G Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ Rise, Crusade Gundam! ❯ Neo-Romania Vs Neo-Haiti's Hougnan Gundam ( Chapter 10 )

Cold. Always the cold. These thoughts penetrated Vlad's mind as he left the core lander, finally back on home soil. His travels had taken him everywhere from Neo-England to Neo-Italy, different climates, different cultures, different people. He shuddered as he slipped on his fur jacket, having become unused to the chill. As he walked out, military officials and journalists swarmed him, begging for an interview, congratulating him for his success, anything to get his attention. His expression was one of cold apathy: He continued walking, ignoring the crowds of people surrounding him. Gradually, the crowd dispersed, leaving him with only a single female reporter following. He brushed aside all her questions, making no audible or physical response. Within half an hour of walking, he came across a hospital. The reporter remained still, begging for a reply of any kind. Shortly before he entered the hospital doors, the reporter made one final question.

 

"Mr. Dima, please, tell your fans what your next move is to be! And why are you moving with such intensity towards this hospital? Is somebody you know in it?" Vlad turned sharply, and grabbed the woman by the throat. Raising her in the air, he grit his teeth and grimaced.

 

"I thought I had made it clear that I wish to be alone. But you parasites insisted on pestering me. So go ahead. Write your fluff about how I nearly killed you. Just remember I'm this stinking hole's last chance for glory. “Vlad dropped the reporter, and watched her scurry off, coughing. He spat on the ground, and entered the hospital.

 

Ignoring the cries of the orderlies, he strode towards a specific room, and met with a doctor outside.

 

"Doctor...her condition?"

 

"I'm sorry, Vlad. There has been no change."

 

"I understand." The doctor stood to the side, and let Vlad enter. The room was small and cramped. The shelves were in disarray, with half empty bottles and spilt pills littering the counters. The only item of note was a bed. With a woman in it. He knelt down by the bed, and held her hand. Still cold. How he hated the cold.

 

"Hello Valeria. I've returned." He softly, tenderly, he stroked the hand, and closed his eyes. "I've done well. Only two draws, all the rest wins with decapitation." He started to chuckle slightly. "I'm almost there. I'll prove myself true to your words, my love." He got up, and exited the hospital. A solitary tear trickled down his cheek.

 

"Unacceptable, Vlad! Simply unacceptable!" The following morning, Vlad found himself chewed out by the military chief of staff, General Dimitri.

 

"What is, general?" Vlad's voice was tinged with disgust. Vlad despised the people he worked with. Parasites, he called them, always wanting something, never giving.

 

"These two draws, that's what! Neo-England and Neo-Cuba! Our test data indicates that your Gundam had the power to smash both of these with no trouble at all! And yet, you fail to even scratch them!"

 

"Your test data also says my wife should be dead." Vlad bitterly spat out. "Your test data also says that the Impaler Gundam's pilot was perfectly sane." With that last sentence, Dimitri grabbed Vlad by his collar, and began to seethe with rage.

 

"You have no right to talk about Lieutenant Ivan! He was a good man, a proud man! You? You're..." He hesitated to say the word.

 

"Say it, General. A commoner. That's what you want to say, isn't it?" Dimitri remained silent. Vlad got up. "I'm leaving. I plan to spend the next month in rest. The past 5 months have been quite tiring." As he left, he felt a chill in his bones. He hated pleading with people who have hearts of ice.

 

As he drove towards his country home, he admired the surroundings. The Neo-Romanian countryside was still the most beautiful he had ever seen in his life. Vlad appreciated the simple things in life. His beginnings as a humble farm boy remained the happiest memories. He remembered spending his days tending the cattle, and sowing the crops for next year's harvest with glee. After a hard day at work, he would read avidly, always seeking to better himself. Perhaps the reading is what led him to leave his home, to find work in the city of Bucharest. His family, although sad to see him go, were pleased to see him make something of himself. He met his wife, Valeria, and they married within a year of living there. He found employment as a member of the Territorial Army, but despite exceptional performance, he found himself unable to exceed the rank of private. He didn't mind, however. He was happy with life.

 

Until four years ago.

 

The 17th Gundam Fight was well underway. The Impaler Gundam of Neo-Romania, piloted by his superior, Lieutenant Ivan, was battling Neo-Nepal's Ganesh Gundam, in the final months of the Survival Eleven. Suddenly, as Ivan was about to use the Gundam's strongest attack, his mind snapped, and he went on a rampage. The Neo-Nepal fighter was brutally killed, and the former general tore his way through Bucharest, destroying all he came across. One home he destroyed was Vlad's own. Vlad was with the Gundam Fight crew at this point, meaning he could not get home in time to reach his wife. This proved almost fatal.

 

He arrived to find Valeria under a wall, barely conscious. Managing to summon the strength he had developed as a farm hand, he pushed the wall from over her, and cradled her near-lifeless body in his arms. She looked up at her benefactor, and smiled.

 

"My husband...is the strongest man in the world..." Those were her last words. Although not dead, she fell into a coma. One from which she was yet to recover. Vlad decided, on that day, to prove himself to her words. And what better way than by winning the Gundam Fight?

 

As he parked his core lander, he saw a strange looking man up at the door. This person was attired strangely, with what appeared to be animal skins draped around his scrawny body. He carried a staff with skulls and snake-like patterns predominant. Vlad approached this man with caution.

 

"Excuse me, are you looking for somebody?" Vlad called out.

 

"I am Ahanu Yanisen, Gundam Fighter for Neo-Haiti. I am looking for Vlad Dima." This fighter's face shocked Vlad. Skin appeared to be hanging from the bone, and his hair was white and frizzy. Vlad double-checked. Surely this mess of a person couldn't be a Gundam Fighter?

 

"I am he. What business do you have with me?"

