Momo: Oi Kyu-yaro! When am I gonna get a chance to cut loose?!
Kyugan: Give it a rest will you? Finding a way to put these two tales together ain't easy.
Momo: Tch, It's cause you're always focussed on the details! So long as it builds up to a climax, who cares?
Kyugan: 'I' Do, now get out of here, the chapter's starting.
Momo: YOSH! I'll show everyone my Hissatsu Waza-!
Kyugan: Also, someone pointed out that it was 'Imajin' rather than 'Inmajin', my apologies, the error has been corrected in this chapter.
Chapter 2: Wish for a miracle.
Hibiki blinked, his eyes widening as he hung limp in a strange emerald void that seemed to be filled with liquid. "What is this…?" he wondered, looking around in confusion, trying to see where he was, or if there was anyone else "What's going on?"
A figure appeared before the teen, a human sized figure in white and black, the emerald light concealed its features. "Who are you?" the teen wondered, looking in concern as the being reached out, Hibiki tensing, only to blink as it grabbed his ID card, snapping the chain "HEY!"
The figure held up a hand for silence, before reaching behind it's back and drawing a strange, handheld device, into which it slotted Hibiki's id card. With a nod, it handed the device to Hibiki, who blinked as he reached out to accept it.
"Who are you?" he asked again, gripping the strange device in his hand, only to gape in horror as an armored giant appeared behind the figure, letting loose a scream as he fell deeper into the void, the robot falling alongside him, his screams joined by those of three women, and one highly startled Imajin, who looked like he was trying to swim back up into the void as he sank along with them.
*******
A distant corner of space...
Magno Vivian, captain of the pirate crew that had so easily caught the men off guard, groaned as she sat up in her chair, the two women with her on the bridge slowly coming too as the bright light that had engulfed their ship faded away.
"This doesn't look like the afterlife…" she muttered, grimacing as she held a hand to her aching head "hurts too much too…but where are we?!"
She cursed, gripping the sides of her command chair as the ship began to shake like it was in a blender, her navigators letting out cries of their own as they held on for dear life.
"What's going on NOW?!" the aged captain demanded, only to grimace as she looked up, watching as the Paeksis, the living crystal that formed the core of the ship, extended tendrils from the Ikazuchi's main body to snag their own, as well as the debris floating around them "Don't tell me it's trying to eat the ship?!"
All in all, Magno was beginning to REALLY regret listening to that tip-off about the men's new flagship. It was turning out to be one of her lesser known, poor business decisions.
*******
Hold of the Ikazuchi...
"Oh…" Meia muttered, the blue haired captain of the dread squadrons slowly sitting up, holding her aching head "Jura…" she called out, catching sight of her blonde second lying not too far away "Where's Dita…?"
"Over here…!" Dita called out, waving languidly from a ledge, looking slightly dazed, or concussed, one or the other "Something went BEEP! And then VROOM!" she collapsed with a dazed expression "And then I don't know what happened…Alien power is amazing…"
Meia sighed, realizing that was the best she could hope for from the ditzy, youngest member of her squadron, before turning to look at their surroundings. The inside of the hangar had changed to resemble a crystalline cave, like something you'd find underground, with no signs of the metal walls and doors that had once filled the area.
She frowned, her eyes narrowing as she espied the young man that Dita had been chasing earlier lying nearby, a strange, egg-shaped machine tucked under his arm. It seemed he'd somehow survived too, something she fully intended to rectify at the first possible…
She trailed off, her green eyes widening in shock at the sight of what lay not ten feet from the boy, her hand going to her communicator even as she brought her laser ring up to bear on it "CAPTAIN!"
"Meia." Magno greeted, the hodded old woman's cracked voice laced with relief, but still decidedly grim at the Paeksis' continued corrosion of her ship "So good to see you're still with us. What about Jura and Dita."
"All present and accounted for!" Meia assured the captain, the leader of the Dread squadrons never taking her eyes of the creature before her "Captain…I've found a Tarak survivor and...something else...up here!"
"Something else?" Magno repeated, the elderly captain's brow furrowing at this latest turn of events, even as Jura let out a gasp, having finally seen what Meia was talking about, and Dita cheered excitedly "I'll be right up."
"Meia…" Jura whispered, the buxom blonde second in command of the dread squadron tense. her hand gripping the hilt of her sword as she gazed down at the sight before her "What…what is this thing?"
"Whatever it is…" Meia muttered, grimacing at the thing while Dita danced around taking pictures of it with her camera "I don't like it."
*******
Several hours later...
"Oooh…" Hibiki muttered, sitting up with groan, only to curse as his head slammed into the underside of a shelf, upsetting the boxes stacked on top "What the hell?" he wondered, blinking at the cuffs on his hands, looking around in confusion only to slump as he realized where he was "Great…back in the same stinking cell again…couldn't they at least stick me somewhere without any junk in it?"
"I see you're awake." A voice noted, the teen jumping, turning round to find a longhaired man in a doctor's coat sitting across from him, one long bang covering half his face "My name is Duero McFile." The man introduced "Do you have a name, Mr. Third-Class citizen?"
"Don't make fun of me!" Hibiki countered, the Tarak teen pulling himself up straight as he glared defiantly at the older man "My name's Hibiki Tokai!" he muttered "And I'm not just another Third Class citizen!"
"You're the one that made the commotion during the ceremony, right?" Duero asked, smirking at the younger man with hidden approval "How'd you manage to sneak in anyway?"
