A/N: Hey, people. I'm back. I will now be focusing on one story at a time, what with all the school going on now. And I get only a few hours a day to write, not the whole day, and that's not including the days when I get stuck on homework. Plus, I've pretty much pieced together this whole story from this point on, so it was a natural first choice. Also, I take about a week to revise my stories now, so there's that. Also, I'm going to start doing the funny beginning dialogue again, but they'll be seperate from the author's notes.
Kitsune: I'm liking the story so far. And why did you put us in that closet that chapter when you stopped doing this?
Chris: Uh...that wasn't me.
Naru: I saw you put us in the closet!
Chris: No, you didn't.
TV: This just in, a man named Chris has apparently locked all residents of the Hinata House in a closet.
(Everyone aside from Chris crosses their arms)
Chris: Okay, so I may have put you in a dark closet for a month.
Naru: Dude, seriously?! I got groped by this guy (points to Keitaro) way too much!
Keitaro: But I was tied up in the corner the whole time.
Naru: Wait, what?
(Twenty-second silence)
Chris: Awk-ward. Anyway, now be da disclaimer, before those blushes make you faint.
[|-=-|]
Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina. Anyway, STORY START!
|/\/\|
From last time:
Keitaro moved his head closer to whisper. His urgent whisper was, "Kitsune-chan, Mutsumi-chan is making lots of emotion psi energy!"
"What? You mean the other kind of psi energy?" Kitsune asked, voice in a whisper as well.
"Yes, that one," Keitaro whispered.
"WHAT?" Kitsune whispered, albeit rather loudly.
.,.
The trio were pretty quiet the whole walk back, save for the packages of watermelons and sake rolling on dolleys. And that was after the awkward train ride back, where they didn't notice people staring at the packages of stuff on the dolleys. Nobody started a conversation and Keitaro and Kitsune weren't their usual selves. Kitsune wasn't wearing that fox smile that became so trademark with her and Keitaro was constantly shifting his glasses back onto his nose nervously. And not the typical Keitaro nervous we all know and laugh at, but the kind that made him look around suspiciously. Nobody who looked at them needed a mind reader to see the tension in the air. It was kind of ironic, really. Nobody knew that there was actually an experienced mind reader, a not-so-experienced mind reader, and a potential but totally inexperienced mind reader who had no idea where the tension was coming from with them, either.
Finally, the silent walk turned to a conversation.
"Ara ara, Kei-kun, Kitsune-san, things feel so tense here! I wonder why..." Mutsumi wondered out loud.
"Should we tell her?" Kitsune asked in a whisper.
"Better to get it over with now than later," Keitaro whispered back.
"Why are we talking like this?" Mutsumi asked them in a whisper, causing Keitaro and Kitsune to jump a little, as if they had the same brainwave.
"Gyuh! Well, uh, Mutsumi-chan, remember yesterday when that robot came to the Hinata-sou, and I sliced it in half with fire?" Keitaro asked.
"Yeah, what about it?" Mutsumi asked.
"Well, you actually have some of the powers I have. It seems you have the ability to perceive emotions effortlessly," Keitaro said.
"What do you mean?" Mutsumi asked.
"Well, haven't you noticed that you can read people without trying?" Keitaro asked.
"Yeah, I have. Wait, what do you mean by that?" Mutsumi asked.
"Well, I don't know how, but now you have some of my abilities. We need to be somewhere less open before I can explain this to you any more," Keitaro said.
"But there's nobody here on this street," Mutsumi noted.
"Well, people could be watching. There are guys that actively look for people like me. We have to be careful," Keitaro said.
"Okay, let's go ho-" Mutsumi started, nodding.
"Going somewhere?" came a voice from behind them. They turned around to see a man wearing a fancy white suit.
"Huh? Who are you?" Keitaro asked.
"'Who are you?' You honestly don't remember me, Urashima-san? I'm deeply offended. Maybe this'll clue you in," the man said resentfully. He took out a note that looked like it was written by a six-year-old and tossed it down. It read:
'Dear Kei,
Hey, bro. Just wrote to tell you that I will keep your secret. I won't reveal it to anyone, trust me. They'll probably think I'm crazy. But, don't worry, your secret's safe with me.
Sincerely
your best friend, Ken.'
After Keitaro read the letter, he looked back up at the man standing before them, seeming to realize something.
"Kentaro-san?" Keitaro said with astonishment.
"Now you remember me?" Kentaro said.
"Kei-kun, who is this?" Kitsune asked, pointing to the man in the suit.
"Oh, excuse me, ladies. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kentaro Sakata, Keitaro-san's ex-friend. Now I hate his guts," Kentaro introduced.
"Okay. Now that we got that out of the way, I have another question. In this letter, he seemed to be your friend. What happened?" Kitsune asked.
"Kentaro-san used to be my friend. I was even able to confide my biggest secret in him: I told him that I had powers. He gladly kept the secret all through elementary school. Then we didn't see each other for two years. The next time we saw each other was in high school. We both practically cheered when we saw each other.
