New Orleans
"ACHOO!"
Ikku sneezed loudly in the dark room behind the
restaurant area of the busy 'Hey, Pizza!' pizza shop.
"ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!" He paused
and took a deep breath, and shot a quick glance at
Kageki, who was laying on the couch in the centre of
the room with the back of his left hand pressed
against his forehead. "ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!"
Before Ikku could
sneeze again, the heavy plastic doors separating the
back room from the rest of the restaurant burst open
and Trick, dressed in all black except for a dirty
white apron wrapped around his body, stormed inside.
"What's going
on back here?" he asked.
"Ugh..."
Ikku stumbled towards him. "I'm really
sick, Trick..." He wiped the top of his right
hand across his nose. "I need some fresh air,
before I make you and everyone else around here sick
too." He pointed at Kageki. "And poor
Kageki... he's not feeling too well himself, being
stuck back here with me. I'd hate for him to go back
out there and make all your customers sick..."
Kageki coughed
loudly.
Trick sighed.
"I know what
you're trying to do, Ikku," he said, "and
it won't work. All of the customers have left.
Apparently Gattai Robo told everyone to flee the
city, or he would step on them."
Ikku raised an
eyebrow. "Really?"
He lifted the Alert
Bracer strapped to his left wrist up to eye level and
pressed a sequence of buttons. After a moment's
pause, Kiko's voice clearly came through the device's
built-in speaker.
"Ikku?
What's wrong?"
"I was about to
ask you the same thing. Any luck with Gattai
Robo?"
"Not yet -
and I think we may have started a little riot, but
it's nothing we can't handle!"
"Okay. I'm here
- ACHOO! - if you need me."
"We won't.
Get some rest, and do whatever Kageki tells
you!"
"Sure thing, mom."
He pressed another button on the Alert Bracer to end
his communication with Kiko, then turned his
attention back to Trick. "See? Everything's
under control. You should just let me take Kageki
home, and then I'll - "
"Let you?"
Trick repeated. "I'm not your babysitter. If
you're sick, you need to get some rest, but I'm not
going to tie you down. As for Kageki - " he
stared at the boy for a moment " - I don't see
any reason for him to stick around, if I don't have
any customers to serve."
Kageki sprang to his
feet.
"Thank you,
Trick-san!" he shouted excitedly. He rushed
forward and, taking Ikku's hand, ushered him through
the plastic doors and out into the street beyond the
deserted restaurant. The usually-busy street was
equally empty.
"I want to see
Gattai Robo!" Kageki cried. "Can - "
"No," Ikku
answered before Kageki even finished the question.
"You said you'd help me find the robot, and
that's what we're going to do. That's all, Kageki."
"But - "
"I don't have
to take you with me."
Kageki opened his
mouth to argue, then closed it again.
"Yes,
Ikku-sama..." he said finally.
Chojin Robo swooped
low over the city of New Orleans, its broad,
jet-black wingspan concealing an equally black-clad
figure. Tightly strapped to the underside of the
six-foot-long robot was Damien Sinclair, the former
Science Island guard captain also known as
'Guardian'.
"Do you see
anything, Chojin?" Guardian asked as they sped
across the roof of a large office building.
"Nothing!"
Chojin Robo replied. "And I mean nothing! This
whole city's deserted!"
"Does that
surprise you? Mochi Robo did grow to giant-size and
attack the Robomen right here less than twenty-four
hours ago."
"So? Dude, when
I fought the Robomen in London, I didn't see
that city being evacuated!"
"Yeah, well,
when you fought the Robomen they were
obviously going to win."
"Low blow,
man!"
Damien Sinclair
rolled his eyes and pointed down at a large, flat
rooftop only a few dozen feet away. He liked being
partnered with Chojin Robo, both due to the robot's
ability to transform from a six-foot-tall, black
humanoid form into a sleek but small fighter jet
configuration and his friendly personality.
What he didn't like
about Chojin Robo was his over-the-top attempts at
speaking like an American; he knew Chojin Robo had no
say in the matter - it was part of his programming,
in an attempt by Director Satoshi to make the
American soldiers guarding the Earth
Defence/Leadership Directorate laboratories in London
feel more safe around the robot - but it still
irritated him, and his attempts to 'train' the robot
to speak differently had not met with much success.
Chojin Robo landed
gently on the flat surface and released the clamps
holding Guardian in place, which freed him to
return to his own winged robot form. Quietly, they
approached the edge of the rooftop and gazed down
into the street below.
"Look,"
Guardian whispered.
He pointed to
something several meters down the road, but Chojin
Robo needed no help in finding the object of
Guardian's attention. Standing still in the centre of
the road was the massive mechanical form of Gattai
Robo, surrounded by several police vehicles.
"Good, it's
still frozen," Guardian remarked. He reached
into his pocket and retrieved a black balaclava. He
slid it over his head, rendering his body - except
for the small area around his eyes visible through
the balaclava's eye slits - entirely black.
