Science
Island
Senshi knocked
loudly on the door and waited patiently for a
response. He was in Science Island's hospital
complex, and the room he was wishing to enter was
that occupied by Commander Henderson of the Black
Battalion - the leader of the squadron sent to secure
Blizzard Base Zero.
It had been almost
twelve hours since the unconscious bodies of the
Black Battalion soldiers had been recovered from the
Antarctic base and brought back to Science Island for
treatment, and Henderson was the first of the men to
awaken. Senshi wanted to know every detail of the
battle but, just as importantly, he knew that
Henderson would want some sort of explanation of what
happened to his team.
"Come in."
The American's voice
was weak and Senshi barely heard it over his own
thoughts. He slowly turned the doorknob and made his
way into the dark room where, in one corner, the
commander lay heavily-bandaged on a bed that had been
adjusted so that he could remain in something close
to a sitting position.
"My name is
Senshi," Senshi introduced himself. "I am
the deputy head of security here on Alpha 7. How do
you feel?"
"Sore,"
Henderson replied quickly. "Tired. What do you
want?"
"I understand
that you need your rest, sir," Senshi explained,
"but we need some answers, before our enemies
can attack us again. What do you recall of the battle
at Blizzard Base Zero?"
"Not much. We
were dropped off, we gathered our equipment, we
marched on the base... then I woke up here, in a lot
of pain."
Senshi nodded.
"Your team was infected with pixie dust by
Sorceress Miko. Do you know what pixie dust is?"
Commander Henderson
shook his head.
Senshi thought for a
moment. The Black Battalion was not going to be much
use to him, if their memories were as weak as
Henderson's. If he was going to learn anything, he
would have to go straight to the source - to the site
of the battle, to Blizzard Base Zero; and, maybe, to
Miko herself.
"Thank you for
your time, commander," he said before leaving
the room.
New Orleans
Sei had called the
underground bunker in which he, Ikku and Kiko
appeared 'Black Battalion Safehouse G3', but Ikku
thought that 'dump' was a far more appropriate name.
It was dark, damp and smelled of old socks; but worse
than that, Ikku realised, was that in the twelve
hours they had been in the bunker no-one had even
tried to discuss what had happened to them.
He sat in one corner
of the safehouse, an old fluorescent light flickering
irritatingly directly over his head. Sato Kiko was
sprawled out on a cot in the opposite corner, where
she had been sleeping for almost six hours. Sei sat
beside her, looking over information displayed on a
computer monitor.
Ikku had never felt
so alone.
"Sei?" he
asked softly.
"Yes,
Ian?" Sei did not even turn to face his
companion, and the tone of his reply suggested more
of a sense of obligation or habit that any desire to
begin a conversation. Ikku knew that Sei had never
been the most sociable resident of Blizzard Base
Zero, but he also knew that, like himself, Sei must
have been at least a little bit overwhelmed by recent
events.
"What happened,
Sei?" Ikku asked. "At the base... How did
you get us here?"
"You are not an
authorised member of Project: Roboman. I cannot -
"
"What do you mean
I'm not an 'authorised member' of the project? I
was involved way before you... and I seemed to be
able to activate 'phase two' without any
trouble!"
"Your
authorisation to use the robosuit was revoked once we
left Blizzard Base Zero."
"Revoked? Who
revoked it? Dr. Nagura isn't here!"
Sei finally turned
around. "I have been in contact with Science
Island since our arrival in the safehouse, detailing
my recollection of events at the base. They have
ordered us to remain locked-down until further
notice."
"Science
Island...?" Ikku jumped to his feet and crossed
the room to stand beside Sei. He looked closely at
the computer screen but could make no sense of the
information he saw there. "What do they know?
Why did the Black Battalion attack us? Do they know
where my father is?"
Kiko stirred on her
cot and, a moment later, opened her eyes and sat up.
For a moment, Ikku felt bad about waking her up, but
realised that what he was about to ask affected her
as well.
"Did Science
Island take Dr. Nagura?"
Sei shook his head.
"I cannot - "
"Stop it!"
Ikku snapped. "What are you? Some kind of machine?
