章 13: Chapter 12 - First FranXX deployment [Rewrite]

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Thank you!

-SR_2027.

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As soon as they both entered their position, the cylindrical tube closed as the screen connected to their inner helmet lit up with an internally holographical scene. But as soon as the screen lit up, both Ryo and Zero Two were astonished to see what the situation they were in.

In front of them, various workers were running and working on holographic screens. The station on which they were was blaring with red lights and loud alarm noise, while the facility was vibrating and experiencing tremors at regular intervals.

In the center of the commotion, Ryo found himself in front of the regular Standard FranXX that was piloted by regular parasites. The standard FRANXX model in front of Ryo was dark grey in color and was slender with yellow goggles.

It wields a spear that can shoot orange harpoons made out of magma energy, the normal and most regular weapon of the FranXX. The harpoons are also capable of emitting powerful electromagnetic energy used for busting Klaxosaurs.

As soon as the announcement was made, Ryo's screen transitioned to the cockpit of the FranXX they would be operating. In front of him was none other than Zero Two sitting in an awkward position. The very next second, the hood of Zero Two's suit moved to cover her head as the screen on her back lit up.

If Ryo was truthful to himself, he really wanted to fist-bump Werner Franxx for being a true man of culture.

'All these evolutions of humans paid off its effort. We have finally reached the peak of technology, the Butt controller!!! Hehehe *Ahem*'

Bonking himself internally, Ryo controlled himself from chuckling, he watched Zero Two turning her body and smiling at him evilly as she swayed her butt, almost making Ryo blush in embracement. Thankfully he controlled himself from getting a nosebleed.

"Are you ready Darling? This will be the first time you will be riding me."

But one of the announcements was made as the two control sticks by the hips of Zero Two. Breaking the naughty air around them, making Zero Two pout. noticing the pun she used and how the situation was destroyed the very next second, Ryo chuckled in amusement.

Looking at the joy-stick-like controller popping in front of himself, Ryo smiled and looked at Zero Two seriously and replied, "I am feeling honored to ride my little angel.", with that, he grabbed the joy-sticks and adjusted them to the comfortable distance.

As soon as he grabbed the joystick, the lights on the spine protector started to glow in an upward movement until it reached the point where he felt an unnatural connection to Zero Two. It was as if he was able to sense what she was going to do next.

"Ahhuu"

As soon as Ryo and Zero Two connected, Zero Two felt as if electricity was flowing through her spine, making her moan loudly, and making Ryo curse internally. On the other hand, Zero Two's sight changed to that of the FranXX.

"Stamen and Pistil Connection Percentage: 99%. Rating: Outstanding. Para-capacity is fluctuating rapidly but is still in sync. Operation commencing. It is advisable to trust your entire self to your partner completely."

"This is the first trial. For that, you will first be allowed to get yourself comfortable with how you will be operating the FranXX. For that, you will be going through the tutorial first."

Listening to the announcement made, Ryo looked back at Zero Two who was breathing rapidly in front of him. Then with a bit of red ears, Ryo asked, "Ze-Darling, are you ok?"

"Huuu. I am fine, Darling. It just felt so good connecting to Darling that it sent a shiver down my spine.", Taking a deep breath, Zero Two stabilized herself and replied mischievously. Her FranXX face popped by the side of Ryo in the form of a window.

Knowing well that Zero Two was going full-on teasing him today, Ryo cursed internally. "Just you wait. Naughty girls need to be punished. I will be punishing you after we get back to the room."

Huffing, Ryo replied with a smug expression, making Zero Two giggle.

Looking at each other, Ryo and Zero Two nodded at each other and returning to their serious expression replied together, "Ready!"

{A/N: LINK ON! *Ahem* can't stop myself from doing it.}

As soon as they said that out loud, the gate in front of the FranXX opened.

But the sight in front of them made Ryo frown. The sky of the sight was red as blood. There was smoke coming out from various different areas of the stampede.

In front of them, there was a super large horde of Klaxosaur covering all the areas their sight could see. Although most of them were the Conrad class, the smaller-sized ones, there were some Mohorovičić-class, the medium-sized one in the horde.

If one sees the stampede and counts approximately how many Klaxosaur there were in the horde, the first word that would come out of their mouth would be 'Thousands'.

Thankfully, the Facility in which they were deployed was protected by a spherical yellow shield. This sphere was the tutorial ground for them. As soon as the tutorial is over, the shield will be removed and the Klaxosaurs outside the shield who are currently motionless will instantly rush toward them.