"Chojin, wait
here and keep an eye on them while I search for Mochi
Robo," Guardian ordered. "If Gattai Robo
moves even an inch, I want you to find me. I don't
want to be disturbed by the Robomen. Do you
understand?"
"Yes, sir, Mr.
Guardian, sir!" Chojin Robo saluted his partner,
but Guardian did not return the gesture. Instead, he
ran to the opposite edge of the rooftop and dropped
out of sight.
Kiko pressed her
face against the wall of Gattai Robo's large cockpit
and stared out at the scene surrounding the giant
robot. Only a few minutes earlier there had been
hundreds of people gathered around the base of Gattai
Robo, gawking at what they must have considered a
modern wonder; but they had fled, leaving only
patient police officers stationed within their
vehicles, watching for any sign of action from Gattai
Robo or its occupants.
"Um, Sei?"
Kiko beckoned to her companion in the blue robosuit,
who was closely examining one of the control panels
on the far side of the cockpit. "Look at
this!"
Sei hurried to her
side and peered out into the area surrounding them.
"Yes, Miss
Sato?" He saw nothing that he did not expect
to see, so he turned to Kiko with an expresiion
of puzzlement on his face. "What am I looking
at?"
"Is it just me,
or are there a lot more police watching us now?"
Kiko inquired. "I only counted four cars when
the crowd was gathered, but now I see nine."
Sei took another
look.
"You are
correct."
"But... why?
Wouldn't it make more sense to have more police
present when the crowd was still here?"
Sei nodded.
"Perhaps they
are preparing for action of some sort." He
glanced back at the control panel he had been working
at, and the two-inch tall robot that was perched on
top of it. "Cog?"
Cog did not look up
as she responded with "Yes, Sei?"
"Are the
modifications ready?" he asked.
"Yes!" Cog
replied.
Sei calmly crossed
the cockpit and returned to the control panel, where
he took hold of the controls and began to
concentrate.
"Miss
Sato," he said. "You should hold onto
something solid."
Kiko hurried back to
her own control station and gripped it firmly. As she
watched, Sei's body began to glow brightly with blue
energy, which lit up the entire chamber.
"Vertex
Seal!" he
shouted.
The raido energy
flooded from his body and into the control
panel; outside, similar energy swirled around Gattai
Robo's legs and into the solid ground. There, it
pooled until it formed an almost perfect circle, with
Gattai Robo in the centre. The energy then rocketed
skyward, cascading in gravity-defying torrents over
Gattai Robo's frozen form and, to the surprise of the
police officers watching the massive machine, Gattai
Robo vanished, leaving only a shimmering rain of blue
light in its wake.
A moment passed;
then, Gattai Robo reappeared three blocks down the
road, Mochi Robo's viscous brown goo still freezing
it in its vulnerable pose.
"Whoa...!"
Kiko gasped. "What was that?"
"An unnecessary
expenditure of raido energy," Sei
replied, "and one I cannot attempt again. I have
barely enough raido shards left to ensure
our ability to summon the Robo Vehicles once more,
assuming we manage to free Gattai Robo from its
current state."
"And we don't
have enough kenez shards to manipulate
reality to free us," Kiko stated, "and we
can't go outside and use the Electro Blaster of Robo
Defender without revealing our identities to the
police."
"No," Sei
agreed. "We were lucky that Cog was able to
teleport you inside this morning."
"What else can
we do?" Kiko asked.
"Find the robot
that attacked us," Sei replied, "and force
it to release Gattai Robo."
Kiko nodded.
"Someone needs to stay here to - wait, do you
hear that?"
Sei and Kiko quickly
approached the wall of the cockpit and looked
outside. The police cars that had earlier surrounded
Gattai Robo were moving into place around their new
location; and more had joined them. Kiko counted
fifteen, in plain view, and suspected there may be
others hidden down side streets and alleyways.
"What are they
planning? Don't they know we're all on the same
side?" she wondered aloud. "We helped them
when Miko robbed that bank!"
"We did, but now
we stand in the centre of their city, with the power
to destroy everything they have sworn to
protect," Sei told her. "Their fear is only
natural."
Ikku and Kageki
slowly scoured the streets in the area surrounding
Ikku's fight with the small robot, looking for any
sign of its whereabouts. They could find no evidence
that the robot had been anywhere in the city. It was
only when they reached the tiny alleyway behind the
shopping centre where Kiko worked and saw dried
stains in the pavement, the aftermath of the robot's
messy assault on Ikku, that they knew for certain
they were even in the right area.
"Hmmmm..."
Ikku rubbed his chin as he carefully examined the
alleyway. Remembering that the robot attacked from
above, he made certain that it was not waiting to
attack again. "I don't see anything... and
it could be anywhere by now. What about you,
Kageki?"
Kageki shrugged.
"I don't see - watch out, Ikku-sama!"
