New Orleans
"Nnnngh,"
Senshi groaned as he returned to consciousness. He
tried to open his eyes but, when confronted by a
bright light almost directly overhead, he quickly
squeezed them shut again. "Where am I?"
No-one answered, so
he tried, more cautiously than before, to open his
eyes again. They slowly adjusted to the light
streaming down from the light bulb hanging directly
over his face and he was soon able to make sense of
his surroundings.
He was home.
Not home home
- not the home he had, all too long ago, shared with
his sister Kiko and their parents, but his new home;
the small flat he was renting above a store in the
heart of New Orleans.
The two-room flat,
which consisted of one large room that he had
divided, himself, into clearly marked bedroom,
kitchen and general living areas and a separate
bathroom, contained almost no furniture. He was
laying on a very narrow, single bed, and from where
he lay he could see the small brown armchair and
black television which constituted his 'living room'.
The kitchen
contained only an oven, a refrigerator and a small
table for preparing and serving meals... and a noise.
A loud noise, the noise of someone slamming a
cupboard door shut.
"Unnngh!"
Senshi groaned again as he tried to sit up. His
stomach, arms and chest hurt more than he thought
they ever could. "Who's there?"
"Me," came
the simple reply, but he recognised the voice.
It was Sorceress
Miko, the pink-haired villain he had vowed to
capture. Suddenly, a torrent of images flooded his
mind. He remembered hiding inside Miko's home,
waiting to catch her as she returned from whatever
nefarious deeds she had been performing that day. He
confronted her, but they were soon both confronted
by a robot which had almost killed them both; and had
caused Senshi to be impaled by a giant metal spike.
Remembering his
injury, he glanced down at his body. Miko had removed
his coat and shirt, which lay in blood-stained
tatters beside his bed, but his torso was not
completely exposed. She had dressed his wounds with
gauze bandages - despite a lack of furniture,
Senshi's training had told him to make first aid a
top priority, and no matter where he lived
maintaining a first aid kit was the first thing he
did; Miko, he believed, had found his kit.
However, mixed in
which the white fabric was a thick, purple liquid -
and Senshi remembered, vaguely, Miko desperately
moving to recover a vial of similar liquid in the
moments before they fled from their attacker.
"Miko..."
The name barely
escaped his throat, but it was clear enough for the
sorceress to here. A moment later, she approached his
bed and knelt beside him. She smiled sweetly, then
pressed her fingers hard against his stomach.
"AAAARRRRRGHHH!"
Senshi screamed.
"Shut up,"
Miko told him. "You deserved it. You promised to
protect me once I teleported us to safety - but when I
woke up, you were unconscious. Some
protector you turned out to be."
"I had... metal
sticking through my stomach," Senshi reminded
her. He gently brushed his fingers across his
bandaged torso, and a small amount of the purple
fluid stuck to his hands."
"Your memory
must be hazy," Miko said. "Tejina Robo
removed the metal when it reformed its body. You're
just weak."
"Weak?"
Senshi raised his eyebrows. "I captured you...
once." It hurt to speak, but he was not going to
let her get away with an insult, no matter how minor.
"I would have again, if it wasn't for
Tejina."
"Maybe. I guess
we'll never know."
Senshi closed his
eyes and took a deep breath.
"What is this
purple liquid?" he asked. "I saw you...
with a vial of it. You called it an ansuz vial."
Miko sighed and
leaned her chin against the edge of Senshi's bed. He
looked into her face and saw that she was exhausted,
and wondered whether her decision to stay, and to
tend to his wounds, was because she wanted his help,
cared about him... or was simply too tired to look
for someone else to hide.
"You've
answered your own question. It is ansuz fluid.
It will help heal your wounds." Among other
things, she added silently.
"But what is
ansuz fluid?" Senshi asked. "And how
did you know where I live?"
Miko rolled her
eyes, then her eyelids began to droop.
"Some detective
you are," she said. "You have been
following me since you came to New Orleans. I've also
been following you. Rather, my Pixies
have."
"First of all,
I'm not a detective, I'm a security guard. Secondly,
why are you still here?" Senshi inquired.
"Why didn't you leave the moment you woke
up?"
"Because..."
Miko sighed. "Do you still give your word that
you will not take advantage of our fight with Tejina
Robo?"
"Yes,"
Senshi replied.
"I am still too
exhausted to teleport again, or contact my
allies," she told him. "I need to rest
further."
Senshi raised his
right hand and showed her his palm.
"I made you a
promise and I'll keep it," he said, "and I
couldn't do much to take you in now, even if I wanted
to. I'll hold off on capturing you until I've
recovered properly, but then, even another robot
attack won't save you."
Miko smiled, and
slowly pulled herself away from Senshi's bed.
"I could just
kill you now."
