New Orleans
It was after three
o'clock in the morning when Sei, Ikku and Kiko
returned to 'Hey, Pizza!' and found it, like every
other business in the heavily-damaged city, closed
for the night. They briefly considered looking for
somewhere else to stay - but they knew the Black
Battalion safehouse they had occupied when they first
arrived in the city was no longer safe... and the
sewer was not appealing.
Ikku banged his fist
loudly on the door.
"Hello,
Trick!" he shouted. "Let us in! I still
have dishes to wash!"
They heard something
stirring inside the store and waited. A moment later,
Trick Star appeared on the opposite side of the glass
door and unlocked it for them. They entered, but
stopped when they reached the counter. Trick locked
the door again then walked up beside them.
"I think this
belongs to you," he said. He gestured at the
pile of items they had already been staring at: guns,
holsters, large watch-like items and a small mound of
what looked like stained glass - and sitting on top
of it all was a tiny robot.
"Cog!" Sei
stepped back in surprise.
"Sei!" the
robot cried happily.
Sei picked the robot
up and placed it gently on the counter. Behind him,
Ikku and Kiko rummaged through the pile of items;
Kiko attached a brown belt and gun holster to her
robosuit, while Ikku examined a small, handgun-sized
weapon.
"What are you
doing here?" Sei asked quietly. "Doctor
Nagura deactivated you, so that you could not be
detected by anyone searching for your energy
signature."
Cog nodded.
"Doctor Brachis sent me. She's a friend of
Doctor Nag - "
"I know Doctor
Brachis," Sei interrupted. "Is she
safe?"
Cog nodded again.
"That's what she sent me to tell you! Doctor
Brachis is..." she paused for a moment "...
safe. So is Doctor Nagura. But they wanted
you to know that Director Satoshi has taken over
Blizzard Base Zero and that you should tell your
friends what is going on. Doctor Brachis said she
would contact you herself as soon as she gets the
chance."
"These
items?" Sei asked. "Are they from Blizzard
Base Zero? I have never seen them before."
Cog shrugged.
"They were here when I arrived! I can tell they
were all built from Doctor Nagura's designs, but
that's all I know!"
Sei thought for a
few long moments as he looked around the room. Trick
had disappeared, but Ikku and Kiko were delighted
with their new equipment. They had already adorned
themselves with weapons holsters and the
weapons as if they already knew what they were and
how to use them. Sei did not think they were ready to
know what he knew, but if it was what Dr.
Brachis wanted...
"Ian. Miss
Sato," he said. Ikku and Kiko looked at him like
children fearing that they may be reprimanded for
their behaviour. Sei tried to smile, but it did not
seem to calm them. "You wanted answers? Sit
down; you are going to get them."
Ikku and Kiko sat at
the long counter and looked down at Cog, who waved
back at them excitedly. "Hi! I'm Cog!"
"Ikku,"
Ikku said.
"I'm
Kiko!" Kiko said enthusiastically. "Are you
a... girl robot?"
Cog nodded. Kiko
smiled.
"Cog has come
from Blizzard Base Zero," Sei said. "I -
"
He did not know
where to begin. There was a long pause, and Ikku and
Kiko looked at each other uncomfortably.
"Sei... What
are those coloured glass things?" Kiko asked.
"Eternity
shards," Sei answered quickly. "They
are what allow us to do what we do. There are several
types: raido shards are blue and allow us to
teleport. We have already used those several times
since arriving here. Kenaz shards are red
and can create minor illusions - "
"Like my Chaos
Sword!" Ikku exclaimed. "Sometimes, it
looks like there are four or five swords at
once!"
Sei nodded. "Jera
shards are yellow and can speed, slow or even
reverse time."
"My Electro
Blaster and Lightning Jet," Kiko said.
"There are
others, but those are the three we use," Sei
revealed.
"Where do they
come from?" Kiko asked.
Sei gestured at Cog.
"The shards
began to appear all over the world as early as the
nineteenth century," Sei explained. "No-one
truly acknowledged them until a few years ago, when
Doctor Nagura discovered a large number of shards
across North America and Australia. He collected and
studied them, but most of his work was in secret -
only the Japanese government took him seriously, and
assisted him by funding his work, which centred
mostly on examining humans who seemed to be able to
use the power of the shards. People like Sorceress
Miko.
