EPISODE.0-B
Kickstart My Heart ~Kick Up Your Spirit!~
Darkness was about to infest the universe.
He referred to his Force as the “Society.” In the stardust in the corner of the galaxy, Louis XIII, the leader of the fallen angels, was sneering over the blue planet far down below. That was the place GM and BALL released their raw, immature emotions against each other.
There were over 1,000 fallen angels that flocked to the “666 (Tri-Hex) Society.” The Sabbath rituals that required the gathering of its members were times that gave him an unbelievable amount of joy, but he would sometimes stray away from the crowd alone to the visit his fateful sacred place.
Another year was about to pass.
From that fateful day, he was prepared for his grand ambitions to be crushed. It was that moment when the two brilliantly revealed his secret…
─You are a middle schooler, aren’t you?─
However, he hadn’t seen the duo ever since. It may have been that they went back to their cozy little lives in reality, scared to confront him again since he had destroyed them without even giving them a chance to retaliate. Maybe those words were simply nonsense and out of spite.
That had to be it.
In fact, they thought that he was in eighth grade. But that wasn’t the case. He was in ninth grade, to be exact.
Now his grand ambitions were taking shape. A blood-curdling Armageddon was to be cast upon the world of GBN, to make the fools who isolated him bow down on their knees. He was now in high school, with an increased allowance and a part-time job. He had the money, and with his new avatar of judgement…
“This is the icon of absolute domination, a testament to my right to become the overlord of the new world order…”
He spread his arms towards the galaxy in his cockpit, alone, as though he was to fulfill his destiny.
”Fallen angels of the Tri-Hex, worship and praise me!”
“So he calls his force members ‘fallen angels’?”
”He’s still got his sense of drama.”
Louis XIII heard the familiar voices, gasped, and turned around.
They were there.
The duo had returned.
*
“Yep, the amount of detail of the engravings for the panel lining looks perfect, and you’ve successfully sharpened the parts. At first, I didn’t know what to do with you, but you’ve come a long way.”
“Anyone would be able to make kits in their sleep if they train this hard.”
“Not really. You’re probably the only one I’ve ever seen to actually complete a kit while dozing off.” She said kindly to Tim, who had finished his 1000th training kit in a classy factory in Upper East Side.
”This is just between you and me, but you’re actually my first student to actually assemble 1,000 Gunplas without giving up.” Tim never knew that his father was friends with one of the best Gunpla Builders in the world, nor that he was her first crush.
“Maki, I‘m really sorry about dad’s GM Dominance. I didn’t know that it was a gift that you gave him, and I made it without asking…”
”No worries. Gunplas are to be made. I’m sure he was expecting to keep it in its box and never make it.”
”Exactly. He was really angry.”
Maki laughed, some nostalgia in her voice. “I’m happy to know that his son made my GM Dominance as his first Gunpla, and is now scratch building. Are you sure you don’t need any help?”
“I want to win against this guy, and I have to do it by myself. Now, can you hit me up with some hard training with polyester putty?”
”You definitely are his son. You even refused to go to college.”
”I’m not skilled enough for multi-tasking,” said Tim, examining his finished 1,000th Gunpla while Maki gazed at him fondly as though he was her son.
“But wouldn’t your fiancée get mad?”
The whole fiancée was something that his parents had arranged without his permission. Anyway, why did dad already tell her all this? Tim was about to ask Maki before he casually looked at her.
“Is…everything all right?” Maki asked, her cheeks flushed and her heart began pounding.
“Well...your five o’clock shadow’s starting to show.” She pointed out.
“Nooo! But I just shaved...!” Tim shrieked.
*
From that fateful day on, Carl had put all of his focus on air customizing his Ball in the study/dining/living/bedroom of his humble or rather cramped apartment which he shared with eight family members consisting of his mother, sisters, and himself.