As soon as the announcement was made, a window popped by the side of the cockpit. The first actions were easy, which were to move, run, and make various different running styles like making a zigzag style.

Looking at the windows, Ryo looked at the Zero two and asked, "Darling, are you ready?"

"I am born ready, Darling." Proudly saying that, Zero two smiled at Ryo making him smile back at her as they returned back to the serious pace.

Using the joystick, Ryo started to operate the Franxx.

*Bam*

Although it was a bit hard to operate the FranXX, they were able to take the first step without any problem. Making Ryo and Zero Two gain confidence as soon they take their second, third, and so on steps till they get used to operating the basics of the FranXX.

The tutorial went smoothly for both Ryo and Zero Two. From normal steps, they learned how to run, slide on the ground for faster movement, do flips, fly, use boosters to change directions and use the spear for various actions and attacks.

It took them an hour to master the basics.

As they were done mastering the basics, they were instructed to do various advanced actions like using two different actions to support each other out and enhance the actions. This again took an hour for them.

Listening to the announcement, signed in relief. And freed one of his hands from his controller to loosen up the tight suit covering his neck. Then he looked at Zero Two who straightened her back a bit and removed the stress that was on her spine as she had been in an awkward position for too long.

Standing up, Ryo hugs her softly and asks, "Stressed?"

"... Hn."

Staying a bit silent for an instant, Zero Two loosens her body and melts her body into Ryo's body and nods. Unlike their usual training, the battlefield is a completely different thing, especially for someone who is experiencing it for the first time.

The training ground was completely silent, giving it a creepy vibe with the red sky. It was as if they were in hell.

Thinking for a while to figure out a way to make Zero Two feel less stressed, he continued to hug her from the back and stroke her arms slowly, making Zero Two feel much more relaxed. Listening to the soft breathing sound and the soft heartbeat sound in Ryo's chest, Zero Two felt warm.

If she could, she would have stayed like that for a whole eternity.

<Attention, the cooldown period is one minute. Please prepare yourself for further assessments and combat.>

Ryo slowly let Zero Two leave his embrace. Looking at her disappointed face, Ryo chuckled.

Moving his hands through her neck to her tailbone along the spine, Ryo stroked her back and reaching out to her ear from back, in a soft voice he whispered, "My dear angel, if we do great in the battle, I will let you hug me for as long as you want today and will even show you a new way to 'Kissing'"

Listening to Ryo whispering in her ears and stroking her back following her spine, her body trembled as she felt a tingle go down her spine. Then with a red face, she hid her face from Ryo's sight and shouted, "L-Let's destroy these Klaxos, Darling!"

Laughing, Ryo seated himself in his cockpit and held the controllers. He was really enjoying teasing the pure-minded Zero Two. "Haha! Let's destroy these Klaxos, my dear angel!"

Saying that Ryo smiled crazily as he felt adrenaline rush his body as he saw the shield crash down into small particles and Klaxosaurs roaring in the distance. It has been several years since he had experienced a good battle.

Feeling the excitement of her lover, Zero Two prepares herself. She was also feeling excited but for different reasons. 'Infinite hugs and a new way to 'Kiss'. Hehe.'

With a crazy smile, both Ryo and Zero two rushed the FranXX toward the roaring hoard of Klaxosaurs.

*Boom!*

Using the spear, Ryo destroyed the core of one of the many small Klaxosaurs, successfully killing it, and then used the spear on its body to flip the FranXX in the air as he dodged the attacks from the Klaxosaurs that were coming from all the directions, making the attack hit the other Klaxosaurs and killing one or two of the Klaxos in the whole chaos.

Ryo's and Zero Two's bodies were completely tensed and were in a constant state of hyper-awareness.

As soon as they entered the battlefield, they were almost killed in the first ten minutes with how all the Klaxosaurs went berserk when they saw their FranXX in their range. And it didn't take them all to surround them from all directions, making them dodge attacks from all sides.

*Swiss*

Using the spear, Ryo shot the hook of the spear to a Mohorovičić-class Klaxosaur and dodged the incoming Klaxosaur jumping at them even when they were in the air.

"KhEeE"

The Mohorovičić-class Klaxosaur screamed loudly feeling the hook pierce its body as it opened its super huge mouth to start preparing a beam aiming toward the incoming FranXX, making Ryo dislocate the hold of the hook and using the boosters in its back to dodge the attack and pumped it downwards toward a small Klaxosaur.

*Bam*

Piercing the body and the core of the Klaxosaur, Ryo didn't stop the FranXX there.

