Hi there! As you can probably tell from the length, this is going to be no walk in the park but I hope that you can stick with me regardless!
I'm MrQuestionMark and I wrote this crossover for Heavy Object and Index, two of Kazuma Kamachi's series a while back and while I posted it on one of my other projects, I felt as though those that were more into HO than Index would never get the chance to read it, so I thought of posting it here. I'm an amateur writer but I hope that you can read this and fully enjoy it whatever the case.
Just a note here, that this is more of an Index crossover with Heavy Object than the other way around, so it means that I'm assuming that you might have a BIT more knowledge about Index than HO with it. If you don't that's fine as it doesn't affect the story as a whole but I'm thinking that giving this heads up here is the right thing to do.
While there was that massive crossover back in 2015 for the 10th anniversary of Kamachi, I think that within that crossover there was the potential to interact with other characters from the Kamachi-verse in a canon way. Not only that but such a thing also gave way for a way for the different characters to find ways into each other's worlds but this one-shot will mainly be referring to the events of the crossover novel (which I consider canon) called The Circumstances Leading to a Certain Magical Heavy Zashiki Warashi's Simple Killer Queen's Marriage.
For these things, I'll be leaning towards more certain interactions than others, interactions that I'm leaning towards because of the Heavy Object anime! However, given that The Zashiki Warashi of Intellectual Village ended, maybe I'll do something for Yukari, Shinobu and the gang in the future. And the special between Touma and other Heavy Object characters that Kamachi wrote was never translated so I guess this sort of fills the gap that was there! Please translate it though someone! We do have the side story though that came with the DVD releases of Heavy Object so thank you Js06 for that!
I'm not too sure what most of you guys are looking for when I suggest that there will be a crossover between characters. I'm sure people want either humour or action so I balanced between the two but if you want to see something a bit more solid, you'll have to request for something else if you are unhappy.
Sorry if you are.
I'll note that the world that this is set in is Waltraute's world rather than the world of Heavy Object or another world as it follows and is set in the time during the events of the 10th anniversary, in her world. If you are unhappy about that, please make a note so I can see if I can do things differently. But of course I'll make it clear during the narrative.
Note though that I'll be referring to Qwenthur as Quenser and Havia as Heivia for those that have seen the anime and not read the novels. It sounds better phonetically and how Js06 translated it originally so I'll stick with it. FOR THOSE THAT ARE UNSURE ABOUT THIS FROM THE TITLE and don't want to read the books or have not read the crossover, as long as you understand the main duo and the Princess from at least the anime then everything is fine. There are some Easter eggs for novel readers but I hope that it isn't something that detracts from the overall story. This won't be for everyone though as it isn't strictly 'Index' but then again, I consider the crossover novel canon to all Kamachi stories.
Note that though, the amount of knowledge you need for both of these series is quite small in order to understand the crossover. As long as you know the main characters from both series (well only Touma, Quenser, Heivia and the Princess) and their nature as a person I think you should be fine. Although I think that I address it enough in this story that you shouldn't get TOO confused hopefully. While the setting is set in that crossover novel (again I feel as though it's canon), you don't need to know everything about it as the details will be made clear (hopefully again) here.
Before we begin though, I'd like to thank 3 people.
PokeRescue18, my beta reader. Seriously man, I can't thank you enough for your work here.
You, the reader. And I am eternally in your debt for the contribution that you put into this as well.
And lastly, KurobaraIto. I've had the idea for a crossover for a while and I was unsure how to put it but your requests over time have really motivated me to do this!
And from me, the one thing that I hope that you will do is to enjoy.
For those that go to my other projects after reading this, this is merely putting the same story I've already written in another place so that the Heavy Object people can like it and read it without having to go to the Index page itself. Whatever the case, this was featured in my Between the Lines story as Chapter 26 so don't think that this is a separate project for those that know me. It's the same story, just elsewhere.
Disclaimer: I do not own Heavy Object, A Certain Magical Index or anything in this story. It is owned by the author, Kazuma Kamachi and related parties so don't think that I own it. I, in fact DO NOT.
Mr Question Mark.
No Matter Where You Look, Idiots Can Be Found in Many Worlds.
A_Clashing_Of_Different_Minds. - - The Survival Battle of Necessity.
In an unknown location, the sun beat down on those that had the misfortune to sit in the expanse of land that had no familiarity to all but two of them. With sweaty bodies, groaning mouths and an overall state of plain exhaustion, a boy with two older boys sitting next to him slowly looked up in front of him.
They were not even half way to their destination but from their guide, it was clear that they still had something like 5 days left to go before they actually reached where they were going: the human world of Midgard.
Yet even though that was their supposed destination only a few people actually had bothered to try and understand the specifics of what had happened to them.
Even though Kamijou Touma was one of the people that had talked to their guide to determine what in the world had happened, he still looked at the group that was with him even though none of them were in the shade as they sat down.
He, just like the others had been taken from his own world through some means that were still unknown and they had somehow appeared on the ship that was known as Skíðblaðni. That term itself brought back memories of the coup d'état in England but this was a separate and perhaps even more mysterious issue altogether.
He had been taken and had been transported to a world that was deeply rooted in the mythology of the Norse. He wished that Othinus was here with him in order to try and get as much specialist information about this place and its systems however through the use of Index's knowledge and that of their guide; he managed to reach some sort of understanding about the world that he was in.
And that world was that that belonged to their guide, Waltraute who was the fourth of nine Valkyrie sisters of that mythology atop a majestic white horse that was grazing slightly as they all rested. She had brought along a small boy with her, whose name was apparently Jack Elvan. He had said that he was Waltraute's husband however the accuracy of that was completely unknown.
He had tried to probe into it for curiosity sakes last night however had received a beam of light shot from the spear that Waltraute held in her hand. Upon nothing more than instinct, he had held out his right hand and had negated said beam resulting in Waltraute for that night determining that her arch nemesis was to try and understand the physics behind Imagine Breaker.
He hadn't gotten any sleep because of it, Waltraute was constantly eyeing his right hand because of it and his body was probably aching greater than the others because of it. Waltraute had a devilish look in her eyes that truly made the boy tremble but that was apparently the most information he was going to get at this time.
Tired, exhausted and out right fed-up, Kamijou turned his head and looked at the people that were also sitting with him, a group of people that had also been taken from their worlds.
Of the people that were taken from his world, both Index and Misaka Mikoto looked outright exhausted as he was as they sat away from him, sweating in the heat in their white nun's habit and Tokiwadai Middle School winter uniform respectively. They had been bickering back and forth, something that the heat had increased in ferocity and Mikoto looked ready to zap Index with a lightning spear any time soon.
Kamijou hoped that it would never reach that case but more focused upon the others that came from different worlds.
Probably the oldest there, the two college students Anzai Kyousuke and Higashikawa Mamoru as well as the mysterious bunny girl Karen from their own separate world seemed to not really get along. There was a significant distance between Anzai and Higashikawa and Karen and it seemed from Kamijou's own probing that through the 'Absurd' as they had put it, a number of things had happened to the both of them because of Karen in part.
As the de facto leader of the group, they had been rather kind in giving information, something that Kamijou was grateful for but it was Karen herself that seemed unwilling to offer information. In fact, the frequent glances that she gave to his right hand only added to his nervousness given the experience of last night so he felt like dropping the issue entirely.
Near those group of college students and the Bunny Girl was a duo of a boy and a girl, from a different world but from the same world as each other. The boy, Nanajou Kyouichirou and the girl, the self-proclaimed 'Killer Queen' Satsuki were looking around each other in a way that suggested that they felt comfort only in the presence of the other person that was from their world but conversations with the both of them went rather well.
While it seemed as though the both of them had a screw loose in the ways that they had mentioned that Nanajou had the ability to not die when killed (or rather have attacks that were supposed to kill him always miss his vitals) and that Satsuki had a fondness for military rubber ropes (which Kamijou wanted to comment on but didn't for his safety) it seemed that the both of them were pretty average people.
Yet although he said that, the expressed wish of Satsuki as to examine his right hand after it had blocked Waltraute's beam of light to see what would happen when it was crushed caused Nanajou to hold her back while Kamijou had retreated boldly.
Closer to that group and Anzai, Higashikawa and the Bunny Girl, was another group, perhaps one of the stranger ones that had been brought to Waltraute's world.
The group of Youkai that hovered around the singular frozen coffin that contained the stiff body of the boy known as Jinnai Shinobu sat calmly as the boy inside literally looked like he was in some cryogenic prison. Without tiring or complaining, the two Youkai that had been brought here; the Zashiki Warashi Yukari and the Yuki Onna said nothing to each other or made any attempt to converse, the only words being said from their mouths being the yandere-like speeches that the Yuki Onna was making to Jinnai inside his ice coffin.
Last night as well, Kamijou had tried to make conversation with the two of them given that Jinnai was otherwise occupied and the only one willing to talk had been the Zashiki Warashi and her bombshell body. Although the concept of Packages and other things were a bit hazy to Kamijou, he got the general gist and thus the overall situation that those people and spirits had faced in their own world.
Yet, just like the others, those Youkai and Kamijou felt as though it was perhaps safe for them to stay away from his right hand. Despite them being from different worlds, given that Youkai were spirits and thus paranormal existences, it seemed perhaps dangerous to see what would happen if they came into contact with Imagine Breaker and thus he left it at that.
For all those different worlds and how things in their worlds were both similar and different to Kamijou's own to a surprising degree, there was one final world that had residents brought into this world without their permission, two of the residents of that world sitting side by side with Kamijou as they conversed and Kamijou joined in.
To his left, a boy, Quenser Barbotage and to his right a boy known as Heivia Winchell. The two of them seemed rather normal despite their young age and baggage that consisted of weapons that, according to them were from the Legitimacy Kingdom, suggesting that they were soldiers.
Upon asking last night (which for Kamijou had been the night where he had gotten to know those that travelled with him for the time being a little better and learned about their worlds) it seemed as though Heivia was the soldier, or rather a radar analyst, and Quenser was nothing more than a battlefield student even though he also had a double role as a 'combat engineer' when the situation called for it.
Yet the thing that stood out most from their group perhaps came from Quenser's world.
Far from the entire group making a humming noise that was apparently from a static electricity propulsion device allowing for levitation on the ground was a monster that was known as an Object.
Unlike the mechas that Kamijou had seen on TV and in anime, the entire thing was nothing more than a sphere weighing around 200,000 tons, around 50 metres in size covered with an absurd amount of weapons. Yet even those guns that covered the main body were nothing more than accessories, the main cannons being the seven guns that were attached to the main spherical body at the back through the use of arms.
At the base of each of those guns was something like a microscope lens that could rotate like a revolver, allowing the Object, called the Baby Magnum, to fire a number of different guns such as railguns, coilguns, laser beams and even low stability plasma cannons.
It was synonymous with war and inside that very Object was the Pilot Elite, First Lieutenant Milinda Brantini of the 37th Mobile Maintenance Battalion. Not only that but it seemed that as a First Generation Object that was built to move on all terrain and withstand all weather conditions, it was nothing more than a monster that Kamijou never wanted to have to face head on in any conflict.
And both Quenser and Heivia had managed to take on a Second Generation Object by themselves numerous times using nothing but explosives and other things. In that sense, it was hard to tell who were the greater monsters. Yet, it wasn't that Kamijou could talk after having defeated Level 5 espers and Magic Gods himself.
It seemed as though radio communications had been established with the Baby Magnum since they had left Skíðblaðni meaning communications with the Object were possible using either Quenser's or Heivia's radios. But right now as those boys sat side by side with Kamijou, their de facto leader, the conversation that they seemed to be having was nothing reminiscent of the wonders of a new world.
They were not thinking of politics, economics or the foundations of the world that they found themselves on. Instead the very base issue of their problem was something that had caused their de facto leader to fall silent as the two soldiers sat next to him, the three whispering in soft tones.
"…Is this it?"
"Yes. This is it. If it's an issue of fighting to the death, I say we deal with the girls first. There's just too much power in between them all."
"Are you kidding me!? The last thing I want is a bunch of filthy guys surrounding me as I survive!"