I have to assemble the perfect, the absolute perfect Ball with my imagination, so that I can win against him…”
That day, Carl’s Gunpla, which was haphazardly equipped with junk parts didn’t stand a chance. What was he lacking? What was the goddess of Gunpla expecting from his Ball?
While he thought, his younger elementary school sisters (x2) used him as though he was a piece of playground equipment and climbed onto him. His younger middle high school sisters (x2) were preparing for their school swimming classes and were trying out their school swimsuits that were handed down from their older sisters. His younger high school sisters (x2) were dressed in their part-time job uniforms because they didn’t want to take the time to change later. His mother (x1) carried their lunch from the kitchen.
“Now, now, will someone help me prepare the table? We’re having everyone’s favorite fried rice with air crab.“
”Noooo! We’re having air food again?”
The junior high school sisters (x2) groaned while messing with their school swimsuits, which were too tight around their bottoms.
”But Carl has the prize money from his Air Gunpla Battle contest. We’ll use that to eat fried rice with actual crab.”
“I’m afraid we can’t. Carl quit his part-time job and locked himself up in his own world since he went to GBN after that contest.”
The high school sisters (x2), wearing their hamburger shop uniforms with their shirts slightly open, were a bit more mature.
“That money needs to be used wisely.”
But the junior high school sisters (x2) weren’t backing down.
“We want real crab!”
“We want all the real crab!”
”Did you know, Carl?”
The elementary school sisters (x2) who had successfully climbed onto Carl’s head innocently joined in on the conversation.
”The claws of crabs called the Scylla, a decapod in the Portunid crab family, are so strong that they can even crush hard shells.”
“Crabs are strong…and crabs have… ”
A new door opened in his mind.
“Legs! That’s right! If I add many legs like a crab, the Ball would be able to operate under gravity. I’ll be able to fight with him, even in a land battle!”
*
It had been six months since he had last been to the GUNDAM BASE, which was crowded with Gunpla fans that day as usual. Carl headed to the GBN Entry Zone without any hesitation, after glancing sidelong at the crowd of people heading toward their zone of choice.. He was about to talk to the receptionist when he saw a familiar figure heading toward him.
“I thought you wouldn’t come.”
“I just completed it!” Carl said while rustling through a Discount Buy brand plastic bag and taking out his new partner. “The MG Polypod Ball.”
Tim also took out his custom ordered Gunpla attache case to reveal his new partner. “The MG GM Turbulence.”
“Like rough air currents? Harsh winds? Chaos? That’s quite a name you came up with.”
”I’m not the one who gave it the name.”
“Then who?”
“None of your business.”
The receptionist with loose blond hair and the one with the angled bob smiled with nostalgia as they watched the two boys messing around.
”Welcome back, GIMM and BALL.”
*
Another six months passed and GIMM/Tim and BALL/Carl increased their Diver Ranks, assembled a Force, and polished their Gunpla battle skills.
…And by this time, Louis XIII stood no chance against the two.
The moment Louis saw the Polypod Ball, he had judged that the multiple legs were dead weight and focused on the Gunpla.
“Those legs are only shackles in space! Like how the physical body is a hindrance in Gnosticism!”
But this judgment was unwise.
The legs functioned as AMBAC (active mass balance auto control) in space. They could be used as counterweights to create a reaction in the form of momentum, increasing the Gunpla’s mobility.
Louis persistently chased the Polypod Ball, which showed off maneuvers that exceeded all imagination. He was so caught up that he didn’t even notice that he had passed through a gate to the neighboring server.
It was then it happened.
“Wait, was I lured in!?”
It was too late when he saw the GM Turbulence waiting in a Dimension with a vast wasteland. Louis instantly attempted to run with a high-G maneuver. The next moment, a few parts of his MS had peeled off, disturbing its movements. The GM didn’t miss the chance and fired its rifle, penetrating the weak spot of Louis’ MS with a single shot.
“How dare you win against me. You two must be messengers of the abhorrent Seraphim!”