The Black Battalion - the world's toughest
soldiers - invaded our base! I saw them
get taken out by a bunch of tiny women - tiny women
who we could only beat with our henshin. How can that
not bother you? Why don't you care?"
Sei looked at the
ground, then faced his teammate.
"Ian, I
sympathise with your situation," he said,
"but we must follow Science Island's
directions until Dr. Nagura is back with us."
"My name is Ikku!"
Ikku snapped. "And you know what? You have
to follow their orders... but I don't! You said
yourself, I'm not an 'authorised member' of the
project. As I see it, I can do what I want!"
"Ikku!"
Kiko finally spoke. "Sei's right. We can't go
off half-cocked - "
"Ian. If you do
not follow the instructions issued by Science Island
I will be forced to report your actions to their
security operatives."
Ikku stared into
Sei's face for a moment. Sei was never friendly,
but Ikku truly believed that given their
circumstances, Sei would have some sort of
understanding of where he was coming from; but as he
examined Sei, he realised that 'Blue Robo' had no
sense of compassion at all - he really would turn
Ikku in if Ikku gave him the chance.
Without speaking,
Ikku turned and made his way to the door. He paused
for a moment before opening it, then stepped through
and slammed it shut behind him.
Stupid Sei! he
thought.
Elsewhere
Sorceress Miko
laughed gleefully as two of her pixies flew into her
room, carrying a bowl of grapes between them. The
base that had been offered to her after her escape
from the prison on Science Island was large and
well-decorated. She wasn't sure where it was,
exactly, but she knew that for as long as she
remained there she could do whatever she wanted to
do... except get rid of Jinsei.
The man with the
pale red skin and perfectly symmetrical body entered
her quarters with a broad smile across his face. Miko
knew that it had nothing to do with her - she was
beautiful (at least, she thought she was),
but clad in her dull, white and pink jumpsuit she
looked very different to what she thought someone
like Jinsei would find appealing.
She followed
Jinsei's gaze and saw what he was looking at - a
tall, rectangular mirror set against one wall. The
mirror was less conspicuous than anything else in the
room but, Miko realised, perhaps its plainness, its
simple black, wooden frame, was what caught Jinsei's
attention.
"Is that what I
think it is?" Jinsei asked excitedly.
"My scrying
mirror?" Miko asked. "What interest do you
have in it?"
Jinsei approached
the mirror and ran his right hand along its edge. His
smile broadened into a grin as he turned to face
Miko. "Is it true that through this, you can see
anywhere you or one of your pixies have ever
been?"
"It is,"
Miko answered.
"So you could
see Science Island."
Miko smiled and
crossed the room to stand beside Jinsei. She faced
the mirror and briefly examined her own reflection.
To her right, Jinsei rolled his eyes.
"I would much
rather see my old haunt in New Orleans," she
said. She placed her right palm flat against the
surface of the mirror, and a burst of blue light
passed from her body into the glass. The glass glowed
brightly for a moment, then the image transformed to
show not a reflection of the room, but a busy street
in New Orleans.
The mirror focussed
on a large, nineteenth-century-style building that
Miko immediately recognised as the exterior of her
New Orleans base of operations, where she had
surrendered to the Black Battalion days earlier; but
the image did not remain focussed. It followed
someone as they walked down the street - a young man,
with long, light brown hair. He wore black pants and
a red, hooded top... and he seemed familiar.
"That
boy," Miko said. "My pixies have seen him
somewhere before. I can sense it."
Jinsei looked at the
mirror. "He doesn't look like much. Why would
they remember him?"
"He is
important, somehow," Miko assured him.
"Then
perhaps," Jinsei smiled, "we should pay him
a visit." He left the room and returned moments
later carrying a small green reptile in his hands.
The animal would have fit in one palm, it was so
small, but he still cradled it in both hands.
"Miko, have you met my tortoise? His name is
Curtis."
Miko rolled her
eyes. "Curtis the Tortoise? That is not as
clever as you think."
"When you find
a way to control the evolution of all living things, you
can name the pets, 'Pixie Chick'," Jinsei
retorted. He placed the tortoise on the ground and
rested his left palm gently on top of its shell. He
closed his eyes and began to concentrate, and within
seconds a cloud of green and red energy left his body
and surrounded the smaller animal.