She reached into her
pocket and withdrew a long, curved dagger. She leaned
forward and ran its tip lightly over Senshi's exposed
chest, and he did nothing to stop her.
"I knew
it," she smiled and leaned forward again, until
she was practically on top of her injured foe. She
dropped the dagger, which clattered to the ground
beside his ripped clothing. "You have feelings
for me!"
"Hah!"
Senshi laughed so quickly, so harshly, that it hurt -
but not as much as it hurt Miko, who quickly pulled
herself away.
"I saw it in
your eyes!" she told him. "I mean something
to you - I'm something more than just a 'villain' you
need to capture!"
Senshi frowned and
thought about what Miko had said. She was partly right;
she did mean a lot to him. He wasn't chasing her and
hoping to catch her just because she was an escaped
villain - even if he did capture her, he wasn't
entirely sure where to take her.
"You do mean
something to me," he said. "You're
something more than just an escaped criminal. You're
the key to me restoring my reputation. People think -
what?"
Miko's face had gone
blank, and she turned away from him. She slowly bent
down and picked up her dagger, then took several
steps away from the bed, her black, blood-smeared
cloak wrapped around her body.
"Miko?"
Through the cloak,
Senshi could not see the raido energy building
in front of Miko and bathing her body in a dim blue
light. As she slowly began to fade away, however, he
realised what she was doing.
"Miko!
Wait!" he called, but she was already gone - and
a second later, so was the last of the raido
energy that she left behind, and so was his
consciousness.
Knock-knock.
Senshi groaned,
still half-asleep. He heard the knock at his door
clearly enough, but the pain in his torso and the
calmness that came with sleep made him reluctant to
answer.
Maybe they'll
just go away... he thought.
Knock-knock.
The second set of
knocking was much louder than the first.
They're not
going away, he realised.
He tried to sit up,
but once again felt pain shoot through his body. He
was surprised that he had survived being impaled at
all, and realised that even pain as bad as that
which he was experiencing was much better than
feeling no pain at all, because the only way to be
impaled and not be in pain is to be impaled and be
dead.
He pulled his
blanket around his body, to cover both his exposed
flesh and his wounds, and staggered awkwardly to the
door of his flat. He wrapped his hand around the
doorknob and pulled the door open, and was surprised
by who he saw waiting for him.
"Sato
Senshi."
The man who spoke
his name was someone Senshi had only met twice
before, and if he had heard his name, he could not
remember what it was. He did, however, recognise the
man as the owner of 'Hey, Pizza!' - the man who was
giving his sister, Kiko, and her Roboman teammates
somewhere to live.
"You..."
he said. "Sorry. I've forgotten your name. How
did you find me?"
"Believe it or
not," Trick said as he walked past Senshi and
into the sparsely-furnished home, "I used to be
a detective."
"Why are you
here?" Senshi asked. "I'm a little... tired."
"Tired or wounded?"
Trick asked. "And helping Sorceress Miko? I
can't believe I came here, even after what Kiko told
me..."
Kiko...? Senshi
wondered. "You know my last name."
"I know you're
Kiko's brother," Trick said. "I know you
want to be a Roboman. I came here hoping to give you
that chance, but now I'm not so sure."
Senshi carefully
walked over to the armchair in the centre of the flat
and sat down.
"I wasn't helping
Sorceress Miko," he told Trick. "I
went to capture her, and we were attacked by a robot
calling itself Tejina Robo. She teleported us both to
safety, and left after treating my wounds."
"How badly
injured are you?"
Senshi peeked inside
the blanket coccoon he had wrapped around himself and
examined his bandages. He was feeling much better -
the pain had improved rapidly and, he realised, had
become more of a throbbing ache. The purple ansuz
fluid had also completely disappeared.
"I was
impaled," Senshi said. "Now I'm not."
"Can you
fight?"
"Always,"
Senshi replied. "But if Kiko has told you about
me..."
"I know
something happened to you two a long time ago,"
Trick said. "I don't know what, but I know
you've tried to stay out of her life ever
since." He stared at Senshi's face for a logn
moment. "But in staying away from her, in trying
to leave her to her own life - if that's what you've
really been doing, rather than just being a selfish
jerk - you're still being a part of her life.
"No matter what
you did, you can't just leave and expect that to be
the end of it. Kiko's heart is too big - it's an easy
target. Whatever it was, if you want Kiko to get over
it, you're going to have to do something other
than keeping your distance."
Senshi nodded
slowly. "You're saying I'm doing more damage by
leaving her to her own life than if I tried to fix
things with her?"
Trick nodded.
"Don't you
think I've tried?" Senshi tried to stand,
suddenly and angrily, but the ache in his stomach was
still too great. "Who the hell do you think you
are?"
"I don't care
what you've tried," Trick told him. "You
screwed up, and you need to fix it. If you
think whatever you tried was the right way to do
things, good for you. But if it didn't work? Try
again. And again. And again, until you stop
hurting her."
