had to concentrate. Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate...

“I’ll count to three,” Suspicious Figure A said. “One...”

Concentrate...But it was too much! Lucy was still panicking, and the man’s arm, it was wrapped all around Fuyuki’s neck. Lucy didn’t know if she could make a shield precisely enough to wrap just Fuyuki in safety. And now there was a time limit!?! She had to calm down! She had to concentrate!

“Two...” as the man counted, Fuyuki began to groan slightly.

Concentrate! Lucy screamed at herself. She had to do this! Otherwise, Fuyuki was going to die! How could she-

“Stop right there, my friend,” the man paused his counting, as he lithely pointed the gun away from Fuyuki and towards Gilbert, who had tried to sneak up on the stage. “I didn’t need my bodyguards to tell me you were coming. I heard you from a mile away.”

“Well, I find that a bit hard to believe,” Gilbert’s heart was thundering, but he tried to keep a brave face. “The audience isn’t that big.”

“Cute,” Suspicious Figure A smiled. “But again in all seriousness, if you try to help this man, my bodyguards will shoot you. And if the pilot of that MAX fails to reveal themselves, I’ll shoot the old man.”

“That would be pointless,” Gilbert made a bluff. “The Haruhi isn’t meant to have a pilot. It’s an automaton.”

“Oh is it?” you couldn’t see it, but Suspicious Figure A cocked an eyebrow.

“It is,” Gilbert pressed on. “I made it specifically for this concert.”

“Really?” Suspicious Figure A seemed impressed. “Seems like an awful lot of time and resources spent for a single concert.”

“Well, that’s show business for you,” Gilbert gave a nervous grin. “Besides, I’m a huge fan of Zeta Star. Got all their albums and everything.”

“He really does!” Minami shouted from the audience.

“Thank you, Minami!” Gilbert shouted back.

“Is that your girlfriend or someone?” Suspicious Figure A glanced at where Minami had shouted so as to discern her.

“Not yet,” Gilbert decided what the heck. With a gun to his head, now was as good a time as any to confess.

“Ohhh,” Suspicious Figure A gave a teasing grin. “Well then, I supposed I should wish you the best of luck. However, if I recall correctly, you said that you built this MAX?”

“That’s right,” Gilbert put on his best poker face.

“Well...” Suspicious Figure A shook his head. “Y’see, I don’t believe that.”

“I am Lieutenant Commander Gilbert Theron of the TEST Corps, I hold the position of Chief of the Engineering Department on the ship Atlantis, and I can tell you every bit of data you would ever want to know concerning that MAX,” Gilbert was glad that he and his team had scanned Haruhi for so long.

“But can you tell me when it was made?” Suspicious Figure A asked to one bit of data Gilbert couldn’t provide.

Gilbert, not flinching, lied through his teeth. “The construction of Haruhi was finished only a few weeks ago.”

“Wrong,” Suspicious Figure A shot Gilbert in the shoulder and returned his gun’s attention to Fuyuki’s head. There were gasps of shock as Gilbert was sent falling off the stage onto his back, but Suspicious Figure A ignored the people as he turned back to Haruhi and said “Now then...where were we?”


“Geez, this guy doesn’t mess around!” Akina gave a sharp intake of breath as she peered through the binoculars.

“What just happened?” Leon, not having binoculars, couldn’t see as well as Akina.

“Gilbert just got shot in the shoulder,” Akina tried to see if there were any gunmen stationed in place beside the stage.

As Leon gasped, the little boy named Jin-ki asked “So are you guys soldiers or something?”

“Hey, kid,” Akina hadn’t realized the little boy named Jin-ki was still there. “I gave you twenty BitSterlings already. Get lost.”

“Lieutenant, there’s no need to be rude to him,” Leon tried to remain polite. “I mean, he did just give us his binoculars.”


“Yeah,” the little boy named Jin-ki added.

“Paris, this is a hostage situation!” Akina couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. “I don’t want to get a little kid involved in this!”

“Well sure, but-”

“But nothing!” Akina cast one last angry glance at the little boy named Jin-ki’s way. “Scram, kid!”

“Aw, can’t I help?” the little kid named Jin-ki tried to exploit what little cuteness he had left.

It had no effect. “No. The only way you can help is by not getting in the way. So long as you’re gone you’re one less person to worry about,” Akina went back to her scouting.

Leon shrugged resignedly at the little boy named Jin-ki. Akina seemed to have the final word on this. But the little boy named Jin-ki hadn’t given up.

“There’s a building nearby, where my brother and his gang used to hang out, and there’s an old RX-0 radio in it, and I think it still works!” the little boy named Jin-ki persisted.

“Kid, what did I just say?” Akina glared angrily at the little boy named Jin-ki.

“Wait, an RX-0?” Leon’s eyes lit up. “Where did your brother get his hands on one of those?”

“He stole it,” the little boy named Jin-ki stated proudly.

“And it’s still in this building you mentioned, and you’re sure it still works?” Leon kneeled and placed his hands excitedly on the shoulders of the little boy named Jin-ki.

“Paris, what does a stupid radio have to do with-”

“I’m sure,” the little boy named Jin-ki nodded.

“Lieutenant,” Leon’s mind was quickly working out a plan. “I think we can get more out of this kid than a pair of binoculars.”


Gilbert was in shock. His heart was beating far too rapidly, his breathing was far too ragged, and his mind was doped up on fear and adrenaline.

He had just been shot! Just like that! No evil gloating, no maniacal cackle, just a quick and efficient bullet through his shoulder. Whoever this Suspicious Figure was, he most definitely wasn’t to be trifled with! Gilbert placed his hand where he had been shot, and was swept with a deep sense of nausea as he felt his own blood. As an engineer, he had been cut many times while fixing things, but that was a completely different feeling than this! Gilbert barely felt the mass of audience-members rush to his aid and prop him up.

“Quit being such a big baby,” Suspicious Figure A sighed. “I only got you in the shoulder. You’re a lot better off than this poor old man’ll be.” he cast an amused glance at Fuyuki, who still hadn’t fully regained consciousness.

“Look you little prat!” Gilbert managed to deliver one last curse at that aggravating, pompous prick. “Killing the old man won’t accomplish anything! It’ll just end up causing meaningless bloodshed.”

“I don’t think so,” Suspicious Figure A fell for Gilbert’s little trap, and started monologuing. “After all, one must be prepared to take risks for the pursuit of knowledge. And all I really want to do is analyze this...” he searched for the right adjective. “Stunning machine that has miraculously stumbled into my path. And to cover the risk of there being a pilot in that machine, I’m prepared to risk this old man’s life. It’s nothing personal; just science. Besides, he’s old. It’s not like he’s going to be living here much longer.”

“Okay, first off,” this man made Gilbert sick. Or maybe that was the blood loss. One or the other. “Don’t talk to me about science! Scientists don’t play god with people’s lives! They’re supposed to work for the betterment of their fellow man; to trudge onward through the fields of medicine, engineering, physics, so as to help people. You’re not a scientist, you’re a madman!”

“Please. Grow up,” Suspicious Figure A sighed. “Why should a genius work to better the masses, when they do nothing in return? How many plebeians do you know who can appreciate Dirac? Or Tesla? Or Kaku? A genius does not serve, he rules! And why shouldn’t he? Should a person not strive to be a champion? Should we squander our abilities on those who don’t even appreciate or understand what we do? I seek knowledge; knowledge of everything, and so long as I get what I seek, what’s a couple thousand human lives?”

“You speak of striving towards championship,” Gilbert countered. “But isn’t that the goal of self-actualization? The goal of humans should be, as you say, to constantly work and realize our fullest potential, to unlock the true nobility of the human mind. But compassion is our noblest quality! If a wild animal is wounded, his brethren either leave him to die or consume him themselves, but we as human beings can be better than that! Don’t you see? Maybe the mass of people won’t appreciate what we, the scientists, the geniuses, do for them. But shouldn’t the fact that we refuse to give into base savagery, and instead listen to compassion, be a reward in and of itself?”

“Pft, no way,” Suspicious Figure A scoffed. “The wolf who runs alone runs the fastest. Why should my genius be bogged down by the proletariat?”

“Because the wolf who runs in a pack can take down bigger game,” Gilbert smirked. “And, because I’m not going at this alone, I managed to get you off-guard long enough to take out your goons.”

“What?” Suspicious Figure A blinked and whipped his head around just quickly enough to get a giant robot twack to his face.


“This the place?” Leon poked his head into the empty room of the abandoned building.

“Uh-huh,” the little boy named Jin-ki nodded, and quickly made his way to a large lump in the room with a blanket tossed over it. Grabbing hold of the blanket, the little boy named Jin-ki pulled it off to reveal a still-in-working-condition RX-0 radio. It was covered in duct tape and grease stains from years of teenage boys using it, but none of that seemed to detract from its workability.

“Yes!” Leon was ecstatic. “Your brother must be a very bad man to have gotten his hands on one of these, but right now I’m willing to forgive that.”

“Paris, you still haven’t told me what an RX-0 radio is,” Akina had obviously missed a crucial point of information.

“The RX-0 radio was an experimental ham radio, designed by the TEST Corps for picking up radio signals from enemy ships. Due to technology progressing, it was rendered obsolete in less than a year, and the remaining models were either stolen or trashed,” Leon started up the radio. “However, even though this is an obsolete model, it could still be very useful to us.”

“How?” Akina was getting tired of Leon dancing around the issue.