"Doctor Nagura
soon discovered, however, that most attempts to use
the shards' energy by people not naturally able
resulted in injury or even death, but with the
continued assistance of the Japanese government,
Doctor Nagura was able to discover a larger
concentration of Eternity shards in Antarctica, and
it was there he discovered Blizzard Base Zero... and
Cog."
Cog waved again.
"When Doctor
Nagura found Cog, he realised she was built to
use and control the energy of the shards." He
pointed at the narrow slits on Cog's back, each the
perfect size to contain one of the shards. "He
managed to repair and activate her, but Cog had no
knowledge of who or what she was or where
she came from - only a basic knowledge of how her
body operated, and how to use the shards."
Kiko looked at Ikku
to see how he was taking it all in. She saw him
staring at an empty spot on the counter, and he said
nothing. She could not guess what was going through
his mind, so she let it go - but made a note to speak
to him later.
"Doctor Nagura
soon realised that if he could find a way to adapt
Cog's technology to humans, they may be able to use
the Eternity energy as well. Already acknowledged as
the world's leading bioroboticist, he established Project:
Roboman to do just that - and once the Japanese
government led the formation of the Earth
Defence/Leadership Directorate, a multinational
committee designed to pool funding for potential
military defence development, he was able to work
with almost no restrictions: and the robosuits were
the result."
Ikku rose from his
seat and walked quickly out of the store.
"Ikku!"
Kiko called after him.
"Guys!"
Kiko and Sei heard Trick call loudly from the rear of
the store. "You better look at this!"
They rushed passed
the kitchen and through a pair of swinging plastic
doors which led to a small living area, consisting
mainly of a couch, a television and a computer. Trick
was staring at the image on the TV screen, and Sei
and Kiko watched as well.
They saw dozens of
robots marching through the streets of the city.
Footage taken from the sky showed them approaching
from at least four different angles and converging on
one central point where another, larger robot - which
seemed to be made of a tangled mess of pipes and
tubes - stood calmly.
As they marched, the
robots smashed metal fists and feet through anything
they passed - car windshields, concrete walls, wooden
fences. The streets were all but deserted at three
a.m., especially considering the events of the
previous two days - which had seen the city assaulted
by two giant monsters - so no-one appeared in
immediate danger, but -
"Sei! We have
to do something!" Kiko cried.
"Doctor Brachis
asked that we remain in hiding and keep a low profile
until she makes contact," Sei said.
"Look at the
damage they're causing!"
"I am sorry.
The Black Battalion will need to deal with the
situation."
Kiko stared at Sei
for several moments, then "Let's
go, Robo!" The thin yellow fabric of her
robosuit flashed brilliantly as jagged metal jutted
through various openings, forming metal gloves,
boots, a thick chestplate and a helmet. "Electro
Blaster!"
There was a blue flash, and the small, handgun-sized
yellow weapon appeared in her right hand.
"Sei...!"
she said pleadingly. He shook his head. Kiko ran from
the room.
Sei continued to
watch the television, which shifted focus from the
attack on New Orleans to footage of wreckage in the
centre of Tokyo - wreckage he recognised as once
being the Earth Defence/Leadership Directorate
headquarters.
"Sources have
confirmed," the newsreader said, "that the
EDD headquarters in Tokyo has been completely
destroyed by the same robotic army seen attacking New
Orleans. Attempts to contact the Black Battalion on
Science Island have also met with failure, leading to
speculation that - "
"Sei..."
Trick said. "The Black Battalion isn't
helping."
Sei looked at the
ground.
"What would you
have me do?" he asked. "There are too many
of them."
"I am sure that
those vehicles of yours have a few tricks you haven't
shown the others yet."
Sei thought about
Trick's words for a moment, then smiled.
"Yes!" he
exclaimed enthusiastically. "But... it will need
all three of us, and Ian has left."
Trick rested a hand
on Sei's shoulder. "You're a smart robot, Sei.
I'm sure you'll think of something."
Sei nodded. "Let's
go, Robo!" He allowed his transformation
to complete before trying to speak again. "Thank
you, Trick."