Hitting the ground with the spear as hard as he boosted the impact with the boosters, Ryo used the Klaxosaur's body to make a hard smash, making a loud boom heard on the whole battlefield as the FranXX smashed the un-destroyed body of the small Klaxosaur to create a small impact on the ground, creating a small crater as huge rocks flew outward.

Using this small time of opening, Ryo used it to shoot a hook to pierce a Mohorovičić-class, Klaxosaur toward himself as he pierced its core, destroying its body.

Sadly the very next second, another Mohorovičić-class worm like Klaxosaur jumped out from the ground, almost crushing their FranXX in the process.

To save themselves, Ryo used the spear to quickly place it horizontally to save the FranXX from being crushed in the mouth of the worm-like Klaxosaur. but the very next second, a small-sized Klaxosaur instantly jumped on their FranXX, almost destroying the hands of the FranXX.

Tactic-fully, Ryo released the spear to survive longer. If he hadn't done that, the FranXX would have its hands destroyed and the chances to survive would have been negligible with a destroyed arm.

Then using the hands, Ryo transformed the hands of the FranXX into that of a sharp dagger and fell into the stomach of the FranXX. Then as soon as he saw a bright orb-like object, Ryo tried to stab it, only to miss it because the Worm like Klaxosaur had started to move.

As Ryo noticed that he was going down the rabbit hole-like stomach of the Klaxosaur, he used the two arms of the FranXX to tear a hole in the body of the FranXX.

"Kghhheee!!!"

A loud was heard as the whole FranXX felt a jerk as a blue liquid shot toward the FraXX blinding their sight. On the other hand, the Worm like the Klaxosaur started to form hundreds of spikes over its inner stomach and compress the stomach wall.

*Crunch*

Sadly, the very next second, their FranXX was destroyed as they were crushed to death by the Mohorovičić-class worm-like Klaxosaur's mouths their screen turned black as they were transported to a clearer area with fewer Klaxosaurs with a cooldown timer as all the Klaxosaurs had stopped moving.

"D-Darling, I want to have a super long kiss after we return."

With a bit of trembling voice, Zero Two said out her demands. Her body was trembling because of how tense they were during the fight.

"Yeah, me too. I want one when we return back to the house, darling."

With a bit of tiredness, Ryo used his right hand to massage his face and forehead. Although he still had the crazy smile he had before, he was feeling mentally tired. It had been an hour and this was their first death.

During this time, they had killed 60 Conrad-class and 3 Mohorovičić-class Klaxosaurs. A quite terrifying number if one looks at how much disadvantage they had when fighting the stampede. It was suicidal as one single mistake would lead to their death.

They were constantly dodging and attacking all the Klaxosaurs, most of them were interrupted by the other Klaxosaurs, making it very hard for them to kill the Klaxosaurs.

Unlike the super powerful modified FranXX they had, the FranXX they were operating was weaker by a huge margin when compared. They are slow, weak, and less durable.

If it was not for them being in the Virtual Gear and being able to create an almost realistic world, Ryo would like to believe that he was in the Nerve Gear that was launched in his previous life which directly make people see illusion through sending false information to their nerves and mind.

Signing, Ryo rested his body on his seat, while Zero Two directly laid herself on the ground in her cockpit.

After taking a two-minute short break, Ryo laughed, making Zero Two look at him as if had gone mad. Then after a few seconds of laughter, Ryo looked at Zero Two lying on the ground and asked, "Was it not fun, Darling? It felt like we were about to die."

"Darling, are you ok? We died just now! B-But... it was indeed fun."

Looking at Ryo with a deadpan face, Zero Two asked if he was fine in concern, but when she thought about how she felt when going through the fight... she felt that it was indeed... fun!

The tingle that she felt when she felt when they nearly survived the death just made her feel... excited for some reason.

Thinking about it, a small smile formed on her face. The adrenaline rush that she felt when operating the FranXX made her feel the 'fun' and tingle in her body, just like how fun it felt it felt when spicy food touched her tongue.

Thus, both Ryo and Zero Two looked at each other and chuckled as the cooldown was in effect. Then when the cooldown reached at the final minute, Ryo and Zero Two positioned themselves in their cockpit and readied themselves.

Their primary goal now shifted from destroying the Klaxosaurs to surviving as long as possible. Ryo was not dumb enough to believe the score of the Alpha and his group that easily.

It could be a trap, but it could not be as well and there is no reason to do unnecessary actions like these to assess their abilities. So instead of destroying the Klaxos, Ryo shifted his goal to surviving as long as possible.

"Cooldown will be over in 20 seconds. Please prepare yourselves."

