I know... it has been literally years since I've posted fic for anything. Anything! And what's the first show to throw me back in the fandom? The great Marvelous/Joe dynamic of Gokaiger? The emotionally heart-wrenching KRW pair? No. It's funking Gobusters, a show I didn't even like until Matsumoto Hiroya showed up and I went all sparkly-eyed fangirls.
I know he and Enter don't interact much on the show, but they should. And no one else seems to be writing anything with them, so here's a contribution to a pairing that may never be canon on the show but only because the show lacks proper writers.
Title: Avatar Advice (part 1? I have no idea...)
Fandom: Gobusters
Pairing: Jin/Enter (Or as I'm now calling them, Jinter)
Humans were tedious creatures, easily distracted. Enter, on the other hand, was single of purpose and more than capable of focusing on his goal. It was unusual for anything to divert him, particularly when he was quite busy reaping the benefits of his numerous victories. And yet, diverted he was.
A human who could function in the subdimension and maintain an avatar's existence was a rare find, thus warranting closer ... study. Particularly if said human was foolish enough to push beyond its mortal limits, endangering its own already tragically short life. In Enter's existence as a sentient program, he'd never been met with a true failure. He was not about to begin now by letting the first interesting find on this planet die of stupidity.
******
Jin found it easier to materialize in the forest and walk to wherever the Go-Buster kids were floundering without his aide. Materializing on the city streets just tended to cause panic and Kurorin dissapproved of him wandering around headquarters unannounced. Jin had no idea why. Today he sent J on ahead to score a couple cans of Enetron; this constant transferring between dimensions was draining his supply lower than he felt comfortable with.
"Ca va, Beet Buster."
Jin turned around to see Messiah's avatar make an exaggerated bow, black fingertips glinting in the sunlight. "Chicken cordon bleu," he replied, exaggerating the exaggeration.
Enter returned with a smile one might give to a child who had just recited the ABC's out of order. "Indeed. On your way to the center? It's quite a walk. I hope your enetron levels are up to it."
"If I need more, I can just steal some from you." Jin kept his voice light, turning his body so Enter couldn't see him grab hold of his changer.
"That, I would dearly like to see. A word of caution, if I may? From one Avatar to another..."
"Shoot," Jin replied, unclicking the holster.
"If you expect to maintain a physical form much longer, you'll need to draw your Enetron at your projection's source. It would be advantageous for you to find a more efficient method of obtaining it than siphoning off his majesty, Messiah. Particularly seeing how that route is closed to you at present."
Enter wasn't saying anything Jin didn't already know. He was aware of his expiration date in this dimension, but hiding in the subdimension wasn't going to get him out any faster. It was disconcerting to find Enter so interested in his health, though... "We'll just see how long that lasts. Thanks for the tip, Capslock."
Another haughty smile, "Je m'apelle Enter, little bug."
"Friends call me Jin. Now were we going to fight, or was this a social call?"
Enter turned his head to one side, thoughtful. "Fight? I suppose we don't have to, if you're willing to hold still..."
Jin was ready for most of the cables that shot out of Enter's back. He had his changer out and cut seven of them off before the eighth one caught him in the small of his back, and he passed out.
******
When he woke up, J was standing over him, drinking a can of Enetron. "You are late for the rendezvous." Robots weren't generally capable of looking worried and J didn't have that emotional matrix embedded in his system in the first place, so Jin probably shouldn't have felt annoyed with the lack of bedside manner. He did anyway, and the French word didn't help.
"I was busy. Perform a system scan. I think I've picked up a virus."
J crumpled the can, tossing it in the leaves as he loaded his scanning program. Jin would have to add something about littering to his software... "Scan complete. Enetron levels at 108%."
"What?"
"Hearing loss could be attributed to the length of unconsciousness--"
"No, I heard you. How can I be at 108%? This Avatar only holds 100%. That's what 100% means. Is the virus messing with my Enetron readings?"