 

"Ah, perfect. Fire at will, men." Ahanu raised his arm, and Vlad found himself under assault from thousands of darts. They came from all directions, indicating an ambush.

 

"What is the meaning of this?"

 

"Well, the best way to win a fight is by killing the fighter, hm? No chance of him coming back. Nothing person, all orders, you see," Ahanu cackled. His laughter was cut short by the apparent ease with which Vlad was dodging the projectiles. "What's wrong? Why aren't they hitting?"

 

"You should have hired better assassins. Rise, Gundam Eidolon!" Vlad snapped his fingers, and the Gundam rose out from under the ground. Using this momentary distraction, he leapt in, and allowed the MTS to do the rest. "Ahanu Yanisen! I challenge you to a Gundam Fight!"

 

"Very well! Rise, Hougnan Gundam!" A Gundam with roughly the same appearance as its pilot rose out of the earth, and Ahanu entered. Vlad dialled up General Dimitri in this short breathing space he got.

 

"General! The Fighter of Neo-Haiti has just challenged me! Raise the beam shielding!" Within seconds, a makeshift beam shield rose from the ground, surrounding the two opponents.

 

"Ha! Well, you avoided my trap. Which means we'll have to get dirty. Just the way I like it," Ahanu sniggered.

 

"Enough talk, fool. Let's begin. Gundam Fight!"

 

"Ready!"

 

"Goooo!"

 

Vlad flew forward towards the Hougnan Gundam, only to be sidestepped. Despite its weak appearance, his opponent was faster than any could expect. In response, Ahanu swung his staff around, and cracked the Gundam Eidolon on the back of the neck. Vlad roared in pain, as a surge of pain impacted upon his spine. He leapt away from Ahanu, trying to come up with a plausible strategy.

 

"It appears brute force isn't the answer here. And that staff seems to be more powerful than I dared imagine. Perhaps..." Vlad grinned as an idea came into his head. Detaching the wings from the Gundam, he commanded them to fly towards the Hougnan Gundam. His plan was to use the wings to distract him, so he can grab and destroy the staff.

 

Ahanu laughed again as the wings flew towards him. His laugh was barely normal, almost a wicked gurgle, straight from the throat. Vlad heard the laugh, and began to lose his focus as he charged. How can he be laughing at this assault? A two-pronged attack was not something you'd find amusement in, usually. He realised why when Ahanu grabbed the wings a mere metre before they removed the Hougnan Gundam's head.

 

"Do you know anything of the Hougnan witch doctors, Vlad? They could reanimate the dead. And, I'm glad to say, you're fighting one now." The Hougnan Gundam's fists revealed claws, which he dug into the Gundam Eidolon's wings. Vlad, now being detached from the wings, did not feel any pain, but suddenly felt a part of his mind go cold. "Go, my pretties! Kill!" Suddenly, he hurled the wings at Vlad.

 

"What! They aren't listening to my commands!" Vlad exclaimed. "What have you done?"

 

"They're mine now. In retrospect, I'm glad you survived my ambush. I rarely get to kill my opponents first hand...especially with this much fun..." Vlad cried in anger as he grabbed the wings, which were slowly putting more and more pressure onto his hands. Any more, and his hands would be sliced off, along with his head.

 

"You...you would kill me...for no reason? No purpose?"

 

"It's like I said before. Business. I don't care who you are, or what you are. I'm just collecting a paycheque. Now, hurry up and die like a good boy." Vlad growled, and tore the wings in two with an inhuman burst of strength.

 

"How...dare you! You inhuman being! You think so little of human life? You would see yourself in money rather than at peace?" With the wings torn in half, the Hougnan Gundam had lost most of its hold over the Gundam Eidolon in this power struggle. Ahanu raised his staff in self-defence as Vlad hurtled towards him, empowered by rage, fury, and sorrow. "You disgust me! Your very existence is an affront to the name of the Gundam Fight!" His right hand began to glow red, and the very fingertips of the Gundam began sharpened and claw-like. Ahanu spotted this, and desperately tried to block them with the staff, only to see it torn in two. "I can taste your fear. Your black heart finally knows what it has inflicted upon its victims. Now you shall suffer as they have! Kashuu system, activate! Heartbreaker! Strike!" His right hand smashed into the right shoulder of the Hougnan Gundam, which began to slowly drop to its knees.

 

"What...what have you done? I cannot move!"

 

"Do you know anything of the vampire legends of Transylvania? They had a stare which could transfix the opponents and sap their will. And, I'm glad to say, I can do just that." He removed his hand from the Gundam, and felt a new power surge in its joints. "Just like those vampires, I too can take your strength from you. Tell me...are you afraid?"

 

"...never. You can stop me this time. But I'll be back. Oh yes, I'll return, and have your head on a platter! I guarantee!"

 

"Then you deserve this fate." With a single swift kick, the Hougnan Gundam was decapitated. Vlad's breathing began heavy and laboured. He felt drained, emotionally and physically. No other opponent had been able to get under his skin like that. Within minutes, the Neo-Romania police surrounded the area. He could see the representatives of Neo-Haiti being carried away, hopefully locked up for a long time. He shivered. This fight brought a chill into his bones that he wasn't sure he could remove.

 

Days passed. Vlad had returned to the hospital, again to visit his wife. He sat by her, and stroked her long, ebony hair.

 

"My love...I do not know how to tell you this...but...I am afraid. My last battle has been won at a terrible cost. I do not know if I can do this...there are so few good men out there..." His eyes spotted a newspaper. He picked it up, and read the cover. NEO-ENGLAND AND NEO-ZAIRE TO TRAIN TOGETHER? He saw the photo, that of Mark Anderson, and a fighter completely new to him. A smile crept across his lips.

 

"Mr. Anderson..." He felt warm...