Before Hibiki could reply, the robot, which he'd been lugging along without even thinking about all this time, suddenly sparked, beeping randomly, before suddenly sprouting arms and legs, a pair of eyes forming on it's screen. "Pyoro!" it chirped, looking around in confusion as it scratched its, for lack of a better word, head "Where am I?" it asked, it's voice higher, different from the emotionless tone it had possessed before "WHO am I?"
"You've changed a bit…haven't you?" Hibiki muttered, a deadpan expression on his face as the machine turned towards him with an inquisitive beep, something within the teen telling him he was going to miss the emotionless version for some reason "Want me to fix you up?"
"Don't make fun of me!" the modified little robot snapped, waving it's stubbly little arms irately as it glared up at the teen, the eyes on it's screen narrowing in offence to the teen's offer "I'm not broken!"
"Well then what're you staring at me for-?!" Hibiki demanded, only to recoil in horror as a tall, silver haired woman with dark skin appeared outside the cell, escorted by two smaller women, both of whom were aiming laser-rings at them "WOMEN!" he yelped, backing off, only to glare defiantly at them "What am I doing here? What are you planning on doing to me?!
"Try to calm down." The silver haired woman suggested, imposing herself before the bars of the sell with a hand on her hip, the other hanging casually at her side "This is the safest place on the ship for you right now."
"Oh yeah like I'm gonna believe you!" Hibiki muttered, the Tarak Teen glaring up at the women defiantly, though internally he was sweating buckets as all his childhood nightmares began to relive themselves inside the heatre of his mind "You're just planning to eat my guts later!"
"Eat your…?" the silver haired woman repeated, a look of confusion on her face, before scoffing, her escort giggling uncontrollably as they realized the teen actually believed his planet's propaganda "Well before we have dinner, I'd like to ask you something, so come with us."
"Like I have a choice?" Hibiki muttered, getting to his feet with a scowl as he glared at the woman, Duero mutely following suit as they fell into line behind the women. As they walked, Hibiki's took the time to let his eyes wander over their captors, noting the differences in their shape to his own. True, not all of them were taller than the teen, but they certainly looked slimmer, except in certain areas.
'What the hell do they have in there anyway?' he wondered, reaching out tentatively to poke one of them in the backside, only to flinch as she turned, slowly, to face him, her cheeks red and her eyes flashing with embarrassed anger.
For some reason, Hibiki knew he was in trouble before she even opened her mouth.
*******
A modified bath hall...
"Ow…" Hibiki whimpered, the teen twitching feebly, the imprint of the woman's palm across his cheek as he sat next to Duero in some sort of bathroom, the silver haired woman frowning down at him, though he thought he saw a look of bemusement in her eyes. Unbeknownst to the teen, the other escort was sending him a look of bemused pity, while her comrade was resolutely refusing to even look at him, her cheeks still a healthy pink "Why the heck'd she do that?"
"A gentleman must never be rude to a lady!" Pyoro beeped, the little egg shaped sentinel robot pointing up at the teen accusingly, it's tone that of a lecturing parent, earning a heated glare from Hibiki.
"Ah screw it you hunk of junk!" the teen snapped, glaring down at the robot, who continued to stare up at him, unimpressed by his threats "And what the heck do you mean 'never be rude?' we're enemies for Grand Pa's sake!"
"Doesn't mean we can't show each other some common courtesy." Buzam pointed out, the silver haired second in command smirking at the teen in bemusement "Bit of advice kid, you wanna keep your liver, you'll keep your hands to yourself."
Hibiki recoiled, gazing fearfully at the three women in the room, the brunette of whom was trying hard not to giggle, while the silver haired one smiled cryptically, while the last avoided looking at him altogether.
The door to the bathroom opened, admitting a blue haired woman in a white flight suit, Duero's eyes widening slightly at the sight of the captive she pushed in before her at laser point.
"Hey there comrades…" Bart Garsus greeted, the blonde, First Class recruit looking rather pathetic as he tried to smile despite his obvious terror, managing to come off looking constipated in the process "How's it going?"
"HEY!" Hibiki yelled, the Tarak teen's hair bristling in anger as he instantly recognizing the blonde man from the ceremony, only Buzam's glare keeping the teen in his seat "You're the jerk that called me short!"
"Oh? You're here too?" Bart blinked, looking honestly surprised to see that the third class teen was not only still alive, but apparently unharmed except for the handprint on his cheek, only to wince as Meia shoved him forward, the blonde taking a seat between Duero and Hibiki, even as the captain hobbled in.
"My goodness…" Magno muttered, the aged pirate captain looking around at the figures lined up before her with a look of disappointment "I'd heard you'd rounded up some prisoners, but they're just kids."
"Hey, hey!" Pyoro chirped, the energetic little robot hopping towards the Magno pulling off a cheesy little pirouette before saluting the old woman sharply "It's interrogation time! I'll tell you everything!"
"How nostalgic…" Magno noted, the pirate captain smiling down at the automaton fondly, even as Bart and Hibiki glared at the treacherous bundle of scrap "It's a Navi-Robot, and this one still seems to be functioning."
"How do you know that?" Hibiki wondered, looking up at the old woman suspiciously. The only member of the first generation he trusted was Gramps, all the others were self-serving jerks that would gladly let everyone else rot if they could enjoy themselves. He didn't know if things were any better on Mejele, but he wasn't about to bet on it, after all, they were the enemy, and pirates to boot "This is a men's ship isn't it?"