Ikku stared at the
boy for a long moment before following his gaze to a
nearby rooftop. At first, he could not see what was
going on - only the tinny clang! of metal
striking metal told him that there was even anything to
see; but as he backed toward Kageki he saw the
tiny robot's flailing arms as it struck repeatedly at
a man covered in black from head-to-toe. He carried a
long metal rod which he spun deftly between himself
and the small robot, keeping it from striking his
body.
Finally, with one
resounding, powerful blow, the man brought the rod
down on the small robot's back, knocking from the
roof. It fell silently into the alleyway and hit the
ground with a loud crash! but still, it was
not badly damaged. It dragged itself to its feet and
stared long and hard at Ikku and Kageki.
"Uh...
hi?" Ikku waved slowly at the small robot.
"Remember me?"
The robot tilted its
head to the side as if trying to remember where it
had seen Ikku before, but it was soon distracted by
the reappearance of the man in black. Somehow, he had
reached the ground and rounded the corner into the
alley, pointing his weapon directly at the robot's
back.
Whose side am I
on here? Ikku wondered.
The man struck at
the robot, which tried desperately to scramble to
Ikku and Kageki at the opposite end of the alleyway.
As it crawled across the ground, the man swung at it
again and again, missing as often as he hit it, but
hitting often enough to tear thin strips of metal
from the robot's limbs.
"Stop it!"
Kageki shouted. "You're hurting him!"
"Hey!"
Ikku shouted. "Whose side are you on?
He hurt me, remember?"
Kageki didn't
listen.
"Come fight
someone your own size!" he shouted.
"Stay out of
this," the man said simply. "Mochi Robo is
my problem, not yours."
The robot dragged
itself to Ikku's feet and stood up. It looked
pleadingly at Kageki and pointed at the man attacking
it. Ikku knew that the robot had to be
stopped, somehow - it had done enough damage, not
just to Gattai Robo, but to the city itself. Still,
the desperation in its mechanical eyes told him that
something wasn't right; that maybe the man in black
was a more significant threat.
"Hand it
over," the man said.
"No," Ikku
told him. "Not until you tell me who you are and
why - "
"I don't have
to tell you anything, Roboman. Hand it over, and
maybe I'll give you the key to freeing your own robot."
Ikku smiled.
"If you know who I am, then that make this a lot
easier!" He stuck his arms directly out to the
side, then raised them above his head and shouted "Let's
go, Robo!"
Nothing happened.
"What
the...?" Then it dawned on him - Gattai Robo was
the combined form of the metal components of his
Roboman armour. While Gattai Robo was frozen in
place, he could not henshin. But I still
have my -
"Chaos
Sword!"
As he finished
speaking, blue energy crackled around his hand and he
felt the familiar hilt of the translucent-red-bladed
weapon form between his fingers. He gripped it
tightly as the raido energy faded and drew
it across his body, between himself and his opponent.
"I don't have
time for this," the other man said. He reached
into his pocket and withdrew several small, jagged
pieces of metal, each enclosed in a semi-transparent
red capsule. He threw them hard against the ground,
where they exploded with a flash of kenez energy.
When the red, sparkling light faded, the man
stood surrounded by half a dozen robots each roughly
the same height as Ikku.
He recognised them
immediately.
"Gears..."
he muttered.
"Ikku-sama!"
Kageki shouted. "I am going to take Mochi -
"
"No!" Ikku
shouted. "Stay right here! I can't have you -
"
Ikku was going to
say 'putting yourself in any danger', but as the
Gears advanced, forcing him to concentrate on
protecting himself rather than reprimanding his young
charge, he realised it was far too late for that. The
Gears and their master were not going to be satisfied
with fighting him alone - the machines saw three
targets in the alleyway, and their age or penchant
for compassion meant nothing to them.
The Gears moved
closer, and Ikku swung his Chaos Sword in one broad
stroke, forcing them to take a step back.
"Kageki! Stay
close!"
He swung his sword
again and tried to move away from them, but stopped
when he felt Mochi Robo's cold, metal limbs against
the back of his leg. The robot wasn't moving, so they
could not flee without leaving it behind.
"Kageki - take
my Robo Rifle!" Ikku instructed.
Kageki nodded and
reached for the handgun-sized weapon held in a
leather holster strapped to Ikku's chest. He fumbled
with it for a moment, then aimed it directly at one
of the Gears.
"It only works
when you pull the trigger, Kageki...!"
The Gears kept their
distance as they tried to avoid Ikku's swinging blade
and waited to see what Kageki might do. He stepped
back until he was almost on top of Mochi Robo then,
taking careful aim at the nearest Gear, he slowly
squeezed the trigger. There was no loud explosion or
flash of light as the Robo Rifle did its work - just
a loud clatter as the Gear fell back against the hard
ground and shattered into dozens of pieces.
Confident that
Kageki was able to defend himself, Ikku jumped
forward and slashed at any Gears that came close. His
red blade cut through mechanical limbs and hacked
heavy chunks out of metal torsos, but it was not
strong enough to destroy them permanently; there were
only five of them, but as Ikku found himself needing
to strike more and more frequently, with an
increasing degree of force, he felt that there may as
well be five thousand.