"But Heivia-san, don't you think that such an opportunity would mean that we would get to know each other better? I don't want the girls to suffer for it though, but I am interested in hearing about your world and the other's a bit more."
"Gross! That's disgusting! That tight level of intimacy is something I only want with a woman in bed rather than someone like you! I've taken on Objects so dealing with a bratty high schooler like you is nothiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!"
With a quick action, Heivia took out his combat knife and moved towards Kamijou as the high schooler let out a falsetto scream and fell back as the groups that were around them watched the exchange with mysterious gazes.
Quenser smiled, rubbing the back of his head with his hand as he laughed nervously, grabbing Kamijou's collar as he pulled the spiky haired boy closer and shoved his face into Kamijou's.
"Shut up! There's nothing we can do! While the last thing I want is Heivia's survival in this case so that I can have the girls all to myself, he can be useful when it counts! Calm down so we can work through this together and then we can kill him." Quenser's voice was oddly serious as Kamijou merely trembled in fear at the fact that he probably wasn't joking.
"Y-You're an awful friend! I was joking to at least lighten the mood but you're seriously considering it!"
"That's the normal response to this problem that we're facing right now!" Quenser's voice was hushed as he indicated over to Heivia to put the combat knife away as the boy did as asked and the three resumed their original position of sitting around the handkerchief in the middle of their circle.
And it was Kamijou that got to the heart of the matter.
"So, all we have in terms of food are the leftovers of these flavourless rations?"
Yes.
That was the very basic issue that those world saving heroes and heroines were facing right now. No matter where they were, what situation they found themselves in, it seemed that the rations that they had were the very essence to their survival.
"Who was the one that ate all of the ones that we had?" Quenser asked in a quiet voice while eyeing Heivia as the boy shook his head.
"Wasn't me! Those Youkai said that they didn't need to eat anything so we gave them minimum rations! There are 12 people that we have to feed here using these rations so I'm surprised that we managed to last for more than one meal. Mind you though…the reason why we ran out of them so quickly….."
Heivia said that as he turned to Kamijou as the boy rose both of his hands as he knew exactly what the boy soldier was talking about.
"H-Hey I said that Index was a glutton! She ate most of my share so I barely had anything to eat. This isn't my fault!"
"She is from your world though. Shouldn't you like, put her on a leash or something? Not to mention that human Railgun. How does that even work? With enough output, she could probably function as a walking talking main cannon." Quenser remarked with surprise as Kamijou hung his head.
"I don't want to talk about it. If I suggested such a thing to them, you would be eating me for lunch."
"I'm OK with that."
Heivia made that horrible remark as Kamijou and Quenser shot him a glare as they all started pondering once more how they were to get out of this situation.
"Say, what about your friend? Milinda-san was it? In that Object, how is she even supposed to eat anything? She is nothing but skin and bones right now is she?" asked Kamijou towards Quenser as he felt worry for the person that he had never met however Quenser's radio suddenly sparked to life.
Kamijou had no idea if it was because she was listening in via the bidirectional radio or because the numerous cameras on the body of the Baby Magnum had managed to see the dilemma that the heroes were facing but she spoke through the radio towards the trio.
"I'm fine in here. I replenished my stocks before we suddenly got here so don't worry about me."
"Replenished?" asked Kamijou with a tilt of his head.
"We told you before didn't we? Objects are synonymous with war. Wars can last for days and in case that happens, the Elite herself needs to be supplied with rations and the like to make sure that she at least is satisfied in the battle." said Quenser with a sigh as he was made to explain things again as Kamijou looked up in pity at the Object.
"Poor girl. Having endless supplies of these flavourless rations must be hell. Wars really are hard aren't they?" Kamijou vaguely remembered his own experiences during World War III as Heivia shook his head and let out words in a solemn voice.
"It's hardly that hellish. In the Object itself, the Elite needs to have the best of the best. With microwaves, fridges and even massage chairs, the cockpit of an Object is basically a 5-star hotel built for the sole purpose of holding that specific Elite. Hey Princess, have you already had lunch?" Heivia turned to his own radio as he spoke and the girlish voice responded.
"Yes. The spaghetti needed to be finished off but I have to say that I won't order this meat sauce again. I am still a bit peckish though."
Kamijou's mouth dropped in response to what the Princess said as he felt tears well up in his eyes as he looked at the pitiful food that was in front of him right now. The comparison was too cruel and all of a sudden, he had the uncontrollable urge to choke Heivia that had incited the Princess to say those harsh words.
"Isn't there anything we can eat?!" Kamijou yelled into the air. That attracted the attention of all the others who groaned as they figured out what those heroes had been facing silently.
"Wait, have we run out of food?" (Anzai).
"That's a problem for the humans isn't it?" (Zashiki Warashi Yukari).
"Kyouichirou…..do you approve of fresh meat?" (Satuski).
"….Is that glance at me supposed to have some sort of hidden meaning?" (Higashikawa).
"N-No! I'm the one that's going to kill him so I'll deal with anyone else that thinks otherwise!" (Bunny Girl Karen).
"Uhhh…..so….hungry…" (Nanajou).
"Why did we run out of food anyway!? Wasn't it your fault you gluttonous nun? I saw you eat most of that idiot's share you Silver sister!" (Mikoto).
"Toumaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Why have we run out of food? And that annoying Short Hair is calling me mean names still!" (Index).
"Heh heh heh heh heh. I don't need anyone else. Shinobu…..stay with me forever…." (Yuki Onna).
Index suddenly approached Kamijou as she bit onto his arm lightly, unable to use her proper strength to attack the boy however Kamijou merely tried to push her away slightly as he sweat dropped.
He turned his head towards Waltraute, her grazing horse and Jack as he frantically tried to figure out a way out of this using his position as the de facto leader which unfortunately meant that most people were looking at him for a solution.
"Um…Waltraute-san? Isn't there any type of food source around here?" he asked as he felt Index's teeth sink into his arm a bit deeper as he tried to push her away. The others had gotten used to the nun biting the boy without a reason whatsoever however some of them truly wondered how close Kamijou and Index were, not to say the relationship between Kamijou and Mikoto.
"Hmm?" Waltraute looked up from her horse as she pointed off into the distance towards a forest that was there. "I've heard that here in Jötunheimr there are a few fruit trees. But the obvious danger there is that this is the land of the giants. I'm not sure if what you find will be massive piles of fruit or the dead body of a giant but if you were looking for food that would be the best bet." Waltraute gave that remark as Jack from the back of the horse smiled and spoke.
"The giants are nice people so don't go attacking them you know!"
The group had a hard time believing that but it seemed as though the forest that was in the distance was the only source of food that they had. Kamijou turned to Index with a smile as he lightly pushed her away before she did some damage in this world that would never be fixed as he tried his best smile.
"W-Well there we have it. The best option that we have for food is over in that forest there. I'm not really for the possibility of running into a giant but beggars can't be choosers. So, who wants to come and search for food?!"
Kamijou tried to sound excited as he stood up to rally some kind of support however found that the entire group suddenly turned away and started talking to those that were from their own world as Kamijou went wide eyed at the clear fact that they were ignoring him.
Were they?
No, it was unlikely. Th-they were probably all just tired and didn't hear him!
"I said, so, who wants to come and search for food?!"
Again, the group of world saving heroes and heroines said nothing to the boy as they merely talked or bickered with each other in a clear attempt to ignore the boy who was obviously trying to act as the gentlemen in this situation.
Almost panicked now (for Kamijou it was more of a certainty that he would run into a giant if he was alone given his misfortune) Kamijou tried once more with a shaking in his voice accompanied by trembling in his body.
"I…I said, so, who wants to search-"
"We heard you! Can't you take a hint that no one wants to do it?!"
Everyone yelled at him however the fact that no one wanted to leave meant that for those lazy people, it was only through physical persuasion that Kamijou Touma actually gained the courage to head off towards the forest in the distance.
"So!? Why did we have to come along!? This sausage fest doesn't suit my tastes whatsoever!"
Heivia Winchell spat out that comment as he walked towards the forest with Kamijou Touma and Quenser Barbotage by his side. While the latter clearly had a face that suggested that he wanted to do nothing but complain, the former had rips in his clothes that had arisen from the Great Brawl that had happened only moments before.
While he had been bitten, electrocuted, strike with a beam of light, struck with Youkai strength, frozen, almost crushed and beaten from numerous sources the rather light wounds that he had were ridiculous given what he had been made to endure.
"Say," asked Quenser as he ignored his partner's comment. "What do you think would happen if you took on a main cannon blast?"
"That wouldn't even be a part of a tsukkomi and boke sketch. Are you trying to kill me?" Kamijou asked as he blew on his wounds and watched the Baby Magnum trailing behind the three boys as they walked towards the forest.
"As for why I need you guys, look at the height of those trees! If this really is the world of giants, do you think that those fruit are going to be chest height? I'd rather avoid having to climb an entire tree to the top and getting fruit down so using your rifle there Heivia-san will be the best bet. And if we come across a giant, using your Hand Axe or the Baby Magnum will be the best way for survival Quenser-san." Kamijou reported.
"So in the end we're once more heading towards certain death because of a commanding officer's idiotic plans. Understood." replied Quenser in a dead voice as Kamijou chuckled slightly.
"I-It's not that bad right?" He asked however the silence that he got from the others was merely an answer for him as he turned his head around and looked at the Baby Magnum.
"Y-You don't mind do you Milinda-san?"
"I feel as though this is a waste of fuel but if Quenser is going, then so shall I." Her cute voice responded through the radio as Quenser gave a sigh in response and Heivia a sigh as he felt as though he wasn't loved given the situation.
Silence filled the travelling group as Kamijou found it hard to try and strike up a conversation, speaking off hand in an attempt to try an ice breaker to destroy the awkward situation that he found himself in.
"You know; I've actually met you guys before. I'm pretty sure that there are movies about you guys where I come from. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure that there was a TV show with those Youkai over there. I'm not sure about the other guys but it's possible that even they have some sort of fictional adventures in my world. I never thought that it was possible that they could have a non-fiction element on another world though."
Kamijou said that off-hand comment as immediately the two of them turned towards Kamijou with a sceptical look in their eyes.
"Are you serious?" asked Quenser. "They made a movie about us?"
"Well yeah. They are sort of B-grade films but they have their own appeal. I'm not sure how accurate they are. What has happened to you recently? That would be able to give me an idea if what the movies did were true in your world." asked Kamijou as Quenser frowned.
"Heivia, you're the soldier. Where are we going now? The last Object we faced was the Megalodiver. The only thing that I care about is the Gigant Hustler that's happening soon though." [1]
"I heard our large-breasted commander, that's Frolaytia we told you about, is sending us to the White Sea District in the Arctic."
Quenser and Heivia gave those overviews of their situation as they looked at Kamijou with interested looks even though they tried to give off an air of not caring. Anyone who had suddenly learned that there was a movie about them would surely become interested and their gaze at Kamijou who was trying to remember what movies he had seen reflected that.
"Megalodiver? That name doesn't really ring any bells. I remember seeing this one where the main cannon was a lower-stability ion cannon." remarked Kamijou as he tried to remember what it was that he had seen in the cinema about those two idiots.
"Ion cannon? I haven't seen one of those. Say, me in the movies….have I had sex yet? No actually come to think of it, if you saw the movies that were about us, why were you so interested in our world? Surely you know of everything!" said Heivia in surprise.
"Why are you so interested in that sort of thing!? Are you a one trick pony that only has a focused mind when it comes to things about girls?! And as for me asking you things, do you really think that the cinema is the most reliable source of information? Hearing that Objects can take on a nuke has a bit more credibility to it when you're speaking to someone while looking at one in real life." said Kamijou as he glanced back at the Baby Magnum before looking at Quenser.
"Ion cannon? How would that even work? *Pant* I get the feeling as though the amount of heat it generates would need to have the entire cannon moulded to fit the situation. *Pant pant* No, what kind of reactor would they even need? Using the JPlevelMHD, you'd need to calculate and spread the effects across the entire Object. How would that even be designed? *Pant pant pant*."
Quenser had suddenly started foaming at the mouth and was whispering things under his breath as it seemed as though he was on the verge of drooling. No scratch that, he was actually drooling now as Kamijou edged closer towards Heivia.