"Yes, and before that it was used for colonization." Magno added, smirking at the stunned looks on the men's faces "You really don't know anything do you? This old ship was part of a fleet that left planet earth to colonize." She waved a hand dismissively "Of course this happened many years before your fathers were born." She snorted "Unfortunately your cowardly grandfathers severed this section and ran away into the night."
"They overhauled an old battleship and added residential quarters." Pyoro offered helpfully, apparently solidifying the woman's claim, which didn't make the three Tarak prisoners feel any better about their situation.
"And now we find ourselves back in theis battle ship." Magno noted with a smirk "This is our business you know, so we'll gladly take the ship. The problem is what we're supposed to do with you guys…" she frowned "and that other thing…"
"Other thing?" Duero wondered, the Elite Medic looking up at the elderly captain in confusion, noting with concern that the other women had tensed up at her words "Is something wrong with the ship?"
"Other than the fact the Paeksis crystal seems to be spreading throughout the entire thing?" Magno asked, snorting wryly at Bart and Hibiki's looks of dazed ignorance, before turning to nod at Hibiki "No, it involves this weird…thing, that we found lying near your machine."
"We tried capturing it, but it managed to escape into the bowls of the ship." Buzam supplied, earning a look of alarm from Bart "Whatever it is, it's strong, and fast, and it doesn't like being shot at either."
"Who does?" Hibiki muttered, the Tarak teen glaring defiantly up at the silver haired woman as she quirked an eyebrow at him for his sass, before turning to look at the captain "So did you at least get a good look at this thing?"
"Trust me, you'll know it when you see it." Magno muttered, waving a hand dismissively, "if you do, scream as loud as you can, and maybe we'll show up in time to haul your assess out before it can beat us to your livers."
*******
Garden of the Ikazuchi...
"Oh dear…" Ezra sighed, the mild mannered woman looking through a digital telescope as she tried to match the constellations around the ship to the ones that were recognizable to Mejele or Tarak space "None of them match…I just don't get it…"
"You don't get it?" Dita asked, the redheaded dread pilot and self prolaimed Alien Otaku staring at the elder woman incredulously. The two of them standing in the restored garden center of the colony ship, which provided the best view for Ezra's star gazing "It's an amazing thing to meet a real alien!"
"You're right it Is amazing," Ezra agreed, smiling patiently at younger, redeaded pilot as she lowered the telescope from her eyes once more "We thought Paeksis was just an energy source, but it restored the whole ship!"
"He made it like new…" Dita sighed, the redhead lounging dreamily on the railing as Ezra searched the skies for familiar markers "That means that if I can get abducted…" she trailed off at Ezra's tired sigh "What's the matter, you don't feel well?"
"Oh, it's nothing Dita, I'm fine." Ezra assured the younger woman with a smile, though even Dita, not noted for being quick on the uptake at times, noted woman looked a little flushed, as if she were coming down with something "I'm just thinking about everyone."
"I think about them too…" Dita agreed with a sad sigh, turning back to lean on the railing as she stared out into the sea of stars, her features wimsical "All the veterans that we had to leave behind at our base for this mission…"
"I'd really like to go back soon…" Ezra admitted, only to blink as Dita stood up, pointing excitedly out into space "What is it?" she asked, following her gaze with the telescope, noting three inbounds headed right for them "What do you think it could be?"
"Isn't it obvious?!" Dita exclaimed, looking like the cat that got the Unidentified Flying Canary Flavored Object "It's a UFO!"
Unbeknownst to the two, their conversation had been heard by another party, who didn't much like the sound of Dita's so-called 'UFO', and decided it was time to find a way out of here.
*******
Back at the bath house...
"So the long haired one's a doctor…" Magno muttered, looking the trio of men over with an appraising as she munched down on strawberry jello. This was certainly a rare find. The only 'medic' they had on crew was Paiway, and while the little dear tried her hardest, Magno would feel a lot more confident with a fully trained specialist running the sickbay, even if it was a man. For one thing, she doubted Duero's treatment for serious wounds was to forbid people from sustaining further injuries "What about the short one?"
"He's an attacker." Meia supplied, Hibiki's protest, at being referred to as short or as an attacker was anyone's guess, being cut off by an elbow to the ribs from Bart "I saw him climbing into an enemy powered suit."
"Is that so?" Magno wondered, looking up with interest at the head of the dread squadron, even as Hibiki tried to catch his breath and throttle Bart at the same time. Despite their clunky appearance, the Vanguards were much more versatile than the dreads. For one thing, they could be used to externally repair the ship, or carry cargo off the planet.
"There's something approaching!" one of the bridge crew called out over the intercom, the group, men and women alike, looking up at the ceiling in alarm, even as Buzam patched through, a frown on her face.
"Is it male reinforcements?" she demanded, the men sitting up straighter at the prospect of their comrades coming to their aid, only for the group to brace themselves as the ship came under fire, accompanied by Dita's yell of 'The alien's are upset!'.
'That girl has a talent for stating the obvious…' Magno muttered as Meia ran off to mobilize the Dreads, though she highly doubted it was actually aliens, for all she knew they'd entered a Tarak mine field, or the territory of a different colony that didn't take to kindly to trespassers. Either way, Magno had been shot at enough for one day, and felt it was about time she gave back as good as she was given.
That, and she REALLY hated to see good jello go to waste, and that cup it had been served in had been her favorite.
*******
Hold of the Ikazuchi...
"What is this…?" Jura wondered, the busty blonde dread pilot gaping in wonderment at her Dread, which had apparently been remodeled by the encroachment of the Paeksis crystals as the consumed the rest of the ship.