“The RX-0 was designed mainly to bug and imitate enemy radio signals,” Leon explained. “And there are a bunch of terrorists making a scene only a few blocks down.”

“So?”

“So, what’s the easiest way for these guys to make their escape after causing such a huge ruckus?”

Akina thought about it for a bit. “A mother ship?”

“Exactly,” Leon grinned. “The local authorities will no doubt surround the concert soon, but they won’t be able to do much so long as these guys are holding guns to hostages’ heads. However, as soon as the terrorists lax their attention, the police will gun them down.”

“But if a giant ship were to make its way directly onto the stage, the resulting wind interference and panic would prevent the cops from getting a good shot,” Akina got it. “So we’re going to play merry hob with this ship’s radio?”

“Hopefully to the point where it’ll screw up the terrorists’ escape strategy.”

“Alright,” Akina liked the sound of that. “Do you know how to work this, then?”

“Uh...” Leon blinked.

“You mean you don’t know?” Akina clutched her head in exasperation.

“I do,” the little boy named Jin-ki was already flipping dials and such.

“Really?” Leon and Akina were both surprised.

“Of course,” the little boy named Jin-ki said it like it was no big deal. “My brother taught me.”

“What a strange kid,” Akina mumbled under her breath.


While Gilbert’s falling off the stage had resulted in a mass of helpful hands, Suspicious Figure A’s fall from glory resulted in a mass of people swarming him and taking his gun away before he could react. Fuyuki got some helping hands, though.

“Let go, get off me!” Suspicious Figure A lost his composure and started screaming. “Unhand me, I say!”

“Gilbert,” Gilbert turned around to see Minami coming his way.

“Oh, hi,” Gilbert felt his nausea subside, to be replaced with a sense of joy. He had just made a stand against a really evil guy, and the woman he loved had been there to see it all. Sure, he had been shot, but only in the shoulder! He was fine. Wait, hold on, more nausea.

The vomit sort of ruined what could have been a touching reunion. But even with his throw-up-breath, Minami still gave Gilbert a kiss on the cheek. “That’s for being a stupid hero.”

As Gilbert felt the blood rush to his cheeks, the crowd went wild.

“Thurgood! Where are you!” but as Suspicious Figure A looked onstage, he saw with horror that his men had just been detained.

Really Lucy had been looking at the situation in the wrong way. Thankfully though, Gilbert had managed to give her enough time to think outside of the box and come up with the perfect solution. Hovering in the air were six bubbles of shield-energy, each of them holding the henchmen of Suspicious Figure A. If they were to shoot their guns, the bullets would ricochet off the shields, and they’d only end up hurting themselves.

“It’s over for you, punk,” after seeing him hold a gun to Fuyuki’s head, Lucy was not in the best of moods.

“On the contrary, my dear,” Suspicious Figure A regained his composure and began to laugh evilly. “You think I didn’t plan for this?”


“I think I’ve got the ship,” the little boy named Jin-ki gave the monitor a good thwack with his fist, and a graphic diagram of a ship appeared in green.

“I don’t recognize it,” Leon squinted at the image before turning to Akina. “What about you?”

“‘Fraid not,” Akina was only a MAX-pilot, after all.

“Well, we at least have a lock on it,” Leon looked down at the little boy named Jin-ki. “Could you listen in on their radio waves? We might be able to learn what they’re after.”

“Better yet, just make the stupid ship crash!” Akina barked.

“The RX-0 is a radio,” Leon tried to calm Akina down. “It can’t do that.”

“Yeah,” the little boy named Jin-ki stuck out his tongue at Akina, though Leon didn’t notice.

“Grrr,” Akina was starting to get annoyed with that kid. “So this is what Akira felt like all those times.”

“Who’s Akira?” Leon had never heard Akina mention that name before.

“My brother,” Akina remarked offhandedly.

It took a moment for Leon to register that information, but once he did, he blinked in surprise. “You have a brother?”

“I got their signals,” the little boy named Jin-ki adjusted the volume, and beckoned for the two officers to listen in.

A short, stumpy-sounding voice. “Hey Lux, things seem to be going pretty bad down there.”

A sultry, sexy voice. “Just wait. You know the Captain. He always has to go for the most exciting route.”

Short and stumpy again. “Yeah, but why’re we even making such a huge fuss over some stupid MAX?”

Sultry and sexy, once more. “Because if Hilary’s readings are right, then it registers as negative several hundred years on the carbon-dater.”

Short and stumpy: “Wait, you mean like-?”

Sultry and sexy: “Exactly. And now that he’s got everyone transmitting that frequency, he’s going to ask for us to beam him up any minute now. Tell him we’re ready.”

“Quick, block that signal!” Leon shouted.

“On it,” the fingers of the little boy named Jin-ki danced across the dials of the radio.


“Behold!” Suspicious Figure A ripped a hand free of his captors to whip out a beautiful gem that glowed with a fierceness unmatched. As Lucy looked at it, she suddenly heard an intense buzzing noise in her ear. When she concentrated, she realized that it was Haruhi....resonating. Such an odd word, but it fit perfectly with what he was currently doing. It was like he and the gem operated at the same frequency. But wait, Lucy realized, if that was the case, then-

“No!” Lucy tried to stop him, but it was too late. As Suspicious Figure A grinned malevolently, his gem flared up like a star, and caused a massive energy wave to toss aside his captors like toys. The waves of yellowish green then danced excitedly around the figure, and he once again became smug and slick.

“Ah, much better,” he smirked, and then as the crowd stared shockedly at him, he spoke on his comm. “Yes, this is Goldilocks to Pooh Bear. Beam us up, darling.”


“Are you sure you’ve blocked it?” Leon was starting to regain a hint of his old nervousness.

“Yeah. Hold on, there’s a signal coming to the ship,” the little boy named Jin-ki once again twisted some dials rapidly. “Okay. That’s blocked too. Neither side can communicate with the other.”

Leon breathed a sigh of relief.


Nothing happened. Suspicious Figure A gave a nervous tic, but tried again. “This is Goldilocks to Pooh Bear, we’re ready to beam up. Do it now!” But again, nothing happened. Now he had lost all his composure. “Blast it, beam us up!”

“Hold it right there, punk!” There stood Anand Ashta and the local authorities, all surrounding the stadium, with guns at the ready. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Well, it seems my plans have been ruined,” Suspicious Figure A gave a mad cackle. “No matter. I still have this little beauty.” He held up the gem, which was still rippling with an untold amount of energy. “If I can’t go out by normal means, I suppose I’ll just have to fight my way out.”

“Not so fast!” Lucy put a giant shield around the figure, and suspended him in the air. “Fight your way out of this.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Suspicious Figure A’s gem glowed and crackled, until it cut through the shield as easily as a knife through hot butter.

And then, Haruhi started to scream. Cutting through his shield had been like stabbing him in the chest. To destroy his shields caused him an untold amount of pain; and it also caused Lucy an untold amount of pain. The wailing and the iron needles digging under every pore of her skin and molding her inside-out rippled through Lucy, causing her to drop her shields and writhe violently around. The giant arms of Haruhi tore through the stage’s set like it was made of paper, and people rushed madly to get out of the way.

But most important of all, now that Haruhi had made contact with Suspicious Figure A’s gem, the two of them were now glowing brighter than ever before. The figure’s eyes bulged; he obviously had not expected this. Lucy howled louder and louder as the pain got greater and greater. And then, like a strike of lightning, the gem and Haruhi unleashed two simultaneous bolts of pure power, which met and exploded into an array of light and sound and energy; all of which culminated itself onto a single person.


“Um, Paris,” Akina looked up and saw a giant pulse of energy erupt from the stadium. “What is-”

Then her pilot instincts took over, and she grabbed both Leon and the little boy named Jin-ki. “Get down!” she shouted, as the energy pulse caused every electronic device within a quarter-mile radius to short out and malfunction.

The RX-0 exploded as it was hit with the pulse. If Akina hadn’t gotten Leon and the little boy named Jin-ki to safety in enough time, they probably would have been caught in the blast.

“Oh no!” the little boy named Jin-ki cried out. “My brother’s going to kill me!”

“Gee Akina, thanks for saving our lives and all,” Akina grumbled sarcastically.

“Wait, Lieutenant,” Leon realized. “If the radio is out, then that means we won’t be able to block the messages!”

Akina’s eyes widened. Oh no, that was right. And if that were the case, then-

“Everyone is still in danger!”


Fuyuki screamed as the energy pulsed through him. A deathly, harrowing scream, greater than either Haruhi’s or Lucy’s. A scream full of pain, and horror, and the greatest sense of fear anyone has ever felt in their entire lives. And as Fuyuki regained consciousness, his eyes, they glowed brighter than twin suns, before fizzing out back to their normal intensity as the energy storm subsided. And as Fuyuki snapped back up into a regal standing posture, his voice crackled with something...other.

“WHAAWHOOOWHEWHAAAAAAAKKKKKHHHHHHAAaaaaaaaazzzzzkkzzzz,” His voice buzzed and popped, before finally returning to its normal state. He blinked, taking a look at his surroundings. The crowd of terrified civilians. The giant robot that had finally stopped screaming. The baffled and babbling figure. And Fuyuki blinked again. And again. Until at last he suddenly burst back into life, and spun around gleefully. “Weeooweeooweeweewoo!” he grinned excitedly. “Seems like there was quite a party going on. I’m afraid I blacked out there for a moment. That tends to happen when I go to parties. Now then...” he took another quick survey, before focusing his first attentions on Lucy. “Lucy, are you alright in there?” his voice was filled with the deepest concern and compassion.