"Then we both saw her. The foreign exchange student from America. I can't remember her name, but I remember her face. He had a crush on her. I knew he would have a crush on her. He made a cheap shot at me so he could get a head start on her, even though I was not trying for her. The epitome of 'blinded by love' if there ever was one. But I had a promise to keep to that girl fifteen years ago. He thought I was going to make a move on her though. Then, he made his move on her. But she rejected him. So he kept trying throughout high school, with a complete record of failure until the last week of our senior year. For some reason, he thought I did something to keep winning the girl over. Then, he tried forcing her to like him. She only got more repulsed and even a little intimidated by him. Then, I found out that he had kidnapped her when I stumbled upon a closet she was locked in. After that, I confronted him about locking her in the closet in the gym. He got mad at me because he thought I was still doing something to her to get her to like me, I got frustrated at him for believing that, even after four years of going to the same school, then he tried to punch me.
"I stopped his punch and shoved him away, but the way we were looking at each other showed that he was no friend of mine anymore. Then the girl ran up and kissed me on the cheek and thanked me for saving her. We were both just standing there, shocked. Then he ran up and smacked me in the face while I was still shocked and he ran out, vowing something and saying something about revenge. After that, I told the girl to not tell anyone I saved her like I did and tried to keep this man an unhappy memory. It almost worked," Keitaro explained, turning to Kentaro with a frown.
"Wait, so you hate him because of a misunderstanding?" Kitsune asked in a deadpan tone.
"Yep. And you won't be stopping me. I already know all your tricks. You can't get a shot at me," Kentaro ranted.
"Just try and make me stop trying," Keitaro said, getting into a defensive stance.
"Oh yeah? You and what army?" Kentaro said, stretching out his arms and revealing a large number of robots around them, surrounding them. He let out an evil chuckle.
"Oh, please. I could take care of these robots, no problem," Keitaro said. The robots charged at him. "Girls, hide!" Keitaro commanded.
"No way. I want to fight, too! I want to help," Kitsune protested.
"No, this guy knows the secrets to the mystic energies. He can manipulate your energy attacks with his robots and you girls don't know martial arts. I got this," Keitaro said. Then, to respond to the charge, Keitaro charged at the robots and a big dust cloud appeared around the clash.
"You think he'll be alright?" Kitsune asked Mutsumi.
"Well, he looks like he's doing well," she responded, pointing to Keitaro to show that he was ripping through the robots...literally.
"Whoa!" Kitsune said in awe, "I have never seen such a good example of...of...oh, what was the right word? Abnormal? Juxtaposition?"
"Difference?" Mutsumi suggested.
"Yeah, difference. I guess that wo-" Kitsune started, but she suddenly vanished, leaving a hole in the ground next to her sake package.
"Kitsune-sa-" Mutsumi started to ask, but vanished just as Kitsune had done.
When Keitaro had finished with the robots, they were all scrap metal and Kentaro had vanished. Keitaro was standing in the middle of the wreckage for a second, breathing heavily. He then started to turn around. "Girls, are you all..." Keitaro started. As he finished going to where the girls hid, however, all he saw of where they were standing was the package of sake and the watermelons. Keitaro gasped, then looked around. They were nowhere to be found. He flicked himself in the forehead and his eyes started glowing gray. 'This'll tell me where they're going,' he thought. As he scanned the area, however, he saw no signature of energy. He closed his eyes and a tear came out.
"Damn it! I lost them," he said, sadly. He somberly turned to the package and watermelons. 'I guess I'll have to carry those up the steps myself.'
...
An hour later, Keitaro closed the door to the Hinata-sou with his new clothes, the pack of sake, and the watermelon in hand. All the residents were there, watching the news. Right now, there was a report of two missing adult women being broadcasted.
"This just in, two women were apparently taken hostage by an unknown captor. According to our source, an adult man who was walking in the park near the Hinata Hill with these women, they were snatched away while he was distracted. So, if you see these women, call the police immediately," the reporter urged. Everyone gasped at seeing the faces on file of the two missing persons.
"Kitsune-san is missing? Mutsumi-san, too? What happened?" Naru asked, concerned. Then everyone heard the door close and looked to see Keitaro walking towards them.
"So, you saw the news report," he noted, pushing the dollies next to the wall.
"Urashima-san, did you know about this?" Motoko asked.
"Yep. I'm the one who called the police," Keitaro said.
"What happened? What were you doing in the park with both of them?" Sarah asked.
"They both came with me to the mall to get this pack of sake and this watermelon. Then, we were walking home and an old enemy of mine showed up and snagged them while I was dealing with his robots. Now, they're being held captive by him," Keitaro explained, sulking at that last part.
"WHAT? YOU LET MY BEST FRIEND GET KIDNAPPED BY THIS 'ENEMY' OF YOURS? HOW COULD YOU?!" Naru yelled, charging at him and reeling her arm back for a punch. When her punch should've connected, it didn't. Instead, she met a blurry semblance of Keitaro, which just turned out to be air.