Kageki was not
helping.
Several feet away,
the young man bent over Mochi Robo and spoke loudly,
directly into its unresponsive face. He asked the
robot why the Gears were attacking it, and why it
had attacked the city, but nothing that he said
prompted any sort of response... until Kageki started
laughing.
It started as a
soft, uncertain chuckle, but soon evolved into
full-blown, uncontrollable laughter. Mochi Robo's
face brightened, and the robot leaned forward,
exposing the round tank attached to its back to its
cheerful companion. Inside, Kageki could see a
woman's purse - the same purse that Mochi Robo had
snatched the day before - and beside it, three
shimmering red stones.
"Pikapika!"
Mochi Robo exclaimed.
"Pikapika!"
Kageki responded gleefully. He reached inside the
tank and withdrew the items. He tossed the purse into
the corner of the alleyway and pocketed the red
stones, then turned back to check on Ikku. Only one
Gear remained standing, and the man in black had not
moved at all.
With a sudden,
energetic thrust, Ikku pierced the Gear's thick metal
body with his Chaos Sword. The Gear stopped moving
and slumped against the red blade, and fell to the
ground as Ikku pulled his weapon free.
Finally, the man in
black spoke.
"Well
done," he said. "After what happened to you
in the Amazon, I really thought the Gears
would be enough to take care of you."
"How do you
know what happened in the Amazon?" Ikku
asked. "I - ACHOO!"
While Ikku recovered
from his sudden sneeze, the man in black rushed
forward. He raised his metal rod and pressed it hard
against Ikku's chest. He continued to move forward,
pushing Ikku further and further back, until the
red-garbed Roboman's back was pressed hard against
the alley wall.
Ikku dropped his
Chaos Sword, which disappeared in a cloud of blue raido
energy as it touched the ground. The man in
black was strong; the pressure on his chest was
enormous. He struggled to breathe as his attacker put
more and more of his weight behind his attack... but
he was not defeated yet. He kicked out with his right
leg and swept it, like a scythe, through the other
man's legs.
The blow was not
enough to hurt Ikku's attacker, but it did
knock him briefly off-balance. Ikku raised both hands
and held tightly onto the man's weapon, then lifted
his legs up and thrust them as hard as he could
against his assailant's stomach. The man staggered
back, and Ikku stepped away from the wall, breathing
heavily.
"Who... are...
you?" Ikku gasped.
"You can call
me Guardian," the man replied, "and count
yourself lucky that I'm not here for you. I'm taking
Mochi Robo and - "
"No!" Ikku
shouted. He rushed toward Guardian, but the effort
was futile. The black-clad warrior swung his metal
rod in a wide arc which struck Ikku's stomach hard.
Ikku fell to his knees, clutching his stomach even
though he knew it would not relieve the pain. Without
pausing, Guardian swung the rod around for a second
blow, which hit the lower part of Ikku's back -
almost the exact spot where Ikku had been injured
during his fight with Murray the Mosquito in the
Amazon rainforest one week earlier.
"Unnngh!"
Ikku groaned. He slumped forward and lay flat on the
cold ground, watching helplessly as Guardian stepped
over his body and approached Kageki. Despite what he
had just seen, or perhaps because of it,
Kageki made no effort to run away - instead, he
placed himself between Mochi Robo and the approaching
Guardian, and tightened his grip on the Robo Rifle.
"Stop where you
are!" he shouted. "He doesn't want to go
with you!"
Guardian shook his
head. "He doesn't have a choice."
He kept moving
forward, closer to his prey, and closer to the armed
Kageki.
"Please...
stop!" Kageki said again.
"No,"
Guardian replied.
"Sh..."
Ikku moaned. "Sh-shoot him!"
"He won't shoot
me," Guardian said, without slowing down.
"I-I
will!" Kageki said. He aimed the Robo Rifle at
Guardian's chest.
Guardian did not
stop, and a moment later he reached Kageki and Mochi
Robo. He ignored Kageki entirely and crouched beside
the battered robot. Mochi Robo began again to
desperately strike at Guardian with its metal limbs -
he hit the man's arms and back repeatedly, but it did
not stop Guardian from tinkering with something at
the back of Mochi Robo's head.
"Kageki!"
Ikku shouted as he pulled himself back onto his feet.
"Shoot him!"
"I-I-I -
!" Kageki stammered.
"Do it!"
"No!"
Kageki cried. He fell to his knees and tossed the
Robo Rifle aside. "I... can't!"
The robot stopped
attacking and fell into a heap at Guardian's feet.
"It's too late,
anyway," Guardian said. "I've done all that
I came to do."
He stood and began
to walk down the alleyway. Behind him, Kageki
scrambled over to the fallen robot and pulled it back
to its feet. He shook it violently, trying to
reactivate it - but nothing that he did made any
difference.
"Please,
Robo-san!" he cried. "Please...!"
Ikku made his way
over to Kageki and squatted beside his young friend.
He put his arm around Kageki's shoulders and gently
squeezed him.