“No...” Lucy whimpered honestly. The pain had stopped, but its shadow still clung to her, and she was starting to cry.

“Very ungentlemanly of you, making a lady cry like that,” Fuyuki’s gaze became icy as it rested on the figure. “Very, very ungentlemanly.” his voice carried no passion in it, but it was so cold it made the figure shiver.

“It seems I’ve stepped on a rather sore spot for you,” Suspicious Figure A refused to repent for his actions.

“Sore spot no. No, that’s not what I’d call it,” Fuyuki’s eyes fizzed again; this time with incalculable fury. “No, I’d say you just stepped on a killer man-eating shark who is being consumed from the inside by radioactive piranhas, all of whom are swimming in a sea of acid, that is filled with sea-mines, all of which are ready to pop at a moment’s notice.” Fuyuki had gradually made his way closer and closer to Suspicious Figure A, and now, his face was only inches away from that of the figure. “You’ve made me very, very angry. And when people make me angry, not even il diavolo can abate my wrath.”

Suspicious Figure A gulped.

“Gilbert, how’s the shoulder?” Fuyuki suddenly whipped his head around to Gilbert.

“Uh...g-good,” Gilbert was caught off-guard.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Fuyuki sighed. “I’ll admit, most of this was entirely my fault. Actually, no, I take that back. Everything that happened here tonight was entirely my fault. I’m sorry, everyone,” he called out to the back of the crowd. “I’ve really let things get out of hand. But more importantly, I’ve allowed for people to get hurt. Which is something I can never forgive myself for.

“But do you know what I really want to know?” Fuyuki flopped onto Suspicious Figure A and snatched the gem before he could blink. “How in the world did you manage to get your hands on tachyon energy?”

“I’m a genius,” Suspicious Figure A’s chest puffed up with pride.

“No you’re not, you’re an idiot,” Fuyuki inspected the gem.

“Could you get off me?” the figure was starting to get annoyed at Fuyuki leaning lazily against him.

“Shut up,” Fuyuki paid the little sod no mind. “Strange, this gem seems to be pure beta-level tachyon energy, but if that were the case then you wouldn’t have been able to use it for....oh...” Fuyuki’s eyes widened, before narrowing with a sick disgust. “You’ve corrupted it.”

“Pardon?” Suspicious Figure A petulantly inquired.

“You have just desecrated one of the most beautiful and sacred things in the universe,” Fuyuki growled and spat into Suspicious Figure A’s eyes. “I ought to hang you, if that would do any good. Actually, no, maybe, considering you just hurt a bunch of innocent people and someone who IS UNDER MY GUARDIANSHIP AND PROTECTION, I’ll settle for simply tying you to a door and beating you with a metal stick until your piss runs red. Sound nice?”

“I don’t deserve such treatment,” Suspicious Figure A had decided this stupid old man was all bark and no bite.

“Don’t you? Don’t you just?” Fuyuki had decided this pathetic excuse for a person was all big ego but small potatoes. “Let me spell it out for you. This gem is composed of beta-level tachyon energy. Or at least it was. However, now that you’ve found it, you’ve corrupted it with your hatred, your arrogance, your stupidity, and caused it to become fused with gamma-level tachyon energy. Really, I’d be impressed if it wasn’t so disgusting. Not many people have the ability to do something like that.”

“I am a genius,” Suspicious Figure A grinned braggingly.

“No, you’re an idiot. I thought we already went over this,” Fuyuki looked at Suspicious Figure A like you would a toddler who still was struggling to comprehend simple addition. “Please do try to keep up.”

“Now look here, old man,” Suspicious Figure A had had enough. “You keep on babbling nonsense here, while also reprimanding me like a spoiled little child.”

“And rightly so.”

“But you have yet to act on any of these reprimandations, and you have failed to give me any reason why I should even listen to you,” the figure sighed in a bored way. “Give me one good reason why I should continue to put up with your drivel, and shouldn’t simply make my escape now?”

“Well, for one thing, you’re surrounded,” Fuyuki motioned to the authorities.

“An easy obstacle to overcome, with my gem.”

“But I’ve got your little gem right here,” Fuyuki twirled it on his finger.

“It should be simple to overpower a frail old man like yourself and regain possession of it.”

“But even if that were the case, which, by the way, it isn’t, it seems that all the power has gone out. Correct me if I’m wrong, but your comm runs on power.”

Suspicious Figure A blinked. Then, he started to smirk. “Alright then,” he said. “In that case, let’s take this up to chance. You say my comm is down, while I have more faith in my engineering ability than you. Let’s see who is right, and who is wrong.

“Hello darling?” the figure started to speak on his comm, before being shot in the leg by Anand and karate-chopped on the head by Fuyuki.

“Kid, if you think we’re just gonna let you stand there and get away, then I’m with Fuyuki on this one. You are an idiot,” Anand sighed.

Suspicious Figure A snarled like a wild animal. “Fools!” he cried. “If you’re too crass to even allow me this, then I guess I have no choice but to try a forced takeoff!” And with what little strength he had left in his legs, the figure grabbed hold of the gem in a deadlock grip before Fuyuki could react. “Lux! Beam all signs of energy 367 onboard now!”

And it seemed that whoever this Lux person was, they were listening, because immediately after saying this, the figure and Haruhi started to glow and dissipate into energy.

“AHHH!!!!!!” the process of teleportation caused Haruhi and Lucy another wave of excruciating pain. And as Suspicious Figure A smirked smugly, Fuyuki snarled savagely.

“It seems I win once again,” the figure chuckled.

“LIKE HELL!” Fuyuki grappled the figure’s arms in a deadlock grip too. “YOU THINK YOU CAN HURT THE PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT AND JUST WALK AWAY!?! YOU MAKE ME SICK!”

“There’s nothing you can do about it, old man,” even now, the figure and Haruhi were starting to combine into one giant, glowing, green ball of energy.

“Oh really?” now it was Fuyuki’s turn to smirk. “You may have found a way to harness tachyon energy, but remember what caused me to regain consciousness?”

Suspicious Figure A flinched.

“That’s right! I just got zapped with a ton of tachyons! Maybe you can harness the power, but I’m now a living, breathing conduit for it! And I say thee nay! You aren’t taking Haruhi, you aren’t taking Lucy, and as long as I’m alive, you aren’t going to escape the consequences of your actions!”

“Then a battle of wills!” Suspicious Figure A steeled his resolve. “Mine against yours!”

“You’re on!” Fuyuki shouted.

And then the gods waged war. As the figure glowed and crackled yellowish-green, Fuyuki glowed and crackled a purest white. The two energies expanded and grew, but even as they reached the crowd of people, they did not harm a soul. The hatred and adversity of these two were only focused on each other, not on anyone else. And as the two foes locked horns, as they struggled and fought against each other, they screamed and grunted, shouted and spat, snarled and growled. Their energy grew brighter and larger, like the flames of their hostility. But even as the fight raged on, it seemed that Suspicious Figure A had been right. Fuyuki was still an old man, and his body was having a hard time with the immense energy he was using. As the figure grew stronger and more sure of himself, Fuyuki grew weaker and more pitiful.

“It seems you’ve lost, old man,” Suspicious Figure A cackled.

“Not so fast!” a pair of hands joined the fight. With surprise, Fuyuki and the figure turned to see Gilbert, panting and not at all in good shape from that bullet wound. But even so, Gilbert had still managed to come over there, and as he placed his hands on Fuyuki, he cried out “If you need help, then use my will! Let me join the fight!”

And a small bubble formed on Fuyuki’s energy. Just a tiny one, nothing remarkable, but it was something. And it added to Fuyuki’s strength. And then, Minami ran up, to place her arms on Fuyuki as well.

“Me too! I’m here to help!” another bubble formed.

“Me too!” a random person from the crowd joined in, and then another, and another.

“Me too!” and then Anand, and a policman, and more and more people.

Until finally, everyone in the crowd, all the audience-members, all the idols, all the TEST Corps officers, all the policemen, they had all joined the fray, and Fuyuki’s energy expanded with a million bubbles of added strength. Pulling together against the evil, arrogant figure, the combined strength of everyone fought against the will of one.

“No! No!” Suspicious Figure A screamed. “It can’t end like this! I’m a genius!”

“Haven’t we made it clear already?” Fuyuki cried out. “You’re not a genius! You’re a sad, deluded idiot!” And with a final burst of strength, the combined might of Fuyuki and everyone else pulled the figure, Haruhi, and Lucy back into corporeality.

Everyone collapsed in exhaustion, though Fuyuki still kept the figure in a deadlock. Suspicious Figure A was crying and blubbering, like a child who has broken their toys and does not know how to fix them.

“How? How!?!” he howled. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“I told you,” Fuyuki managed to give one last, satisfied grin. “If you hurt someone under my protection or guardianship, I can’t just let you walk away.”

“Maybe you’ve gotten me, but my ship’s still safe!” Suspicious Figure A spitefully spat. “Lux will know something’s gone wrong and escape! And then, she’ll be able to come back to rescue me!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Anand chuckled, causing everyone to poke their heads his way.

“What are you talking about?” Gilbert asked.

“Let’s just say that my spying on that fruitcake from Mars has allowed me to garner some very important information,” Anand left it at that.


“Hey Lux, what just happened?” short and stumpy cried out.

“The Captain’s been captured! We have to retreat now!” Lux couldn’t understand. How could the Captain be defeated? It was impossible! But even so, she had to get out of here, if only to be able to come back for him someday.

