SD Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ Demon Nightmare ❯ The Unwecoming Comittee ( Chapter 23 )

Sorry if this chapter seems rushed at times. I'll just warn you here that things are going to be moving very quickly.

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The early morning sun sat close to the horizon. Bell Wood was finalizing everything on the Dimensional Transport Device while struggling to stay awake. Gleaming in the sun, the Gundamusai waited for takeoff. Chief Haro monitored preparations and triple checked all supplies. Captain, Shute, Zero, Bakunetsumaru, Fleur, Rele, and Genkimaru stood next to it anxious to leave; Guneagle, the Gundivers, now the Gunchoppers, and Skylar were already inside the musai ready to leave. Shute's mind continued to linger on a tough goodbye.

“Mom, I have to go,” said Shute, “Everything is ready to go. I have to do everything in my power to help the Gundam Force save Fleur's home world.”

Keiko looked at her son about like she was going to cry, “Yes I know Shute but… I could never forgive myself if something terrible happen to you.”

Shute tried to comfort his mom, “Don't worry. It's not like I'm going by myself. Captain's going to be there. I'll be fine.”

Keiko hugged Shute, “Promise me that you'll come back safe and sound.”

Shute blushed, “Mom! They're standing right there.” He wriggled out of the hug, “I promise I'll come back alive. Don't worry. Good bye Nana.” Shute tried to shake off the memory.

“Final check complete,” said Julie, “We are ready to go at your command sir.”

Chief Haro nodded, “Gundam Force! Report to the Gundamusai!” Captain and the others immediately entered the ship.

“Dimensional transport ready!” said Bell Wood, “All systems are go!”

Chief Haro pointed at the device, “Open the gate. Destination: Skylark.”

Bell Wood pushed the final buttons. A gate materialized in the sky.

“This is really it?” asked Fleur.

Captain nodded, “Yes. This is the real thing.”

Chief Haro climbed into his cockpit, “Gundamusai…take off!” The Gundamusai roared to life. All systems came online and ran a self-check. Bell Wood quickly grabbed the mini Zakorello gate communicator and boarded the ship. The Gundamusai slowly lifted off the ground and rose until it was even with the gate. The ship flew straight into the portal, leaving the safety of Neotopia behind.

 

The Gundamusai rattled upon entering the Minov Boundary Sea, but quickly resteadied itself. Rele looked out a window, “Here goes nothing,” she whispered. Genkimaru clenched his fist. Skylar began to paw the ground equally jittery. Captain, Shute, Zero, Bakunetsumaru, and Fleur kept their eyes glued on a screen. A light appeared reviling their destination. The Gundamusai quickly sailed out of the Boundary Sea and into the light. It quaked and rumbled upon entering the unfamiliar atmosphere. Everyone lost his or her balance as the Gundamusai shook more and more violently.

“Hurry and stabilize us!” shouted Chief Haro. Various employees furiously tapped on their keyboards attempting to stabilize the ship. After a few tense moments the shaking finally stopped. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; disaster adverted. “We're not out of the woods yet,” said Chief Haro, “slow us down and get visual back.”

“Screw that!” Fleur jumped to her feet and ran to the nearest hatch latter.

“Princess Fleur! Wait!” shouted Zero. Too late, Fleur had found and begun to open a hatch to the outside. After pushing the hatch open, thick, black, air choking dust swooped in. Baku quickly pulled her off the latter and Captain closed the hatch.

“Let go!” shouted Fleur.

Captain explained, “We are going much to fast for you to just open a hatch. Wait until we land.” Fleur glared at him but obeyed.

Shute and Rele began to cough, “I remember this stuff from Lacroa,” said Shute, “Stupid demon dust.” Some other humans caught a whiff of the demon dust and started coughing.

Skylar gagged, “I wish my sense of smell was weak now.”

“Our outside cameras have shut down!”

“We've lost all visual! We're flying blind!”

“Revert all power to my controls,” said Chief Haro, “I see a safe cliff to land on.” Chief Haro carefully guided the blinded ship to what he hope was a safe spot. A rough landing singled he was right.