"Wow!" Dita gasped, the redhead looking equally, if not more amazed as she approached her own modified machine, the two of them quickly clambering in even as Meia fired up her instrument panels with a frown.
"Looks like the system hasn't changed too much…" Meia muttered, the squadron leader's features solemn as she checked everything out just to be on the safe side, before contacting the other two on the comm-chanell "How about you?"
"It looks like I can fly it…" Jura admitted, the blonde pilot's features appearing on the screen, though truth be told she looked as uncertain as Meia. After all, who knew what hell the Paeksis had wrecked on their machines.
"Im' positive they must've powered up!" Dita exclaimed, the redhead's own features laced with excitement, her bright baby blues eyes sparkling ecstatically as she eyed the interior of her modified fighter craft "It's so exciting!"
"Just don't go doing anything foolish." Meia warned them, the Squadron leader looking particularly hard at Dita as she spoke, as it had been exactly such a predicament that had gotten the redhead in trouble during the raid "You got that?"
"Roger!" the other two announced, the trio firing up their dreads, the modified attack crafts tearing out of the Ikzuchi's hangar into space, engaging their new opponents in a flurry of high-speed maneuvers and laser fire.
"Please calm down Mr. Aliens!" Dita called out over the radio, the redhead trying to negotiate with these supposed extraterrestrials "We're a very peaceful race! I'm sure we can talk about what's bothering you!"
"Dita! These are our enemies!" Jura exclaimed, frowning at the redhead as her Dread almost clipped the blonde's in passing, only to pause, watching her weave around laser fire in surprise "Wait…she wasn't that good of a pilot was she?"
"The instruments' responses have changed." Meia noted over the com, grimacing as the G-force of her acceleration actually caused her some minor discomfort. 'This will certainly take some getting used to...'
"I don't even know WHO the enemy is!" Jura exclaimed, the blond Dread pilot's features lined with concern as she piloted her own Dread through the hail of laser fire, wincing as several passed too close for comfort "It's certainly not men."
"It's obvious isn't it?!" Dita exclaimed, an enraged expression on her normally friendly face as she glared out at Meia "These are really bad aliens!"
Jura's look of exasperation pretty much summed up the opinion of the elder pilots, but they soon had no time for such thoughts as even more of the weird, cube-shaped fighters were launched from a nearby ship.
"What the heck're those things…?" Meia muttered, glaring at the newcomers like a cornered wolf "Are they really aliens?"
*******
Back on the Ikazuchi...
"B.C!" Magno called out, looking over her shoulder towards Buzam, who looked up from reading the crew's status, particularly the trapped members of the Dread squadron that Paiway had imprisoned in the showers, to look the elderly captain in the eyes "Take control of the bridge!"
"I'm on it!" Buzam acknowledged, turning to race off, only to stagger as another explosion shook the ship, whipping round at one of the guard's cry of alarm to find the green haired escort buried under a collapsed wall.
"Don't move her!" Duero cautioned, ignoring the laser ring the other guard aimed in his direction as he leapt over the divider "I'm a doctor, I just want to see what I can do for her. Help me move the rubble…"
Bart blinked, watching the as the guard complied with Duero's wishes, watching the elite work with a look of wonderment on his face, before regaining his seat with a confident, salesman's smirk that belied his earlier terror.
"Well now…" he muttered, holding his chin "it certainly seems that you could do with some assistance, couldn't you?" he placed a hand to his head "While the fact remains that we are enemies, right now we're going to have to make survival our top priority." He smirked as he stood up "As such, you might wish to use my skills, you see I happen to be a helmsman."
"Warning! Warning!" Pyoro declared, the traitorous little Navi-Robot, which had been sticking to Magno's side since she hobbled in, pointing at the smirking blonde man suspiciously "This guy's trying to pull something!"
"Pyoro you be quiet." Magno warned, not even looking at the robot as she turned her evaluative stare on Bart, smirking slightly at the young man's bravado, "So then young man, what do you have to say?"
"Okay!" Bart spoke up, holding his hands wide before him "I was thinking that maybe we could call for a ceasefire for now. Maybe we can help each other out." He walked forwards and bowed politely "It might be much better for us to gather our forces and work to get clear of this crisis together."
"Interesting…" Magno chuckled, the aged pirate captain honestly bemused at the young man's posturing, though he rated a 'c' for effort, as she'd honestly seen worse "That's not such a bad idea from a man."
"I appreciate you taking my advice…" Bart offered, honestly surprised he'd pulled that off as he held out a hand "What say we shake on it?" he asked, only to yelp as Magno slapped it aside with her cane, the old woman standing up to smirk at him.
"I have no desire to get 'Chummy'." The aged pirate captain chuckled, her tone making it clear that she wasn't THAT impressed by the supposed helmsman's theatrics "You'll still be treated as one of our prisoners."
"I can't do anything here!" Duero called out, the Elite Medic interrupting their conversation as he looked up at Magno from where he knelt beside the injured woman, his features lined with concern from behind his oversized bangs "I need to get her to sick bay!"
"Alright." Magno allotted, the captain nodding her head towards the longhaired medic before looking up at Bart "You come with me to the bridge young man." She ordered, before looking over her shoulder at Buzam "B.C, you get the attacker to the warehouse."
*******
Back in space...
"There's just too many of them!" Jura called out, the blonde Dread pilot wincing as she swerved her craft to avoid the worst of their attackers laser fire, glaring at the ship that seemed to be spawning the fighters "We've got to attack them at the source!"