"Hey hey. Is he….alright?"
"He's always like this when you get him started on Objects. He's a student remember? But that's what has happened to us. What about you? Maybe you exist as a fictional person in our world like we do in yours." said Heivia as Quenser suddenly came out of his trance and looked at the boy.
"Me? I've just come out of hospital. The details are vague but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the girl called Mitsuari Ayu…." [2]
Both of the soldiers looked at each other with confused gazes as Quenser spoke up from where he stood.
"But, if we exist as fictional people in your world, maybe there are some things that are true in your movies that have not happened to us yet. So? How about it?! Am I a designer yet!? Do I have a mansion filled with maids and design blueprints for Legitimacy Kingdom Objects?!" asked Quenser enthusiastically.
"No….."
"Hey, hey! Do I at least have the rights to my family!? What about the Vanderbilt situation? At least tell me I have a mistress!" Heivia asked with desperation in his eyes as Kamijou slowly backed away from the two of them.
"Wait, hang on there."
All of a sudden Quenser's radio came to life as Milinda Brantini spoke through the Object towards Kamijou in what seemed to be a rather reserved voice.
"N-Not that I'm interested but is there any chance that an Elite such as myself is closer to someone in my battalion than anyone else?" asked the Princess.
"Hang on right there! Are you sure you want to rely on a fictitious source when it comes to your own lives? I could tell you that in the end Quenser-san and Heivia-san get together so don't rely on what I think and have seen in the movies Milinda-san." remarked Kamijou, perhaps sensibly.
While it was possible that the things that Kamijou knew from the movies were true or had yet to happen for Quenser and Heivia, telling them right now did not mean that they would come true. In fact, telling those idiots of what he knew could possibly make them think that they were guaranteed to get it and overconfidence on the battlefield was sure to kill them.
So in order to try and make sure that they had the best chance of survival and did not listen to the things that Kamijou had only seen in the movies, he remained as gentlemanly as he could. He might not see them again but if they died because of something that he said then he would never live it down.
All three of the foreigners fell silent at what Kamijou had said as both Quenser and Heivia looked at each other with pale faces.
There was a click in the air as Kamijou turned his head and gagged as he saw that one of the smaller cannons that covered the Object was pointing straight at him in a gesture that clearly showed malice. No, it was just pointed in his direction right? It could be aiming at anyone! Right?!
Without warning though, he suddenly felt someone grip the front of his jacket as he was pulled closer toward Quenser as the boy started to laugh deeply, having brought out a clay like plastic explosive from the bag on his back. It was Hand Axe, with a gram of the stuff being more expensive than a gram of platinum.
"Please repeat what you just said."
"Eh?"
There was a click from the side as Heivia suddenly took off the safety of his rifle as he held it by his side, finger of the trigger. His face twitched and was clearly pissed as Kamijou turned back towards Quenser as the plastic explosive hovered near his head.
"Did you just say that in the end, the final pairing is me x Heivia?"
"I didn't know you swung that way Quenser." The Princess's deadpan voice came from his radio as he shouted back at it.
"I don't! I love tits and armpits! Gimme tits and anything with a vagina! In order to determine the truth of the matter, we have to get the information straight from the source! SO! ANSWER MY QUESTION!"
Quenser's voice was oddly high pitched and his eyeballs bloodshot as Kamijou had no idea what in the world was going on.
"Wait just a minute! I was just saying that you shouldn't believe what I say just because it comes from a movie!"
Heivia pressed the rifle barrel up against Kamijou's forehead with the same ghastly expression on his face as Quenser's only adding to Kamijou's fear in the situation.
"Answer. The. Question. Or we'll feed you to the Princess."
"Why are you guys so up in arms about this? I get that you might not swing that way but this kind of reaction is too far left field! Besides, I think that you guys are great myself and there's nothing stopping you from putting yourself out there, with girls or otherwise."
"Quenser, Heivia. Step back. I'll blow him and whatever secrets he has out of him where he stands." The Princess gave her comment with a cold tone as Kamijou trembled at the thought of being shot by an Object as pressure came from all sides.
And the only thing that he could do in the face of those serious people was merely smile awkwardly and chuckle in despair.
"Such misfortune."
The misunderstanding had been resolved and the truth had come out, giving relief to the trio of Quenser, Heivia and the Princess in the Baby Magnum as they walked along towards the forest in the distance.
This was of course not without casualties as they dragged the limp body of Kamijou Touma behind them using one of the military rubber ropes that they had borrowed from Satsuki. Bruises covered his body and he let out a soft groan from where he was being dragged.
Upon learning that the final pairing was in fact not Quenser x Heivia, the mood of the trio had drastically improved as Kamijou on the ground was spoken to by the older boys as he found himself suddenly not having to walk and thus save energy.
"Say Leader." Heivia was the one that spoke out to Kamijou as he coughed on the ground while being dragged by the boys.
"What?"
"Why did you even have us lug around this rope? That so-called 'Killer Queen' was pretty upset when you asked her to give it to us." He noted as Kamijou merely rose an eyebrow.
"I thought that was obvious. How do you think we are going to get the food to the others? This is the realm of the giants according to Waltraute-san so I don't want to have to come across an apple that is as big as a tank and have to move it myself. We're going to have to try and find a way to attach it to the Baby Magnum and have Milinda-san take it there for us." replied Kamijou as a displeased response came from Heivia's radio.
Perhaps to allow communications between them and her to be easier, Quenser and Heivia constantly had their radios turned on and connected to the frequency of the Princess's Baby Magnum meaning that it was easy to communicate back and forth without having to constantly reach for the radio to turn it on, especially with the bidirectional functionality of the radios.
It was that connection that the Princes spoke through with a displeased voice.
"So in the end I'm nothing more than the baggage handler and rifle holder? Objects are hardly used for hunting so I feel as though this is a waste of bullets and tax payer's money." she complained without a change in tone.
"It's not like he cares though. After all, he's not the one that has to report back to our large-breasted commander about why we suddenly disappeared with the Object and returned with it missing a few expensive shells." said Quenser back towards Kamijou as he pulled violently, causing Kamijou to be pulled along the ground rather violently.
"Hey!" Kamijou said both in response to the action and the words. "If there was something I could do I would. Do you want to exchange email addresses or something? Phone numbers so that I can make it up to you guys somehow?"
"How would that even work? Do phone numbers connect between worlds? We'd have to be within proximity to each other, not to mention it's unlikely we're getting a signal out here." remarked Heivia.
"Weren't you downloading that porn video before though? Where did you get the Internet connection?"
"Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! Because of you, that video was never fully downloaded so I can't access the file! Why is it always the good natured ones that end up creating the biggest mess at the end of the day? Pacifists such as yourself would never survive in our so-called clean wars." Heivia spat out those words as Kamijou found himself unable to reply.
Given what they had told him, it seemed as though a normal high school student such as himself would be instantly killed in the age of Objects. With a practically useless right hand against them, there truly was nothing he could do in such a world and thus entirely possible he would be killed the moment a battle started.
"Give him a break Heivia. He's trying his best given the situation at hand. I'll trade numbers with you Kamijou. You never know when something like this might come in handy later on. Maybe we'll have to wait for the 20th anniversary?" Quenser said that strange remark that probably only he understood as the boys traded numbers, doing so with Heivia as well although reluctantly.
"What about you, Princess?" asked Quenser to his radio.
"It'll just take up space when there is nothing connecting our worlds. But if there is a chance that something can come of it, I may as well. I don't want to have to end up in a foreign world with no contacts like this again." said the Elite as Kamijou and the Princess traded numbers and email addresses.
Upon seeing that they worked and everything, Kamijou turned his head towards the Baby Magnum as he was dragged along the ground.
"Still, it seems as though you in your world are prepared for everything. What with rations and survival kits and the like." Kamijou said impressed towards the boy soldiers as Heivia seemed rather prideful of that.
"Well sure. We wouldn't be here if we weren't prepared. We've got everything from fishing rods to survival knives and even handkerchiefs that can function as both a sling and filter to stop poisonous gases although in the latter case it barely works. Quenser, you carry around spare handkerchiefs don't you?" Heivia asked his friend as Quenser reached into his own backpack and pulled out two from his survival kit there.
"Here they are. Have one Kamijou. As a little souvenir of our time here."
Kamijou accepted with thanks as he pocketed the piece of cloth that seemed soft to the touch as he still looked back at the Baby Magnum, oddly feeling his gaze constantly drawn there no matter where he was.
"Still it seems as though Milinda-san has the best of both worlds here. The Object cockpit sounds like its own portable paradise."
"It is to be honest. I was hearing that one of the Elites from the Capitalist Corporations got so used to his cockpit that he lived and stayed in there, doing no exercise until his entire body changed to the extent that he could no longer pilot. Peace can be dangerous in itself when it comes to wars." The Princess remarked as Quenser rose an eyebrow.
"How did you even hear about that? Is there some kind of Elite network out there in the world? You wouldn't happen to be connected to the 'Oh ho ho' through that would you?"
"It was a rumour Quenser. And why did you have bring up that horrible person? She's nothing but a liar that's dissatisfied with her own body and her Second Generation has already lost once to mine." The Princess's tone changed slightly as she seemed proud of her own victory as Heivia suddenly dropped his own mood in response to the souring Princess's.
"Damn it Quenser, why do you always have to stick your mouth into it anyway? After all, if the Princess doesn't help us here, the only ones that will not die of starvation are her in the Object, the Youkai and that frozen boy." He complained as Quenser truly looked confused at him, as if wondering why the Princess was so mad at what he had said.
"That is the major worry though." said Kamijou on the ground as both boys stopped and froze, looking at Kamijou who had his arms folded as he nodded while recalling the major problem that they had.
"What….do you mean there Leader?" asked Quenser in a soft voice as he blinked once, clearly unable to register what it was that Kamijou was getting at.
Having had enough of being dragged around, Kamijou stood up and brushed off the dirt that had covered him as he pointed at the Baby Magnum behind him with his thumb.
"Well if we find nothing then we'll have nothing to eat. Even though Waltraute-san said that this was the best place to find food, the fact that she didn't direct us there in the first place at least suggests that no one has really tried to find food there anyway. Chances are we might find nothing or something. Hell, if we find the dead body of a giant, there are some things that I doubt we will want to eat. The body is mainly made of water and there's the issue of fat, muscle and bone. Even if we cooked it, I've never eaten human flesh. At least not from what I can remember. I remember people eating me in Othinus's worlds but never the other way around but it could have happened…"
The last comment Kamijou said more to himself rather than anything as both of the boys went pale as Heivia spoke up with a shaky voice.
"H-Hang on right there. Are you saying that there is a chance that this is for nothing?"
"Well, unless we find fruit or something sure. And I have no idea if the body of a giant is the same as ours so there is that issue as well. I'm just saying how it is though. After all, if it came down to it, would you eat the flesh of a human or something that looked human-like?" Kamijou asked however Quenser merely waved his hand in the air.
"Forget that Heivia! At least our large-breasted commander gives us reasons to go on suicide missions and we can threaten her with groping when we get back! What are we supposed to do against this bastard?"
"Hang on there! I thought you knew our options! Do you know anything about this world?!" blurted Kamijou at the unfairness that was being presented to him.
While he had presented them with reasons why it was possible to not eat giants if they found any and thus the only option they had was fruit (which was something that they may or may not find), he had essentially created the possibility that what they were doing was for naught.
Meaning that in the end, since they probably didn't want to eat the dead body of a giant and if they did not find any fruit, they would end up having no food once they returned to the hungry people and Youkai waiting for them.
Thus resulting in the painful fact that this trip that they were taking was completely pointless at the end of the day if they didn't find fruit.
"You are our Leader! You're supposed to at least have a grasp of this place! What were you doing asking around last night? Were you flirting?!" yelled Heivia at Kamijou as the boy shook his head.
"No! I was trying to at least understand everyone and their situations! And why is it up to me to try and figure out everything that's happening in this world? How am I supposed to know whether or not we find something? I was assuming that we were!"
"Don't go all optimistic like that! Taking the worst case scenario into mind is what survival skills are for. You've basically made us walk this entire way without any chance of finding food if we assume there is no fruit! There's no way I'm eating the intestines of a giant! We could get some kind of weird stomach bug unique to this world with no cure!" shouted Quenser.