“Uh, Lux?” short and stumpy looked worriedly at her.

“What?” Lux asked, before hearing a hailing frequency from an incoming ship.

“This is Commodore Shonibare of the TEST Corps ship Makoma,” a calm, strong, female voice blared on the ship’s speakers. “You are ordered to stand down immediately.”

Lux could not speak. She was paralyzed in shock.


Kirill calmly adjusted his hat as he finished praying. He silently pulled out his comm and checked to see on the progress.

“Hello?” Commodore Shonibare replied.

“Hello Maude,” Kirill spoke. “Have the criminals been detained?”

“Yep. Every last one of them present and accounted for,” Commodore Shonibare was obviously quite pleased. “I must say, it was a brilliant idea on your part.”

“That’s very kind of you, but I’m afraid I wasn’t the one who came up with it,” Kirill gave credit where credit was due. “I merely alerted you to the idea because I thought it would coincide nicely with what TEST Command has been trying to accomplish for months.”

“Really?” Commodore Shonibare was intrigued. “Well then who do I have to thank for allowing us to bring out Terzieff and his gang?

“I’m afraid it would be impolite of me to tell you that,” Kirill said. “If he found out I had been manipulating him to bring a dangerous criminal out of hiding, he’d be justifiably upset.”

“Fair enough,” Commodore Shonibare replied. “Still, I’d like to thank him.”

“Understandable,” Kirill shrugged. “By the way, were there any civilian casualties?”

“Thankfully no,” Commodore Shonibare breathed a sigh of relief. “A lot of people wounded though.”

“That’s a relief then,” Kirill was glad no-one had died. He was not completely heartless, after all. “I supposed I’ll see you then.”

“Yes, farewell Kirill,” Commodore Shonibare hung up.

As Kirill put his comm away, he closed his eyes and breathed slowly and clearly, before allowing his lips to curl in a relieved smile.

It seemed that today had been a success. The TEST Corps had at last managed to bring the deranged criminal mastermind Terzieff out of hiding, and all it had taken was a madman, an ordinary High School student, and a giant robot at an idol concert. And now Kirill knew that Haruhi was even more special than he had first suspected. To draw the attention of a figure like Terzieff... Kirill would have to keep an even closer eye on Haruhi now. Things were starting to get very, very interesting.

“Look at the light.”

Lucy complied as Dawson shone a light into her eyes.

“Alright then,” Dawson shut off the light and scribbled some information down on his lancet. “Physically, you seem to have suffered no harm whatsoever.”

Lucy shivered. It didn’t feel that way at all. She could still feel miniature needles digging under her skin.

“However, speaking from experience,” Dawson sighed, and his tired grey eyes reflected a pitying sadness. “I can understand if you’re feeling a lot of mental trauma.”

“Is it going to get any better?” Lucy just wanted to know that.

Dawson did not answer at first. He looked at the pictures he had on his desk. Mary had left him after the war. He didn’t blame her. And he had tried to love again, to find a distraction from the trauma besides work. But he had let Xin down too. Dawson noticed that he had had a lot more hair back then. Scratching his dome now made him remember just how old he was. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Lucy to have suffered shell shock at her age.

Sighing again, he took out his prescription and popped out two pills. “Take these tonight,” he placed them in Lucy’s hand. As Lucy looked quizzically at the pills, Dawson explained “If you take them before you go to bed, you won’t dream. Aside from that...I’m afraid the only medicine I can give you is time.” Dawson did his best to be encouraging, while still being realistic. “You’ll get better, trust me.”

“Thanks,” Lucy mumbled as she shuffled out the room. She knew he was lying.

Before Lucy even went through the door she knew who would be waiting for her. Sure enough, Leon, Akina, and Fuyuki were all there, all worried and anxious to hear the doctor’s verdict; none more so than Fuyuki.

“Are you alright?” Fuyuki gently placed his hands on Lucy’s shoulders. “No, shoot, stupid question. Of course you’re not alright. Is there anything I can do to help? Anything? Lucy?”

“M’fine,” Lucy’s eyes continued to stare downward, not meeting Fuyuki’s gaze. “I just need to rest.”

“You’re not fine, Lucy. You just got pumped full with a whole bunch of gamma-level tachyons! You suffered a full-blown mind-rape!” Fuyuki was distraught. “And it’s entirely my fault! So let me help!”

Lucy paused. She appreciated Fuyuki’s sympathies, but something in her had grown cold and lifeless after that concert. A giant hole, inside of her, that had been cut open by that masked figure and his strange gem. Lucy felt as though that hole would never fill itself again. And the worst part of it was, she didn’t mind. The pain was still fresh in her mind, and that made her upset. But aside from that, she no longer seemed to feel any emotions. Just pain that gave way to numbness that filled with fresh new pain that eventually withered into numbness again.

“Thank you,” Lucy still didn’t look at Fuyuki. “But I just need some rest. I’m sure I’ll be fine eventually.” And with that, she ambled off, leaving Fuyuki’s arms to hang limp, and his eyes to swell up with sadness. Akina and Leon exchanged worried glances before bowing their heads with dysphoria.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!” Fuyuki suddenly flew into an immense rage, and slammed his fists onto the walls of the corridor. Kicking, screaming, punching, cursing, his madness caused Leon and Akina to back off in fear.

“Fuyuki, what are you doing?!?” Akina shouted.

“MY FAULT! MY FAULT! MY FAULT!” Fuyuki’s face was drenched in tears, and his pupils danced giddily about like a lunatic. “ALL MY FAULT!!!” He began to slam his head onto the wall, and Akina and Leon rushed to stop him. “EVERY TIME! EVERY TIME! EVERY SINGLE TIME!!! MY FAULT! ALWAYS MY FAULT!!! I’VE MURDERED ANOTHER CHILD!!!!!” He struggled and fought against the two officers, but to no avail. They would not let him go, and Fuyuki’s body finally slumped with resignment. “I’ve murdered another child,” he whispered again, before falling silent.

Leon and Akina exchanged glances again, but this time, they were confused. What did Fuyuki mean? Another child?


“Lucy!” Fuyuki burst into Haruhi’s cockpit. The only thing keeping his limbs from giving out was his resolve to see his pupil safe.

Lucy lay in her seat, body limp save for the haggard rise and fall of her breathing. Physically, she was unhurt, but when Fuyuki saw her eyes, he knew that she was far from alright.

“Dio caro,” he had whispered under his breath as he clutched Lucy’s weak frame tenderly. “Please Lord, don’t let me lose another. Please.”


Lucy shuffled down the corridor to her quarters, trying to remember. This was supposed to be like one of those stories, wasn’t it? She had gotten so caught up in the adventure, the daft old mentor, the giant robot, the crew of supporting cast all conveniently on one ship. And in the process, Lucy had forgotten about the possibility of something bad happening. Nothing bad happened in those adventures. At least, nothing permanently bad. Sure, the heroine would get hurt sometimes, but it was all supposed to be a learning experience. Any wounds she suffered were supposed to heal, and she was supposed to be stronger for it. But this...

Lucy found that she was crying. How could she heal from this? That horrible figure had ripped her very soul into shreds. How could this be part of one of those adventures?

It didn’t make sense.


“What’s going on? Did we win?” Leon was worried. Since Akina was the only one with the binoculars, she was the only one who could see the full detail of what had just happened.

“I...” Akina bit her lip. “I don’t know.”

“What d’you mean?” the little boy named Jin-ki was worried.

“Well, the authorities are handcuffing the terrorists, and everyone looks tired but alive. But...Haruhi isn’t moving. And he looks...dead,” it was the only word that seemed to fit.

“Dead?” Leon’s mind went straight to “What about Lucy?”

“I don’t know,” Akina lowered the binoculars, and worriedly hurried off. “We need to get down there to find out.”

Before Leon could run after her, the little boy named Jin-ki tugged his sleeve and uneasily asked “Are Haruhi and Lucy the good guys?”

“Yeah,” Leon crouched down so that he was eye-level with the little boy named Jin-ki. “They are. And right now, I need to see if they’re safe. Alright?” Leon realised that this was probably the last time he would ever see the little boy named Jin-ki. “I think this is where we say goodbye.”

The little boy named Jin-ki was sad to hear this. “Really?”

Leon nodded.

The little boy named Jin-ki bowed his head sadly. “It was...fun, playing the hero back there.”

“Maybe one day you’ll get to do it again,” Leon smiled, and then followed his fellow officer’s trail.

When Leon was gone, the little boy named Jin-ki gave a glance at the busted RX-0 radio. Someone was going to have to fix that.


“How’s the shoulder?” Anand gave an askance look at his friend.

“It’s fine,” Gilbert’s cast made him only able to use one arm. Nevertheless, he was still furiously twiddling with instruments and recording readings.

“Sure?”

“Yes! I’m sure!” Gilbert snapped. “Now would you please stop annoying me!?! I’ve got very important stuff to do.”

“Stuff?”

“Stuff! Just...I need to concentrate!” Gilbert was not in the mood. “So just leave me alone.”

“You’re not gonna find anything new,” Anand became uncommonly dour. “I know next to nothing about all the crap those readings are telling you, but I know enough to realize you don’t need them. It doesn’t take state-of-the-art technology to tell you the obvious.”

Gilbert really wanted to scream at Anand right now. He wanted to tell Anand that he was being stupid and he couldn’t possibly know what he was talking about. He wanted to say some million-dollar words to prove that he was right and Anand was wrong. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. Because the the chief reason Gilbert was such close friends with Anand was that he trusted Anand’s opinion. And he knew right now that Anand was right.