"I agree with you." Meia admitted, her features tense as she tried to formulate a battle strategy whilst fending off their attackers "But if there was only some way to get the ship mobilized…" she trailed off with a curse as a lucky shot slammed into her dread, spinning back into the fight with a glare.
*******
A darkened hallway of the Ikazuchi...
"Looks like it'll be a while before this place stabilizes…" Buzam noted, gazing down a crystallized corridor that had, at one point, been the closest access tunnel to the main hangar "I'm afraid there's not going to be much hope for us if we can't get control of the ship." She snorted offhandedly "It'll probably be the end of us if the men attack."
"H-Hey…" Hibiki called out uncertainly, looking over his shoulder at the escort that Buzam had brought with her in case he tried anything "I uh…I know I probably should have brought this up earlier, but Y'see I'm not really a Vanguard Pilot…" he flinched, smirking self-mockingly as he avoided the woman's frown "Truth is, I'm just a part's mechanic, I guess I just didn't have the nerve to tell you before…"
"Uhuh…" Buzam noted, the silver haired second-in-command of the pirates sighing to herself as she turned to face the downcast Tarak teen with a calculative expression on her face "So what're you doing here?"
"That's a really funny story actually…" Hibiki chuckled nervously "Y'see I kinda got dragged into this really stupid bet…" he averted his gaze with a snort "Said I'd steal one of the Vanguards…" he chuckled weakly "I mean, I don't want you to get the wrong idea…"
"I guess the data we had was incorrect…" Buzam cut in, Hibiki looking up to find the woman looking at him with her hand on her hip "Because I'd always heard that men were a proud race." She snorted "Who'd have thought they'd be so pathetic? No matter what the reason, aren't you here because of your pride?" she frowned "Or is it because you needed to prove your own existence?"
Hibiki jolted, his eyes widening as the woman's words struck him at his very core, his hands clenching tensely as Buzam continued.
"Male or Female, it doesn't matter now…" the silver haired Second in Command of the pirates declared "In situations like this what it all comes down to is that we're all human beings that breath the same air." She glared down at the teen "While the people around you are trying to overcome this crisis, are you simply going to curl up like a helpless baby and wait for the end?"
"She's got a point there kid…" a familiar voice pointed out, the trio jumping, Buzam's hand going for her whip as her escort pointed her laser ring wildly at their surroundings "Mataku…getting a lecture from a woman on how to be a man…" the voice muttered mockingly "you really do need all the help you can get…"
'Another male survivor?' Buzam wondered, the silver haired woman glaring at the surrounding hallway as she held her whip at the ready, her escort standing with her back to Hibiki, laser ring at the ready "Show yourself!"
"Commander!" the escort called out, Buzam cursing as something red dropped down from the pipes overhead, swatting the spiky haired woman aside, lashing out to deflect Buzam's whip strike as it stood between the commander and a stunned Hibiki as they got a good look at it.
The figure was as tall as Duero, if not taller, and covered from head to foot in red armor with black lining that looked like it was part of it's body. It's face looked like that of an 'oni' from the old legends on earth, complete with two pointed horns that added to it's height by half a foot. Around it's waist was a belt with a metal peach, and in its hand was a rather dangerous looking sword, which it had used to deflect Buzam's whip.
"Yo…" the red figure greeted, turning to look over its shoulder at a stunned Hibiki, who was gaping like a landed trout as it smirked down at him, taping it's sword against it's shoulder lazily "How ya been short stuff?"
"DON'T CALL ME SHORT!" Hibiki snapped, glaring irately, only to blink, looking up at the creature in dim recognition "Waitaminute…I know that voice…" his eyes widened "You're that sand demon thing from before!"
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A DEMON?!" the horned figure demanded, rounding on the teen, who flinched as it glared at him heatedly, it's demonic face scant millimetres from his own "I told you! I'm an Imajin! I-MA-JIN!"
"Imajin?" Buzam repeated, the second in command looking between the raging, red armored figure and the cowering Tarak teen with understandable confusion, having never seen, or heard, of such a thing "Some sort of alien?"
"What is with you people?" the self-proclaimed Imajin muttered, shaking it's head in disgust as it turned it's annoyed glared towards the woman "The kid thinks I'm a demon, the women think I'm an alien…"
"Well if you're not an alien then what are you?" Buzam demanded, having a sudden suspicion of just who the so called Imajin was talking about when he mentioned the word 'alien', it was a no-brainer really "Why're you on this ship?"
"The kid." The Imajin replied simply, tilting his head towards a startled Hibiki, his sword once again resting on his shoulder, his tone one of smug boredom "I gotta stick with him till I grant his wish."
"Wish?" Hibiki repeated, the Tarak teen blinking up at the armored figure in confusion, even as Buzam's eyebrow quirked at the creature's word, filing them away for later "Wait…so you grant wishes? Like a genie?"
"I look like some blue ghost in harem pants to you kid?" the Imajin growled, looking over his shoulder in annoyance "And it's WISH, not WISHES." He corrected, holding up a finger "One wish per customer…and after all the hell you put me through, it had better not be something retarded either."
"I don't quite understand." Buzam interrupted, looking between the two with a look of intrigue behind her obvious confusion, trying to piece the puzzle together "You came on board to grant his wish? Why him?"