"I thought you knew that when you came along!"
"We didn't!"
"How is it my fault then?!"
"You goddamn idiot! I'm slitting your throat and we'll cook your remains for lunch!"
"I'm thinking that you're bringing out your combat knife there to only support your joke so you don't need to approach like that!"
Kamijou let out a falsetto scream as a sigh came over the radio, the Princess giving a comment as she saw the sight of the two idiots wasting energy as they chased the spiky haired idiot around.
"So are we going forward or not? I'm a bit hungry myself now so I want to at least nibble on something."
"Shut up!"
Kamijou suddenly turned towards the only person there that had a decent meal inside the cockpit as she unknowingly bragged at those without food for the moment since they had not gathered anything. He pointed straight at the Baby Magnum with bloodshot eyes and yelled straight at it.
"This is the problem! Stop talking about food when we don't have any! It's worse than torture, especially when we're trying to find some but don't know if we will! In fact, the only proper source of food that we have is the food inside your cockpit and Waltraute-san's horse!" shouted Kamijou as both Quenser and Heivia froze as they looked at each other.
The desperation was evident on their faces as they turned toward Kamijou with a low tone in their voices.
"Hey, that's our last option isn't it?"
"What is, Quenser-san?"
Quenser did not answer as he and Heivia turned off their radio's bidirectional functionality, disconnecting their connection to the Princess for the moment as they suddenly seemed to gain a dark aura around them.
"Don't be ridiculous Sir Knight. What are you going to do when you betray the Princess you worked so hard to save? Not to mention that that's an Object! Are you forgetting the most important point of all?!"
"There are some things that bonds need to be broken for. If we're assuming that there is no fruit, which I am, then the only thing that we can have to eat in inside the Princess's cockpit. Unless you want to be zapped by that beam of light again after attacking that Valkyrie's horse. If it's a question of an Object against that Valkyrie, which one would you choose?"
Heivia seemed stunned at the options that he was given, putting a hand to his chin and giving it serious thought. After having been struck by that beam of light from Waltraute earlier, he knew that while he was into that sort of stuff, falling unconscious or dying from the first blow did not satisfy his particular niche. Yet…..the alternative was an Object!
Heivia seemed to fight with his inner self and desires as Kamijou spoke up from the side in confusion.
"Hello? What are you talking about?"
"What do you think?" Quenser said that toward Kamijou with an exasperated look on his voice as he tried to turn away from the Baby Magnum's cameras. Upon seeing that Kamijou was not getting it, Quenser tried once more, trying to make it clearer.
"We're talking about trying to get inside the cockpit of the Baby Magnum and holding the Princess at gunpoint to make her give us the food hidden inside that paradise. We could probably ask her but she might selfishly give us only the bad stuff! To get the best out of her, it's what we need to do."
Kamijou blinked once, turning slowly towards the Baby Magnum, the 50 metre spherical monster that weighed around 200,000 tons with the hundreds of smaller secondary cannons and the 7 main cannons attached to the back, any of which could kill him instantly from merely a shockwave.
His mouth dropped and he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?! Are you insane?! And you said I was crazy!"
"That's right though Quenser. How are we going to do this? This is directly related to our survival if we have no food given no one's going to eat a dead giant if we find one and assuming that we find no fruit. It's going to be harder than directly destroying its reactor. Not to mention Frolaytia will be beyond pissed if we manage to do it."
"And here I thought that you would be the one to suggest running away or abandoning the idea first."
"You see it on all of those survival shows in the safe countries, but drinking urine is definitely something I am never doing. Not when there is a perfectly good source of food hidden in that cockpit. It's a question of priorities and even then I doubt the Princess is going to kill us without hesitation. At least, that's what I'm going for. And given the alternative is that Valkyrie's horse, I'm naturally going to choose the option that gives me the greatest chance of survival. But saying that when referring to an Object….just what type of world did we find ourselves in Quenser?"
"A-Are we seriously thinking of this? Seriously!? You said that the Baby Magnum and Objects could take on nukes so what are we supposed to do!?"
Kamijou screamed at the impossibility of the task and while they did have a source of food inside the Object, his more gentlemanly side that wanted overall peace between comrades was at least trying to imagine that they would find at least find fruit to eat instead of nothing as Quenser and Heivia were thinking.
However, those two idiots that were thinking nothing of others formed their own plans silently. While it was possible that they would never truly think of ever doing this on a normal occasion, it seemed as though circumstances had changed to the extent that warranted this change over them.
Kamijou Touma was seeing perhaps a rare sight, the Dragon Killers seriously thinking of dealing with an Object that was not threatening their lives. Many people would perhaps have trembled at that sight but the intensity that was on the soldiers' faces only made it seem comical.
Quenser Barbotage and Heivia Winchell though simply ignored Kamijou's childish whines.
"The obvious question is how are we going to get the Princess out of her cockpit? I doubt she'd just let us in."
"Can't we force an emergency ejection?"
"With what? We might have a chance if we threw those Youkai at it but right now all we have if your armoury and my Hand Axe. I'd also like to prevent damaging the Baby Magnum in case there is any trouble in the future. The Princess is human just like us Heivia."
"Well said Sir Knight. But you're just making it harder for yourself there. You want to get inside an Object's cockpit, preserving the Object. If we were back home and facing an enemy Object, either I would be the first to kill you and run away from that idea or you'd get a medal. Even though you managed to do it back in Alaska with the Rush."
"I'd probably never suggest it back home what given the crisis situations and the like, even though the Rush was a special case. At least we can hope the Princess won't kill us. Right?"
"I don't think she has a stop button there Quenser. But seriously are we really thinking of doing this? Even me? Food really changes what drives a person."
"Nukes! You said nukes! Like BOOM nukes! Mushroom cloud nukes?! A-And if it can withstand that I think that anything going from the guns, explosives, chemical weapons and the military rubber rope that we have is going to do nothing! Are you listening to me?!"
While it seemed as though the panicking role that Kamijou was taking right now was usually taken by Heivia, having someone else take it seemed to make Heivia divert his mind to his own survival.
His own mind was in thought however Quenser blinked, turning towards Kamijou and pointing at him.
"What did you say?"
"Huh? When? The part where I said, I don't know, this is a crazy idea?! This is like trying to dig through the earth using nothing but dentures! Even given what I've been through, this is nuts!"
"Chemical…..weapons?" Quenser asked with this head down low as he felt a small smile come onto his lips, something that was matched by Heivia as he got a good look at his partner's face.
While they had been through a lot together, to the extent that one could think of them joined at the hip when it came to crisis scenarios, he knew that look on the student's face.
It was the forming of an idea that was possibly going to allow them to take a chance and survive this; to get the food hidden within the Princess's cockpit.
Quenser though merely placed a hand on Kamijou's shoulder.
"You, my friend," he said. "Are a genius."
"…I've got a really bad feeling about this."
Kamijou whined as he looked behind him towards the Object, the First Generation Baby Magnum that was synonymous with war.
"I sense that the misfortune heading my way might seriously kill me."
"Are we supposed to search this entire forest? It could take days to find what we're looking for." complained Heivia in a surprised tone as he looked at the forest that they had come in front of now.
Quenser and Kamijou by his side looked just as surprised at the gigantic forest that had seemed smaller in the distance. While the trees were indeed things that looked similar to their own world, the fact that they towered well above their heads made it seem as though they were more like skyscrapers that flora.
"We really are on another world aren't we?" said Kamijou as the trees that towered above him put things into perspective.
"Well, this works perfectly with our plan. I think we'll have to put it into effect 'cause I can't see any fruit lying around or up there. We just have to find the element that we need to put it into play." Quenser said that as he turned to his radio which he had switched back on as he spoke to the Princess.
"Hey Princess, how are you holding up?" asked Quenser as a displeased voice was returned through the radio.
"I don't like how you and Heivia were discussing something that you didn't want me to listen to. What were you talking about?" she asked although her tone suggested that she was going to hear the answer no matter what as Quenser looked at Heivia as the Princess added to her words. "That Kamijou boy was making a big fuss about it."
"Well…." Kamijou said as he averted his eyes from the radio, remembering the idea that Quenser had given him. While it did indeed seem like a proper way to allow them the chance to get inside the Princess's cockpit by having her open the barriers from the inside, the fact was that the moment that she heard of it, she was, without a doubt, going to be displeased. Even Kamijou felt as though the idea was excessive but he was pressed from all sides.
The only reason he was going through with this was that the Princess was apparently smart enough to make the proper choice when it needed to be made and thus keep her own life.
"Yeah, you were making a fuss weren't you? Honestly, you're like a little girl sometimes there Leader." said Heivia in an attempt to change the subject, however the Princess caught on.
"Heivia. Stop trying to avoid my question. What were you talking about?"
"Um…..Quenser?" asked Heivia as he glanced at the student who suddenly went wide eyed.
"H-Huh!? Why me? A-Actually Leader, you'd better explain it. After all, it's your responsibility to keep an eye out for us underlings you know." said Quenser as he diverted the bullet as Kamijou's eyes went wide.
"MY RESPONSIBILITY?! W-Well…" Kamijou trailed off as more drops of sweat added to the ones that were already there. The method that they had of taking on an Object was insane not to mention suicidal but they had a definite plan, which was more than they had when it came to the possibility of finding food.
"W-We were talking about the power level of your reactor? A-After all there are different things that you have to consider such as fuel and the output of this JPlevelMHD reactor so I was just thinking what kind of things the Object would be powering and Quenser-san and Heivia-san gave me an overview." Kamijou said frantically as he thought of an excuse, the boy soldiers looking at him impressed as they saw his quick thinking.
Yet that in itself was destroyed by the Princess's next question.
"Why didn't you ask me then? I could tell you that the movement of the power within the Object goes toward much more than the cannons. It goes to my displays, my propulsion device, microwave, fridge, chair, air filters, radios and other things that make my Object the most comfortable place for me." remarked the Princess as the boy soldiers looked at Kamijou once more.
"R-Right. I….I just thought um…that it would be a sensitive area? Yeah! I thought it would be a sensitive area to discuss. I mean, the Object is an extension of your body right? If I went up to a girl and asked her in some way 'What does your body feel like?' or 'What does the inside look like and how does it work?' I'm pretty sure I'd be subject to some kind of punishment."
"….I've never thought of it like that. Quenser, does that mean that in a way you're sending lecherous gazes towards me and the other Elites when you stare at our Objects?"
"I-It doesn't work like that! I'm studying Object design so thinking of the Object, which is a separate machine as a literal extension of your body is ridiculous, even if you might do it! You'd be beyond fat with that 50 metre body!" Quenser yelled.
"Not to mention the weight." Heivia commented although it seemed as though he didn't put too much thought into it as both Quenser and Kamijou stared at him with pale faces. He seemed to realise too late what he had said however the Princess had already taken note of it.
Being on the potential kill list for an Object was a one-way trip to hell and Heivia truly lamented on the fact that he had basically dug his own grave by mentioning the sensitive topic of a girl's weight.
"A-Anyway Princess. Are there some functions that you're not using to save energy inside the Object? I have no idea when you're going to get maintenance next so I would suggest conserving power. Perhaps think about dropping…perhaps things like the music player, any unnecessary cameras near the cannons, the air filter system and the massage function of your chair for now?" asked Quenser carefully as the Princess replied.
"I've been doing that for a while. Even when using my main cannon in the low-stability plasma setting, I'm only setting the electricity through the barrel at half voltage. I don't want to have to run out of power despite my reactor." she replied as Quenser gave a sigh in response, something that was matched by Heivia and Kamijou.
"Hey Princess. Are there any heat signatures coming from anywhere? If there is a dead body of a giant somewhere here, then I'd imagine that their body would be producing a lot of heat." asked Heivia.
"I'm sensing something fairly large around 2 kilometres north-north-west. Do you want to check it out?" asked the Princess as the boys looked at each other with victorious gazes.
"(Hey, hey. Do you think that could be?)"
"(First things first Heivia. We'll have to check it out and then call it in.)"
"(Are you sure everything is set? I feel sort of bad doing this to Milinda-san. Not to mention to the giant if it is a dead body.)"