"No
problem," Trick said. "Just... try to keep
the store safe, okay? I'm sure you'll all want
somewhere to sleep when you've saved the day. Again."
Sei
nodded and quickly made his way out of the room, out
of the store, and down the street. Minutes later, a
familiar face rounded the corner and rushed through
the open door to 'Hey, Pizza!'.
"Trick-san?
Trick-san!" Kageki shouted. "Are
you here?"
Trick
rushed from the back of the store to see what was
going on; what he found was Kageki, staring at the
tiny robot on the counter... and raising a spatula
above his head.
"Kageki!"
Trick shouted. "No!"
He
lunged forward and pushed Kageki aside, giving Cog a
chance to hide herself away. He looked sternly at
Kageki who, he realised, was wearing his pyjamas, and
asked what he was doing walking the streets in the
middle of the night.
"Trick-san,
didn't you hear?" Kageki asked. "There are
robots all over the city! I wanted to make sure you
were safe!"
Trick
smiled. "Kageki, that's sweet, but you don't
need to worry about me. We'll have to keep you here
until it's safe, but you really have to go home and -
"
Kageki
shook his head. "No, Trick-san! I want to stay
here and defend 'Hey, Pizza!'!"
Trick
rolled his eyes, and laughed.
Sei
slowly stepped through the soft earth at the edge of
the city where he knew he would find Ikku waiting.
None of them had any connection to New Orleans, at
least as far as he could determine - and other than
'Hey, Pizza!', the only place he could think of where
Ikku may have developed significant feelings of
safety of compassion were the swamplands where he and
Kiko had released Shellshock after using the
Lightning Jet's weapons to turn him back into a
normal tortoise.
He
searched for fifteen minutes before he found Ikku
sitting in a dark area between two trees, looking out
over a large pool and dank and murky water. He tried
to remain silent but, as he approached, Ikku turned
and stared directly at him.
"Go
away," Ikku said. He turned back to the water.
"No,"
Sei replied. "We need to talk."
Ikku
shook his head, but said nothing. Sei was not certain
how he should respond; he had always been direct with
his feelings, when the situation warranted their
discussion. He had never understood why people kept
things to themselves, when discussing them openly
could relieve tension, or even resolve the underlying
problem. While Ikku's motives were beyond his ability
to understand, he remained sure that talking was the
only way to achieve his goal.
"Ian
- "
"It's
Ikku," Ikku replied softly.
"Ikku.
I know why you are upset - it is because Doctor
Nagura trusted me with information about Project:
Roboman which he concealed from you."
Ikku
did not respond.
"He
allowed me to progress to phase two of the project,
revealed Cog's existence, and told me how the Earth
Defence/Leadership Directorate was formed. It makes
you feel as if he thought you less intelligent, less
capable or less reliable than I."
"Duh,"
Ikku muttered.
"Well,
grow up," Sei said simply. He turned and began
to walk away.
"What
did you say?" Ikku asked.
Sei
turned back to face him. "I said 'grow
up'."
Ikku
stood and took a few steps toward Sei.
"Who
do you think you are?" Ikku asked.
Sei
shook his head.
"Not
a whining little child," he replied. "It
would not surprise me if Doctor Nagura was ashamed
with you, considering the way you are behaving
now."
Ikku
leaped at Sei, his hands in front of him, reaching
for the other man's throat. Sei calmly stepped aside,
leaving Ikku to fall facefirst into the muddy ground.
"That
is my point," Sei continued. "I am wearing
the Roboman armour. Even if you did hit me -
"
Ikku
climbed to his feet and swung his left fist, hard, at
Sei's chest. It hit the metal chestplate with a loud clang!,
and Ikku pulled his hand away.
"Ow!"
he shouted.
"You
complain, you are emotional, and you do not
think," Sei said tauntingly. "Do you
need me to prove it?"
Ikku
raised his hands in front of his body, ready to fend
off any attack Sei may throw at him - or so he
thought. "Go for it."
"Did
you ever stop to think that Doctor Nagura may have
treated you the way he did because he loved you?"
Ikku
froze.
"Think
about it, Ikku," Sei continued. "Doctor
Nagura adopted you five years ago. He could have
selected anybody else, but he chose you.