"Kid seemed interesting enough." The Imajin muttered, making the motion of cleaning out his ear, despite none being visible, with his pinkie, sword on his shoulder "Least I thought so…until he made me chase him all over the damn rooftops and through the hallways of this rust bucket…" he shrugged, rolling his shoulders "Still, if I hadn't followed him I'd probably still be a pile of sand…" he tapped his feet on the steel floor with a smirk "having a solid form beets being stepped on any day."
"I can imagine…" Buzam noted wryly, the silver haired woman snorting in bemusement as she turned to look at the stunned Hibiki "Well this is certainly convenient, maybe you can make this thing wish to get rid of those things for us."
"What things?" the Imajin asked, looking at the woman in confusion, only to curse as the ship shook, staggering back until it hit the wall, its head bouncing off a pipe "KUSO! That hurt!" it swore, gripping it's head in it's free hand "What the hell's going on now?!"
"We're under attack from unknown foes." Buzam supplied, leaning against the wall for support, her eyes narrowed as they drilled into the unusual pair before her "I was just about to send him out to provide support."
"There's a fight?" the Imajin demanded, his head snapping up and an eager light shining in his black eyes, the humans looking on in wonderment as he seemed to tremble with barely contained excitement "Why didn't you say so before?" he demanded, clenching his fist "Lemme at 'em!"
"You think you can pilot the vanguard?" Buzam asked, idly wondering if they could fire up another one, only to blink as the Imajin ignored her, leaping towards Hibiki, the woman's eyes widening in shock as the creature dissolved in a flash of red light, disappearing into the teen's body.
Hibiki jerked, slumping over slightly, only to right himself, Buzam's eyes widening as he easily snapped the handcuffs placed on him, the silver haired woman noticing that his hair, spikier than before, had acquired a crimson streak, his eyes glowing an equally brilliant shade of red as he smirked.
"Ore…Futabi Sanjou!" the teen called out with the Imajin's voice, going through a bizarre pose, like something you'd see in a play or drama show.
Buzam blinked, wondering if she'd suffered a blow to the head during the explosion before, only to shake herself out of such thoughts and gesture down the hall "The Vanguard should be down that way…good luck!"
"Yosh!" the Imajin possessed teen crowed, rotating his shoulders with a confident sneer, his crimson eyes flashing with excitement as he raced off down the hall "I'll show those alien bastards a real Climax! IKUZE-!"
'Well this is an interesting development…' Buzam noted, watching idly as the Inmajin raced off…in the wrong direction, only to turn back round after she pointed this out 'I wonder how the superiors back home will react to this?'
*******
Helm of the Nirvana...
"STAY AWAY!" Bart screamed, the terrified First Class recruit looking on in horror as the enemy main unit advanced on the ship, his frantic gestures turning the fused vessel around in a bid to escape.
Bad enough he'd been captured by women, pirates at that, but then when he'd been brought onto the bridge to steer the Ikazuchi, he found not the control terminal he was familiar with from training, but a glowing emerald pool.
A pool that, upon closer inspection, had promptly swallowed him alive, leaving him hovering in a strange, weightless room, like a glass cage, from which he could see first hand what was going on outside, like he was adrift in space, surrounded on all sides by the enemy.
The fact he was also completely butt-naked didn't do much to curb his terror either.
However, the strange system seemed to react to his mental commands and gestures automatically, so his natural instinct to flee had the desired effect of kick starting the Ikazuchi's engines, propelling the fused vessel out of the battle zone, though the enemy soon took up pursuit.
"Is there a chance we can escape?" Buzam asked, walking back onto the bridge, having just dropped off her escort at the sickbay, where Duero had been about to administer first aid to his other patient with an unnerving expression on his face until she'd ordered him to wait for Paiway to get up there.
"You're guess is as good as mine…" Magno muttered, her features grim as the reports came in that the port engines had been hit, and that the shields were weakening "We won't get too far under these conditions…"
"OI!" a crass voice called out over the speakers, the women looking up to see Hibiki's face on the screen, Magno blinking in confusion at the sight of his new appearance. The old pirate could've sworn the kid's eyes were black, and where'd he get that red streak in his hair? "You hearing me ya old biddy? Lemme out already!"
"What's he doing?" Magno muttered, the pirate captain scowling at the crack at her age, even as the bridge crew blinked at the Tarak teen's audacity "And for that matter, what happened to his handcuffs?"
"I'll handle this captain." Buzam assured the woman, the second in command smirking to herself as she looked up at the Imajin possessed teen "So, you find the Vanguard hangar? Or did you get lost again?"
"URUSEI!" the teen snarled, Magno's eyebrow quirking, as she DEFINITELY didn't recall the kid's voice being that deep, or cocky "This place's like a maze! But yeah I found it…" he frowned, looking around the interior "S'changed a bit though…"
"Some of our Dreads were affected by the Paeksis too." Buzam assured the two-in-one teen, recalling Meia's earlier communication regarding their modified attack craft "But enough of that, can it launch?"
"Just open those damn doors and I'll do the rest!" the crimson eyed teen declared, smirking as he pumped a fist towards the screen in an obvious Gung-ho gesture"I've been waiting to cut loose since I got here!"
"Does the kid agree with you?" Buzam asked pointedly, earning a quirked eyebrow from the captain, as well as the confused members of the bridge crew "Or is he planning to just cower like a whipped dog?"
"I ain't no dog!" Hibiki snapped, his eyes and hair reverting to normal, much to the confusion of the bridge crew and Magno "I might not be cool or brave…but dammit, I'm not gonna just sit back and cower while people die around me!"