With the announcement made, Ryo looked at the surroundings, asserting the best course of action. Then looking at the Zero Two, he said, "Darling, let's show them who the boss is!"

"Yeah! Let's go monster hunting!"

Laughing, Ryo and Zero Two rushed into the battlefield as the countdown reached zero. Rushing directly into the horde of Klaxosaurs which were still slower to react to them, killing some of them before they were again surrounded.

"Hahaha!!"

All the while, their fear turned into enjoyment and thrill with how Ryo changed Zero Two's thoughts of their stressful situation into a game.

*Swiss*

The hatch to their VAFTP opened as both Ryo and Zero Two stood up and walked out of the Virtual Machine, Arato and Kiara walked up to them and looked at their result in astonishment.

"[Score]: Code 002, Code 003, you guys did quite well. Times Killed: 5, Enemies Killed: 99, Conrad-classes killed: 92, Mohorovičić-classes killed: 7. You have grasped the essentials of operating the FranXX."

"The main goal of the parasite is to survive as long as possible while killing Klaxosaurs in balance. If it was other normal parasites, they would have died probably multiple times killing such a large amount of enemies at once."

Clapping his hands in amazement at their score, Arato looked at them with astonishment. Surviving on such a huge battlefield while being alone is not that easy. A small action could lead to their death, so having half the death of the Alpha and his team, was a thing of amusement for Arato.

"Congratulations, Code 002 and Code 003, you have done great.", Saying that Arato ended that day's training session, letting all the participants go free.

As they were leaving, Code Alpha glanced coldly at Ryo with an expressionless face. Today was the first time he felt the taste of defeat so badly. From his very birth, he was raised to be the 'best' of his kind.

Sadly, Code 002 and Code 003 just kept getting in their way.

Sadly for him, Ryo noticed his looks and his thoughts but after looking at them for an instant, he looked the other way as Zero Two pulled him while hugging his left arm toward the canteen area where she could prepare some 'fun'(spicy) food for them.

"Darling, Ahhh!"

*Nom*

Unlike the usual, this time Ryo decided to cook a dish for Zero Two and feed her. Today's experience was both thrilling as well as scary. It clearly showed Ryo that no matter how strong he was compared to normal humans, he was still an ant when facing the giants of the world.

As he placed the slightly spicy food into Zero Two's mouth, he looked in amusement at how her eyes turned star-shaped comically, making him remember a certain pirate from an anime who dreams of becoming the pirate kind.

As she quickly chewed her food, Zero Two again opened her mouth making an 'Ahh' sound much to an amused Ryo who continued to feed her even his portion of food.

Looking at Zero Two, Ryo realized that he was only left with around 2 to 3 years to prepare himself to face the real danger of this world, the VIRMs. Making Ryo feel a sense of urgency.

Removing the unnecessary thoughts, Ryo focused on Zero Two again. That day was the last day when they would be around each other for the whole day. Making Ryo worry about how Zero Two will react to living without him during the whole evening.

It didn't take them long to finish their lunch as they returned to their home.

All the while, Zero Two kept hugging him, making Ryo feel a bit tired. He really didn't feel comfortable with people clinging to him, as he had no experience with it previously. But he didn't regret it as he really enjoyed it himself.

It felt refreshing to have someone care and love you wholeheartedly.

The day came to an end as Ryo continued to read a book while Zero Two lay on his lap while he caressed her head while she used earphones to listen to music and hum softly. It was a very peaceful part of the day for them.

Later at night, Ryo laid himself by Zero Two's side over the bed, ready to hug her to sleep.

"Darling! You promised to teach me a new way to 'Kiss'!", As if remembering his promise, Zero Two quickly perked her head toward Ryo in expectations. Making Ryo freeze for a second.

Then he nodded and said, "Darling... I am going to teach you how to do a... French Kiss."

"French Kiss...?"

"Yes. It is a very special type of kiss that I heard of. This kiss is only done between two lovers, In this kiss, we use our tongue to connect each other and kiss each other in an exciting way."

Ryo felt difficulty describing how to French kiss someone. Although they were shown how to reproduce, they were not taught how to kiss or various types of kisses, making Zero Two wonder what it was about.

Shaking his head, Ryo looked at Zero Two who was looking back at him excitedly, making him feel a bit nervous. This will be the first time that he will be doing this type of kiss, making him excited and a bit nervous.

"Follow me, Darling."

Ryo said, as he lightly licked his lips and with a slow motion reached out to her lips. Zero Two followed Ryo by licking her lips and reaching out to Ryo too.