The Team, the Monster, and the Birthday
Austin stared at the arm, wondering what was going to happen next, when the sound of flapping metal gave him his answer. He turned to see the swarm heading his way. "I knew it,Alfred Hitchcock was right!" he yelled as he braced for impact, when he noticed the birds were diving past him, and grabbing all of the cell medals. "No!" Ankh yelled as he tried to chase after them, managing to wrestle one cell medal away from the birds. While he was fighting it, Austin got a good look at the bird and saw that it wasn't flesh and blood, but made of metal. "Stupid creatures!" Ankh growled as he absorbed the medal "What were those things?" Austin asked "How the hell should I know?" Ankh growled. "He, wait, how do I transform back?" Austin asked. "Oh, that's simple, turn the belt back." Austin noticed that the belt was indeed tilted to one side, so he returned it to its original position. Suddenly, his armor glowed, and vanished, leaving him with the four medals in one hand and the Belt in the other. Ankh suddenly grabbed both items, absorbing them too. "He, wait, I thought you wanted me to help?" Austin asked, chasing after him. "I do, but it's on MY terms" he said, flicking at Scott.
Meanwhile, in an office building
A man was sitting behind a grand desk, looking at some reports on his computer, with several cakes of all shapes and size around him. His office was very spacious, was tastefully decorated, and even had a wine bar, grand Piano and a chandelier. Sitting on one of the couches was a woman dressed in a pink business suit, who was reading a fashion magazine while eating a slice of one of the cakes. Suddenly, one of the large windows opened, and the swarm of birds entered, yet the two didn't seem to notice aside from the woman picking her plate up to get it out of the way. The birds stacked the medals neatly into a pyramid form on the coffee table before piling themselves into a pyramid on a side table in their can forms. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" the man exclaimed at seeing the huge pile of cell medals. "It looks like OOO is doing a good job out there." The woman said, pouring herself a cup of tea and readjusting the flower in her perfectly pirmmed hair. "Of course he is, he is OOO!" the man said, getting up from his desk to look at the giant TV screen on the wall. The picture it displayed was of Austin talking with Ankh. "And he has a great reputation to live up to!" he said, turning his back to the woman. "Ms. Satonaka, have you prepared the offerings?" he asked of the woman. "Yes sir, they are being wrapped as we speak she said, taking a sip of tea. "SUBARASHII!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in excitement.
Back on the streets
An ice cream truck was parked on a street, addressing a crowed of children, so the seller was not aware that Ankh had his, well, himself in the man's freezer. Austin was trying to find Ankh, having lost him after chasing him for 3 city blocks. "Hi there" Ankh suddenly said, appearing behind Austin, holding three popsicles. "Where did you go? Wait, where did you get those?" Austin asked, noticing the ice candy "Swiped them from that guy back there" Ankh said, eating two of the popsicles in the same way he ate the medals. "Dude, that's stealing!" Austin said, trying to see if the guy had taken notice of his robbery. "I know what it's called, and I don't care" Ankh said with an air of ignorance. "Can you even taste those?" Austin asked, admitting defeat in this argument. "I can tell they are cool and refreshing, as you can" he said, enjoying his ill-gotten gain. "Are you evergoing to tell what that was back at the zoo? Or what you are for that matter?" Austin asked, his hands on his hips in curiosity. "I am a Greeed a creature made of complete desire, created 800 years ago by alchemists, as are the others, Kazari, Uva, Mezool, and Gamel, each of us embodies a different animal type and element we are.." "HOLD IT!" Austin cut him off, grabbing him. "This is all moving way too fast," Austin whined, shaking Ankh.
Later, the two found their way to a river bank. "So what are these medals?" Austin asked. "We Greeed are comprised of Cell medals" he explained as he held up a random cell medal. "However, we are also made of Core Medals which hold the cell medals together" he continued, holding up the Taka medal. "So back there, that was a Greeed?" Austin asked "Good god no!" Ankh laughed, with a twinge of annoyance in his voice. "Greeed are able to create monsters known as Yummies, creatures that are also comprised of cell medals, but aren't made of Core Medals. That's what you fought back there. Basically, we are like this Popsicle; the ice is like our cell medals, and the stick is like our core medals." Without the stick..." he exclaimed as he shoved the third Popsicle into Austin's mouth "...It falls apart" he said as he pulled the stick out and Austin felt the ice fall apart in his mouth. "Ow, Brain Freeze!" Austin complained, due to swallowing a whole Popsicle at once.