"Well said…" Buzam smirked, before nodding her head towards a member of the bridge crew, who quickly got to work powering up the hangar doors and Vanguard launch bay "Watch yourself out there…"
"Heh…don't you worry about US." Hibiki assured the woman, the Tarak Teen's eyes crimson once more, signifying that the Imajin was in control once again "Cause from start to finish, I'm at my climax!"
"What in the hell just happened there?" Magno demanded, the aged captain looking on in bewilderment as the Tarak teen signed off, leaving the bridge crew looking at themselves in obvious confusion.
"Long story…" Buzam supplied, smirking to herself as she shook her head "I'll fill you in if we survive this."
*******
Inside the Vanguard...
"Yosh!" the Inmajin uttered, smirking to himself as he sat Hibiki's body inside the modified Vanguard, which looked more humanoid for some reason. It's various shades of yellow and gold, with two green eyes, and covered with strange, grey tracks along it's frame (Imagine Hibiki's Vanguard, only with Plat Form's tracks.) "Let's get this party started!"
"You sure we can do this?" Hibiki wondered from inside his own head, the Tarak teen looking at the interior of the modified mech from a third-person view once more "I mean we couldn't even turn it on last time."
"Not a problem!" the Imajin declared, smirking confidently as he gripped the control sticks in their hands "I'll make this thing move with my will! IKUZE-!"
They sat in silence for a second, Hibiki's features twisted in a manic leer as they continued to sit in the control chair of the mech. "…Nothings happening…" Hibiki deadpanned, somehow feeling a bead of sweat slide down his forehead as the Inmajin began pumping the control sticks furiously "Well what now genius?"
"Urusei!" the Imajin snapped, looking annoyed as he tried repeatedly to get the machine to move "Konno…! Move you stupid piece of junk-!" He trailed off, looking around in alarm as a tune began to play, his eyes snapping down to his chest, where Hibiki's Id tag had hung.
"What the heck?" the Imajin muttered, reaching up and pulling the tag off, the two of them blinking as they noticed how thick it was now, eyes widening further as a belt suddenly formed around Hibiki's waist.
"What is that thing?" Hibiki wondered, the Tarak teen gaping down at the belt in alarm, wondering if it was some sort of safety mechanism, even as the Imajin tried to wrestle it off, with apparently no success.
"Kuso-!" the Inmajin swore, thumping the buckle with the id card "Get the hell off me you piece of-!" he cursed as he dropped the card, only to blink as the back of it landed in front of the belt, his body stiffening as a suit formed over them "What the hell?!" he exclaimed, slapping Hibiki's hands to his now helmeted face "What the hell is this?!"
"That suit-!" Hibiki gaped, the startled, Third class mechanic gaping down at the reflection of the suit that now adorned his body in the mirror, his mind stunned in recognition "It's just like from my dream!"
"Dream?" the Imajin repeated, sounding confused, only to blink as the Vanguard, as if reacting to the suits presence, fired up "YOSH!" he cried out, directing the mech to clamber into the launching platform nearby "Let's get this party started!"
Hibiki loosed a yell of his own as they were hurled from the ship into space, lookin on in amazement as the trio of dreads engaged the enemy, strange, cube shaped fighters that flew around them like hornets.
"YOSHA!" the Imajin crowed, cracking his knuckles, the Vanguard mimicking his actions, before lunging into the fray "C'mon you bastards! I've been waiting for this!"
*******
With the Dreads...
"What's THAT thing?" Jura demanded, looking on in bewilderment as the Vanguard launched itself at their enemies, the pilot screaming 'Ikuze! Ikuze! Ikuze!' repeatedly over the radio as he tackled their foes hand to hand.
"It must be the good alien!" Dita cheered, the redhead looking on in wonderment as the modified Vanguard sailed past, holding one of the cube fighters in a headlock as it punched the enemy repeatedly in the face "Yay! Give him a rectal probe!"
"I'M NOT A GODDAM ALIEN!" the pilot roared, his irate features glaring at the dread pilots, who blinked at his change in appearance, not to mention his deeper voice "And just what the hell do you mean by 'Rectal Probe'? You some kinda pervert?!"
"Watch out!" Jura called out, wincing as the cube fighters shot the Vanguard in the back, the red eyed teen's string of curses actually making her, and several other women who were listening in over the radio, flush scarlet in embarassment 'Oh my…what a mouth he has on him…'
"KUSO!" the Imajin cursed, gritting Hibiki's teeth inside their helmet as he glared at the enemy, which continued to flit around them like hornets "Attacking me from behind eh?! C'mere you walking rubix cube!"
"There's too many of them for hand to hand!" Buzam pointed out over the radio, the dark skinned commander the only member of the bridge besides Bart and Magno not blushing from the Inmajin's words "Switch to weapons!"
"Uh…does this thing even HAVE weapons?!" Hibiki asked nervously, as last he'd checked, none of the vanguards had been equipped when the Ikazuchi had launched. Hell he was surprised there was still power in the mech!
"One way to find out!" the Imajin deduced, smirking to himself as he pulled the triggers on the controls, only to curse colorfully as the Vanguard's fist did little more than punch out into empty space pitiably "DAMMIT! Not even a rocket punch? What kind of mech doesn't even have a rocket punch?!"
Before Hibiki could answer that question, which for some reason he actually felt made a lot of sense, a tone started playing from their belt, the pair looking down to see that a red light on the buckle was flashing, a catchy tune emitting from the symbol there.