“You’re right,” Gilbert clenched his fists tightly and sighed. The giant before them had lost all its glow, and was now a pallid grey.

“Haruhi is dead.”


“Captain,” Kirill confidently strode into the Captain’s office. “You’ll be happy to know that everything has gone according to plan.”

“I see,” the Captain relaxed slightly. She hadn’t enjoyed the subterfuge Kirill employed that night, but she had to admit, it had been a good plan. Terzieff was a very big catch, after all. “Any casualties?”

“None,” Kirill smiled.

The Captain breathed a sigh of relief.

“And I must say, I appreciate your approval of my plan,” Kirill gave an informal salute. “As Lieutenant Colonel, I don’t actually have to run any plans concerning TEST Command with you, but I thought things would be easier with your full knowledge and cooperation.”

“Thank you.”

“By the way, an old friend of mine is Captain of the Makoma, which just pulled into town. I was wondering, if there was time, if I could perhaps-” but Kirill did not get to finish his sentence, as suddenly the comm on the Captain’s desk blared up, and the Captain quickly hailed the incoming message.

“Yes?”

“This is Rial. There’s...something’s gone wrong.”

Kirill and the Captain both stiffened.

“What specifically?” the Captain’s voice did not betray her lurking anxieties.

“It’s Lucy, and Haruhi, ma’am. They’re....”

“Are they alive?”

“Yes ma’am. But...something’s wrong with both of them. You need to see it yourself.”

“I’ll be right there,” the Captain hurriedly turned the comm off and left her desk. Turning to Kirill, she asked “Are you coming?”

“Y-yes ma’am,” Kirill’s worry only showed for an instant. But he was very, very worried indeed. He had been told there were no casualties, but he had never asked about just what “wounded” meant when Commodore Shonibare had told him.

What was wrong with Lucy and Haruhi?


Fuyuki was not one for self-pity. It did no good to wallow in shame and failure. But right now, he really didn’t know what to do. It had been going so smoothly. He had made sure not to turn Lucy into a warrior; to make sure Haruhi’s energy came from beta, rather than gamma-level, tachyons. But then, in only her second battle, Lucy had been defeated. More than defeated, she had been destroyed. All those beta-level tachyons Haruhi had stored up had been cut into pieces, by that damnable figure, and his accursed gem.

Fuyuki’s lips curled into a snarl. He wanted to find that figure and tear him to shreds; sink his fangs into the figure’s flesh, cut the figure with his claws, gut the figure like a pig, and watch him squeal as he died! Kill him, kill him, kill him!!!

But what good would that do? It wouldn’t change anything. Lucy would still be shell-shocked, Haruhi would still be dead, and Fuyuki wouldn’t be saved.

He had thought this time, this time he would be successful. This time, he would save the future. But now, Lucy had ended up just like all the other attempts he had made.

Was love really that powerless? Did things always have to fall apart, simply because some idiot with grandiose dreams of power threw a temper tantrum? What was the point of it all? Another song had been cut short, and now even the story the symphony told looked like it had ended.

Fuyuki realized then that he was a horrible conductor. He had never managed to finish an entire song. They had all been cut short. And now, instead of sadness or anger, Fuyuki just felt numb. He realized that there was no point anymore. The past could never be changed, could it?

The very universe was against him.


“MInami!” Vanessa quickly rushed to her friend. “I was seriously worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” Minami put on a brave face as she embraced Vanessa. “But what about Lucy? When Fuyuki pulled her out of Haruhi, she looked...”

Nobody wanted to say what she had looked like; least of all Fuyuki, who was leaning stiffly against the wall, the shadows of the night hiding his expression save for a tortured frown.

“She’s been taken to Dawson. He’s giving her a look, and the Captain and X.O. are with her too,” Vanessa explained.

“That snake?” Anand’s brow rose suspiciously. “What does he want with her! I mean, it’s his fault that-”

And then, Fuyuki at last reacted. At the sound of Kirill, his head snapped to attention, and his eyes gleamed. Quickly, he grabbed Anand’s shoulder and pressed his face close to the face of the officer.

“You mentioned this before. At the concert, you said you had been spying on a fruitcake from Mars. Now you’re saying it’s Kirill’s fault that Lucy is hurt. What do you mean? Elucidate,” the words were spoken coldly, quickly, and emotionlessly.

“I-” Anand was rightfully surprised by Fuyuki’s sudden interruption.

“NOW!!!” Fuyuki rippled with a desire to hurt something.

“I’ve been spying on him!” Anand managed to get out.

“I know that! You said that before!”

“I mean, I placed video cameras in his room. I thought there was something weird with TEST Command sending a Commissar to monitor us, so I thought I’d find some dirt on him in case he wasn’t to be trusted.”

“None of this has anything to do with my question Anand! Tell me why this is Kirill’s fault!”

“Because I heard him talking to someone from TEST Command, and he said that he was going to use the concert as a way to bring out some guy named Terzieff!” Anand finally got to the point. “So that means he was using you and Lucy just to bring some crook out of hiding. He probably suggested the idea of you going to the concert in the first place! I mean, it’s way too ridiculous for you to have done it on your own free will. He must have coerced you into performing at that thing.”

Fuyuki flinched.

“You’ve been spying on an officer?” Fuyuki and Anand turned to see the Captain walk into the room, not looking the least bit pleased.


“Lieutenant Commander Anand Ashta, you have confessed to spying on a superior officer,” the Captain sat at her desk, obviously angry, but far too controlled to show it. “Do you realize the implications of your actions?”

“Yes ma’am,” Anand resisted the urge to bow his head in shame. It would have been unseemly to grovel. He had known the potential consequences should he be caught, and the least he could do now that such an event had occurred was to face his punishment with dignity; what little he had left, anyway.

“I ought to throw you in the brig, demote you, and hold a formal court-martial for your immediate discharge,” the Captain leaned forward slightly, letting the full fury of her burning eyes bore into Anand.

“I know ma’am,” Anand held his head steady.

It was a while before the Captain finally spoke. She wanted Anand to squirm. But when she did at last speak, the Captain’s eyes relaxed, and she sighed. “However, I won’t do that.”

“Ma’am?” Anand’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

“You’re right in being suspicious,” the Captain leaned back against her chair, and while she was still quite angry, her wrath was no longer directed at Anand. “TEST Command sending in someone, simply to monitor the progress of Haruhi, is unprecedented. This wasn’t the first time a TEST Corps ship had run across something weird and mysterious. And the paper-pushers on Mars are normally just interested in us hushing these things up. TEST Command could never be bothered enough to care about what the mysterious things were, just so long as the general public didn’t know. But immediately after we told TEST Command what we had dug up, they seemed far more interested than they normally are. Then there’s the fact that we didn’t find out about the Lieutenant Colonel until after he had arrived. It’s all very suspect.”

“So...I’m not getting punished?” Anand couldn’t believe his seeming luck.

“No. You’re going to be demoted to Lieutenant, and then sent to the brig for a week,” the Captain immediately focused her anger back at Anand. “Your behaviour towards the Lieutenant Colonel has been inexcusable. From day one you’ve refused to get along with him.”

Anand was confused. “But you just said-”

“You were right in being suspicious. But you don’t think I got to be Captain by laxing my guard around my men, do you?” the Captain clarified. “I’ve got my eye on the Lieutenant Colonel, but until he makes a move, he’s still a member of this ship, and I shall continue to treat him as such. Your failure to do the same is the real problem of all this, not the placing of security cameras in the Lieutenant Colonel’s room. Do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am,” Anand nodded.

“Now then, since you have been demoted, you are no longer qualified to serve as Security Chief,” the Captain pulled out some paperwork. “I am awarding that position to Lieutenant Colonel Magnuson. Don’t let this be a repeat of your last demotion. Is that clear?”

“Ma’am yes ma’am,” Anand formally saluted.

“Good, then you may go,” the Captain scribbled her signature and waved for Anand to get out.

“”Yes ma’am,” Anand nodded before walking out the room.


When the door opened behind him, Kirill did not look up. He knew who it was.

“I suppose you’re here because you found out what I did?” Kirill kept his back to Fuyuki and remained calm. His voice betrayed no emotion.

“I am,” Fuyuki replied.

“Well then,” Kirill turned around and held his arms outward, like a man about to be crucified. “I suppose I owe you at least one good punch.”

“I’m not here to pummel you,” Fuyuki snarled.

“Hm?” Kirill blinked. He wasn’t?

“At least, not right now,” Fuyuki was obviously livid, but he had enough self-control to prevent his hands from reaching Kirill’s throat. “First I want you to tell me everything. I want you to tell me who this Terzieff figure is, why the TEST Corps wanted to bring him out of hiding, and why you thought it was necessary to put Lucy in harm’s way.”

Kirill sighed. He briefly wondered if he should say “that’s classified” and leave it at that. But there was a papa wolf standing right in front of him, and that wolf’s fangs were glistening with hunger.

“Very well,” Kirill explained. “To answer your last question, I made it quite clear from our first meeting that I intend to use all resources on this ship to their fullest potential.”

Fuyuki seethed with murderous intent at the mention of those words.

“However,” Kirill quickly interjected. “The plan wasn’t supposed to result in Lucy’s incapacitation. I underestimated Terzieff in that regard. But you must understand, when he stole that gem from our facilities, about the only thing it could do was glow and give you nasty static shocks.”

