Somewhere far away from the Dino House, there was a building in construction. Either that, or it's a building being restored from that last giant monster fight. Inside that building, on the top floor, we find Ranru, put against a pillar. Slowly, she woke up. She has no recollection of how she fell asleep at all. She only vaguely remembered how this guy in red and black had grabbed her, and took her away. What happened after that was all too blurry. She tried to take one deep breath, but something was pressing on her lungs. She couldn't quite make out what it was, but she could only breath in a small amount of breath. She tried to open her eyes, but there was some dried crust, making it harder for her to open them. She wanted to use her hand to wipe it away, but that's when she realised she couldn't move her hand. Her eyes somehow managed to open by themselves. And that's when it all became clear to her. The reason she had trouble breathing was because somebody had chained her to the pillar she was leaning against. She looked at her right-hand side behind her, to see a rope was wrapped around her wrist. She looked at her left wrist and saw a rope was wrapped around it just as well. She looked at her Dino-brace. She couldn't be sure, but it looked like Ptera's mouth on the brace was duct-taped. Funny, Ranru thought to herself, there's tape on her Dino-brace, but for some reason there wasn't any on her own mouth. Which ever the reason to that, she needed to get out of these restrains. She looked in front of her as she struggled. Against the wall opposite her, she noticed a guy in dark blue clothes, save for a deep red shirt he wore. Like the first time she met him, his face was obscured by his hood. She recognised him as that red and black guy, only he isn't wearing his suit this time. He didn't do anything in particular, he just sat there watching her. Though there was only light from the moon, and some of the street lights, she couldn't help noticing he was shaking.

"Why are you keeping me here?" Ranru asked him.

The dark guy tilted his head up, but didn't reply to her.

"Listen to me!" Ranru started, "I don't know what you're planning to do with me, but I'm not your enemy!"

The dark guy looked away from her. He clearly couldn't care less about what she was saying.

"You wanted some company then?" Ranru thought it was a rediculous thought herself, but given the way he moved his head back to face her, she may be right about this after all, "If that's all you want, you didn't have to tie me up like this!"

For some reason, her words only made him breath heavier. Yet still, all he did was sitting where he sat.

Ranru relised she had to do something to win his confidence, and this was all she could think of: "That man in the Dark Armor, he kept calling you 'Al'. Is that you..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the dark guy got up, too quickly for her to have relised it before he had clenched his hand on her throat. It all happened too fast for her to percieve everything alltogether. She couldn't even be sure of what she saw then, but wether that was because of the dim lights or her ability, or lack thereof, to percieve things well, she didn't know. All she did know is that his teeth, which he was showing in his obvious sudden rage, were unusually large. Too large to be human!

Not knowing how else to react to this, Ranru tried to say: "O... okay... so you... hate... that name..."

His teeth returned to the normal human size, as he let go of her. Though he didn't appear to be cooled off either. He kept growling, as he started pacing up and down the room.

After she had regained as much of her breath as she could, she kept talking to him: "Well, you change into red and black... can I call you Akakuro?"

The dark guy stopped in his tracks and looked at her. Ranru could not see his eyes, but she assumed that this meant 'yes'.

"I'm Ranru!" she continued, although the dark guy had allready looked away from her. And even though he hadn't said a word ever since their first encounter, she was sure he could talk. She asked him: "Can you tell me who you are?"

Ranru could not see what the dark guy saw, after she asked him this question. He saw how he was walking through some kind of a jungle, barely able to stand on his feet. He saw something that looked like a dried out river. He waited for something to come, but everything went black before his eyes before it came. Other than that, he saw himself lying somewhere that looked like a hospital room. Though what he saw was blurry, he could make out someone behind the machines, who then returned, holding something in his hands. Something that looked like a wire, that was connected to the machines. He had but a vague idea of what it was, but he knew for sure that it was somehow vital to him.

"Akakuro-kun!" Ranru's voice brought him back to reality, "What's wrong?"

He growled again and turned his back to her. Ranru couldn't help but notice that he was shaking heavier than he did before. Whatever's going on in his mind, he was clearly suffering from it. Ranru offered to help: "I don't know what's wrong, but I'm sure I can help you! Just untie me, and I'll..."

He turned to look at her again. This sudden move of his got him to stand in the moonlight, so Ranru was sure of what she saw this time: his teeth were unusually large to be human. In her mind her question of who he is changed into a question of what he is. Nevertheless, she decided he had enough of her questions, so she remained silent for the rest of the night.

Even further away, on an unknown location, the Dark Armored Man had continued with some of his experiments. In his lab, all sorts of things could be found, that looked like arms, legs, heads,... all of which belonged to some Torinoid or a Giganoid once.

"Let's see what they will do if I let this loose on the city." the Man mumbled to himself.

Note: the dark guy/red and black guy/Akakuro (whichever name you prefer) is mine. Also, 'Akakuro' litterally means 'Redblack'