"You think it's…trying to tell us something?" Hibiki asked, his eyes going to his modified Id tag, which was now hovering aimlessly around the cockpit "I mean…the Vanguard only moved when we put the suit on…"
"Works for me!" the Imajin muttered, shrugging offhandedly as he reached out, grabbing the card out of the air with his gloved hand and bringing it down, flashing the back of it in front of their buckle.
"Sword Form!" the buckle declared, the duo's eyes widening once again as the interior of the vanguard shifted. Several flashes of light surrounded them, converging on the suit, the glow fading to reveal red body armor that attached to the chest and shoulders. A red peach slid down to cover their face, splitting in half at the front to cover the eyes, giving the helmet the appearance of an insect.
On the outside, a similar transformation was happening to the vanguard, the stunned pirates looking on in wonderment as the armor of the mech shifted, becoming a larger, mechanized version of it's pilot.
"Now that's more like it!" the Imajin cheered, grinning inside their helmet as he drew a red sword from the side of the transformed Vanguard "Let's do this!"
*******
On the sidelines...
"What in Grand Ma's name?!" Meia gaped, the Squadron leader looking on in shock as the man's machine finished it's transformation, lunging back into the fray, hacking and slashing at any fighter foolish enough to get in it's path.
"So…elegant!" Jura gasped, the blonde Dread pilot marveling as the crimson mech's sword cut a swathe through the enemy ranks, like something out of the old fairy tales the First Generation cherished so much.
"YAY!" Dita cheered, the redheaded alien otaku following hot on the Vanguard's trail, her eyes wide with amazement as she watched her 'alien friend' tear into their foes "I knew Mr. Alien would come to help us!"
"I'M NOT A DAMN ALIEN YOU CRAZY BROAD!" the pilot of the mech snapped back irately, even as he continued to slash away at the enemy "This the best you got you cube bastards?! I'm barely breaking a sweat here!" he swatted another group aside, before charging on the main unit "IKUZE!"
"DITA!" Meia called out, the squadron leader looking on in concern as the ditzy redhead gave chase after the weird Tarak machine, even as it was swarmed on all sides by cube fighters, which did little to waylay it's momentum "Get away from there!"
"HISSATSU!" the Vanguard pilot called out, the mech holding it's sword in both hands as it advanced on the enemy's main unit "ORE NO HISSATSU WAZA-!"
Orange spears lashed out of the ship, impaling the vanguard, and several cube fighters that had gotten too close, halting them in their tracks. "Mr. Alien!" Dita called out, swooping her dread in close, her eyes wide with concern, only to cry out as she was blinded in the resulting explosion.
"DITA!"
*******
Bridge of the Ikazuchi...
"I guess our miracle didn't happen…" Magno sighed, the aged captain looking down in depression as the explosion filled the view screen. Bad enough to lose the kid, he was so young, but they'd lost poor Dita too…
"We've got to tell the crew to evacuate…" Buzam noted with a sigh, only to blink, looking up along with the crew as Pyoro beeped in surprise, their eyes widening at the sight of the figure clawing it's way out of the molten rubble.
"What the heck is that?!" Magno exclaimed, looking on in abject shock at the sight of the giant blue mech that dimly resembled Dita's dread and the kid's vanguard combined "Another weapon of the men?!"
"Hisatsu…" a deep voice growled over the speakers, the bridge crew looking up in alarm, their eyes wide as the mech tore its way into the enemy vessel "Eat this! Ore no Hisatsu Waza!"
The spikes on the mech's back flipped onto it's shoulders, lighting up as they launched twin pillars of energy into the core of the enemy ship, gutting it from the inside out, the entire thing exploding, the shockwave taking out the rest of the attacking cube fighters, leaving the mech floating undamaged in space.
*******
Inside the fused mech...
"I made it…" Hibiki muttered, the teen slowly coming round as he smiled to himself, dimly recalling the sight of the ship blowing up before he'd been rendered unconscious by the shockwave "I…we finally made it…"
He paused, noting the lack of response from the Imajin, only to sigh as he felt the red warrior's presence at the back of his head, cursing exhaustedly, having apparently been knocked out of control of his body by the explosion.
Something groaned beneath him, the Tarak teen's eyes widening as he realized that not only was he back in the original suit, sans red armor, but that his hands were resting on someone else's, and that said someone was sitting on his lap, more accurately, on a certain part of his anatomy that was feeling rather uncomfortable at the moment.
"W-what the heck is going on here?!" he demanded, looking around the cockpit in alarm, even as Dita, who was fast asleep, leant back into his chest, her hands trapped beneath his own as he tried to slip free "Hey! Sand-majin-thing! What's going on?!"
"I just knew Mr. Alien would protect us somehow…" the redhead mumbled in her sleep, smiling softly to herself as she continued to nuzzle the startled teen's chest like a pillow as Hibiki looked on, completely at a loss.
"Is this…the proof of my existence?" the Tarak teen asked the universe at large, only to receive the dazed mutterings of the voice in his head, and a strange pressure from his groin as the redhead shifted in her sleep.
Double Action Sword Form Plays in the background...
Momo: So? What did you think of that Climax?!
Meia: Freeze!
Momo: hey what the?! GAH! THat's cold!
Dita: Mr. Alien! Your red friend's pretty funny!
Momo: Bitches! I'll remember this! This isn't how a star should be treated!
Next time, Kamen Rider VanDen-O, The paths we walk.
Momo: I'll show you a real Climax!
Kyugan: If i get around to writing the chapter...
Momo: Eh?!