"No virus detected. Avatar modifications now allow you to hold 10% more Enetron than initial programming. Records state 2% loss has occurred since filling."
"That's interesting considering I showed up 76%..." Jin thumbed the cuff of his jacket, idly. It probably wouldn't do to show up at the Energy Management Center like this. Enter might have hidden some kind of virus in the Enetron he so kindly bestowed. His first course of action should probably be to return to the subdimension and scan his core processors... but Enter had just been talking about the importance of powering up in the subdimension, so that could be walking into a trap. "Ah, mou. J, we're taking the day off. I want ice cream. Everything that happened today is top secret, clear?"
"Ice cream is now top secret. Clear."
"Not the... forget it. Let's go. And stay behind me for once?"
******
In the end, Jin kept quiet about his encounter with Messiah's Avatar. He believed in informing the kids on a need to know basis lest Ryuuji start a completely unwarranted panic. Instead, he performed regular system scans in the subdimension, and tried not to rely on his new 100%. Enter had a plan, undoubtedly, and maybe that plan involved keeping Jin alive a bit longer. Whatever it was, Jin had never met a program he couldn't overcome in any dimension.
So, after their battle at the matsuri was interrupted, Jin waited patiently at the soft cream stall for the Avatar to return.
"When I told you to come to the matsuri, I didn't mean for you to bring a psychotic cotton candy machine with you," Jin said as Enter slid gracefully on to the bench beside him, clad once again in his circuitry-patterned yukata. He also had, of all things, a plastic panda mask strapped to the back of his head.
"Ah, but his Majesty needs me to focus my attentions on gathering Enetron. I simply cannot spare time in this dimension for personal amusements."
"I'm a personal amusement?"
Enter fanned himself with his matching uchiwa. "A human that not only can but chooses to send me an encoded message in the subdimension under his Majesty's very nose. Amusing is one word for it. Now, to what do I owe the invitation? A thank you, perhaps? I trust your system upgrade is satisfactory."
Jin was not sure how to feel about Enter's smile at all. "I was curious about that, I admit. But no. Actually, I thought I'd return the favor and pass a bit of advice on to you."
"Oui?"
Jin gestured at the ice cream vendor, took the second ice cream and shoved it at Enter's free hand. The program stared at is as if waiting for it to change color. :"You can eat, right? And taste? I mean, you felt pretty solid when you were trying to break my arm earlier."
"I have no need to consume in this dimension, but this Avatar is capable of simulating the experience."
"Good. Simulate."
"I fail to see the advice, little bug. And I am not one who fails ... ever."
Jin crunched a bite out of his cone, wondering if he was making a mistake, "You told me it was safer to stay in the subdimension, resupply there, all that. You're right, but you're missing the point. That is the point."
Ice cream was melting onto Enter's fingers, and he glared at it. "Frozen sugar milk is the point?"
"Taste," Jin sighed. "Sense. Everything in that subdimension is so ... flat. So heavy. Maybe you don't feel it, but spend a bit more time in this world, and you'll stop wishing it were more like yours. That's my advice."
Enter chuckled, licking the ice cream in a way that confirmed Jin's deeper suspicions. "Be most careful what you wish for little bug. Alas, I have other duties to attend, and there'll be a Megazord landing in four minutes or so. Adieu for now, Beet Buster." Enter's body deteriorated into binary along with the ice cream cone. The panda mask remained. Jin had no idea how that worked, but he picked it up thoughtfully. The ice cream vendor was rubbing his eyes and trying to form words with his mouth, but Jin ignored him, walking towards the main gate to meet up with J. "Did you get all that?" he asked.
"There is no need for worry. Video and audio recordings complete."
"Great. I need to get those back and analyze them. I'm pretty sure Messiah's avatar has a crush on me."
"Affirmative. Enter's cables have the power to crush a human throat at the rate of..."
"Not that... look, just file everything today under secret too."
"I've already categorized all ice cream related events under secret."
"Super."
******