London
"Eugh!"
Kiko leaned forward
and coughed loudly as the blue raido energy
faded from her body. Despite having been a Roboman
for close to a month, she realised she had still only
teleported a handful of times and was not even
approaching getting used to the stomach-churning
feeling that accompanied the dissipation of the blue
mist.
To her right, Ikku
was making similar gagging noises. Sei, however,
stood far to her left, surveying the city around
them.
It was only then
that Kiko realised they were standing on top of a
tall, stone building with a flat roof. She crept
carefully toward the edge for a better view, mindful
of the fact that she may, at any moment, feel the
need to lurch forward.
I wonder what
happens if I throw up on my robosuit? she
thought. I'm not sure we could even clean them,
with all the circuitry... and the smell would never
come out of the leather Robo Rifle holsters!
From the roof's edge
she could see a number of famous sites: the river
Thames stretched out in front of her; ahead and to
the right, the Houses of Parliament - and Big Ben -
shone many lights over the city. Directly below her
stood two armed American soldiers, eyeing a plain
white van parked on the other side of the street.
"This is the
last one, right?" one of them asked.
"Yeah. It's
taking that Infinity Changer or whatever to
Germany," the other soldier replied. "I'll
be glad when it's all - "
The two soldiers
were disturbed by something behind them and stepped
to the side. Two more men, this time wearing white
lab coats, emerged from the building holding a large
box which they carried to the rear of the van. The
van's back door opened and the two men loaded the box
inside. The closed the door and the van started to
move forward.
"If that's the
last one," Kiko turned as she heard Ikku's voice
behind her, "shouldn't we follow it?"
Sei shook his head.
"Wait."
The two men in lab
coats went inside the building... but the two
soldiers outside remained at their posts.
"It's a
decoy," Sei said.
"What?"
"Look at the
guards. They are more tense now, and quiet. They have
become nervous."
As the three Robomen
watched, another plain white van pulled up outside
the building and the two men in coats emerged with an
identical box. They repeated the process of loading
the van and sending it on its way, then returned to
the building... but the soldiers remained.
"Another
decoy?" Ikku asked.
BWA-THOOM!
The sound of the
explosion reached the ears of the Robomen long before
its force knocked them off their feet. They fell back
against the roof and felt the building shift beneath
them. They heard glass shattering, people screaming
and scanned the skyline for any sort of threat.
"Look!"
Kiko spotted the jet
first. It appeared identical to her own Lightning Jet
in many ways, only coloured predominantly black
instead of yellow. It swooped low over the river,
chopping up waves in its wake. People at the bank
fled as the jet jerked back and forth, and it seemed
to Kiko that's its pilot was having trouble deciding
where to go.
The jet swooped
upward, revealing its underside - and Kiko realised
it was not a jet at all!
The robot
criss-crossing London looked more like a person
flying a hang glider than anything else; on its back
were the wide, triangular wings of a stealth jet, and
a tiny cockpit. Underneath, the robot was clearly
visible - its arms were stretched across its wings,
its body pressed flat against the 'glider' to remain
aerodynamic.
It landed in the
street directly beneath the building on which the
Robomen stood and stared at the damage it had caused.
"I am Chojin
Robo!" it shouted. "Surrender to
me or face more sonic boomage!"
"Who's he
talking to?" Ikku asked. "I haven't seen
him look at us yet..."
"It does not
seem like the most intelligent robot," Sei
remarked. "We should - " He paused.
"What would you like us to do, Ikku?"
Ikku smiled.
"You called me
Ikku again!" he laughed. "We're here to
keep the EDD tech safe, right? Then let's do
that."
Sei and Kiko nodded.
"Let's go, Robo!"
Energy crackled
around their bodies as the already-familiar sensation
of their transformations began. They felt the
circuitry embedded beneath their skin pulsate as it
sent the signals instructing the robosuits to allow
metal shards to pierce the thin fabric and re-form as
shiny silver chestplates, gloves and boots. The same
metal covered their faces and the back of their heads
to form thick but malleable helmets. Commands came
into focus on the inside of the two-way mirrored
visor that opened in the front of the helmets.
"Robo
Rifle!" they shouted in unison.
They each drew the
handgun-sized weapon holstered at their sides and
took aim at the robot. Chojin Robo looked up at them
and cocked his head to one side.
"The
Robomen?" he wondered. "Satoshi warned me
about you little robo dudes."
Chojin Robo raised
its left hand and pointed his fingers at the Robomen;
an instant later, dozens of tiny, jagged metal pieces
screamed through the air towards them.
Director Satoshi?
the three Robomen wondered at the same time.
"Vertex
Shield!"
Sei cried. He stepped forward as the translucent blue
shield materialised and attached itself to his right
arm. Each of Chojin Robo's flechettes struck the
shield and was deflected back toward the ground.
"I'm not here
for you anyway," Chojin Robo said. "You.
You." He pointed at the two soldiers guarding
the front of the building. "Where's the Eternity
Changer at?"
The soldiers
trembled as they stared at one another. Neither of
them wanted to be responsible for putting their cargo
at risk; yet, at the same time, neither of them
wanted to die.