"(When she's mocking us silently by talking about spaghetti and massage systems? And besides, dead men tell no tales. The giant isn't going to turn into a zombie and seek revenge on us.)"
Heivia was the last one to make that comment as he rose his head and indicated toward the Princess in the Baby Magnum.
"We'll check things out ahead so we'll call you when or if we find anything of use. There won't be any high speed battles so don't worry about anything there." he said.
"Then I can finally eat my snack. Viva meatloaf."
The boys grumbled as they made their way forward, moving the 2 kilometres they needed as they looked at the scenery and anything that they could use to their advantage overall however it was hardly before they reached the 2 kilometre mark that they smelled what they were heading towards before anything.
The rotting flesh smell that filled the air was almost overpowering as the boys reached for the handkerchiefs that they had and used them to cover their nose and mouth as they continued to walk forward, through the trees as they saw the sight that was producing the horrible smell in the air.
Needless to say, they were all speechless.
The dead body of the giant had a human like structure, just like they had appeared in stories that they had all read. Its head was lolled to the side however its eyes had been removed, dried blood having formed there already.
It lay on its back however it seemed as though the giant itself covered around 5 metres just by its height, giving a sensation of fear throughout the people that were looking at its carcass. If they thought the Baby Magnum was a monster, seeing a human shape that was that tall was something of a monster of itself.
They had no idea how the giant had died however the sight of what seemed to be a blunt force trauma wound seemed to be shown on its head; it had been caved in giving a rather grotesque sight as gore spread along the ground. Kamijou seemed to recoil from the sight, gulping and sweating nervously while giving silent prayers and looking rather pained at the giant as if he had been the one who had been killed while Quenser and Heivia looked along the body of the giant.
"Say Quenser. Is this what we are looking for?" asked Heivia as he pointed at the figure in shock.
"I'm just as surprised as you are and I came up with the idea thanks to Leader. Still if we want to get the best food that's inside the Baby Magnum, what we need to do hasn't changed." he replied in a serious tone as Kamijou put up his hand that attracted the attention of the other two boys.
"What? Don't tell me you're pulling out now. I get where you're coming from though but I doubt that the Baby Magnum will be literally thinking of killing us if this succeeds." said Heivia as he recalled his own experiences with Objects, perhaps the experience with the Water Strider sticking out the most. Or perhaps the Son of a Bitch that had actually been called the Early States.
"N-No, it's just, how are you going to get to 'that'? I know that it's inside the giant's body but look at it! I imagine that its skin is going to be harder than what your bullets can pierce through Heivia-san. If we had Misaka's Railgun, that might be a different story but there is no such thing right here and now."
Both Quenser and Heivia realised that point as Heivia pointed his rifle at the body of the giant, pulling the trigger as bullets sailed into the giant's side. Kamijou immediately jumped at the sound while Quenser looked rather amused at him as the body recoiled a tiny bit before slumping, blood coming from the wound where it had been shot.
"See? It's fine. What are you worried about? Freaking me out like that…."
"What we're looking for is deeper inside though so Leader has a point." remarked Quenser as he pulled out of his bag a couple of Hand Axes, crushing the squishy substance in his hand. "But if we do this right, I'm sure that we can have access to the 'thing' that we want. The only thing after that is to bring the Princess over, implement the plan and voila! Enough food to go around!"
He placed the explosive inside the wound where Heivia had shot however found that it wasn't large enough. A few more bullets later and the hole was large enough for Quenser to stick his hand through as he continued to cover his mouth with the handkerchief to prevent the smell from getting into his nose.
"Honestly, the things that I do…" He complained as Heivia felt that exact same way as Kamijou stayed far away, truly wondering if defiling this giant's body was the right way to do things. Sure, it was already dead but even so he still felt bad for what he was doing.
"OK, ready?" asked Quenser as he raced behind a tree far away in order to be protected from the blast.
"Sir Knight, whenever you are, I am!" shouted Heivia from behind another tree as Kamijou stood next to Quenser, covering his ears and mouth with his hand and handkerchief respectively.
"May whoever looks over the giants in this world forgive us."
"I didn't realise that you were religious. It seems more like a Faith Organisation thing though." noted Quenser as he set the frequency with his radio to the electric fuse that he had put inside the Hand Axe.
"I'm not. But surely whenever you find yourself doing something you don't want to, you start gaining an open mind to these sort of things. And then there's Index with me, so it sort of rubs off." replied Kamijou as Quenser nodded in agreement.
Although he didn't believe in God or whatever, Quenser had surely directed a few words to that being's name both in the hope of survival or hatred for situations that He put Quenser and Heivia through. They were both surprisingly similar to Kamijou in a lot of ways so Quenser merely told the younger boy to duck down as he sent a silent prayer as well to whoever looked after the giants in this world.
He pressed the switch and the Hand Axe exploded, sending bits of flesh flying in all directions as it ripped a hole in the side of the giant's stomach. The explosion ripped through the landscape, sending dust flying towards the trio as the trees protected them however even then, they could feel the shockwave in their guts, resounding through their bodies. They were far away enough to not be too badly affected but they still felt the light shockwave.
Everyone looked over from where they were as soon as the dust cleared and the shockwave effect's lessened and saw in the mixture of blood something else that was mixing in with it, most likely the stomach contents.
However, when they all saw what they needed to see, Kamijou still getting rather nauseous at the sight and covering his mouth at both the smell and hoping that his prayer was received (in truth he felt as though the actions he had played a part in and the sight itself made him want to throw up). Both of the soldiers gave each other the thumbs up though at the sight, largely unaffected. Just what they been through?
"Alright now, that's the first stage done. The second stage is the usual. Heivia, give us some time to set up before calling the Princess on over." instructed Quenser as Heivia rested the rifle on his shoulder.
"Hey whatever gives me the least work to do. I don't much like hanging around this guy here," Heivia pointed at the giant. "But I still have that video we got from ages ago on my handheld device."
"You managed to download that? I'll have you owe me that later. The whole 'I'm cornered over here' and everything." said Quenser as he took Satsuki's military rubber rope with him as Kamijou followed behind him as Heivia sat back down, looking in disdain at the flavourless ration that he took out as he took a bite.
Even though they were coming up with a plan to get proper food from the Princess's cockpit, he still felt, seeing the dead giant's stomach blown out in front of him that the sensation of food in one's stomach was something that was taken for granted by many.
Despite the fact that some glorious proper food would be coming soon, he wanted to take what he could when he could get it.
"May you rest in peace you gigantic son of a bitch."
And he too also gave that silent prayer despite not being religious to whoever would hear it.
"Princess, we're good to go. We've managed to get the giant that was over here into smaller pieces so you can come and collect it now."
The Princess, Milinda Brantini heard Heivia's voice over the radio as he reactivated the bidirectional functionality of the radio. For whatever reason, he and Quenser had turned them off when they had entered the forest however she paid it no mind as she moved the Baby Magnum to face the north-north-west where the heat reading from the giant's body was slowly dying.
"Heivia, where is Quenser?"
"He gets all the love huh? Well that's to be expected." remarked Heivia although from his tone of voice, he was rather enjoying putting the Princess in a bad mood with his remark as he answered her question. "He went off with Leader to check out if there were any other giant bodies around."
"You mean the ones that are coming from the east?" she asked as she looked at her monitors, hearing the confirmation that came from Heivia in a light hearted tone.
"Yeah, those one…..Wait. What did you say!? Are you saying there are some giants heading towards us right now?!"
"There are a few kilometres off but they seem to be heading this way." The Princess reported as she made her way into the forest, hearing Heivia's thinking through the radio although wondering where in the world Quenser and Kamijou were.
"Shit….well we have your Baby Magnum so as long as we get what we need then…..Wait a minute. What we need will mean that-!"
Heivia's voice sounded panicked however there was nothing that the Princess could do about that, nor about what happened next, immediately after Heivia made that comment.
Through her cameras, she saw exactly what happened although she personally had never expected it to actually happen at the end of the day. It was through her cameras that she saw something black extend over numerous cameras, all of them being in a horizontal line meaning that whatever had extended over the Object did so in the same line.
Given the size of the Baby Magnum, it pushed through the forest managing to topple over any trees that were remotely near or it its path, using the static electricity propulsion device to push through and over the trees that blocked the Object's path as they were crushed from the lasers that were used in addition to the propulsion device to allow it to move.
The Princess's eyes went wide at the sight of that black line extending over the cameras that were near her smaller cannons however that in itself was nothing that surprising to what came next.
Using her cameras, she managed to find where the black thing was extending from, seeing that it was the military rubber rope that seemed awfully strong coming from two nearby trees that had branches that were around the cannon height of the Baby Magnum. And what she saw there, on both the left and right, standing on those trees….
Were the boys, Quenser Barbotage and Kamijou Touma.
(What are they…..?)
The Princess had that thought however the Baby Magnum did not stop even though the military rubber rope was in its path, merely pushing through it as it made its way to the dead body of the giant that Quenser had blown up the stomach of using his Hand Axe.
The rubber rope was pulled taut, something that, if they had enough strength was enough to allow those boys to treat the rubber rope like a string shot, shooting the Baby Magnum in the direction where it had come from.
However, nothing of that sort would happen against that 200,000-ton mass as the taut rope pulled the boys that were on top of the branches that had extended the rope over the Baby Magnum's body towards its body.
Screams from both Quenser and Kamijou consisting of "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!", "Such misfortuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeee!" and "I should have known this would have happened!" came through her radio due to the bidirectional function of Quenser's radio as both of the boys swung towards the Baby Magnum.
Like a pendulum, the rubber rope had managed to catch on the upper side of one of the smaller cannons, swinging both of the boys together as they met mid-way, slamming into each other as they groaned and hung in the air, below the cannon that the rubber rope had managed to catch onto.
Currently, with the rubber rope hanging over one of the cannons, the two boys that were hanging by the rope slowly swung with the movement of the Baby Magnum, hanging by the rope that was attached to the cannon.
"What are you two doing?" asked the Princess as she finally reached the body of the giant that had its stomach blown out, a smell reaching the Princess's nose given that her air filters had been turned off that would have normally been turned on in high speed battle to save electricity in the reactor.
It was then that she noticed that both Kamijou and Quenser had their handkerchiefs attached to their mouths as they swung hopelessly, trying to get on top of the cannon that they were attached to however getting no luck. Either through the use of string or by tying the handkerchief to the back of the head, it covered their mouths and perhaps allowed them to be free from the effects of the smell that was coming through the Baby Magnum.
"D-Don't worry about us Princess! Carry on doing the work!"
"How can I do that? I thought that we were attaching the body of the giant to the Baby Magnum using the rubber rope that you both are on. What's going on here Quenser?" The Princess's voice had an edge to it that she normally would not have contained as she looked at the two boys that were hanging from a smaller cannon.
"Cr-Crap! Quenser-san are you sure about this!?" asked Kamijou towards Quenser however it was heard through the radio as the other boy kicked Kamijou in the gut from where they were hanging.
"Shut up! We're so close and like Heivia there is no way that I am drinking my own piss or eating that giant! I'm not even a soldier so there are so things that people do in the military that I refuse to do!"
"So taking down Objects is easier!?"
(Taking down…..Objects?)
That remark from Kamijou, who had earned a few more kicks from Quenser as the two boys hung down from the cannon by use of the rubber rope, made the Princess immediately go on the alert as that smell still invaded the cockpit. She could taste it in her lungs now, meaning that they had begun to warm up her throat but she took no notice, instead looking around the entire Object for Heivia.
But Quenser's partner, the second of the Dragon Killers was nowhere to be seen.
"Quenser!" The Princess shouted however it was Heivia's voice that came through the radio, being sent from quite a distance away and upwards, suggesting that he had climbed a tree although how he had managed to do so was beyond the Princess.
"Qu-Quenser!" Either by mistake or because he was in a rush, the connection that Heivia made was connected directly to the Baby Magnum rather than using the frequency that Quenser alone would manage to hear. The Princess made a note to have Frolaytia confiscate their radios for that and have them both punished however Heivia continued.