When looking for candidates for Project: Roboman, he
chose you. If he thought you were stupid, or
incapable... he had the resources of the EDD at his
disposal! Why would he waste his time?
"Could
it be that he allowed me to do what I did because he
wanted to keep you safe? He chose to put me in
danger, to test the limits of the robosuit, to
possibly be destroyed, so that when the time came you
would learn from my mistakes? That you would
be the one to show the world, right from the start,
exactly what the robosuit could do? That you could
lead his Roboman team, that you could lead the
world to the better place he thought his
technology would create?"
Ikku
said nothing.
Beep-bip!
Beep-bip!
Sei
heard the noise and noticed, immediately, the
flashing red light on the small unit strapped to
Ikku's wrist. It was one of the watch-like
accessories he had seen in the pizza store but not
examined for himself. He took Ikku's hand and saw
that the flashing light was attached to a small red
button, which he pressed.
"Hello?
Hello? Is anybody there?"
He
heard Kiko's voice clearly through the device.
"This
is Sei," he replied.
"Yay!
These things aren't that complicated once you think
about it!"
"Kiko,
what do you need?"
"Oh!
I've been fighting these things for as long as I can
- they're herding me back towards 'Hey, Pizza!'. I
could really use some help right about now!"
"I
am on my way," Sei said. He released Ikku's hand
and looked into his eyes. "No, I don't think you
considered any of that. Consider it now, Ikku.
Consider it while Kiko and I risk our lives to save
this city and do what your father dreamed his
son would one day accomplish."
He
walked past Ikku but paused when he heard Ikku move
behind him.
"Sei..."
Ikku said slowly. "You said 'this team'. Is that
what we are? A team?"
Sei
smiled. "I believe that is what Doctor Nagura
hoped for."
"And
I'm meant to lead this team?"
Sei's
smile faded. "... yes."
"Then
what are we waiting for?" Ikku ran forward and
clapped a hand on Sei's back. "Let's
go, Robo! Let's go...
team Roboman!"
"You
should stay away from the windows," Trick told
Kageki. "Something might hit them and - "
Kageki
ran into the kitchen and returned with a frying pan,
a spoon and a spatula and stalked determinedly toward
the door. Trick ignored him until his hand was on the
door handle, then: "What do you think you're
doing?"
"I'm
going out there!" Kageki cried. "Those
things are coming closer, and I am not going
to let them destroy the best pizza place in the whole
world!"
Trick
smiled. "You're a dork, kid. You know that,
right?"
Kageki
smiled back - then opened the door and ran into the
dark street.
"Kageki!"
Trick shouted. Damn! I thought he was just being
his version of macho - I never expected - ! He
looked up and saw, through the glass doors, that
Kageki was not even able to cross the road before
being surrounded by the invading robots. Damn it!
I'll have to -
BANG!
BOOM!
Trick
heard a gunshot - and the robot closest to Kageki
exploded violently. Another gunshot - another
explosion. Kageki turned and ran back into the store.
He cowered behind a seat, just poking his head out
far enough to see what was going on through the
window.
He -
and Trick - could see a human figure, dressed
entirely in black, making his way quickly through the
attacking robots. In the flash from each gunshot they
could see that in one hand he carried a small, black
pistol and in the other was a piece of jagged metal,
with one end wrapped in black fabric. He alternately
shot and slashed at the robots, which seemed to
explode or fall apart the moment they were touched
and, when the street was clear, he made his way
inside 'Hey, Pizza!'.
He
slumped over the counter and begin to breathe
heavily. Trick hurried into the kitchen and returned
with a glass of water, and Kageki wrapped his arms
around the man's waist.
"Amazing!"
he said in obvious awe. "How did you - ?"
"Get
off me!" the man interrupted loudly. He pushed
one arm back and Kageki fell onto the floor. "I
just need... a moment..."
Trick
handed the man the glass of water. "Who are
you?"
"My
name is Senshi," the man said. He downed the
water in one go. "I am a member of the Science
Island guard. Where is the nearest EDD outpost? I
need to return."
Trick
shook his head. "Science Island has been
destroyed. You can stay here until morning, then
figure out where you're going to go, but - " he
pointed at Kageki " - try not to push my best
customer around, okay?"