"Come on, guys.
Give me the Eternity Changer, and I'll leave
you and your city in one gnarly piece, okay?" He
waited for a response. Then "Ow!"
Chojin Robo felt
some of the more fragile components of his complex
mechanical system begin to fail, but he could see
nothing that might cause him any harm. The two
soldiers were frozen to the spot. There was no sound
or flash of light to suggest that there had been an
explosion. Finally, he looked up.
"Stop
that!" he said. "Seriously!"
"What need do
you have for the Eternity Changer?" Sei
asked.
Chojin Robo laughed,
and it occurred to Kiko for the first time how human
the robot sounded. Buki Robo's voice had been
similarly natural. She thought a robot's
voice was tinny, mechanical or monotonous - but she
knew that if she could not see for herself that
Chojin Robo was, indeed, a robot, she could have
easily assumed his humanity.
"That's not
really any of your business, little buddy!"
Chojin Robo replied. "Now, do you want to quit
with the fighting stuff?"
"No," Sei
replied.
"Then this is
your own fault, pal o' mine!"
Chojin Robo jumped
into the air... but he did not come back down. He
moved higher and higher, far above the heads of the
Robomen, and then pointed his arms downward at his
quarry. Red energy crackled around his fingertips
and, suddenly, the building beneath the Robomen
collapsed.
"Phase
Three!
Go Robo
Vehicles!"
As
the Robomen fell, the metal components that formed
their armour separated from their bodies and hovered
in the air before them. In seconds, the metal bent,
shifted, expanded and fused together to form three
large vehicles - the yellow Lightning Jet, red Flame
Tank and blue Water Cutter.
Sei
reached out and wrapped his fingers around his
friends' hands and blue mist began to swirl around
them. A moment later, they appeared inside the
cockpits of their respective vehicles, and turned
their attention back to Chojin Robo.
["Yellow
Robo!"] Sei called out. ["Bring Chojin Robo
closer to the ground!"]
["Okay!"]
Kiko replied.
The
Lightning Jet took to the air and swooped erratically
around Chojin Robo's floating form. Kiko found the
jet unusually difficult to control and, she
remembered, it was not the first time she had
struggled to use her Roboman equipment - one week
earlier, she had tried to summon her Electro Blaster.
It had taken a long time to appear and, when she was
able to use it, it seemed sluggish.
The
jet was responding in a similar way. It seemed an
effort to move higher into the air and an even greater
effort to attract Chojin Robo's attention and
lure him back to the ground.
"You
guys can fly?" Chojin Robo remarked.
"That's pretty cool! But can you get big? Hardware
Upgrade!"
Red
energy - the same energy that destroy the building on
which the Robomen had been standing - covered Chojin
Robo's body and, in an instant, the seven-foot-tall
robot was replaced by one almost five hundred feet
tall.
"Ah,
looks like I don't have enough fuel left to
fly," Chojin Robo said as he slowly settled back
onto the ground. "Dang."
["We
need Gattai Robo,"] Ikku said.
Sei
pressed several buttons on the Alert Bracer strapped
to his left wrist and, a second later, Cog's voice
echoed through the cockpits of the Robo Vehicles: "Robo
Fusion!"
"Robo
Fusion!" the Robomen repeated in
unison.
Suddenly,
the Water Cutter split horizontally down the middle
and folded apart to form a pair of black and blue
legs and a strong black 'pelvis'. Then the turret of
the Flame Tank lifted off as the rest of the tank
split in half. The turret connected to the Water
Cutter 'pelvis' to form a red 'spine', and the two
remaining pieces of the Flame Tank became red and
black arms. The wings of the Lightning Jet folded
back, leaving the jet looking like a solid
rectangular block with a nosecone attached. The block
settled on top of Gattai Robo's 'pelvis' and in front
of its 'spine' to form a yellow torso and the
nosecone folded backwards as though it were a hood,
revealing the black and grey head of the robot.
The
cockpits of the three vehicles merged together; walls
disappeared, leaving the three Robomen in one room,
sitting before three separate control panels.
"We
should end this quickly," Ikku said. "We
can't let Chojin Robo do to London what Shellshock
did to New Orleans."
"Yeah!"
Kiko agreed. "Did you notice the way he speaks?
It sounds like he's trying to be American!"
Sei
nodded.
"I
agree," he said. "Perhaps it was an attempt
to gain the favour of the American soldiers
transporting the Eternity Changer?"
"Whatever
he was doing," Ikku said, "we need to stop
him now. Chaos Sword!"
There
was a flash of blue light and the translucent-red
bladed Chaos Sword materialised in Ikku's right hand;
in the same instant, a proportionally larger version
of the weapon appeared in Gattai Robo's hand. Ikku
swung his sword forward, and the robot copied his
movements precisely.
"A
sword?" Chojin Robo asked. "I'm so over
this!"
Chojin
Robo lunged forward and Gattai Robo stepped back. The
robot needed room in which to move its sword. It took
several steps away from its attacker before swinging
the sword forward and slicing a grove across Chojin
Robo's right wing.
"Do
it again - make an 'X'!" Chojin Robo said.
"I've always wanted a tattoo!"