"Forget the plan! We have giants incoming, shit I never thought I would say that without referring to Objects, and we need the Baby Magnum! Using my rifle and your Hand Axe is not going to prevent ourselves from being squashed by those giant feet coming our way so take her away! Forget the plan to remove the Princess from the cockpit and have her deal with the giants first!"
"Heivia?"
The Princess said that back at the incoming transmission as she looked surprised at the monitor where she was seeing the boy in the tree as silence resounded in the transmission between the both of them.
Although she did not know the method that was being used right now, she had heard his words perfectly well in the transmission.
Forget the plan to remove the Princess from the cockpit
Quenser…had managed to find a way to remove her from the cockpit? How in the world was he going to do that in the limited time that he had and with no resources?
On any other occasion, the Princess would have been surprised as she always was however right now, when it was being directed towards her and she was the target, it was hardly something pleasant to feel.
She understood why he might have done this, after all her half eaten meatloaf sandwich that was staring back at her in the cockpit and their complaining of not having enough food was enough evidence for her to make the judgment. Paired with the fact that even she felt repulsed in the idea of eating giant flesh and there were no pieces of giant fruit seen around, those boys had likely used the last option available to them.
And that had been removing the Princess from the cockpit and taking the food that rightfully belonged to her.
She didn't necessarily feel betrayed, what did she expect from idiots but she was definitely extremely pissed off that her Baby Magnum was the target for the boy's plan (although one of them seemed awfully reluctant to take part).
And those targets for her fury were definitely visible in her cameras right now.
But first she responded to the silence that Heivia was giving her.
"Heivia? Can you care to repeat that? What exactly did you and Quenser plan with that other boy?"
"…Eh heh heh. Oh shit."
The transmission immediately cut off as suddenly Quenser reacted to his own radio as it probably received a transmission from Heivia that reported the situation that he had made and the mistake he had conducted.
There was a tiny silence before both of the boys hanging by the military rubber rope on the Baby Magnum exploded.
"You goddamn idioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooottttttttttttttttttttttttttt!"
"Heivia-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!"
"Quenser?!" asked the Princess as she connected to his own frequency as he and Kamijou hung helplessly, dangerously near one of the cannons that were on the upper part of the spherical Object that they had managed to cling to. "Explain this. NOW."
"W-Well you see…."
"Would you believe that Heivia-san was telling a joke?"
The Princess immediately fired one of the smaller cannons, one of the ones that was facing the opposite direction of where Quenser and Kamijou were hanging (on the opposite side of the Object) however the shockwave from such that resounded throughout the Object resounded in their guts as they suddenly found themselves short of breath with ringing ears from the blast of the cannon.
"Quenser?!"
"A-Alright *cough* we give up!" cried Quenser as he hung down however the tone of his voice suggested that he was smiling behind the handkerchief that he was wearing. "But…..I suggest you eject already Princess. This victory is ours. You…..and your food are ours!" Quenser cried in victory as the Princess narrowed her eyes.
"What do you-?"
"You already feel it don't you? The small burning inside your throat?" he asked carefully as Kamijou spoke up as well.
"S-Sorry about this Milinda-san," He said. "I wanted to try and think of a way to do this peacefully but I doubt that you would just give us your food. And then Quenser-san came up with his idea…."
It seemed as though the foreign boy truly felt bad for what he was doing, despite the fact that he realised the necessity in such. He was acting a bit out of character in such by going along with this plan, but since this was a Heavy Object special, it was alright.
The Princess truly felt as though Kamijou was right though, she doubted that she would give the entire group her food because of how she had seen them eat yesterday, meaning that if she looked at this logically, she saw why Quenser and Heivia had turned to the actions that they had.
But, that didn't mean she had to like it as she managed to choke out the words through her hot throat.
"What is this?"
"Hydrochloric acid." replied Quenser simply to which the Princess's eyes went wide.
It had been Kamijou that had given Quenser the idea of using that weapon when he had mentioned 'chemical weapons' although Kamijou had never known it would lead to this; using that horrible chemical against another person. Again, Kamijou was acting a bit out of character here but since this was a special, it could be ignored for now.
But while Kamijou had given Quenser the idea, that only rose a number of questions to the mind, something that was answered as Quenser continued speaking.
"Don't think for a minute that we managed to just create this by ourselves. I'm a battlefield student, Heivia is a radar analyst and Leader here is nothing more than a normal high school student although the hidden potential he has is quite amazing. But we had the resources in order to allow this acid to show itself as a weapon on the battlefield."
"H-How-?"
"Look down."
Quenser replied through the handkerchief, most likely put over his mouth to prevent the airborne acid from entering his own mouth although it was more than likely that he was feeling the effects of it as well, although not to the extent of the Princess, Milinda Brantini.
The Princess though looked down using her cameras and saw only one thing. The dead body of the giant was sprawled out on the ground with a blunt force trauma wound likely spilling the remains of its head on the ground although the wound that had been created by Quenser and Heivia was the one that she noticed.
It was the blown open stomach of that giant.
But what did that have to do with anything?
"Y-You can't be serious!" She could not contain her surprise at the thought that entered her head but it seemed as though she was spot on.
"Exactly. Stomach acid uses hydrochloric acid in its makeup although the quantity is small. Even so, there are still traces of it in there. And thus, for something like giants that need to eat, it is definitely present."
"B-But the quantity of hydrochloric acid in the human stomach is-"
"Leader had the same objection. But then again, what do we know about the stomach of a giant? This is a fantasy world Princess, so anything can happen."
"You bet this entire thing on a gamble?" The Princess said that in a cold tone that was devoid of emotion as the battlefield student continued speaking despite everything that he was doing.
"Naturally. Getting food was a gamble but there were a number of things that had to be met when dealing with an Object as we can't leave everything up to luck. I told this to Leader but now it's your turn to be educated Princess. Question: How do Objects deal with getting oxygen to the cockpit? While the Megalodiver took in seawater and used electrolysis to create oxygen, not all Objects are made to fight underwater, even First Generation Objects like yours." said Quenser as the Princess narrowed her eyes as he unknowingly ridiculed her pride and joy, the Baby Magnum.
"So the question is how do they get oxygen to the cockpit? Not all of them are airtight although some of the Second Generations are leaning to that now as well as a few First Generations but for the ones that are, they have regulated amounts of oxygen pumped in. This can work in conjunction with small oxygen sprays to catch breath. But for battles that can last days in the modern battlefield, such a thing is a major disadvantage. That is why many Objects, such as yours, mainly use air filters to separate the air that comes into the Object from other poisonous substances. Such as chemical weapons."
The Princess recalled how it was Quenser that had asked her to drop the movement of electricity of the reactor towards her air filters to save it but she had never expected him to come up with this plan with that in mind.
"The specialised air filters separate things such as hydrochloric acid and other important intangible weapons like gases and radiation but they cover the entire Object so they naturally need a lot of power to separate every single fine particle that isn't oxygen so the Elite can breathe. The technology Objects use is cutting edge after all. In turn, dropping the air filters means that raw air passes through the Object, while still blocking out foreign signals as well."
Quenser paused, perhaps for effect as she could tell that that dangerous grin that he made before destroying an Object was on his face.
"So with your Object's air filters down, the hydrochloric acid inside the giant's stomach is passing through your Object and reaching you directly! It probably has a lot, what with eating humans and whatnot in this fantasy world. I could be wrong though but Leader and I are suffering here too. The handkerchiefs can only hold back so much."
"*cough* Sorry again Milinida-san."
"But at the end of the day Princess, unless you want to suffocate inside your own cockpit, you need oxygen. You need to eject to survive and stop breathing in the hydrochloric acid fumes! Even with your anti-personnel weapons, cameras and lasers, Elites are still human and need to breathe. Which means that you have to abandon your Object there, Princess. We've won."
The Princess was silent as she breathed in, feeling her throat heat up slightly as she breathed in the hydrochloric acid fumes that were coming from the dead giant's stomach and passing through her unfiltered Object and into her lungs. Although this was being directed towards her, she still could not hold back her amazement.
While this was a fantasy world, trying to find an application back on their own world for this technique would be hard. A number of conditions would have to be met; the Object would be trying to conserve power in its reactor but even then the JPlevelMHD reactors had an immense amount of power.
The only reason the Princess had cancelled out functions such as the air filters was because she wanted to conserve power as she did not know how long she was here. Those reactors did not have indefinite power but rather a lot of it.
Not to mention that the only times when an Elite would drop their air filters in this way would be when they were perfectly relaxed, such as in maintenance base zones. Sneaking into one of those and implanting a poisonous substance inside the cockpit was a suicide mission in itself (not to mention inefficient, extremely dangerous and impractical as a method), yet right now, using a suggestion from Kamijou Touma, luring in the Baby Magnum by Heivia Winchell and using the plan formed by Quenser Barbotage, they had placed Milinda Brantini the Pilot Elite in a position where the only thing she could think of was to eject to protect herself.
While she had oxygen spray inside the cockpit for the sometimes-long missions where she could not breathe and had to drop the air filters, the cockpit was constantly bringing in and already filled with the fumes of the giant stomach's hydrochloric acid.
She was cornered and there was no way out.
She would have to eject to save her own life meaning that Quenser and Kamijou could climb up the side of the Object as they were on the upper half of the spherical main body and enter the cockpit, taking the food that they desired.
The Princess…had….los
"Hey, actually wait a minute!"
Kamijou was the one that let out that panicked remark as everyone looked at him in surprise before he spoke.
"What about those giants that are approaching?! A-At this rate, Milinda-san won't be able to breathe properly, will have to eject the cockpit and we'll have to deal with those giants using nothing but what we have! And we can't run away or fight back either! We're the ones that are cornered!"
Everyone paused as they realised that very basic fact that Heivia had tried to explain from the beginning. Quenser had been so caught up in finding and explaining structural weaknesses in the Object that he had forgotten all about that.
Silence reigned if only for an instant as he chose to give up the food for immediate survival.
"R-Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!"
"I guess that this functions as a bit of payback Quenser *cough*. I'll have you air out the Baby Magnum using your own lungs later so I'll have to do what I can as I am."
The Princess let out that shout despite her breathing becoming hot in her throat as she inhaled the fumes of the hydrochloric acid that was coming from the dead giant's stomach beneath her as she reactivated the air filters, reaching for the oxygen spray that was within her cockpit.
She inhaled a breath of fresh oxygen that almost burned her throat as she focused her eyes through her goggles, getting the numerous readings that were in the distance however even then, the shout from Quenser was not even necessary.
From the distance and her own sensors, she could get a reading and feel for the approaching targets, seeing that the tallest was around 5 metres. That in itself sounded ridiculous however this was a fantasy world and anything could happen. But for an Object that was standing at least 50 metres tall, those giants were nothing more than foot soldiers to the massive weapon that was the Baby Magnum.
"Wait a minute though! Are you attacking them!?" shouted Kamijou at the radio as the response that came back was curt and short.
"Naturally, the alternative is running away."
"D-Do that! I never intended to kill anyone, despite the method to get you out of the cockpit Milinda-san!" cried Kamijou as she clicked her tongue however still did not hesitate in what she did, turning the Baby Magnum around in a quick movement.
And the payback that she was supposed to give Quenser came quickly as her rotating her body with the force that she did meant that both Kamijou and Quenser that were hanging on nothing more than one of the smaller cannons with a military rubber rope were swung to the side from the pure centrifugal force.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Both Kamijou and Quenser screamed as they had the pressure of the force press up against their bodies as the Baby Magnum turned around and headed towards the outskirts of the forest that was in the distance as the both of them felt as though they had been punched in the stomach from the force involved.
However even then, the 'payback' that the Princess had formed inside her head was hardly over.
Within an instant, that metal monster that reached top speeds of over 500 kph moved at one of those high speeds. Kamijou and Quenser both let out shouts of pain as they were pressed against the body of the Baby Magnum due to the speed and Gs, that it felt as though they were going to be turned into gory splatter on the body of the Object.
They hugged each other as they screamed, tied together by the military rubber rope as it was Quenser that realised something was wrong.
He motioned with his teary face in front of the camera (more pressed against), holding up two fingers towards the Princess as she merely gave a frown at the action as she left the giants behind in her wake as she retreated.