"There's
nothing you can do..." he said softly.
At the end of the
alley, Guardian stopped and tilted his head back to
look at the sky. Ikku, too, stood and turned his
attention to the air. He could hear something - a
low, quiet roar, somewhere in the distance. As he
listened, the sound became louder, and its source
seemed to be coming closer.
Beneath Ikku, Kageki
reached into his pocket and withdrew one of the red
stones. Sobbing, he dropped it back into Mochi Robo's
tank and began to shake the robot.
"There!"
he shouted. "You have it back! Please...!"
Suddenly, a sleek
black jet streaked by overhead.
"Chojin...?"
Guardian wondered, but it was not his mechanical
partner. As two more jets flew by in its wake,
Guardian was sure of that, and he had no idea who had
sent them or why.
Ikku tapped Guardian
on the shoulder, and he turned quickly to face him.
"Friends of
yours?" Ikku asked.
"I don't want
to fight you, Roboman," Guardian said. "I
was here for Mochi Robo. I've done all that I came to
do. Don't make me hurt you again."
Ikku shook his head.
"I don't care
if you hurt me," he said, "but you've
hurt my friend, and that - "
RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT!
CLINK! CLANG! RAT-A-TAT-A-
The sound of gunfire
nearby caused Ikku to stop mid-sentence. He knew that
Gattai Robo was stuck only a few blocks from where he
stood, and in among the sounds of the fighters'
blazing weapons was the sound of metal striking metal
- he strongly suspected Gattai Robo was under attack.
"It sounds like
you're needed elsewhere," Guardian said.
"We'll have to finish this later."
He started to turn,
but suddenly froze. His eyes widened, and as the
alley walls were lit by bright-red energy, Ikku found
himself compelled to turn back to see the source of
the light.
Mochi Robo was
growing, and near the robot's massive feet was
Kageki. He had fallen back and was pulling himself
away from the robot as quickly as he could.
"Kageki!"
Ikku shouted. He rushed forward, but as Mochi Robo
began to move, to head out of the alleyway and into
the streets beyond, the ground shook and Ikku
struggled to keep his balance. He crouched low to the
ground and waited for the tremors to subside before
hurrying back to Kageki.
"I'm sorry,
Ikku-sama!" Kageki cried. "I thought if I
gave him back what he gave me..." He extended
his hand, palm upward, and showed Ikku the two
remaining red stones.
"Kenez
shards..." Ikku muttered.
"W-what?"
Kageki asked.
"I'll explain
later," Ikku told him. "You have to get out
of here. Go back to 'Hey, Pizza!'. Tell Trick -
"
"Wait."
Ikku fell silent as
Guardian spoke. The man stared down at Kageki, and
the two remaining kenez shards in his hand.
"You will need
your robot free if you are going to stop Mochi
Robo," Guardian said. "I can help you, but
I will need one of those kenez shards."
Ikku shook his head.
"No way."
"I don't think
the decision is yours to make," Guardian
replied. He continued to look at Kageki.
"I
don't..." Kageki began.
"Ikku-sama...!"
Ikku paused for a
moment before replying.
"He's
right," he said. "It's up to you."
"Do you promise
to help Gattai Robo?" Kageki asked.
"I
promise," Guardian answered.
Kageki looked from
Ikku to Guardian and back again, then nodded. He
handed one of the kenez shards to Guardian,
who took it and quickly ran off into the streets
beyond the alley.
"Come on,"
Ikku said. "You'll be safer inside Gattai Robo
than out here in the open. Let's go..."
"Wait!"
Kageki hurried over
to the corner of the alleyway and picked up both the
Robo Rifle and the stolen purse, then returned to
Ikku and followed him through the busy streets to
where a defenceless Gattai Robo stood, surrounded by
police cars and the three swooping jet fighters.
Ikku raised his
Alert Bracer and pressed a sequence of buttons, then
spoke into its large speaker. "Cog, this is
Ikku! I have more kenez shards! Teleport us
up there and we can free Gattai Robo!"
"Us?"
Cog asked.
"I have Kageki
with me," Ikku told her.
There was no
response, but a moment later Ikku's eyes were drawn
to a shimmering blue glow at his feet. He glanced
down and saw Cog's tiny body materialise between
himself and Kageki. He moved closer to the other boy
and waited while Cog took hold of one of each of the
boys' shoelaces and concentrated. Almost instantly he
became aware of his new surroundings, inside the
large cockpit of Gattai Robo.
Ikku paused and took
a long, deep breath as the last of the fading raido
energy dissipated around him, but Kageki needed
no time to adjust after the shock of teleportation.
He ran to the front of the cockpit and stared out
into the city.
"Wow!" he
cried, but as one of the jets flew past and unleashed
another volley of gunfire against Gattai Robo's
armoured hide he felt the need to pull himself back.
"Here."
Ikku handed the small kenez shard to Sei.
"Will that do?"
"No," Sei
replied simply. "The robot's numeri fluid is too
strong. This will weaken its hold, at best."