“What?” Fuyuki’s fury was replaced with curiosity.

“Felix Illich Alexander Terzieff was originally a TEST Corps scientist. He was part of a team that unearthed a strange gem from the planet Toutatis. We had no idea what the gem was, but it seemed to emit a strange energy.”

“Tachyons.”

“Yes, those. Although, we never really knew what to call it. We just knew that this strange gem was unlike anything we’d ever seen before. So we analyzed it, we studied it, we tried to find out what made it tick. But all to no avail. We just couldn’t crack it. Until one day, we found that Terzieff had been taking secret notes. While we had all been scratching our heads, he had secretly been trying to harness this tachyon energy. And he had succeeded, because when we tried to apprehend him, the gem actually floated through to air to him, and then he used it to escape. You saw those energy beams and whips he could make.”

“Yes, I did,” Fuyuki shuddered. “And I remember what they did to Lucy.”

“I didn’t know that would happen,” Kirill apologized. “I truly didn’t. TEST Command knew that Haruhi was made of tachyon energy, just as the gem was, ever since we received those energy readings from the Atlantis. And that’s why we thought he might be useful in bringing out Terzieff, especially after that spectacle concerning Analynn. All that was needed was an even bigger spectacle to attract his attention, and then we would strike.

“Terzieff is an insane scientist who not only has knowledge of classified TEST Corps information, but has also stolen Corps property, that we thankfully recovered in his apprehension. However, we still don’t know if he blabbed to anyone about any secret information. All that we do know is that we’ve been searching for him for years, and now we’ve finally caught him.”

“All thanks to me,” Fuyuki’s voice was hollow.

“Yes, thanks to your idea,” Kirill admitted.

“So...” Fuyuki’s knees began to shake, and his voice began to tremble, and his eyes began to widen. “This is all my fault. All of it.”

“Well, I don’t think you put that gem in Terzieff’s hands,” Kirill failed to recognize the magnitude of Fuyuki’s current state, because that comment just made things worse.

“It’s! All! My! Fault!” Fuyuki screeched, and staggered in a daze out the room.

“Fuyuki?” Kirill realized he may have said something wrong, and followed the old man. “Fuyuki!”

But for some strange reason, Fuyuki was gone. Kirill’s eyes widened. How could Fuyuki be gone? There was no way he could have made it to the end of the corridor before Kirill had gotten out the door. What was going on?

Lucy did not get better.

The Atlantis was fixed, the appropriate transactions were made, and the TEST Corps left Westingburg, but a cloud hung heavy on everyone’s mind. Everyone on the bridge worked their jobs silently and somberly as the Atlantis launched back into its patrol. Lucy spent most of her time in bed. Sometimes she would cry, but there would be no emotion behind them. It was like she was only crying because there was nothing better to do. The spice of pain and sadness had curdled into the gruel of tedium and numbness.

Haruhi continued to be an unmoving, grey husk of lifeless metal. Kirill briefly wondered how he was to report this to TEST Command.

And Fuyuki? He had disappeared. Nobody knew what had happened to him.

It seemed all hope was lost.


Fuyuki was curled up inside a giant, black void. He was the only spot of light in the entire sea of darkness. It was as though he was in a dream.

Perhaps that was why when another speck of light appeared, it slowly made its way to Fuyuki in the shape of a unicorn. It was a majestic creature, completely white, with tall, lithe features, a flowing mane, and a horn that pierced the darkness with hope. But its most impressive features of all were its eyes. They glowed a deep, comforting shade of green, and twinkled with the wisdom of a thousand, thousand years-worth of knowledge. Staring down at Fuyuki with immeasurable kindness and compassion, the unicorn asked comfortingly “What’s wrong, Dominic?”

Fuyuki slowly peered up to the unicorn, and reacted about the same way one would normally react to a talking unicorn. “What do you want?”

“Don’t be like that,” the unicorn sighed sadly. “You know how I hate to see you upset.”

“And yet, that seems to happen quite a lot when I’m around you,” Fuyuki’s voice was acidic in its bitterness.

“I only fulfill the duties of my contract. Nothing more, nothing less,” the unicorn sighed again. “You know that.”

“Oh really!?!” Fuyuki snapped as he uncurled himself. “Then why weren’t you there!?! Why weren’t you with Lucy? Why weren’t you there!?! Haven’t you seen what’s become of her?”

“I have,” the unicorn’s eyes welled up with sorrow. “I can still see through the robot’s eyes, and I see her suffering.”

Fuyuki blinked. “Wait, what?” he didn’t understand. “You can still see? But...but Haruhi’s dead!”

“Dead?” the unicorn did not seem to understand. “I can never die. Even under the heel of the cruelest tyrants, even in the most savage of wars, even in the blackest hearts of men, I still live on. I never die. People just forget about me.”

“S-so....Lucy can...I mean, she might be.....she might be able to...” Fuyuki at last grasped hold of a glimmer of hope, before sinking back into doubt. “But...there’s no real point, is there?”

“Whatever do you mean?” the unicorn’s brow raised in surprise.

“Even if I save her now, what’s to stop her from getting hurt again? Maybe in a way where I won’t be able to save her again,” Fuyuki started to remember his previous failings as a conductor. “Time is almost up for me, and even after all these years, it still doesn’t look like I’m really accomplishing anything. Even when I fix things, they just get broken again. So what if Lucy is like that? Is it really worth it, saving her, if she’ll just....break again?”

It was a while before the unicorn spoke. “What makes you think you haven’t accomplished anything?” the unicorn asked.

“Oh come on,” Fuyuki growled. “Every time I save the future, some new disaster rears its head and wrecks it all over again. And each time, the disasters get worse and worse.”

“But isn’t that why you chose Haruhi to prevent this disaster?” the unicorn pressed on. “Isn’t that the whole point of you not turning Lucy into a warrior?”

“I know, but look how that turned out!” Fuyuki threw his hands into the air and cried. “Look at what happened to her! Haruhi was useless! Your power was useless! All it took was a stupid brat to kill Lucy!”

“If that was the case, if I was so useless,” the unicorn never raised its voice, but it held a power in it that silenced all dissent. “Then why were you able to stop Terzieff? What was pulsing through the veins of everybody at that concert, as they brought that stupid brat to justice?”

“I...”

“What was it?”

“Love,” Fuyuki remembered. “Beta-level tachyons. I couldn’t let Terzieff get away with hurting someone I loved. And neither could Gilbert, or Minami, or Anand, or anyone else.”

“Even though not everybody knew her,” the unicorn was in perfect step with Fuyuki’s thoughts. “They still felt what you were feeling. That feeling of love, of a father protecting his daughter, pulsated through the hearts of everybody there, and they felt a kindred spirit.”

“Then...” Fuyuki’s mind was racing frantically. He knew Lucy needed to be able to love fully and unconditionally in order for her to pilot Haruhi. And he knew that in order to strengthen the bond between her and Haruhi, she had to find that inner reservoir of hope and love inside her. And furthermore, he knew that Haruhi could also absorb love from those around him, but...

Terzieff had corrupted love with hatred. That was the whole point of his gem. And so when he cut into Haruhi, he must have done the same thing, but on a bigger scale. Lucy was feeling those scars, and Haruhi had gone dead, because they had been corrupted, just like that gem. And the battling emotions of love and hate had cancelled each other out, and-

Fuyuki’s face slowly dawned with realization. He understood now. He knew how to save Lucy. And he knew how to save the future.


Akina and the rest of Red Team sat silently in the mess hall, downcast and somber.

Just then, the silence was interrupted by Ginger standing up and slamming his fists against the table.

“I hate this!” he spat. “There has to something we can do! Anything’s better than just sitting here!”

“Ginger!” Akina barked. “Things aren’t as simple as that, and you know it. You can’t just beat someone into getting out of depression.”

“I think what Miss Natsumi is suffering from is something far worse than depression,” Algy sighed bitterly.

“Exactly, which is why we can’t just....” but then Akina couldn’t control herself any longer. “Oh for the love of...screw it!” she stood up and slammed her fists against the table as well. “Ginger’s right! Anything’s better than just sitting here!”

“But what can we do?” nobody looked more hopeless than Leon.

“I don’t know, but we should at least try something!” Akina grabbed her head and screeched. “I hate being useless! I hate the idea of sitting on my hands when I could be helping someone! Even if I have no idea what to do, I want to do something! Otherwise, I just don’t know how to deal with the situation!”

“But Lieutenant,” Leon tried to reason with her. “You said it yourself, you can’t just punch someone out of depression.”

“I know that, Paris!” Akina barked. “But...I can’t just do nothing.”

“Yeah!” Ginger shouted.

“Yeah!” Everyone turned to the mess hall entrance to find an old man panting and leaning against the doorway.

“Fuyuki?” Akina’s brow raised in surprise.

“Sorry it took me so long, guys,” Fuyuki gave a tired grin. “But I’m an old man, after all. It should be understandable that I can’t run that fast.

“Everyone!” Fuyuki shouted to gather the attention of everyone in the entire mess hall. “I have something very, very important to say to all of you!”


Lucy awoke to the sound of Marina’s voice. That’s right. Tonight was supposed to be when Marina called her.

“Hey, Lucy?” Marina called out. “Are you there?”

Lucy wondered if she should answer. It just seemed like such a pain. It would probably be more trouble than it was worth. But then again, if Lucy didn’t answer, then Marina might think something was wrong, and she’d call even more times in worry. Better to get this out of the way.