Kiko
was trapped. Surrounded on all sides by the advancing
robots she knew that, soon, she would be wherever it
was they all seemed to want to go. The small robots
were easy enough to destroy - a single blast from her
Electro Blaster utterly destroyed them - but the
larger robot she had seen on TV was not something she
wanted to face alone.
She
also knew that she was only a few metres away from
'Hey, Pizza!' - but was it safe to return there? Was
it fair to risk putting Trick in danger? Did she have
any choice?
"Kiko!"
She jumped with surprise when she heard Ikku's voice
behind her. She looked around and saw Ikku and Sei
running towards her - and, to their side, the large
robot she had feared confronting alone. He watched
them, and walked slowly towards them.
"Ikku!
Sei!" Kiko shouted. "Look!"
The
two men stood beside her and followed her gaze - they
saw the approaching robot, too, but neither of them
felt any fear at his approach. Ikku even took a step
forward, and Sei and Kiko stood behind him, one on
each side.
The
robot stopped walking.
"You
are the product of Project: Roboman?" the
robot asked. "You do not look like much - but at
least you are all together now. I won't have to send
my Gears searching the city for you."
"You
came here to fight us?" Ikku asked. "Are
you crazy?"
"Ikku,
don't!" Kiko whispered. "I don't think we
can fight him!"
"Of
course we can!" Ikku whispered back. "We're
a team! Together, we can do anything!"
"I
am Buki Robo!" the robot
exclaimed. "Combined, my weapons can level
mountains! But I do not think I will need them to
eliminate you. Gears! Attack!"
Ikku
shook his head, and the Gears stopped in their
tracks. They turned their skeletal robotic heads back
to Buki Robo - it seemed they had not expected such
confidence from their victims.
"Courage
is victory!" Ikku shouted. "The
compassion to care for those I protect! Red
Robo!"
He's
crazy... Kiko thought. He's gone completely
insane!
"Knowledge
is power!" Sei shouted. "Cool
logic is my greatest weapon! Blue Robo!"
Not
Sei, too! They're going to get us killed!
Suddenly,
Kiko realised that everyone - the Gears, Ikku, Sei...
even Buki Robo - was staring at her. She shrugged.
"Understanding
is unity!" she shouted.
"Empathy can bring together even the most hated
enemies! Yellow Robo!"
"Courage!
Knowledge!
Understanding!
The
power to succeed through
unity! Guardian Sentai Roboman!"
That
was bizarre, Kiko thought. Really bizarre.
Buki
Robo began to laugh.
"Gears!"
he bellowed again. "Attack!"
The
Gears moved forward - and this time, they did not
stop. Suddenly, Ikku faced Kiko and patted the small
gun contained within a holster at his side. Kiko
nodded.
"Robo
Rifle!" they shouted. They readied
their weapons and, before the Gears could react,
pulled the triggers. They could not see anything
emerge from the tips of the weapons, but the Gears at
which they aimed exploded violently.
Ikku
turned to Sei and handed him as Robo Rifle. "Chaos
Sword!" he shouted. There was a brief blue
flash before the translucent red-bladed sword
appeared in his hand. Ikku ran forward and slashed at
one Gear after another as Sei examined the weapon he
had been given.
"Robo
Rifle: Stick Mode," Sei said. He almost dropped
the weapon as the trigger retracted into the barrel
of the gun, which extended to become almost one metre
long. Sei swung it around his body, and as its tip
struck each of the Gears he passed, sparks sprayed
from the point of contact and they collapsed.
"Electro
Blaster!" Kiko called out. She returned the
Robo Rifle to its holster just in time for the
Electro Blaster to appear in her hand again and she
fired at two of the remaining Gears. They fell,
exploded and, suddenly, the Robomen realised there
was no-one left.
No-one
except Buki Robo.
"Vertex
Shield," Sei said calmly. The semi-transparent
blue shield appeared and attached itself to his right
arm while he approached Ikku and Kiko. He nodded to
each of them, then detached the shield and held it in
front of his body.