Ikku
did as he was asked, but as Gattai Robo swung the
sword forward again, Chojin Robo reached out with
both hands and clapped one palm to each side of the
blade. He held on tight and pushed as hard as he
could. Gattai Robo could not help but move backwards,
its metal feet tearing up the asphalt, concrete and
earth beneath it.
"Electro
Blaster!" Kiko shouted.
That
was a blue flash and, after a moment's delay, the
handgun-sized yellow Electro Blaster appeared in her
left hand; and just like the Chaos Sword, a second,
larger version of the weapon was carried by Gattai
Robo.
Kiko
stood and took careful aim at Chojin Robo's right
arm. She concentrated, focussed and pulled the
trigger. Nothing emerged from the barrel of her own
weapon but, outside, two large beams of yellow energy
streaked from the Electro Blaster toward Chojin Robo
and hit their target perfectly. The robot's left arm
began to shrink, back to its original size.
"Oh
no you didn't!" Chojin Robo yelled. He turned
his right hand into a fist and firmly grasped the
Chaos Sword. With one strong pull he yanked the
weapon free from Gattai Robo's hand and twisted it
around so he could wield it against his multi-colured
foe.
"Red
Robo!" Sei said. "Depower the Chaos
Sword!"
Ikku
shook his head.
"I
don't know how!" he cried. "Don't they just
disappear when we're done?"
He
moved the Chaos Blade in his hand and Gattai Robo's
free right arm copied the movement; but the larger
weapon, still in Chojin Robo's grasp, did not move.
"Haha!"
Chojin Robo laughed happily. "Missing this? I
tell ya, Satoshi never would have expected this! He
just wanted me to distract you all while that
Guardian guy went after the Changer. This
sword might get me some decent upgrades, y'dig?"
He
took a step forward and slowly waved the Chaos Sword
meters in front of Gattai Robo.
"Yellow
Robo!" Sei said loudly.
"Right!"
Kiko replied.
She
quickly aimed the Electro Blaster at Chojin Robo's
left arm. She pulled the trigger and again, two solid
beams of yellow energy struck the robot's large arm.
Suddenly, Chojin Robo stopped moving completely.
"What
did he mean he was just trying to distract us?"
Kiko asked. "Who's Guardian?"
"Director
Satoshi is working on a project called Operation:
Guardian," Sei replied. "They must be
related."
He
scanned the horizon for any sign of the two vans that
had left the area minutes earlier. Through Gattai
Robo's eyes he was able to stop them both, only a few
kilometres away. They were heading in separate
directions but still remained close... and neither
one appeared to be under attack.
"Red
Robo, reclaim the - "
Before
Sei could finish speaking, the cockpit of Gattai Robo
was filled with flickering blue and yellow energy.
Suddenly, the three Robo Vehicles separated. The
Water Cutter crashed onto its side in the middle of
the road, a few feet from the edge of the Thames. The
Flame Tank appeared upside-down on top of the
rubble-like ruins of the building Chojin Robo had
destroyed - but the Lightning Jet was nowhere to be
seen.
Kiko
appeared in a shimmering rain of blue energy on top
of the overturned Flame Tank. The disappearance of
the Lightning Jet had not restored the metal
components of her Roboman armour. Something was
wrong, she knew that - but she had no idea what.
["Yellow
Robo!"] Sei shouted. ["You have depleted
your robosuit's store of jera energy. You
are no good to us here. Leave Chojin Robo to us - go
find the Eternity Changer and keep it
safe!"]
"Sei,
I - " Kiko began to reply.
["Kiko,
if you stay here you'll be in too much danger,"]
Ikku said. ["Please..."]
["If
you concentrate,"] Sei added, ["you may be
able to run quickly enough to catch one of the vans,
just as you were able to move with superhuman speed
when we first encountered Shellshock."]
"What...?"
Kiko
thought hard, but was only barely able to remember
what Sei was talking about. She remembered, after
seeing Ikku in danger on television, moving with
speed she had never expected to find and save him,
but she thought it was only her perception of
time being affected by stress. If Sei had noticed it,
too...
KRRRWWWH--!
Kiko
heard metal bending as Chojin Robo slowly began to
stir.
["Kiko,
go,"] Ikku said. ["Leave this to us!"]
Kiko
nodded, dropped over the side of the Flame Tank and
ran down the street.
London's
a big city, she thought, and I have no idea
where the vans are. What if -
Kiko's
thoughts were interrupted as the world around her
turned dark. She did not panic; something very
similar had happened when she first attempted a henshin
into Yellow Robo. Again, she could see the
patterns of circuitry embedded in her skin and the
yellow jera energy moving inside her - but
this time, similar patterns appeared outside her
body. The roads, streets, rivers and channels of
London appeared like a grid around her. Bright shapes
represented what she recognised as street lights,
cars, computers... everything machanical in the area
shone brightly on the grid and, not far away, she
could see two shapes closely resembling the vans she
had seen depart earlier.
She
memorised their location and began to run. The
darkness faded back into light and the world became
far more easily recognisable, until the jera
energy flared around her and, once again, Kiko
was moving far more quickly than she ever imagined.