“Hey Marina,” Lucy mumbled as she pressed the button on her pendant. “What’s up?” Her words carried no genuine interest in what was up.

“Oh Lucy, thank goodness,” Marina breathed a sigh of relief. “I was worried for a second there.”

“M’fine,” Lucy murmured.

“Good, ‘cause we’ve got some major homework over here at school,” Marina held up some notes and smiled jokingly. “I know you’re off saving the world and everything, but you still need to keep your studies up!”

Marina had meant to be humorous, but Lucy merely stared blankly at her friend. Good-natured humour was lost on her now.

Marina blinked, and laughed nervously, as all comedians do when their jokes fall flat. But she still tried to continue the conversation. “S-so, how are things?”

Oh no. Not that question. The question that would force a conversation to grow, and continue on for a long time. Lucy really didn’t want to go through this right now.

“Marina, I’m sorry, but I’m really tired, and I don’t feel like talking right now,” Lucy was unusually cold to her friend, but she was in an unusual state of mind.

“Oh...okay,” Marina looked heartbroken at Lucy’s rudeness, but Lucy neither noticed nor cared. She didn’t notice or care about anything anymore.

“Um, Lucy?” Marina asked before Lucy was to shut the pendant off. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, m’fine,” Lucy grumbled.

“Liar!” Marina pouted at her friend. “I can tell you’re not. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Lucy found Marina’s voice increasingly annoying.

"Then why do you look so sad?”

Lucy stopped. Sad? She didn’t know how she looked. She just knew that she felt...nothing. Nothing at all.

“I don’t feel sad,” Lucy answered honestly. “I just feel...”

“Did something happen?” Marina kept calm and compassionate.

Lucy tried to talk. She tried to explain what had happened to her. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t sure if it was because it was too hard or if she simply couldn’t find the words. But she couldn’t explain.

“Well, it’s fine if you don’t tell me,” Marina smiled. “Just as long as you know I’m here and everything.”

Lucy muttered some vain protest about Marina not needing to be there for her, but...

A tiny, microscopic flicker of appreciation sparked to life inside of her. It was only a glimmer, but it was there.

“I don’t feel anything,” she admitted. “Something happened, and now I just don’t feel.”

“Nothing at all?” Marina looked concernedly at her friend.

“Yes,” Lucy expected Marina to say something like “well, I’m sure you’ll cheer up someday” or “don’t give up hope, you’ll be fine eventually”. Something that made it sound like the feelings were still there, just buried somewhere. But they weren’t buried. They were dead. They were gone. They had disappeared like tears in rain.

But Marina surprised her. “Well...okay then,” she seemed to have trouble accepting this, but she still did accept it. “I mean, that’s kind of hard to understand, but even if you can’t feel anything anymore, you’re still my best friend. And I’m still here for you. So...anything I can do to help you, I’ll do it. And even if I can’t do anything, I still want to be friends with you. Maybe I can’t make you happy, but can’t I at least make you not completely dead inside?”

Lucy wondered if Marina could. And then she realized, she didn’t want to feel dead inside. And then she realized, she was wanting and desiring something. And then she realized, if she was wanting and desiring something, then she was feeling something. And then she realized, if she was feeling something, then she wasn’t really dead inside.

And Lucy felt the tiny flicker grow. Slowly, gradually, at a snail’s pace, but still grow. And then, Lucy noticed something very odd.

Marina was starting to glow. Her holographic image started to flare up with a new intensity, a familiar green hue, and then, the jewel on the pendant glowed as well, and shot out a beacon of light, pointing directly at the door of Lucy’s room.

“Lucy?” Marina noticed Lucy’s shocked gaze. “What is it?”

“There’s a beacon,” Lucy picked the pendant up as though she was in a trance, and slept-walked to her door. “It’s...pointing me somewhere.”

“Really?” Marina could not see the beacon, but she sensed that it must be important. “Where’s it going?”

As Lucy stepped out of her room, she saw the beacon turn a sharp 90 degrees to the right, all the way down to the end of the corridor, before veering off to the left down another hallway.

“Lucy?” Marina still hadn’t gotten an answer.

“I don’t know,” Lucy said. But she felt an instinctive desire to follow it. Walking slowly at first, then quickening her pace, Lucy finally broke out into a full-fledged run as she chased after the lit pathway.

Down corridors and hallways and rooms throughout the ship she ran. Each new corner or doorway causing her pulse to quicken more and more. What was she....she was feeling! She felt excitement, curiosity. She felt...

She felt like she did when she first received the call to adventure.

She remembered when that daft old man wandered into her schoolyard, carrying that stupid hat and gabbing on about beta-level thought patterns. She remembered how Marina had seemed apprehensive, while Nanase had seemed perfectly fine with what the old man was saying. She remembered when they snuck onto the Atlantis for the first time, and he had asked for directions from the Engineering crew. She remembered when she had first met Akina, at gunpoint, and at how now she was starting to become such good friends with that young woman. She remembered Kirill, and his snakelike smugness, which dissipated when he saw Haruhi born into his full glory. She remembered the Captain, whose tough, no-nonsense attitude covered a kind, caring individual, and at how this made it harder to blame the woman for her parents’ death. And she remembered it all over again, when her parents had died. But now, now Lucy did not feel despair, but rather a strength to tap into, a memory to cling onto and fight for. She remembered the time she had faced Analynn, her first major battle, and she had pulled through. She remembered the concert that she had attended, and the energy that had coursed through her thanks to the multitude of people there.

Then she remembered the figure.

Lucy suddenly slipped on the smooth floor, and tumbled down, face-first onto the ground. The pendant slid out of her hands, and spun around, until finally stopping as it hit a black shoe.

Lucy looked up, up the long, black legs, to a pitch black vest and jacket, that was put over a yellow shirt, upon which a black tie rested. And then she saw the face, and Lucy’s eyes widened with irrational terror.

It was the figure! His skin was a deep brown, with proud, smug features, not quite like either Kirill or Fuyuki. He was beautiful, his face elegant and poetic, like those of a god or a great scientist. But his eyes, his demeanor, they corrupted that beauty. They fizzled a disgusting yellow, that made you sick when you saw their glow. Just something about them put you ill at ease. And when he smiled, it was a lion’s smile, the smile of a predator, who feeds on those weaker than him. As he gave that predator’s smile, he ran his spider-like brown fingers through his curly golden locks, and spoke.

“Ah, little Lucy,” his words seeped with the pride a monster feels as it has its prey in its clutches. “How are you? So good to see you.”

“Y-you...” Lucy started to shake, to remember everything the figure had done to her, to completely shut down.

“Lucy? What’s going on?” Lucy barely noticed that Marina and the beacon were still there. How could this figure be standing there?

“What’s wrong? Thought those nasty little tin soldiers had carted me off?” the figure cackled. “Oh Lucy, don’t you know the first rule of adventures? Until the Final Battle, any prison cell is useless against the bad guys. Seriously, I actually get on quite well with my two main guards. Jack and Eric, they’re called. Lovely boys. Jack’s getting married in the fall, and I think I might just pop in to visit the ceremony. I’ve been incarcerated so many times now, I think of prison almost as a second home. And Jack and Eric are my two footmen, ready to escort me whenever I come or go there.”

“B-but...” Lucy couldn’t breath. All the hope she had just regained was falling, falling into a bottomless pit, never to come back again.

“B-b-but what?” the figure cruelly pouted in a mocking manner. “Please, don’t let me stop you. You looked so happy just now. I’d hate to rain on your parade.”

It was over. Lucy was done. Somehow, this figure had appeared, just to torment her, just to tear down all that she had built up, all over again. She clutched her head with her hands, and started to sink into madness, as the figure’s evil laugh rattled inside her head.

“Hey!” but then, Lucy heard Marina’s voice. “You there! Pansy!”

“...Pansy?” the figure blinked.

“Yeah you!” Marina shouted. “Leave her alone!”

“Oh?” the figure seemed amused at Marina as he picked up the pendant to get a better look at her. “And why in the world would I do that?”

“Because if you don’t, I’m coming over there to tear out your endocrine system and beat you with it!” Marina gave the figure a threatening glare.

“I highly doubt that,” the figure seemed annoyed.

“Ah, what’s-a-matta? Scared to get beaten up by a girl? Chicken!”

“Marina, you have no idea what he’s capable of!” Lucy tried to warn her friend.

“That’s right,” the figure glared at Marina’s image.

“Booook bok bok bok!” Marina made gestures comparing the figure to a chicken. “Boooook bok bok bok!”

“Actually, Lucy’s just given me a great idea!” the figure’s lips curled into an evil grin. “I don’t know what this beacon is, but somehow, it’s created a tachyon connection between the holographic you and the actual you. As such, if I were to use my gem,” almost out of nowhere the figure produced his gem. “To cut into you like I did with Lucy, the results should be about the same.”

Lucy gave a sharp intake of breath. No! “No!” she screamed.

“Oh come on now, what are you going to do about it?” the figure gave a mocking glance to Lucy. “You remember what I can do to you should you get in my way.”

And then the figure’s eyes glowed, and Lucy felt it, fresh and new! THE PAIN!!! Lucy screamed as she felt the microscopic needles dig under her, felt her soul being twisted inside out, felt her very being violated.

“Lucy!” for the first time, a tremor of fear made its way into Marina’s voice. The figure enjoyed that. “Stop it right now! Whatever you’re doing! Stop it!”

“No, I don’t think I will,” the figure gloated. “In fact, I think you’ll be my next victim.” and he pointed the gem at Marina’s image.