Two? What was that supposed to mean? The only two that there were here were-
If she was surprised, it didn't show on her face as she realised what she had forgotten, only turning her head behind her in the cockpit as she muttered under her breath.
"Oh. We forgot Heivia."
That was the only thing that showed her surprise as through the radio, which was now connected and being received by both radios due to the bidirectional functionality of them, shouts and gunfire were heard through the electronic device.
"You damn fuckers! You left me! I knew that I shouldn't have decided to take on an Object and think there were no consequences! I'll never do it again so at least return and come back for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Getting stomped on by these bastards is no way going to make me happy!"
Heivia returned to his in-character complaining in the face of danger as he retreated through the forest, chasing after the retreating Baby Magnum although the giants that were in pursuit were quickly crossing the gap, probably going to do so in mere seconds.
Heivia turned and sprayed the air with his rifle bullets frantically, the giants that had been hit barely pausing as the bullets entered their flesh. Just like with the one that had been struck before, it only seemed to irritate the giants if anything as they continued their pursuit with the Private First Class racing towards where the Baby Magnum was with his very life.
Although there was no proof, it was entirely possible that Heivia would serve as lunch for the giants while the others had nothing as Kamijou weakly spoke, not used to travelling at up to 500 kilometres per hour speeds with the Gs pressing up against him, even though supersonic jets were the things that came to mind for him.
"W-We have to go back for him…." he choked out as Quenser kicked Kamijou in the side.
"Screw that! He left us to do the worst job and just hung in the background while we inhaled that hydrochloric acid as well Leader! Besides, he has a rifle! Go on!" He shouted at the Princess as she merely gave a sigh, turning the body of the Baby Magnum so that it faced the forest once more.
While she was sitting in her superweapon, something that could surely destroy the giants in a single shot, the problem was that Heivia was from her world. As such she felt as though it was definitely her responsibility to at least watch out for him, as he had done before for her. Not to mention that there was also the fact that in a way, this would teach both Quenser and Heivia NEVER to think to take on her Baby Magnum in a way that could possibly succeed.
Although she wasn't as kind hearted as Kamijou seemed to be (but perhaps there was a greater strength in not willing to kill even in wars as well), she still had an obligation to protect and save Heivia as he fled.
"Sorry Quenser but he is from our world."
"….Heivia, you owe us one!" shouted Quenser as he seemed to relinquish that point towards the boy as Heivia responded with tears in his eyes while being chased by something that he had never thought he would be chased by.
"I love you guys!"
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! The final ending won't be me x Heiviaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"I didn't mean thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttttttt!"
"Heivia, you best get down. I'm holding back from that comment that you made."
"T-Try not to kill the giants! I'm sure that this is something like trespass to land for them so at least try and hold back!" Kamijou shouted at the Princess despite not having any actual power over her actions.
She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the boy in the camera, seeing that in his eyes he was serious about maintaining his position of not killing. He had put her in a position where she would have chosen to save her own life after having Quenser tell her of the weakness in the Baby Magnum, so there was definite kindness or softness there.
It was possible that if he had lived on their world that he would be striving for a war where no one was actually killed in front of him if he could help it.
Such an existence seemed at odds with people such as her, Quenser and Heivia who had blood on their hands however even though he likely knew that they had killed he still wanted to avoid having them stain their hands if they could help it.
His existence was almost an opposite to theirs however there was something there, almost a magnetic force to his own ideals and self that made the Princess realise that there was definite strength in them. Despite the Princess having the ability to call it naïve, pointless and not thinking of the larger picture, it was likely that he held it to his very core.
Personally, Milinda Brantini could not understand such a thing. When it came to war, thinking of killing your enemy in a firefight was something that was not looked down upon. In fact, it was basically a requirement. Kamijou did not deny that however at the same time, right now he wanted to avoid that very basic reality.
She did not understand his point of view however at the same time, she felt herself drawn to it as if trying to find the optimal solution in a hopeless situation was something that everyone had to at least try when it came down to it.
She, Quenser and Heivia had constantly come across situations like that however had they ever reached a solution where 'everyone was saved'? It wasn't required for them and Kamijou surely would not blame them for such since they were fighting proper wars but still, there was something there as if merely trying to work towards such was a noble thing to do that could not be looked down on.
Despite how naïve it was.
Despite how pointless it was.
Despite how it did not look at the larger picture.
"Understood Leader. Commencing the plan of attack. I'll have to use one of my smaller cannons so you two better prepare yourself."
Quenser and Heivia went silent at the term that the Princess had called Kamijou in the heat of the moment, realising that there was perhaps a larger meaning behind Milinda's use of Kamijou's name in the way that she had. They fell silent for only a moment as they considered what it meant for themselves too, their own position in the face of what Kamijou had said.
After all, their own hands were dirtied yet they were also clean. To that extent, was it possible that they could try and move towards a solution where they could truly say that 'everyone was saved'?
Their world did not function like that as sometimes the optimal solution was the death of an enemy but a small twinge in their heart at least felt that trying to do something different in a different world would surely result in something that they hadn't seen before.
The existence of Kamijou Touma at least made them think of possibilities such as that in the heat of the moment.
Those soldiers who had been through different hells than that normal high school boy.
"Heivia! When the Princess is ready to fire the smaller cannon, you'll have to duck! Doing so will lower the chances of receiving the shockwave in the chest!"
"I hope you're at least planning on blasting away from me! You might be thinking of saving these son of bitches but at least consider the future leader of the Winchell family, the great Heivia! Intimidating scars are the last thing that I want on this battlefield where I can't get honourably discharged!"
"Heivia, I'm aiming currently 500 metres to your left. Are you ready?"
The Princess manipulated a few of the keys inside as her emotionless voice filled with a slight amusement as she looked at the figures that were on her Object and hanging by the military rubber rope.
"By the way everyone, I think this can serve as the last part of your punishment."
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
Al three boys asked that question as a humming filled the air in a cannon that was near where Kamijou and Quenser were, the both of them looking at one of the cannons that was at the base of the Baby Magnum, noting that it was humming.
"Sh-Shit! Princess, this is something that doesn't fit in with being the straight man! Slapstick like this can be tuned down a bit!"
"Qu-Quenser-san!? What does that mean?" asked Kamijou as Quenser looked at the boy that was next to him.
"T-the Princess is planning on using the shockwave from the cannon blast to cause some damage to our body. Although she hasn't had maintenance for at least a day, she's thinking of using one of her weaker cannons that aren't at full strength after fighting that dragon rather than a main cannon. Regardless even if she does use one of her weaker cannons at this point I don't think that we'll get away unscathed!"
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!? I'd take Index's bite over this any day! Wh-what are we going to do?!"
"H-How am I supposed to know?!"
Kamijou looked down at the humming cannon as a thought appeared in his head, causing the boy to frantically look up the body of the Baby Magnum with frantic eyes. They were on the upper side and it was slanted meaning that running up it would take time, time that they did not have if they wanted to escape unharmed.
Quenser had said that it was unlikely things would kill them but the both of them at least had the human instinct to want to avoid pain at all costs.
Using that human instinct, Kamijou immediately tried to untangle the military rubber rope that had circled around itself, before managing to do so as he placed his legs against Quenser's chest with the boy looking surprised at the action.
"Wh-What are you-!?"
"Just copy me and push when you think the cannon is going to fire! Give the warning to Heivia-san as well!" shouted Kamijou back as Quenser realised where this thought was going as he did the same, pressing his legs against Kamijou's chest as Kamijou copied the action.
The battlefield student looked down at the humming cannon, feeling in his gut and from the humming that the final moment had arrived.
"Heivia!"
Quenser shouted the boy's name as the gunfire suddenly stopped in the forest as both Kamijou and Quenser kicked off each other's chest. Meanwhile in the forest, Heivia threw himself to the ground, trying to use the ups and downs in the earth to get the best cover.
The smaller cannon fired and the coilgun shell that fired out flew through an arc and hit the spot 500 metres to the left of where Heivia was. The shockwave of the shell firing resounded through the Object as it hit the two boys that had kicked each other in the chest from the bottom.
While that in itself was something that did not do much, what their actions did do was force the two boys out to the side instead of being directly underneath the cannon. In turn, the shockwave thrust them upwards and instead of flying directly towards the cannon above as they circled in the air, blasted upwards from the shockwave.
It wasn't powerful enough to blast them high into the air to the extent that falling would kill them however as the two boys let out yells as they sailed through the air, it was clear that they both realised just how frightening Objects were. As that shockwave had been from a smaller cannon that had lost some of its power due to lack of maintenance it was only left to the imagination what a full power smaller cannon would have done to their bodies.
They flew into the air before landing on the top of the Object, coughing and spluttering. They groaned with the military rubber rope still connecting them as they both held it however it had been dislodged from the cannon by the shockwave. Their bodies screamed with pain and they coughed out blood from their handkerchiefs that had come from their mouths, leaning backwards on top of the Object as they let their bodies come to terms with the fact that one of the weaker cannons had been powerful enough to cause that damage to their bodies and that damage in itself was not even at full power.
Although Quenser realised that the cannon blast had been weakened due to lack of maintenance after the battle with the dragon thus reducing the power provided by the reactor to that particular cannon (perhaps the Princess has also done something to add to that effect as well), Kamijou only had to imagine what a full power blast would do in a war while Quenser had seen it for himself before.
Heivia though was on the receiving end of that very blast.
The coilgun shell struck the ground and even in its weakened state, blew a shockwave that even reached Heivia 500 metres away. It uprooted trees and spread indiscriminate destruction to the area around the epicentre of the blast.
Heivia yelled as he was tossed through the air, hitting the trunk of a tree as he also groaned in response to the blast however the giants were not so lucky, not being prepared for the sudden violence.
The shockwave hit them dead centre, throwing them all backwards a few metres as they slammed onto the ground, creating earthquake-like tremors, unconscious from the blast simply because they had been unprotected, too close and not prepared for the strike that took them all out as Heivia coughed out blood too as his body ached and screamed as he had hit the tree too hard and because of the shockwave.
He hadn't broken any bones but the overall damage was enough to at least mean that he wouldn't be able to move now.
His gaze turned towards the centre of the destruction that the coilgun shell had created and immediately swore, trying to stand up but not managing to do so with the pain in his body.
"Even with a lower output level from the reactor….to do this, Objects are still the monsters of the battlefield."
He lay on the ground, unmoving as he made that comment, realising that perhaps choosing to attack the Baby Magnum had not been one of his finer moments as he let the pain of the experience wash over him. He withstood it though as he directed his gaze towards the Object in the distance that had fired a weakened shot that had managed to do this much damage to a flesh-and-blood soldier such as him from the mere shockwave, let alone what it did to the giants.
Back on top of the Object, both Kamijou and Quenser groaned, his head too rattled to make any note of the fact that lowering the output of a coilgun shell like had been done was something that he had never seen before. While as a student that in itself was something that was of great interest to him in the way that Objects divided the reactor's power in the case of where there was lack of maintenance, his own rattled body struggled to keep his thoughts in order.
"I'm dead….I'm so totally dead…..Objects are too much for this, even at a lower output…."
He let out that weak whine as Kamijou heard it and responded to it.
Kamijou tried to stand and used a cannon nearby for support however a hissing and the sound of something opening coming from beneath him made him turn downwards, only to feel his left foot suddenly step on mid-air as the ground for it disappeared.
With a yell, he fell into whatever had opened, feeling his back skid on something like a slide for a bit before slamming his head on something metal as he let out a cry of pain, only to feel something warm enter his throat as he found himself surrounded by a blue interior that had numerous displays and monitors around him. He lay stunned on the ground as a voice spoke up towards him.
He turned and went wide eyed as he saw in the flesh, an Elite of an Object as Milinda Brantini turned around in her cockpit seat and looked him straight in the eye.
"Operation complete Leader. So I assume that you will help me air out the cockpit from the fumes that you put in here?" she asked as her blonde hair and blue Elite suit seemed perfectly suited and at home inside the cockpit.
Kamijou due to the accumulated damage only moaned as he truly lamented on how since he had agreed to this plan, it proved that he was an idiot, not to mention those that had come up with the idea.
But then again, when he thought about it, no matter where you look idiots could be found in many worlds.