“Visual is back,” said Julie. She stared at the screen wide-eyed, “Oh dear god! What happen here?”

Fleur ran back to the hatch, opened it again, and ran across the Gundamusai's hull terrified at what she might find. The others quickly followed her out.

 

Baku caught up with her first, “You really have to stop whoa!” He stared in disbelief at what Fleur was looking at.

“What happen here!?” shouted Shute.

Captain quickly scanned the area, “I detect no life for 500km.”

Painful memories of Lacroa plagued Zero's mind, “Oh, Mana what has happened to this barren world.”

“This place is a wasteland!” exclaimed Genkimaru. What he said couldn't be more accurate. Thick demon dust swirled in the air. Dead, sliver-white trees stood sadly on the parched, dusty surface. Although lighting the landscape, the moon provided no comfort. The sun had not once risen to warm the cold world.

Fleur couldn't bare it any more and slammed her fist into the hard rock cliff, “Damn it!” She choked back tears, “I knew it would be bad but not…not like this. This is worse than I expected.” Fleur buried her head into her hands unable to look at the land anymore.

Rele placed a gentle hand on Fleur's shoulder, “Fleur… is this…?”

Fleur nodded, “Yes…this is my home. This scarred, cold, and barren world is Skylark.”

Shute couldn't believe his ears, “This is Skylark?”

A few tears rolled down Fleur's cheek and onto the rock. The parched earth quickly absorbed them, “Why did this happen to us?” ask Fleur, “Why were we attacked? Why were we plunged into this nightmarish life? I know everything happens for a reason but…what's the reason behind all of this?” She looked up and toward a far away city, “That city is Imperial. What's left of it anyway. And the castle rising above it is where I have lived my entire life.”

Skylar, who had to fine another way out, licked Fleur's cheek, “We got our work cut out for us huh?” Fleur didn't answer.

Zero got an idea, “You know princess, I bet Prince Lucky and Princess Azural are wondering were you are.”

“That's it!” Fleur stood back up, “We need to get to Dracoin Village as quick as possible and get reinforcements.”

Shute coughed, “I can't take much more of this demon dust.” He pulled his red shirt over his mouth and nose. Rele had placed a handkerchief over her mouth and nose.

Captain nodded, “Understood. To Dracoin….”

Chief Haro cuts him off, “Get back in here now!”

“Pay dirt!” a female black metal dragon flew over them and breathed fire. Rele and Genkimaru made it back inside but the dragon cuts the others off, “You're not going anywhere. There's a huge reward on your heads.” She unknowingly sat on top of the Gundamusai's cannons.

“Fire!” the cannons shot the dragon's soft under belly. Surprised and scared, and dragon jumped back into the air. “Hurry!” Haro shouted.

The dragon snarled and rammed into the Gundamusai's side knocking it off the cliff. The Gundamusai was forced the take flight without the stranded gundams. The dragon turned her attention back to her prey, “As I was saying, you three are coming with me to meet the king,” she chuckled.

Skylar growled, roared at the dragon, and puffed out his chest trying to intimidate her, “Get out of here while I hold her off.”

“This way!” shouted Fleur, “Follow me.” She literally flew down the cliff while Captain and the others chased after her.

“Oh no you don't!” the dragon tried to chase them but Skylar attacked her first.

 

Captain, Shute, Zero, and Bakunetsumaru followed Fleur into a dark forest. They ran for who knows how long until Shute tripped and fell into the dead undergrowth.

He spat some dirt out of his mouth, “Dang tree root.” He turned around and found that it wasn't a tree root he tripped over. He had slipped on a human leg bone. His eyes grew big and he let out a blood-curdling scream. Skeletons and empty gundam armor surrounded them.

Bakunetsumaru drew his swords and looked around scared out of his mind, “What is this unholy place?”

“It looks like a graveyard,” said Zero.

Captain looked around, “There is no reason to be scared. They have all ceased function.”

“That's more than enough reason to be reason to be freaked out,” said Fleur.

Shute tried not to step on the human and gundam remains, “Great. We're surrounded by death. Literally.”