"Maybe that's
enough!" Kiko said. "If the kenez
energy can weaken it while we use Gattai Robo's
strength to try to pull it free..."
"It still will
not be enough," Sei told her. "We will need
a strong blow from outside."
As if in response to
Sei's remark, Chojin Robo's massive form appeared in
the street outside. It raised its arms and swung at
the fighter jets, ignoring the bullets fired from the
police at the ground, and approached Gattai Robo.
"Hey,
guys!" Chojin Robo said loudly. "The boss
said you might need a hand... so here I am! And as
you can see, I can actually give you a hand,
which is a big deal after what you did to me in
London..."
["We could use
your help!"] Ikku spoke through Gattai Robo's
massive mouth. ["We don't have enough kenez
energy to break free, and those jets are doing
more damage with every pass - "]
"Say no
more!"
Chojin Robo reached
forward and clawed at the thick, sticky goo, but it
did not budge.
["Wait. We're
going to use the energy we do have to weaken
it,"] Ikku said. ["When you see the red -
"]
"Got'cha!"
The three Robomen
approached their control stations and began to focus
their attention on controlling Gattai Robo. Sei's
fingers danced across the controls for Gattai Robo's
legs, forcing the robot to strain against the liquid
which bonded it to the ground; Kiko controlled its
arms, forcing it to pull at the slime which fixed one
arm to its chest; and Ikku began to concentrate as
hard as he could.
Red kenez energy
surrounded Ikku's hands and as he concentrated,
the same bright red glow that marked the energy's use
inside Gattai Robo surrounded the outside of the
robot as well. Mochi Robo's numeri fluid began to
harden and crack, and Chojin Robo moved forward to
strike at the brittle substance again. His fingers
fell into the grooves that had opened in the
now-solid substance, but still, Gattai Robo could not
be freed.
"What else can
we do?" Kiko asked. "We have nothing
else!"
"The Robo
Defender," Sei replied. "Its added power
should be enough to release us."
"But who -
?"
Kiko eyes settled on
Kageki, who watched the Robomen from the corner of
the cockpit.
"Kageki..."
she said slowly.
"No!" Ikku
shouted. "We can't put him in danger. He's...
already been through enough."
"We have no
alternative," Sei said. "Cog is too small
to wield the Robo Defender and it would take too long
to adjust Gattai Robo's controls to allow her to take
over here. Time is of the essence - the kenez
energy will soon be spent."
"No," Ikku
repeated.
There was a moment
of silence.
"Ikku-sama..."
Kageki began. "I can do it."
Ikku shook his head.
"No. I never should have taken you with
me."
"But you
did," Kageki replied. "I am here now."
Kiko and Sei turned
to Ikku.
"Red Robo, we
do not have much time," Sei reminded him.
"...
okay," Ikku said, "but only because we have
no choice."
"Vertex
Shield."
Sei said.
"Electro
Blaster."
Kiko added.
"Nnngh!"
Ikku grunted. The strain of controlling the kenez
energy was taking its toll. "Chaos
Sword!"
Raido energy sparkled
around each of the Robomen's hands as the translucent
blue Vertex Shield, yellow Electro Blaster and
red-bladed Chaos Sword shimmered into existence. Kiko
took the Chaos Sword from Ikku's hand and inserted it
through a slot in the centre of the Vertex Shield,
then slid the barrel of her own weapon over the hilt
of the Chaos Sword.
"Whoa...!"
Kageki whispered.
"You will need
to fire it from outside," Sei told him.
"Cog will teleport you. Aim the Robo Defender at
the solidified numeri fluid, pull the trigger and say
'Robo Defender, Slash Containment Burst!'. Do you
understand?"
Kageki nodded and
stood beside Cog. The tiny robot placed her hands on
Kageki's and concentrated - and a few seconds later
they re-appeared on Gattai Robo's shoulder. Cog
climbed into Kageki's pocket and braced herself as
the young man struggled to keep his balance so far
above the ground.
"Do it!"
she shouted.
"Yes!"
Kageki called back. "Robo Defender,
Slash Containment Burst!"
He squeezed the
trigger on the Electro Blaster, and the area
surrounding Gattai Robo turned pitch black. A spark
of red energy sped from the Electro Blaster and along
the Chaos Sword, then burst from the sword's tip like
a fireball to strike the numeri fluid and combine
with the kenez energy that was already
bombarding it.
The
solid mass began to crack further as more and more of
the Robo Defender's energy poured into it and Chojin
Robo continued to pull the substance away from Gattai
Robo until, with a sudden surge of strength, Chojin
Robo tore the last of the fluid away. Gattai Robo
shook violently, and Kageki fell from the robot's
shoulder even as the Robo Defender vanished.
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
Kageki screamed as he plummeted towards the ground.
He did not stop screaming even as Chojin Robo plucked
him delicately from the air and placed him on a
nearby rooftop, only a few meters away from Guardian.
"I
told you I would help," Guardian said, "and
I always keep my word. Remember that."