Ikku
lunged forward with his Chaos Sword and passed it
through the shield, and smiled as he saw two small
handholds appear - one on the sword's blade and one
on the back of the shield. Kiko raised the Electro
Blaster and slid its barrel over the hilt of the
Chaos Sword - and the Robo Defender was born.
"Robo Defender, Slash Containment Burst!"
Kiko
pulled the trigger on the Electro Blaster, sending a
spark of yellow energy along the length of the Chaos
Blade, directly at the centre of Buki Robo's metal
body. The area around the battle turned pitch-black,
the only light provided by the crackling energy that
struck Buki Robo. The robot staggered, fell... and
laughed. The darkness receded and the Robomen stared
at the completely unscathed robot.
"That
almost hurt," Buki Robo said, "and I did
not expect you to destroy the Gears so easily. But
now... Hardware Upgrade!"
The
moment Buki Robo finished speaking there was a bright
red flash, and the seven-foot-tal robot was replaced
by one almost five hundred feet tall. Sei, Ikku and
Kiko all knew what they had to do.
"Phase
Three! Go
Robo Vehicles!"
The
metal that formed their chestplates, arms and helmets
separated from their bodies and expanded, then
reformed to become three distinct vehicles - a large
red tank: Red Robo's Flame Tank; a sleek yellow jet:
Yellow Robo's Lightning Jet; and a long blue
speedboat: Blue Robo's Water Cutter. The three
Robomen climbed into the cockpits of their respective
vehicles, and Kiko quickly took to the air.
"Away!"
Buki Robo shouted. He swung one hand out in front of
his body and knocked the Lightning Jet sideways; Kiko
managed to steady herself only a moment before she
would have hit the ground.
["What
do we do?"] Kiko asked.
["We
hit it hard and we hit it - "] Ikku began to
reply.
["No,"]
Sei interrupted. ["We initiate phase four.
Yellow Robo - use your communicator to contact
Cog."]
There
was silence as Kiko fumbled with the device strapped
to her wrist, and then ["Got it."]
["Ask
her to activate Robo Fusion."]
"Robo
Fusion!" The three Robomen all heard
the loud voice of the two-inch tall robot echo
through the cockpits of their vehicles, followed by a
loud click as a metal panel slid away to reveal a red
button. They each pressed the button.
"Robo
Fusion! Gattai Robo!"
They
heard Cog's voice a second time and, suddenly, the
Flame Tank and Water Cutter were surrounded by the
familiar blue raido energy and lifted into
the sky.
["Sei!
I don't think tanks can fly!"] Ikku shouted.
A
moment passed, and the blue energy was joined by a
mixture of red and yellow. Time seemed to speed up -
and when the energy faded, the Robo Vehicles were
gone. Ikku, Kiko and Sei sat in one large cockpit -
and they stared Buki Robo in the eyes.
"W-what
happened?" Ikku asked.
"The
Robo Vehicles have combined to form Gattai
Robo," Sei explained. He looked at Kiko.
"Are you - "
"This.
Is. Amazing!" Kiko shouted. "We
are in a giant robot!"
Ikku
and Sei smirked.
"We're
also fighting a giant robot!" Ikku
said. Buki Robo lunged forward and struck at Gattai
Robo's left arm. "Sei, how do we control this
thing?"
"I...
do not know," Sei said. He glanced over the
cockpit controls. "Doctor Nagura never discussed
Gattai Robo's operation with me."
"Well...
we'll play it by ear," Ikku said. "Wouldn't
it be really cool if I summoned the Chaos Sword and - "
There was a blue flash, and the Chaos Sword appeared
in Ikku's right hand. Simultaneously, an enormous but
otherwise identical sword appeared in Gattai Robo's
hand. "That is the most amazing thing I have
ever seen."
He
moved his sword forward, and Gattai Robo's hand
copied his movement.
"Oh,
this is going to be easy!" Ikku said.
He stood up and slashed his sword in Buki Robo's
direction; Gattai Robo emulated the action and the
giant Chaos Sword cut easily through Buki Robo's
body. The robot staggered backwards... and laughed
again.
"You
fools..." it said. "You saw how the Gears
exploded after your attacks. Imagine... how much
damage I will cause!" Sparks began to
appear in the opening made by the Chaos Sword.