No! Lucy couldn’t let it end this way! She couldn’t let the figure violate Marina, she just couldn’t! She had to stop him, but how!?! Every cell in her body was still in agony! And what could she even do!?! How could she stop him? She was just a single young girl, against an evil figure who seemed like a full-fledged devil. She couldn’t....she just couldn’t....

DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT MAKES THE WIZARD SCOTT GREAT?

What? Lucy heard a voice in her head. It sounded like Fuyuki, but somehow she knew that it wasn’t.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT MAKES THE WIZARD SCOTT GREAT?

Because...because...Lucy tried to remember what it was Fuyuki had told her. Thousands of pins pricking at her brain, but she still thought as hard as she could. What was it? What was it?

Then she remembered.

Love.

Not giving into despair. Not giving into hatred. Not giving in, even when the whole world is against you. The thing that made the Wizard Scott great was that he was powerful enough to save the day every time without giving in. No matter how powerful the threat, he could beat it while maintaining his self-respect. Because he had the ability to love. To always find the good in people, even after all the countless foes he faced. That was what made the Wizard Scott great, and Haruhi great, and Lucy great as well.

And then Lucy knew what she had to do, what she could now do, full of love as she was.

“NO!” Lucy shouted at the figure. He stopped, slowly turning his head towards the young heroine, surprised and slightly shocked.

“What?” he asked.

“I said...” Lucy charged up to the figure, and landed a sucker-punch right on his cheek. “No!”

And as Lucy found the courage to stand up against her greatest fear, that fear disappeared, like he was never there to begin with. The pendant fell to the ground, and Lucy looked around, confused.

Had the figure ever been there in the first place? Was he just a figment of her imagination? What was he? But before Lucy could seriously think about these questions, she heard Marina’s voice again.

“Lucy? Are you alright?” Lucy looked at her feet and saw Marina, still looking around worriedly.

Lucy picked up her friend, and then, for the first time since the night she had fought that figure, she was able to say with complete honesty “Yes. I think I am.”

Then with spirits renewed, Lucy chased after the green beacon once more.

When she had turned past the corner, and begun to run down a new hallway, another figure walked up to where she had fought her fear. This figure was tall and lithe, and dressed completely in white, save for his shirt, which was as green as his eyes that shone behind spectacles.

As he looked at Lucy’s retreating figure just before it disappeared out of view, this old man smiled. It was a proud smile, full of love and admiration. And from that smile, a barely audible whisper was uttered. A whisper that carried with it something more powerful than anything the previous figure or his damnable gem could ever create.

“That’s my girl.”


Lucy stood in front of a door. She knew what it was, because she had walked through it many times before. And she also knew that behind these doors lay journey’s end. She couldn’t explain how, but she just knew that. Lucy gave one last look to Marina, and as the two best friends exchanged encouraging smiles, Lucy steeled her resolve and opened the door.

What was it Fuyuki had said when they came here before? “Here we are at Hangar 2,” Lucy whispered amusedly. And there, in the same spot he had been when they first saw him, was Haruhi. Only now, he was grey and lifeless, with only a laser-dot beacon illuminating his metal skin. Now he was in as much pain as Lucy had been.

Lucy made her way to the lift-platform, and lowered herself down to the bottom of the hangar. Then, she slowly walked to the giant robot. And as she stopped in front of Haruhi, the green beacon that had been pointing at him fizzled and disappeared.

Lucy knew what she had to do. It was just like what she had done the first time she woke Haruhi up. With her courage and love, she could ease Haruhi’s pain, and bring him back to life. She held up her hand, ready to place it on the giant robot’s foot, and then concentrated on love. Then she touched Haruhi.

Once again, pain shot through her, but this time it was Haruhi’s pain. This time she heard Haruhi’s screaming. He was in so much agony, Lucy felt such pity well inside of her. She would save him! And she concentrated all her energy on Haruhi. Her resolve was of steel, her courage was unwavering, her heart was pure and full of love.

But she was losing. Lucy felt it as she fought. The pain was too much. She couldn’t, but she had to! She had to save Haruhi! But it felt like she was trying to push a boulder up a mountain, and the boulder was too heavy for her to lift on her own. She struggled, she strained, but the pain pushed her back, and she realized that she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t save Haruhi.

“This is true,” a hand clasped Lucy’s shoulder, and when she whipped her head around, she saw Fuyuki standing there, a smile on his face. “At least, not alone. Let me help.” And then he concentrated alongside Lucy. Their two wills combined, and pushed against the mighty obstacle of pain.

“Me too,” Akina grabbed onto Lucy’s other shoulder. She grinned confidently as she concentrated as well.

“You can also help, Marina,” Fuyuki explained. “Just concentrate.”

“Really?” immediately as she realized this, Marina concentrated, and there was a large boost in their power.

“Let me help too!” Leon joined in.

“Me too!” then Gilbert.

“And me!” Anand.

“And me!” Minami.

“I’ll help too!” Kirill.

“Don’t forget about me!” the Captain.

“And me as well!” Vanessa.

“Allow me to be of assistance!” Algy.

“Let me at ‘em!” Ginger.

“Let me help!” Helmsman Todd.

“Me also!” Téa.

“Count me in!” Dawson.

“I’ll help you,” Susan.

Then everyone on the ship joined in. Lucy didn’t know where they had all come from, but each and every member aboard the Atlantis was now joining in to save Haruhi, just like at the concert. They all concentrated as one, their hearts and minds and souls combined in the struggle.

And then Haruhi was reborn. Green life breathed itself into his being once more. And he screamed, but it was a good scream, a scream of realization, of being alive again. And it was a scream that everyone joined in as they reached deep inside Haruhi and eliminated the last traces of pain and hatred that had corrupted him. A green cascade of energy now danced through the hearts of everyone, before all mixing together and making its way into Haruhi. His limbs glowed with a new sense of power, his being was restored with new vigor and life. And as he reasserted his surroundings, his eyes gleamed with the deepest gratitude.

“I LIVE ONCE MORE,” Haruhi’s voice boomed with the same force as when Lucy had first seen him in his full glory. “I...DID NOT THINK I WOULD WAKE UP EVER AGAIN,” Haruhi bowed. Not just to Lucy, but to everyone. “THANK YOU ALL.”

Lucy once again found herself crying. But now, they were tears of joy. They had done it. They had saved Haruhi. Not only that, but they had saved her as well. And now everyone was jumping up and down and hugging each other and cheering and it was all so wonderful and Lucy turned to Fuyuki and asked him “How did this...did you....was this all you?”

“Well, it certainly was my idea,” Fuyuki shrugged. “But I couldn’t have done it without Akina and Leon and the Captain and, well everybody, including you. You were the crucial factor in all this.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Don’t sell yourself short like that. Why d’you think I put so much trouble into saving you? I saved you to save Haruhi. And of course, because, well....I couldn’t stand to see you like that. It made me lose hope there for a moment,” Fuyuki had become somber as he said that last bit.

“Thank you,” Lucy hugged her eccentric mentor, and Fuyuki hugged his young pupil back.

“Of course, Lucy,” Fuyuki smiled warmly.

“So, is that it? Is it all over?” Leon asked Fuyuki.

“Well, no not quite, it isn’t completely over just yet,” Fuyuki released himself from the hug to wrap his arm jovially around Leon’s neck. “After all, we still haven’t reached the climax, Lucy and Haruhi still have a lot to work out in terms of their bonds, I have a bet with Ms. Snow concerning your romantic future, and then of course there’s the budding romance between Gilbert and Minami, which I don’t think is over just yet. Nope, not by a long shot. And then there’s all the foreshadowing that’s taken place in this story so far.”

That’s right. There do seem to be quite a lot of loose ends that still need to be solved.

“Thank you, and also, the big question, the question that’s really bugging me, the one that I just have to ask right now: how in the world is the Atlantis still staying afloat?” Fuyuki pondered.

“What?” the Captain heard this, and blinked in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I had to get everybody on the ship involved just to return Lucy and Haruhi to their normal mental state,” Fuyuki explained like it was no big deal. “And it didn’t seem like Helmsman Todd left any sort of auto-pilot on. Plus, there’s all the engineering fellows, who need to monitor their stations to see if anything goes wrong. So for all I know, we could crash at any minute.”

The entire room had become silent. Everybody was staring at Fuyuki in shock. Then, all in an instant, the Captain shouted “Stations! Everybody!” and everyone scattered in a panic.

“Oh dear, did I do something wrong?” Fuyuki blinked.

“Fuyuki, if we get out of this alive, I’m going to kill you!” the Captain shouted before barking at Kirill “Can you give me a status on the ship?”

“Well ma’am,” Kirill pulled up a giant screen from his comm and flipped through some 3-D diagrams. “We’re taking a rapid nosedive as we speak. If we pull up immediately, we could make it. But we could still suffer some damage to our belly.”

The Captain cursed before barking some more orders to some more officers. Then, she turned to Lucy and shouted “Lucy! I think we might need your assistance later on! We could use a shield around us, in case things take a turn for the worse. I need you on standby. Got it?”

Lucy then realized that things really were back to normal. And Fuyuki was right, the adventure had only just begun. Lucy felt a deep feeling stir inside of her, the feeling of excitement she had felt when she realized she was going to be part of a grand story, just like those heroines she had read about in books. And she knew that right now, even if there would be a lot of craziness and a lot of franticness, things were going to be alright. That made her happy.

“Ready when you need me, Captain,” Lucy grinned as she raised her arm in a salute.