“Can we please get out of here?” asked Baku. They traveled deeper into the forest guided only by the moonlight, Captain's headlight and Shute's flashlight. Shute could've sworn that they were being followed. Another bad thing, the deeper they went, the more bodies they found.

“Recognize anybody?” asked Shute.

“Don't even joke like that,” Fleur answered.

Baku was still freaking out, “What is this place? The Forest of Death?”

“Actually it's called the Mystic Forest,” Fleur answered.

“Could've fooled me,” said Zero.

Shute snapped back around for the tenth time, “Who's there?”

“Will you stop that?” asked Bakunetsumaru, “I'm nervous enough.”

“I swear something's following us,” said Shute.

“If anything was following us Shute, I would be able to pick it up,” said Captain. Shute sighed and continued walking. A creature with green eyes and illuminated yellow lines poked its head out from a bush and continued to follow them. Shute continued to cough from the demon dust. Finally, he reached into his backpack and pulled out a water canteen. He quickly opened it and drank a little to sooth his throat. The creature saw this and sniffed the air. It smelled the fresh water and licked its lips. Shute jerked his head again.

“I told you to stop doing that,” said Baku.

“I know I saw something this time,” said Shute.

“There was nothing there the first ten times. What makes you think that there's something there now?” asked Baku. The creature shot out from behind a tree and snatched the water canteen from Shute and kept running.

“What the!?” shouted Captain and Shute.

“Come back here thief!” shouted Shute. He chased after it.

“Humans no catch me!” taunted the creature. Everyone else joined the chase. Captain's light locked on to the creature showing that it was dark red with black stripes, had a long, thick tail and ran on two legs. The creature ran as fast as it could trying to escape them. It made super tight turns and could leap high into the trees. Its three-toed clawed feet gave it excellent traction and the heavy tail was like a rudder to help steer. It led the gundams on a winding chase through the forest. Captain eventually had to carry Shute on his back the human ran so long. The creature was also starting to run out of steam when it jumped and disappeared into a thick clump of trees. The gundams jumped/ flew in after it but the creature was already gone. Instead, they found a wrecked village in the trees.

“Now where are we?” asked Bakunetsumaru.

“Tree Top,” answered Fleur, “Where did that little thief go?”

“I can't pick him up on my scanners for some reason,” said Captain. He put Shute down.

Shute was out of breath, “Man I sure could use that water right now.”

“Sweet fresh water. It has been to long.” Something made loud gulping sounds. Zero snapped his fingers and the blue magic circle pulled the creature out of hiding, “Caught ya.” They surrounded him

The creature stood up, “My water!” He stuffed the water into his stomach pouch and threatened them with his clawed hands.

“You stole that from me you thief!” shouted Shute.

“Humans greedy!” the creature shouted back, “You no share food or water with Thief!”

“You're name is Thief?” asked Captain.

“That what humans name Thief,” said Thief, “Thief no know why.”

“Because you stole their food and water didn't you?” asked Shute.

“Humans and gundams have plenty,” said Thief, “should share with Thief.”

“That's not what I heard,” said Fleur, “Now give back the water.”

“Why should Thief give back?” the creature asked.

“Because you're stealing,” said Fleur, “and that's against the law.”

“Oopsie,” said Thief, “Thief no want to break law. Thief give back water.” He took the canteen out of his pouch and looked at it still wanting it. He drummed his four fingered hands on the canteen before giving it back to Shute, “Thief sorry.” Thief began to walk away with his head hung low. Thief looked back at the water, licked his lips, and continued to walk away.

Now Shute felt guilty, “Wait, Thief. Come back.” Thief turned around. His pointed ears that went straight back perked up. Shute held out the canteen, “Here. You look thirsty.”

“No, no, no,” said Thief, “Thief was bad. No deserve water.” He scratched his short snout.

Shute pushed it against him, “I'm not going to let you die of thirst.”

Thief smiled, “If you insist.” He grabbed the canteen and drank half of it, “Thief needed that.” He gave the canteen back to Shute, “Thanks. You Thief's new friend.” Shute smiled, happy that now they had at least on native helping them.