It was less than a minute since the clock had started.
“I’m sorry, BALL, but you should’ve joined in the fight on the ground to show off what your legs can really do!” said GIMM unapologetically.
“But there’s… something weird,” BALL replied with uncertainty, despite succeeding in their revenge.
“That kid was weird from the start.”
“Not about the kid. It’s that Gunpla.”
GIMM let out a “Huh?” and took a closer look at Louis’ wrecked Gunpla. It had managed to escape the explosion and was lying around like a corpse. But it looked like a different Gundam from the one that defeated them…or was it really even a Gundam?
“You’re right. That is weird…”
“I thought that it might be because of how it was customized, but I can’t seem to find a kit that matches the way it’s assembled in any of the manuals in my head…”
What’s more was that there were large gaps where the parts met, and the molding of the kit was of extremely low quality.
BALL suddenly had a realization.
“Wait… Is this a Mobile Combat Machine Soldier 'Gunpra' kit?!”
“Gunpra?”
The “Gunpra” were fake Gunplas that was circulated into the market being sold as genuine Gunplas, created by a shady overseas plastic model kit manufacturer named “Fakes.”
“I’ve heard of them online. Now they’re in GBN?!”
“N-no! This is not one of them!” Louis XIII, who had been silent during the whole fiasco, suddenly barged into the conversation with disbelief.
“This extraordinary Gunpla is an icon of absolute domination, a testament to my right to become the overlord of the new world order!”
“…”
”But I bought it from an email that said ‘A recommended products only for truly chosen individuals’ and that it was ‘Pure true product/Satisfaction you/No counterfiet’!”
“Then it’s definitely a Gunpra!” GIMM retorted, but BALL had an epiphany.
“That means… maybe we can…” An evil grin took over his face.
“We might be able to get rich from that shady company by threatening them that we’re gonna tell GBN about this little ‘incident’!” Dollar signs popped up in his eyes.
Hearing this, a smirk appeared on GIMM’s face as though he received a new toy. “I don’t care much for the money, but that sounds awesome! We’ll log out now andー”
”You can’t.”
There was a new voice.
And it came from the Gunpra.
“You will never be able to log out from GBN.” GIMM, BALL, and Louis were awestruck as the Gunpra explained in a lowering tone.
To summarize things, a large underground model mold mafia that supplied Fake Gunpla companies across the globe devised a plan to take over the world with their Fake Gunplas, but feared that word of their scheme would leak out from GBN and inserted tools in their Gunpras that hacked snitches, making it impossible for them to log out.
The Gunpra self-destructed right after the explanation, with Louis still in it, to erase all evidence and to prove that they weren’t bluffing.
A silence took over until the two finally understood their situation.
“What the… Wait, so I don’t care about the underground model mold mafia’s plans, but if I can’t log out… I won’t be able to have a real girlfriend! I wasn’t able to do that because of my fiancée up until now, but now what do I do?!”
“You had a fiancée…?”
“I-it was my parents! They set it up without my permission!”
“I don’t care about your problem! I won’t be able to use my ’Petit Loup’ ticket I bought with my Air Gunpla prize money!”
“What, you’re an idol geek?”
It was then that a blinding light from the heavens shined on GIMM and BALL.
The two became speechless.
A voice said, “Achieve a victory against a Legendary Gunpla that is said to be in GBN and receive a Golden Poly-cap attached to the Gunpla.”
“Golden… Poly-cap?” GIMM and BALL faced each other, looking for answers.
”It may or may not help you return to the real world… or at least that’s what the legend says…” the voice finished, and the glimmering light was gone.
“Were we just…dreaming?”
”… I don’t care whether it’s a dream or legend or a conspiracy!”GIMM and BALL clenched their fists with determination.
”We’ll have to do whatever it takes to log out from GBN!”
GIMM and BALL’s quest for the Legendary Gunpla’s Golden Poly-cap had just begun.