"No,"
Sei said. "I think we will allow Director
Satoshi to see it firsthand." He reached
out with his left arm, and Gattai Robo gripped Buki
Robo with its own left hand. Sei concentrated, and
blue raido energy crackled along his arm -
along Gattai Robo's arm - and surrounded Buki Robo's
body.
An
instant later, Buki Robo was gone and with the threat
eliminated, Gattai Robo began to fade away. Raido
energy surrounded the Robomen and they re-appeared
standing safely outside 'Hey, Pizza!' as Gattai Robo
disappeared completely.
Inside
the store, Kageki and Senshi could not contain their
surprise.
"Sei-tachi!"
Kageki shouted. He ran out into the street to
confront the three people who had saved his city
three times in twenty-four hours. He was surprised -
anyone would have been - but stronger than that were
his senses of joy and admiration. Trick and Senshi
watched as he took Sei's hand and shook it firmly.
Kiko,
Senshi thought as he watched Kageki. What is
she doing here?
"Hah!"
Trick laughed. "Isn't it funny, Senshi, how -
" he paused, as he realised Senshi had
disappeared. "Senshi?"
Blizzard
Base Zero
Jinsei,
Sorceress Miko and Damien Sinclair stood in the
mangled mess of metal that had once been Blizzard
Base Zero. Much of the ice around it had turned to
water, melted in the heat of the explosion that had
torn through it moments earlier.
"Satoshi
was not fit to serve the master," Miko said.
"I am returning to New Orleans. I will deal with
the Robomen myself, if they get in my way." She
raised a hand and two pixies flittered up from the
rubble to land on her wrist.
"Wait!"
Jinsei said. "Get me out of here!"
Miko
stared at her red-skinned ally and nodded. One pixie
lifted away from her hand and settled on Jinsei's
shoulder. The pixies closed their eyes and their
masters disappeared in a shower of blue energy.
Damien
Sinclair was alone.
"So
much for Operation: Guardian," he muttered. He
turned and started to walk away. He did not know
where he was going - he was in the middle of
Antarctica, and did not think that cruise ships
regularly passed by.
"Sinclair!
Wait!"
He
turned back toward the rubble - and saw that part of
it was moving. He had to focus before he realised it
was not the scrap metal making its way towards him;
it was a man. Director Satoshi.
"Director
Satoshi!" Sinclair rushed forward to support
him. He realised, as Satoshi leaned across his
shoulders, that the man had been torn almost in half
by pieces of metal - mostly massive pieces of piping
from Buki Robo's giant body. Still, somehow, the
metal that jutted through his flesh and fused, in the
heat, to his bones did not seem to be causing him any
pain, and he was certainly still alive.
"They
ended my plans so easily," Satoshi said.
"Teleporting Buki Robo into our base the moment
before he was destroyed... why did I not see it
coming?"
"With
all due respect, sir," Sinclair replied,
"it was a pretty simple plan. Those Gears
weren't going to last very long."
Satoshi
laughed and revealed a sharp metal spike reaching
from the back of his head and into his mouth. It
appeared to Sinclair as though the man had a harpoon
in his mouth, ready to fire it at anyone who crossed
him.
"I
did manage to destroy the EDD - and my
current state gives me new ideas," Satoshi
explained. "Why use machines to dominate the
world... when I can simply transform the world into
machines and dominate them? Come, my
guardian - we have work to do."
New
Orleans, Twelve Hours Later
Trick,
Kageki, Cog, Sei, Ikku and Kiko sat around the small
television in the back room of 'Hey, Pizza!' and
watched as, every fifteen minutes, news updates
showed them exactly what they had accomplished the
night before. The damage done to the streets had
already been cleaned up - "record time"
according to the newsreader. Reports of two giant
robots fighting in the heart of the city had been
dismissed as fantasy -
-
but no-one denied seeing three people dressed in red,
blue and yellow, risking their lives to save the
city. Some even mentioned a fourth man in black.
Senshi,
Sei thought. He's still in the city. We will
have to find him, at some point.
"...
United States, France, Russia and Britain have issued
a joint statement regarding the Earth
Defence/Leadership Directorate," the newsreader
announced, "revealing that they will not be
supporting Japan's motion to investigate the attacks
on the organisation's bases worldwide overnight.