Captain decided to ask Thief something, “Excuse me Thief? Could you help us get to Dracion village?”

Thief shuddered, “No way Thief messing with dragon again.”

“Dragon?” asked Zero.

Thief explained, “There's a mean dragon in village. Dragon always picks on Thief. Even if Thief is just walking by.”

“He probably didn't want you to steal anything,” said Bakunetsumaru.

“Could you just take us close to the village?” asked Fleur.

“Thief do it for friends,” said Thief.

 

Several hours later, they had followed Thief into a very dark part of the woods. “This heart of forest,” said Thief, “Demons love to hunt here. Be careful.” One nanosecond later, hundreds of glowing red eyes peered through the trees.

“Oh, shit,” said Baku drawing his swords. Zero summoned his sword, Captain pulled out his beam rifle and Fleur bore her claws.

“Let me just say, it's been an honor fighting beside all of you my compatriots,” said Zero.

“Don't start thinking like that,” said Fleur.

“Remember, Don't give up,” said Captain, “We might win this.” Many more pairs of eyes appeared and soon surrounded them. Shute and Thief were frightened out of their minds. Then Thief looked up at a tree looming over them, “Perfect!” he whispered something to Shute. Shute opened his canteen and emptied it on the tree's roots. The ground quickly absorbed the water. The tree's branches then began to groan and bend. Suddenly a branch picked up the gundams, Shute and Thief, lifting them high into the air. The demons didn't like it and attacked the tree. The tree fought back and smashed the demons with its lower heavy branches.

“That's amazing,” said Captain, “A tree that actually fights back.”

“Over there! They're alive!” Skylar flew towards the gundams.

“Who that?” asked Thief.

“Skylar!” shouted Fleur, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I'm fine,” answered Skylar. The Gundamusai flew behind him. Relived and cheerful were the only words to describe the welcoming sight. Skylar shot a spirit blast into the demon swarm and also managed to hit the tree. The fighting tree began to glow the same white blue color as the spirit blast. Then every tree surrounding it began to glow and as if it were a wave, the entire forest began to glow with the spirit energy. The demons couldn't stand it and began to evaporate as soon as the light touched them. Cracking and popping, the demon crystals soon vanished into then air.

“Awesome!” shouted Genkimaru.

“Dude! That's Amazing!” shouted Guneagle.

“Agreed,” said the Gunchoppers.

“It so pretty,” said Rele. The Gundamusai opened a side door and flew in closer. The fighting tree, one by one, flinged first Captain, then Zero, Bakunetsumaru, Shute, Fleur and finally Thief into the Gundamusai with perfect accuracy. The glowing soon faded and once again the forest only showed death.

 

“Are all of you okay?” asked Chief Haro.

Captain answered, “We are all still functioning at 100%.”

“Who's the new guy?” asked Genkimaru looking at Thief. Thief looked down at the kid musha sniffing him.

“This is Thief,” said Shute, “He's our friend.”

“Thief?” asked Princess Rele.

“Gundam ship huge,” said Thief, “More huge than dragon. How it fly?”

“Our ship is powered by engines,” answered Captain. Thief continued to look around in amazement.

Skylar nudged Fleur, “Hey Fleur. How did I make the forest glow like that?”

Fleur shrugged, “I don't know. Maybe it's because you're the Great Protector now.”

“Great Protector?” asked Skylar.

Fleur explained, “Every kingdom on this planet has one Great Protector. A being that can not lose its soul to the demons but it can still be killed by one.”

Bakunetsumaru was still trying to gather himself, “I never want to go back in that Forest of Death again.”

“Food!” Thief sniffed the air, “Thief smell yummy food!” He took off down a hallway.

“Thief come back!” shouted Zero. They chased Thief around the Gundamusai.

Thief's superior sense of smell led him straight into the kitchen. He jumped onto the counter top and opens a cabinet. He sniffed around for something eatable but couldn't find anything. Next, he tried the fridge and managed to open it, “Jackpot!” Thief pulled out some prepackaged chicken and began to rip off the vacuum-sealed plastic. Before he got to far, Captain tackled Thief. Julie placed to unopened chicken back in the fridge. Thief struggled under Captain's weight, “Let go!” Captain got off of him.