Jinsei stepped back
and the cloud grew. After almost a minute the cloud
faded, and standing in the tortoise's place was... something
else. It vaguely resembled the creature Jinsei
had left behind, but its skin was a darker green hue.
It stood at almost six feet tall and its shell, now
marked by a dozen or so sharp, bone-like protrusions,
seemed much thicker. Its skin had also thickened and
looked almost like kevlar, but still somehow organic.
"So, Miko -
what do you think of Shellshock?"
"I think its a
much better name than 'Curtis the Tortoise', but not
nearly as adorable," Miko replied. "I hope
he has rockets embedded in his feet so he can get to
New Orleans..."
Jinsei smirked.
"What, he can't use your mirror?"
"He's too
big," Miko responded. She knew exactly what
Jinsei was referring to. In addition to being able to
view any place Miko or her pixies had been, the
mirror could also be used as a portal to
those locations... provided someone was small enough
to fit through the frame.
"The frame is
made of wood, isn't it?"
Jinsei approached
the mirror again and placed his left hand on the
frame. He focussed, and the same red and green energy
that had surrounded Shellshock a moment earlier
covered the mirror's surface and caused the wood to
expand outward. The glass expanded as well - but,
since it was not organic, Jinsei could not simply
force it to grow from nothing. As the glass plane
became taller and wider, it also became thinner.
"I have to say
I'm impressed," Miko admitted.
"Shellshock!"
Jinsei snapped as he stepped away from the frame.
"Through portal! Kill man! Now!"
Shellshock ran
towards the mirror but stopped inches from its
surface. He seemed to ponder something for a moment
before turning to face Jinsei: "You don't have
to speak to me like I'm some sort of beast, you
know."
He stepped gently
through the portal and, an instant later, Miko and
Jinsei saw the terrified people of New Orleans
running for their lives.
Ikku felt bad about
stealing clothes from people's clotheslines, but he
knew that much less distress would be caused by
someone finding a top and pants missing from their
line than a whole city full of people seeing a young
man in red tights trying not to be noticed.
He made a quick mental note of the location from
which the clothes were taken, and made a silent
promise to drop off some money when he got the
chance.
He wandered
aimlessly for an hour before he came across a
familiar smell, something he loved but had not
encountered since he first arrived at Blizzard Base
Zero. It was a mixture of sweet and savoury, spicy
and bland.
It was pizza. And it
was close.
Oblivious to the
stares of the people around him, Ikku sniffed at the
air and gratefully followed his satisfied nose. He
did not have to walk far; he turned the next corner
and saw, directly ahead of him, a small and almost
completely empty pizzeria. He ran through the front
door, sat at the counter, and railed off his order
without even checking to see if someone was there to
serve him.
"I want... a
large Mexican with buckets of chilli... and pineapple
and anchovies and mushrooms and pepperoni!"
Ikku liked pizza.
His order complete,
Ikku slowly looked at his surroundings: the handful
of customers already in the store had stopped eating.
Their jaws were wide open, their eyes staring... but
not at Ikku. In fact, they were faced in the complete
opposite direction, looking through the glass windows
into the street outside.
"Welcome to
Hey, Pizza!" a man behind the counter said.
"I'm Trick, and I'm glad to - "
The man stopped
speaking as he followed his customers' gaze. It took
Ikku a little longer to realise what people were so
fixated on, and even though he heard the loud,
crunching, stomping noise coming ever closer, it
wasn't until a post box smashed through the large
front window that he realised something was really
wrong.
He slid off his
stool and pushed through the customers fleeing
further into the store so he could reach the street
outside and see clearly what was happening. He did not
expect to see a giant green turtle snapping and
snarling at passers-by as, with uprooted lamp post in
hand, it stalked across the street looking directly
at Ikku.
Just because he
didn't expect it didn't mean it wasn't there.
Ikku raised his
right eyebrow. He wasn't sure what to make of the new
arrival. It didn't seem friendly, but neither did
Sei, and Sei hadn't tried to kill him... yet. He
tilted his head to the side to get a different
perspective, but still nothing came to him. He jumped
back to avoid the swinging lamp post and, finally, he
was sure:
The big turtle
does not want to be my friend!
NEXT: Shellshocked!