Elsewhere in town
Two teenage girls where sitting on park bench, each wearing around 100,000 dollars' worth of Jewelry, clothing and electronics, and laying all around them were dozens of scratch off lottery tickets. "I don't get it, we bought 45 tickets, why can't we find the winning one?" one asked. "I don't know, they say you need to buy a lot to win, and 45 is a lot!" the second one answered.
"This will be easier than I thought!" Uva smirked to himself, solidifying behind the first girl. "Let's see your desire, honey" he said as he slid a cell medal into her head, ignoring the screams of the best friend. A white Yummy emerged from her back, and began running of to find its meal. "Ah, just like old times" Uva smiled, it was time to tear this place up.
Back with the heroes
Austin was lying on a bench, and Ankh was floating on a tree, when he suddenly heard the sound of medals being collected inside a Yummy. "It's time, get up you oaf!" he said, grabbing Austin by the scruff of the neck. "Ow, ow, ok, I'm going!" Austin said, running after Ankh. The two soon found the Yummy attacking a turned over Armored Car, and was gorging itself on the cash inside. "Alight, let's do this!" Austin said, holding his hand out for the belt and medals. "Pfft" Ankh said, shoving his hand away "That thing hasn't even molted yet; we won't get anything for it! He exclaimed, keeping an eye (or finger) on the Yummy. Austin was forced to sit and watch as the Yummy continued to eat the money. "This will NOT help the economy" he quipped, watching as the bandages began to fall off the Yummy, and it suddenly grew much larger than the other one, resembling an Ant the size of a Hummer. "Alright dude, give me the gear!" Austin said, grabbing Ankh "No, if you destroy it now, we won't get as big a pay out!" Ankh said as he shook Austin off "Just let it eat that building, and then you can destroy it" he said as the Ant Yummy proceeded to devour the building. "No, what about the people inside?" Austin protested. "Listen to me, we care about one thing here, and one thing only, the Medals, that's ALL" Ankh said in a deadpan voice
"Well, that's not how I roll" Austin said as he ran toward the building intent on warning the people inside. As he climbed the stairs, he ushered the masses outside, trying to beat the creature to the top. Suddenly, one of the evacuees shoved Scott so hard; he was pushed out a window, holding onto an unsteady beam to keep from falling. "You really are a dumbass, you know that?" Ankh said, appearing above the window, holding the belt. "Here, if you want to transform so badly" he said hovering next to Scott. Suddenly Austin grabbed Ankh as the two began falling towards the earth. "Promise me Ankh, promise me that you will let me use this power to save people first, and we worry about medals later." He said as the two fell. "Are you insane?" Ankh yelled as they fell "Promise!" Austin screamed "Fine, Fine we'll protect people, whatever!" Austin then placed the belt on his waist and the medals in their slots. "HENSHIN!" he screamed over the air
As the suit finished forming over him, Austin shoved the claws into the wall, slowing his fall till he was able to land in a pile of rubble. "Oh man, let's not do that again" Austin said as he got to his feet, his entire body hurting from the impact. "Well if you would have waited..." Ankh started, but Austin stopped paying attention before he could continue the insult. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" a booming voice exclaimed behind them. They jumped to see the mysterious man broadcasting himself on an LCD Screen on an adjacent building. "It's not my Birthday" Austin said, completely confused. "No, I'm talking about it being OOO's birthday!" "OOO?" Austin asked, turning to Ankh. "The armor you're wearing, idiot" Ankh said, turning away. "And for this momentous occasion, we have provided you with some, gifts" he said, gesturing to the right. Austin and Ankh turned to see that there was a large, rectangular box lying next to a vending machine, which also had a bow on it. Austin opened the box to find a sword and five cell medals among some straw filler. "Cool!" Austin said, lifting up the three foot sword." "Oh, and there's a little bonus gift in there as well." The man said. Austin rifled through the filler till he found a small coin box. He opened it, to find a light blue Core Medal that had an engraving of an Octopus on it. "You, wait, how?" Ankh stammered, clearly lost for words. "Thank you mister, uh..." Austin was unsure what to call this man, he hadn't said his name. "Mr. Kougami, Kosei Kougami" he said, before his face flickered off of the screen. "That was nice, a little random, but nice!" Austin said, removing the Batta medal and replacing it with this new medal. "How does he have that medal?" Ankh was asking himself. Austin scanned the medals and it sang: "TAKA! TORA! TAKO!" as a new medal slid in place, completely covering Austin's legs with what looked like upside down tentacles.