“Why did you do that Thief?” asked Shute.

“Thief hungry!” Thief complained, “Thief no eat in ages.” His stomach growled at him.

“Remember what we said about stealing?” asked Fleur.

Thief gave them a puppy-eyed look, “Thief sorry. Thief no do again. Thief no think.”

The look worked on Rele, “Aw, poor thing.” She petted Thief, “Couldn't we give him a little bit of food?”

“Our supplies will be shortened if we give him anything,” answered Chief Haro.

Shute couldn't believe he was going to do this. He reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the rice balls Sayla made him, “Here Thief. Eat this.” Thief snatched the rice ball from Shute and shoved it in his mouth.

He licked his lips and claws getting every last morsel, “Shute good friend,” said Thief.

Chief Haro sighed, unhappy that they had picked up a hitchhiker, “Let's get back to business and find Dracion Village.”

 

Everyone returned to his or her stations and stayed on high alert for any more demon attacks. An uneasy clam had settled in and was accompanied by a tense feeling in the air. A radar blip showed signs of life close by just north east of them.

“Sir, we have found signs of life on our heat radar,” said Julie.

Chief Haro ordered, “Bring it up on monitor.” The monitor showed a gate near the base of a mountain with two dragon statues on either side.

“Dracion Village!” shouted Fleur happily.

“Alright,” said Shute.

“Do you think Lucky and Azural are there?” asked Guneagle.

“If they got away from EagleEye's grasp then yes, they must be here,” Captain answered.

Baku looked at another screen, “Aren't those Lucky's and Azural's energy signatures?”

“Those are,” said Captain, “They're alive.” Skylar howled out of joy.

Zero looked back at the radar, “Uh, guys? Did anyone else see that?”

“See what?” asked Rele.

Thief saw it, “Uh-oh. Big trouble.”

Genkimaru asked, “What kind of trouble-Ahhh!” Something had rammed into the Gundamusai.

“What was that!?” asked Chief Haro in suprise.

Another camera monitor popped up. It showed a huge, scaly, gold and copper, razor toothed, sharp clawed, fire breathing dragon heading straight for them. Its wings pounded the air and its scales glistened in the Gundamusai's headlights. Some stared in awe at the magnificent beast while others gasped in panic. The dragon roared and displayed its claws and teeth threateningly.

“Orders sir?” asked Julie.

Chief Haro snapped out of his trance, “Don't attack! Dodge it at all cost!” The musai turned left but the dragon mirrored the maneuver and roared again. They tried right but the dragon mirrored again staying on target.

“Barrel roll!” shouted Chief Haro. The Gundamusai barrel rolled to the left. The dragon stayed with them refusing to give up. It shook its massive spade shaped head and began to fly in an up and down wave pattern quickly closing the gap. It landed hard and heavy on the ship and tried to force it down.

“Fire!” order Chief Haro.

“No don't!” shouted Fleur. Too late. The cannons fired and knocked the dragon off.

Fleur sighed, “Chief Haro, you just gave Draco a reason to attack.”

The dragon, now known as Draco, recovered and spat fire at the ship. Intense heat melted the ship and started numerous fires throughout the Gundamusai. Draco flew back to the Gundamusai and began to rip off the melting parts. Black demon dust leaked in and began to choke to air. The canons fired again but missed. Now pissed, Draco breathed fire on the left engine.

“The left engine's on fire!” someone shouted.

“We can't stay airborne much longer!” another person shouted.

The Gundamusai began to wobble and dip to the left. Draco saw this and rammed all of his weight against the Gundamusai's right side. Spiraling out of the control, the Gundamusai headed left and away from the village. Black smoke and breaking trees marked the Gundamusai's path as it crashed, fell to pieces and scarred the dark barren world.

The gold and copper dragon laughed in triumph, “Don't come near this village again you demons!” He flew back to Dracion Village.

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No Zako Zako Hour this time for obvious reason. They weren't in this chapter. And before anyone jumps to conclusions, I don NOT hate dragons. I fact I love them. So there you go. Review please.