[1] This is sort of an Easter egg for those that read the novels. Since I consider the crossover to be canon, in terms of the novels of Heavy Object, the crossover was released after Volume 8 where Quenser and Heivia fought the Megalodiver in March. Chronologically in the events of Heavy Object, these events are before Volume 10 which had events occurring in April of the timeline there.
[2] Again, when it comes to the release of the crossover novel in relation to where the Index novels were released, the crossover novels was released after NT 11, making events canon up until then for me.
THE STORY CONTINUES AFTER THIS, just scroll down below after this note. I felt as though this fit better here than at the end.
So I guess the first question was 'What did you think?'
For me, this was a long one, mainly because it was a special but also because there are just so many ways to have Touma interact with the idiots that are Quenser and Heivia. Perhaps the first half of this story reflects that a bit better than the second half but to an extent, I hope that you feel that I got the characters in-character (with the exception of Touma accepting the hydrochloric acid plan as I think he wouldn't really accept that for the reason given but apart from that I hope you accepted everything!). I suppose that I really want to hope that I got Quenser and Heivia more in character than Touma because my Index projects allow me to do that while the two idiots I've only ever done once. So I hope you felt as though they weren't OOC.
This is sort of the first (unofficial) fanfic crossover that I've seen between Heavy Object and Index so I hope at the very least you felt as though this was worth your time for those that read it from top to bottom. Having Touma deal with the values and ideals of the world of Heavy Object is something interesting to consider, as the Princess does in the second half.
After all, for those characters, killing is something that comes with the job. They don't think about it and when they do, they can justify it with stating that they were fighting 'war'. While Touma can accept that, I feel as though if he was in that situation, any justification he had would just be something that would fill him with guilt. He would still move forward but still have that guilt that the characters of Heavy Object seem to be without (or at least it seems that way). In that way, having him accept a plan where the Princess might die due to inhaling the hydrochloric acid seems a bit out of character.
But if you thought something along the lines of 'Well the Princess would have ejected in order to save her life so Touma would have known that and thus is in character' I'd be pleased. But it's just my own thoughts and I hope that you overlooked it for the most part.
There are other things to speak about but I'll limit it to two here that stick out for me.
1. Dealing with the Baby Magnum!
We dealt with that Object using a fantasy setting so normal rules go out of the window! It might seem lazy but what did you think of a method to suffocate an Elite using the fumes from hydrochloric acid? I'm no scientist so I hope that I got that right using the science bit although I think it would take longer than what I said it would. Technically, since it was a gas, it should be heavier than air right so would this work? I have no idea and I think shows my lack of knowledge of science. I hope that you accepted it though.
I've always wondered, how do Elites breath? The obvious answer is either 'airtight cockpits with artificial oxygen' or 'air gets filtered in'. I mentioned the former inside the story but for the latter, this is where Quenser's method comes up. Thinking of something that would keep the Princess alive but force her to eject was a major thinking thing for me so I hope that you accepted it as a method to deal with Objects.
But damn, it was bloody hard! While there is a definite 'groundwork' for Objects and how they operate, dealing with an Object we all know, the Baby Magnum and how to defeat this First Generation with its focus on anti-personnel weaponry was super hard. Moving outside the framework is a no-go and ridiculous so I decided to suffocate an Elite using acid. I can't remember if it was ever included inside the novels so I hope that it doesn't contradict anything….
But if Quenser and Heivia were to actually try it in their world, I doubt that it would go so well. The Princess's thoughts reflect this (as a method it's impractical and if you were to make it into a base zone and the cockpit, I doubt you would put in a poisonous substance but that's just my own thoughts even though you would preserve the technology of the captured Object) but it is definitely a method to take down an Object intact I think! With the idea of air filters, chemical weapons and turning off the power to them from the reactor, the idea this time around didn't really go into 'cutting edge' weapons or 'hidden weaknesses' did it?
2. The coilgun shell.
This bothered me to no end so I want to explain it a bit. Given that the Princess is inside a fantasy world with no indication for how long she would be there, I wanted to at least make a note of how Objects, even with their reactors, need maintenance and constant charging.
As a result, it is only natural to think that overtime, especially if the Princess wants to save power, the power of the cannons would lessen. They would still have the power of an Object that was seen, capable of killing any flesh-and-blood soldiers but whether in such a state the Princess would be able to take on another Object and win is an unknown for me but I doubt it.
I hope that you read that though and only accepted it without thinking too much into it.
For those that want to point out any discrepancies, I want you to do so. Heavy Object was a tricky world to write for the first time in a while and I hope that you enjoyed it for the most part. I did and it was a great challenge.
I think though that the numerous ideas that are swimming around for me right now are making my head hurt. Numerous ideas for a Heavy Object fanfic (more Quenser, Heivia, Princess and even Frolaytia) came to me as I wrote this and I wrote them all down but I have nothing to do with them. Hm…. Possible new project? But then again, I'm not as great an expert on Heavy Object as I am Index despite having read everything so I'm a bit scared to have a go at something new there without being sure of everything. I guess I'm open to suggestions though!
But that's the end of the notes for me. I hope you enjoyed the above bit overall and enjoy the epilogue below.
The main issue though was hardly solved!
"So….the only thing we were left with was this meat loaf sandwich? And it's half-eaten?"
Quenser Barbotage asked that question through a hoarse throat, his handkerchief that was covered in blood around his neck now giving the only sign that he had been in some trouble at all.
Currently the three idiots that had put themselves through so much were walking, located half way between the forest where they had created the situation of chaos for themselves and the ever hungry group that lay in wait for them.
"There's no way that we'll be able to split this between everyone."
Heivia Winchell gave that acute observation, covered with dirt and other bits of foliage due to his own experience with the weakened coligun shell and the shockwave that had thrown him to the side. His ears were still ringing but that had no effect on the displeasure that he was feeling upon seeing the food that they had managed to haggle away from the Princess.
"W-Well it could be worse. At least Milinda-san is alright."
Kamijou Touma gave that remark however the hand shaped slap mark that was on his face (that had nothing to do with falling back into the cockpit and accidentally straddling the Princess as she tried to move out of the way of his falling body) and the blood that was on his handkerchief made it clear that he had also been in a bit of a bind as well.
Those three heroes clearly had the wounds of a great battle plastered all over them but for those that were surely going to be awaiting their return, the only thing that they had was a half-eaten meatloaf sandwich.
And it was cold.
"Think back on your actions. Don't think that I'll stand for this again Quenser, Heivia." Milinda Brantini, the Princess gave back that remark in her usual stoic voice however if they read between the lines, they were certain that she would have been mad about what had happened.
While Quenser and Kamijou had aired out the cockpit, thus removing the hydrochloric acid fumes that were inside it, the only thing that they had gotten as a reward was the sandwich that the trio now looked at as they walked along the ground. The Baby Magnum trailed behind them but it was clear that everyone was tired and exhausted after what had happened.
"How do you think we'll split it?" asked Kamijou to which Quenser shook his head rapidly.
"Why do we have to share in the first place Leader? After everything we went through, not only did we not find any fruit and came across horrible giants, but the only thing that we found was a meat-loaf sandwich! I'm all for the indirect kiss that we get from this but at the very least I think that we should be the ones to eat this by ourselves!"
"I removed that part that I ate Quenser so don't get any funny ideas."
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! S-So I can't even experience that indirect kiss cliché once in my life?! This is worse than hell! Take me back! Even if are thrown into hell, I at least want to be surrounded by the pride and joy of the military that are Objects again!"
"I agree! Although having that sadistic large-breasted commander lecture us for ages will be hell in itself just thinking of the pleasure that will be gained by having her stomp on me is enough to get my blood pumping! I don't want that from an Object or Youkai or some other freaks! Take me back!"
Both of the boy soldiers let out all of their pent up fury as they collapsed to the ground and threw a tantrum as the big brother that was Kamijou looked at the both of them with a kind gaze and tried to calm them both down.
"C-Come on you guys. We made it this far so we at least have to make sure that the others get the reward as well. If we only think of ourselves then we're not going to get very far."
"Shut up! I don't want to hear your 'goody two-shoes' act! I know you're the one that wants to split the meat-loaf three ways instead of numerous so just split it already and give it to us! After that battle of survival with thinking up a way to take down the Baby Magnum, cleaning out the cockpit and running from giants, there's nothing stopping us! I have nothing to feel guilty about!"
"You can drink your own urine if you want to Leader but do it in your own privacy while Sir Knight and I enjoy the tastiness that is Elite bred food! I've had enough of these flavourless rations and I want some proper meat! The life of a noble is not something that should be placed down to this level!"
"B-But Heivia-san, pulling rank like that is only going to make people hate you. Right now we're all equals."
"Against a bratty commoner high schooler like you, a noble Private First Class like me is a god! So bow down to me and give me that damn meat-loaf sandwich! If you're going to hog it all to yourself and say stupid things like 'Let's share' and sing 'Why Can't We Be Friends', then I've got a nice lead bullet for you right here!"
"I think that taking it that far is a bit – Wait, why are you seriously pointing that thing at me!?"
Kamijou let out that surprised shout as Heivia pointed the rifle at him, with bloodshot eyes and a look of desire that clearly stated that he would not feel bad if he actually killed Kamijou and took the meat-loaf for himself.
"Give it to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
"Waaaaah! Heivia's seriously gone into full soldier mode now! Run Leader! The only time I've seen him this serious is when he suggests peeking in the women's bath!" Quenser went wide eyed as he saw that Heivia was starting to run towards Kamijou who was holding the meat-loaf sandwich in a protective way.
"What was that Quenser?"
"Give us that meat-loaf sandwich!"
The question from the Princess made the battlefield student change his tune quickly in order to avoid being caught out on what he said, as he chased after Heivia who was running towards Kamijou who went pale.
"Are we really going back to this?! Fine, if that's how you want it then I won't hold back! If you think that I'm going to finish this special without saying my second catchphrase,"
Kamijou took a momentary pause as he clenched his right fist, trying to be pointlessly dramatic and to give his catchphrase the single line of dialogue that it needed.
"Then I'll break that illusion of yours!"
Moving the meat-loaf sandwich into his left hand and using his right, Kamijou leaped towards the boy soldier that was heading towards him with the rifle, slamming his right fist into his face.
Heivia stumbled back from the blow that was oddly powerful as Quenser leaped over his partner's body striking Kamijou in the gut as the both of them fell to the floor and scrambled over control of the meat-loaf sandwich (which was wrapped in protective plastic).
Quenser moved to get some Hand Axe, more to intimidate Kamijou if anything however Kamijou had guessed that very action, slamming his forehead into Quenser's as he recoiled as Kamijou rolled out from underneath him.
Heivia had recovered and rose from the ground, retrieving his combat knife to threaten Kamijou however the boy tossed the meat-loaf sandwich in the air above the entire group as both of the boys looked at it with surprise as it flew through the air.
Kamijou took that chance, slamming his fist into Heivia's face once more as the solder fell to the ground as Kamijou caught the meat-loaf sandwich but before he could say anything, was tackled in the side by Quenser who suddenly seemed oddly serious about only sharing it between three like Heivia was while Kamijou was trying to share it between everyone.
The two struggled before Heivia joined the fray in what looked to be a tangle of bodies as they all struggled to steal the sandwich away from Kamijou (Quenser and Heivia) or protect it with his life (Kamijou).
The Princess though, Milinda Brantini only maintained a neutral expression as she watched the brawl through her cameras as she tried to think of a commentary to say however she was just too exhausted now that her cockpit had been cleared out.
She tried to think of something to say towards the boys in order to get them to stop fighting however the only thing that she came up with was something that that foreign boy from the other world had already realised.
"No matter where you look, idiots can be found in many worlds."
And as always,
Review if you please.
And I'll see you when I see you and I won't if I don't.
Somehow, I got Touma, Quenser, Heivia and the Princess involved in a plan to take down an Object that had giants in it, what I thought their conversations would be like and some insight on how the world of Index is different to HO. Given the length that was needed to put this in though, it hardly feels like a 'one-shot' and definitely more a 'special'. If you felt though that this could actually happen in the canon (well this goes for all of my Index projects BTL and ACUL0), then I've done my job properly!
Should I do another….?