Senshi scowled
angrily, but for a long time he could not think of
anything to say, until: "You care about her,
don't you? You really care."
"More than she
will ever know."
Senshi closed his
eyes, thought for a moment, then began to speak.
"If I become a
Roboman, Kiko's stuck with me."
"Yes."
"Do you really
think that's the best idea?"
"Kiko cares too
much about her team to let any problem with
you get in the way," Trick explained. "If
she's stuck with you, the two of you will find a way
to fix the problem, whatever it is."
"Fine, then.
How do I become a Roboman?"
Trick helped Senshi
through the front door of 'Hey, Pizza!' and into the
centre of the store's restaurant area where Rose
Brachis, Cog, and Kageki stood in a tense circle. To
Trick's surprise, Kageki was already wearing the
skintight green robosuit.
"Kageki!"
he snapped, as Doctor Brachis' eyes settled on
Senshi.
"Senshi! What
happened?" she asked.
"Trick-san!"
Kageki replied. "Kiko-tachi are in trouble! They
need help!"
"You are not
using that robosuit," Trick told him. "I'm
not letting you risk yourself, no matter what trouble
they may be in."
"But
Trick-san...!"
"No,
Kageki!" Trick shouted. "It's too
dangerous! Senshi is going to take the black
robosuit. He can help them."
Brachis shook her
head.
"Who are
you?" she asked.
"My name is
Trick Star. Who are you?"
"I'm Rose
Brachis," Doctor Brachis introduced herself.
"I am head of security on Science Island, and a
friend of Doctor Nagura. He has brought a robot to
New Orleans, one powerful enough to destroy the three
Robomen and Sorceress Miko - or even the entire city.
We're going to need all the help we can get."
"Doctor Brachis
is the one who sent me here!" Cog reminded
Trick.
"Why is Doctor
Nagura attacking the city? Why would he want to
destroy his own son?" Trick asked.
"He was
tortured by EDD Director Satoshi and a madman named
Jinsei," Brachis explained. "He doesn't
know what he's doing. He thinks Sorceress Miko has
already killed his son and that the Robomen have
betrayed him."
"None of this
makes sense," Trick said. "Cog told us that
you and Nagura were somewhere safe, and would contact
us as soon as you had the chance."
"I instructed
Cog to say that," Brachis revealed. "I
needed the Robomen to focus on fighting Satoshi, not
on finding Doctor Nagura."
Trick sighed and
rubbed at his temples.
More lies, he
thought. The one thing this team has in
abundance.
"Senshi..."
he began, but he did not need to finish speaking.
Senshi stepped forward and picked up the black
robosuit, which was still neatly folded on the
ground. "You can get changed through those
doors." Trick pointed in the plastic doors which
separated the small back room in which the Robomen
lived from the rest of the store. "Unless you
have any objections, Doctor Brachis?"
"No," she
said. "I was going to look for Senshi - "
"But you found
Kageki instead, and thought you'd dress him up?"
"Trick-san!"
Kageki interjected. "Doctor Brachis doesn't want
me to wear this robosuit!"
"Then why are
- " Trick stopped himself, and took a long,
deep breath. "Kageki, I know you want to help
the Robomen, but it is too dangerous. If Doctor
Brachis is right, and I'm not accepting that as an
absolute fact right now, we need as many new Robomen
as we can get; but that can't include you."
That arrogant
bastard! Brachis thought. "Who do you
suggest? Yourself?"
"I can't,"
Trick replied.
"Why not?"
"It's a long
story," he told her.
"Kageki is the
best choice!" Cog said. "Each of the
robosuits are designed to work primarily with one
type of eternity energy! Out of everyone
here, Kageki is the best suited to using nau -
"
"I said no,
Cog."
Kageki nodded, and
glanced at the plastic doors through which Senshi was
walking, wearing the formfitting black outfit.
"Sorry,
Trick-san," he said. "I will take it
off."
He turned and began
to walk through the kitchen. Senshi walked past him
and picked up one of the two Alert Bracers, still
resting near Doctor Brachis' feet, and slipped it
around his right wrist.
Trick frowned.
"Kageki, wait."
Kageki turned back
to face the group, and his jaw dropped in surprise.
Behind Trick stood two robots. The body of one seemed
to constantly shift and move, its eyes, nose and
mouth never in the same place for more than a few
seconds at a time - and even its larger limbs seemed
restless.
Beside it stood
another robot which, with the exception of a long
chain wrapped several times around its right wrist
and what appeared to be corkscrews for fingernails,
had a very human shape.
"I am Tejina
Robo," the first robot said.
"Today, at my hands, Sorceress Miko will
die!"
"And since Miko
isn't here," the other robot said, "I, Ranshin
Robo, have decided to make do with all of
you!"