"Taco?" Austin asked? "Oh right, Tako, is the Japanese word for octopus." He remembered from his Japanese class last year. He ran his hand down his new armor, and found it was now stuck on one of the suction cups. He struggled to get free for a few seconds, when he noticed that the suction cups were also on the underside of his feet. "Alright!' he exclaimed as he ran toward the building, sword in hand. He took a running leap at the building, and a glow enveloped his legs, and he found himself stuck to the side of the building. "This is so cool!" he thought as he ran up the wall to catch up with the Ant Yummy, which was about the size of a whale at this point. As he ran toward the beast, he slashed with his sword, damaging its legs, and Ankh absorbed all the cell medals that fell. Finally Austin reached the top and the armor separated, forming what could only be described as a "Skirt of Tentacles" that grabbed the railing.
He then jumped down, stabbing the Ant in the throat, and proceeded to slice straight downward, before landing clumsily on the ground. The Yummy fell behind him, and immediately started chasing after him. Austin ran toward the vending machine, and accidentally dropped a cell medal into the machine and touched a bar, causing the machine to transform into a motorcycle.
"Cool! I've always wanted a bike!" he said as he landed on it. He started off on it, gaining some room on the yummy. As he was driving, he noticed a slot for medals on the sword. He dropped three medals into it and pulled the handle, sliding the three medals into a visible chamber. "Wait, if I can scan Core Medals, then what about Cell medals?" he wondered as he swiped the scanner over them, it sang; "TRIPLE SCANNING CHARGE!" as the blade glowed bright blue. "Alright, now let's finish this!" Austin yelled as he drove toward the Yummy, stabbing it and slicing through it till he was on the other side. "AHHHH, See Yah!" he yelled, slashing the creature. He saw that the sword not only cut through the creature, but also through the building and the air behind it! Just as Austin was beginning to worry about it, he saw that the building straightened and repaired itself. Just as Austin was catching his breath, he was hit by a shower of Medals. Ankh then appeared, absorbing almost all of them. "Ah, that's more like it!" he said as he was engulfed in a swarm of medals. He seemed to glow, and quivered as he absorbed the last of the medals. Five red medals floated out of Ankh, and the cell medals engulfed them, forming a humanoid body, similar to the monsters Austin had seen earlier. They solidified into a form that was a red, monstrous, humanoid bird form that had a green visor. However, he seemed to be missing half of his face, and his belt seemed to be empty.
"Ugh, still not complete, but I guess this will do, for now" Ankh said as he admired his new body. He then snatched all the medals back from Austin, and he turned away. "So what, you just wanted to use me to get your body back?" he asked angrily. "No, I do still need you." He said, turning back towards Austin. "I may be almost complete, but the other Greeed are no push over. I do need OOO's help to take them down, so I guess we do still need each other" he said, glancing over his shoulder. "Then where are you going?" Austin asked "I can't walk around like this" Ankh said, looking down at his body." Ankh then sprouted two giant energy wings and took flight. "I'll be back, count on it" he said as he took off. He dropped the belt into Austin's hand, apparently as a promise gift. Austin walked off, noticing that it was now 9 pm, and that his family would be wondering why he was staying out so late on a school night. He hurried home, not noticing that four figures were watching him as he got on a bus.
"We should just get him now, Kazari" Uva pressed, addressing the cat monster. "No brother." Kazari sighed with an air of annoyance "He doesn't have the medals, it would be pointless and a waste of our energy" he began twirling a cell medal in his fingers. "It will be my turn next" he assured his brother. "We'll strike him when he's most vulnerable" he turned, revealing he has a flier from Crown High, advertising the start of the new school year the next day.
Count The Medals:
Taka X2, Kujaku X2, Kondoru X3
Batta
Tora
Zou
Unagi, Tako
All credit of this story goes to LiamX315