Instead, they have vowed to dismantle any remaining
EDD installations and reallocate remaining staff and
resources."
"What?!"
Ikku shouted. "That's crazy!"
"We
cannot guess at their reasoning," Sei said.
"We must trust their judgement."
"But...
if there's no EDD," Kiko mused. "What about
us? Do we turn ourselves over to the
government?"
"Hah!"
Trick laughed. "You'd trust any government with
your technology? Without the Black Battalion
levelling the playing field, everyone is going to be
looking for a way to come out on top."
"Without
the Earth Defence/Leadership Directorate, there is
no-one to look for Doctor Nagura," Sei said
simply, "or ensure that Director Satoshi and his
allies no longer pose a threat."
"So...
what do we do?" Kiko asked again.
"We
stay here," Ikku said. "If it's okay with
Trick?"
Trick
shook his head. "I can't keep four people here.
Not indefinitely."
"Hopefully
it won't be long," Ikku said. "We stay
here, we track down Sorceress Miko and that Satoshi
guy and make sure they're out of action... then we
find Doctor Nag - we find my dad."
Sei
nodded, but Kiko remained silent and still.
"Miss
Sato?" Ikku asked.
"I
have always wanted to work with Doctor Nagura. I
guess I can't do that if he's off hiding
somewhere." She smiled. "And what better
way to impress my idol than show him I know his work
just as well as he does?"
Ikku
smiled back at her.
"Then
I guess that's settled," Ikku said. "Look
out, Miko. Look out, Satoshi. Look out world - Guardian
Sentai Roboman's here to stay!"
NEXT: Girls'
day out!
COG'S
SPECIAL REPORT!
 |
Hi! I'm Cog! The Robomen use a lot
of complicated technology, and sometimes it
can
be a bit hard to get your head around it all
- especially when you can't
actually see what's going on! (Hey,
if you can accept that a two-inch tall
robot is talking to you, you better be
able to accept that than they can
break the fourth-wall and acknowledge they're
a character in a work of
fiction!)
|
To help you out, I'm going to pop in
from time to time to let you know what I know
about the technology - and that isn't as much as you
might think. Doctor Nagura told me a lot, but he's a
world-famous bioroboticist... and while I might have
been one at one stage, I'm not 100% sure!
Today,
we are going to talk about the Alert Bracer. The
Robomen don't know what it is called yet, so Sei
called it a "communicator". I'm going to
tell Kiko what is is called next time, but hey - now you
know something they don't!
This is
what it looks like - in colour!
The
brown parts are the strap that attaches to their
wrists. They may look a bit like brown leather, but
they are not - they are made of the same thing as the
basic robosuits, to Gears and Buki Robos and Pixies
and all those other things that are out to get them
can't cut them off easily!
The big
round circle is an LCD display. It is normally lit
red, except for the part in the middle, which can
display short messages like "Alert!",
"Help!" or "Run!" or even
co-ordinates. Doctor Nagura once showed me that the
red light changes colour, but he never told me why,
so I can't help you there!
The
buttons on the left can be programmed to save time
when using weapons or activating a henshin. For
example, pressing '1' and then 'Enter' will put a
Roboman back in their basic robosuit, while pressing
'3' and then 'Enter' will call on the Robo Vehicles!
It is like a speed dial - thankfully, Shellshock and
Buki Robo were pretty slow, so they didn't take the
chance to attack while the Robomen were figuring out
what to do, but the next big villain is really fast,
so they better - oops, I almost said too much!
The
Alert Bracer can also be used as a communicator, as
Kiko has already shown us. Each of the other
communicators is assigned a number - Ikku is number
one, Sei is number two and Kiko is number three (and
I'm 'Enter'! I don't know how Kiko figured that out)!
If you hold down the number and talk, the other
person will hear your voice - there's a built-in
microphone and speaker underneath the red LCD
display!
I think
it's pretty cool. Doctor Nagura must have been really
smart to invent it! I hope he never turns evil -
imagine if all that intelligence was turned against
humanity!
Next
time I'm going to talk about the Robo
Defender - you've already seen what Senshi
saw on Science Island, but there is a little bit more
to it than that, believe me!
See you
next time! ^_^