Kageki
smiled.
Inside
the cockpit of Gattai Robo, the three Robomen
struggled to keep the giant robot balanced as the
airborne jets and ground bound police continued to
fire upon it.
"We
can't fight them," Ikku said. "It isn't
right. They're just doing their job."
"I
don't think we have to worry about them!" Kiko
said. "Look!"
She
pointed into the distance, where Mochi Robo was
slowly trundling forward.
"I
can handle the sticky dude!" Chojin Robo told
them. "You guys had better git while the
gittin's good!"
"Red
Robo?" Sei asked.
"I
don't know that we can trust Chojin Robo around these
people," Ikku replied.
"We
are dangerously low on eternity energy. This
may be our one chance to escape," Sei said.
"But
- "
"I
don't like it either, Ikku!" Kiko interrupted.
"But Sei's right. If we stay here, we might as
well still be stuck with the numeri fluid!"
"Okay,"
Ikku conceded. "Let's go."
Gattai
Robo turned in the middle of the street and began to
hurry out of the city. The fighter jets arced around
to give chase, but Chojin Robo was soon upon them -
his boot jets ignited, sending a blast of hot air
onto the road below, melting the asphalt and sending
the police officers scattering in all directions. He
flew between the jets and the fleeing robot and, when
he was sure that the Robomen had made it a safe
distance away and allowed their Robo Vehicles to
re-form first into their metal armour, and then back
into the circuity embedded beneath their skin, he
moved forward and tackled Mochi Robo around the
waist.
He
focussed while his body, and that of the silent
robot, were bathed in the last of the energy
remaining within the small kenez shard he
had been given by Guardian. The two robots rapidly
shrank and fell to the ground hundreds of feet from
the site of the battle, out of view of the police
officers on the ground and the jets hovering
overhead.
The
Robomen and Chojin Robo had escaped - and on that
day, at least, it meant they had won.
Later
Kageki
walked through the front door of 'Hey, Pizza!' with
the stolen purse over his shoulder and Cog in his
right hand. The store was no longer deserted, but it
was by no means busy - Trick carried a tray
containing two large pizzas and a bottle of soft
drink to the one occupied table, where two policemen,
their faces streaked black from exposure to the smoke
following the ignition of Chojin Robo's boot jets,
sat discussing the once-in-a-lifetime events of the
previous two days.
He
walked through the plastic doors at the back of the
restaurant and made his way into the back room, where
he found Ikku sitting alone on the couch, staring
blankly at a news report of the day's events.
When
he heard the plastic doors brushing against each
other, Ikku looked up and exclaimed:
"Kageki!"
He jumped to his feet and rushed over to the younger
man, who carefully placed Cog down on the desk to the
left of the doors. "Are you okay?"
Kageki
smiled and nodded.
"I
never should have put you in danger like that. I'm an
adult, even if I don't always act like
it..."
Kageki
shook his head. He stepped forward, wrapped his arms
around Ikku's waist, and pressed his cheek against
the older man's chest. "Thank you."
Ikku
smiled. "You're thanking me? For what?"
"For
letting me help," Kageki replied. "And for
looking after me."
"What
do you - ?" Ikku began to ask, but stopped
himself when he saw Cog vigorously shaking her head.
He placed his arms around Kageki and patted him
gently on the back, then pulled away. "Sei's
looking for you. I should tell him you're safe."
Kageki
nodded. Ikku pressed several buttons on his Alert
Bracer, and spoke quickly to Sei.
"He's
on his way back," Ikku said. "Now you've
got to tell me - what were you laughing about with
Mochi Robo?"
Kageki
grinned.
"I
realised what his name was!" he exclaimed.
"His
name? Mochi Robo? What's so - "
"Mochi
Robo!" Kageki repeated. He laughed.
"Oh! You're not Japanese!"
"I
can speak Japanese..." Ikku mumbled.
"'Mochi'
means 'sticky rice cake', but it also means
'wear'. That's why he stole the purse - so that he
had something to wear! 'Mochi' also means 'birdlime',
the sticky stuff used to trap birds in tree branches,
which is like the numeri fluid he used to trap Gattai
Robo. It can also mean 'keep possession' and
'charge'. That's why he stole the eternity shards.
He couldn't help stealing and the eternity shards
are what kept him charged!"
Ikku's
eyebrows arrowed together as he considered what
Kageki said. It sounded ridiculous, but it made
perfect sense.
"He
wasn't trying to hurt anyone, he was just doing what
he was programmed to do. He didn't know any better! I
just... thought it was funny. You were so worried
about finding him and - "
Ikku
smiled. Kageki blushed.
"What?"
he asked.
"I
never would have figured any of that out. Neither
would Sei. Kiko... maybe. I don't know what
we would have done without you today, Kageki."
Kageki
turned even more red.
"But...
what made him give you the purse, and the kenez
shards?"
"I
don't know!" Kageki said. He began to pace along
the back of the couch. He furrowed his brow and
rubbed his chin as he concentrated on finding an
answer to the question. "After we freed Gattai
Robo, Guardian told me that Mochi Robo had just had
an 'aritificial intelligence chip' implanted, but the
man who did it made a mistake. I think that's why he
couldn't speak properly. He just wanted someone to
know why he was doing the things he did and when I
worked it out..."
"...
he trusted you," Ikku said. "And he's not
the only one."
Kageki
turned and stared at Ikku with wide, bright eyes.
"Really?"
"Really."
"So...
I can be a Roboman?" Kageki asked.
"Sure!"
Ikku grinned. "You can be the Roboman who stays
back here and makes sure there's pizza waiting for us
when we get home. Just... don't make spinach and
broccoli again, please? I'd rather eat the numeri
fluid."
Midnight
// April 1st, 2010
Trick
finished wiping down the surfaces of the 'Hey,
Pizza!' kitchen and stood staring at Ikku, sitting
along by the store's front window. Sei and Kiko had
already gone to sleep in the cramped back room,
exhausted after the day's long events, but Trick
thought that sleep was the last thing on Ikku's mind.
He put away his cleaning equipment and sat opposite
Ikku. He gave Ikku time to speak, but when he
remained silent, Trick decided to start the
conversation himself.
"Kageki's
taken a liking to you." He smiled. "Trust
me, you get used to him... but it takes awhile."
Ikku
nodded absently. "Yeah. He's a good kid."
"He
is," Trick agreed. "A really good
kid, but he has his share of problems, and he doesn't
need you adding to them."
Ikku's
eyes widened and he looked directly at Trick.
"Excuse
me?"
"I've
known Kageki for a long time. I've never met anyone
so determined to please others," Trick
explained. "He doesn't know how to be
selfish, or to look out for himself. It would be easy
for someone to take advantage of him."
"What
are you getting at?"
"I
don't know you very well, Ikku. I don't know any of
you very well, but I have spent a lot more time with
Kiko, Sei and Cog than I have with you. What I do
know about you, though, tells me that you might
not be the best person for Kageki to look up
to."
Ikku's
face turned red, and he stood and threw his fists
down on the table in anger.
"Who
do you think you - "
"I
know your heart is in the right place, Ikku,"
Trick said. "I know you would never hurt Kageki
on purpose, but you need to think about whether your
attitude and your behaviour is the same type of
behaviour you want to see from him. And..."
Trick took a deep breath before continuing.
"Kageki has gone without a lot in his life. You
might want to consider whether your lifestyle might
cause him to lose a little bit more."
I
know exactly what you mean, Ikku thought. You're
asking me to think about how Kageki might react if I
got myself killed.
Ikku
did not respond.
"I'm
not attacking you, and I'm truly sorry if anything
I've said has come across that way, but Kageki's
welfare is very important to me. I know it matters to
you, too. Just think about what I've said." He
smiled again. "Okay?"
Ikku
nodded. Trick stood, walked out the door and locked
it behind him.
"ACHOO!"
Ikku reflexively wiped the back of his hand
across his nose but, for the first time, he looked at
his hand before wiping it onto his robosuit. There
was no mucus spread across his knuckles; instead, he
saw tiny, shimmering red dots.
Blood
- !
NEXT:
The lady's name is Katrina!
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,
the key to the Robo Team's victory was thinking
outside the square. When the obvious answers
weren't the right ones, they all had to think a
little bit differently in order to get out of their
sticky situation. Sometimes, that's the only way we
can win, and it looks like Kageki knows that better
than anyone!
Kageki
realised that sometimes things aren't always what
they seem; in this case, it was the alternative
meanings of a word there were important. In English,
many words have more than one meaning, but in most
cases the different meanings are closely related -
for example, 'gold' can refer to a specific metal
element, or a colour, the colour of gold!
In
Japanese, many words have more than one meaning and
sometimes, such as with Mochi, the meanings can be
very different!
Sometimes,
in any language, words may have only one meaning, but
can be used in a way that makes you think of
something else. These are called connotations. Even
the title of this story, 'Mochi Do About Something'
carries connotations!
It is a
reference to the title of play by Shakespeare: 'Much
Ado About Nothing'. While that title has a lot of
meanings, some of which are even meant to be funny,
it is usually taken to mean 'a big deal made about
nothing'. Out story was a pun - 'Mochi Do' sounds a
lot like 'Much Ado', and 'Mochi Do About Something'
means 'a big deal made about something that is a
big deal'!
People
who know the title of Shakespeare's play could read
the title of our story and guess about some of the
general themes and ideas it might contain. That's
good, but sometimes connotations can be bad - certain
words might have a perfectly innocent meaning, but
when you say them in a certain way, people can read
different meanings into it... like the use of 'Blood
- !' at the end of our story. Blood, by itself,
is innocent; but written in that way, it looks like
we, and Ikku, should be worried!
Even
when an answer or meaning looks obvious, it never
hurts to look at things from a different angle
to see if there might be something important that
you've missed!
See you
next time! ^_^