"Huh?" she asked, looking around to see Keitaro standing behind her, looking at her over a book with annoyance.
"This is not the time for you to launch me to Tokyo, Narusegawa-chan. I need to find his base of operations fast. If I don't, the world is in danger. Su-chan, could you make a tracking device without the need for a tracking bug?" Keitaro asked, turning to Su and closing the book.
"Yes, I can! But I need a DNA sample of whoever you want to track," Su said, apparently missing the weird part of the last statement, like always.
"Okay. Use this," Keitaro said, pulling out a hair he had in his pocket.
"What's that hair supposed to do?" Sarah asked.
"Well, I plucked it off of my old enemy. Good thing he never bothered to try and learn how to follow my superspeed movements," Keitaro answered.
Meanwhile, Naru was too in shock to say anything. After all, she thought she was going to hit him and send him flying again. Instead, he somehow got out of the way and ended up behind her, leaving the color of his self still there, as if nothing happened. 'Wh-What was that? What just happened? Ask him, ask him!' she thought. Yet, her legs wouldn't move.
The rest of the residents were just as shocked as Naru, only for different reasons.
'How did Urashima-san do that? He must have moved so fast that even I could not follow him. Now I simply must ask him what is going on! Oh, wait, that seems impossible,' Motoko thought, going into a state of thinking.
'Wow. Did Sempai say 'superspeed'? Cool!' was Shinobu's thrilled thought.
'Hmm. Let's see. If I took a DNA scanner, and added it to the circuit in place of the wireless receiver, it should be able to accept any DNA signature as the tracking data. I just have to connect the software with the hardware and the plasma battery to the scanner,' was Su's thought process. Su ran off to her room to build the tracker in her mind. Keitaro followed her.
This left Sarah, Shinobu, Naru, and Motoko staring after Keitaro with a curious look in their eyes.
...
"Su-chan, how much longer is this going to take?" Keitaro asked, seeming a little frustrated.
"Well, I'm going as fast as I can!" Su said cheerfully.
"It's been four hours and all you've got is the schematic!" Keitaro protested.
"Well...it's actually a little time-consuming to attach a DNA sensor to the tracker. You see, I need to attach a round thing called a plasma battery, and I need to make the software compatible, and I haven't had bananas since lunch, and-" Su started to say.
"Okay, really? You 'haven't had any bananas since lunch'? Now I know you're making excuses. Su-chan, why are you making up excuses?" Keitaro interrogated.
"Well, it's always been my third-best dream to lie to an audience using bananas!" Su said.
"That doesn't even make any sense! We're not nearly enough to be an a-wait! 'Dream'? That just gave me an idea! Su-chan, you have what the finished product should look like memorized, right?" Keitaro said.
"Yep! Why do you ask?" Su asked, smiling.
"I have an idea, but I need you to imagine every part of it for me. I know it seems odd, but just do it," Keitaro commanded.
"Okay, but I don't know how it'll help," Su said, closing her eyes after that statement.
"Have you done that?" Keitaro asked.
"Yep! Do you have some sort of plan to seduce me?" Su teased.
"No, of course not. Just stay focused on the finished product," Keitaro commanded.
That's when he started meditating while standing. Basically, he held his arms so that his fists were at his sides and his arms were bent. He bent his knees slightly (A/N: Sorry for the boring description. I've been playing too much of Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies lately). He closed his eyes and focused.
That's when particles of white light gathered into the shape of an orb right in front of him. He then grabbed the white orb and crushed it between his hands, giving the palms of his hands a white glow. Then he placed his hand on Su's head and a his hand seemed to reach into her head. He pulled his hand back after a second and the white glow on his hands dissipated into the air.
"Alright, Su-chan, tell me, is this what you were imagining?" Keitaro asked. Su opened her eyes to look and was astonished by what saw. In Keitaro's hand was the tracking device Su had been imagining, down to the DNA scanner.
"Yes, it is! How did you do that?" Su asked, astonished.
"I'll tell you later," Keitaro answered simply. Then, he took out the hair he had in his pocket and put it into the DNA scanner. The screen then sprung to life and a grid appeared, showing an arrow pointing somewhere in between west and north-west on the border of the screen.
"Got him! Okay, I'm going to follow the arrow. Su-chan, please don't try to follow me," he said. Then he turned the direction he had come. Close to the edge of the forest that was Su's room, Keitaro stopped.
"And girls, please don't try to follow me like you did four hours ago with Su-chan and me," he requested, causing some loud 'eep!'s to be heard. Su looked to the sources of the sound to see that all the other Hinata residents were apparently eavesdropping on the discussion, indicated by the startled looks on their faces and the fact that they were on the ground. Then Su looked back to the place where their manager was standing a moment ago to see that he was no longer standing there. She walked around a little bit, searching for where he might have gone, and could not find him. After she returned to her computer, having given up on finding him, she said, "Huh, weird," and went right back to the drawing board. Or rather, she would have, if the monkeys weren't smashing it to pieces.
...
"Mm? Mmm m meh momng ear? Mn hmm ms nere?" came a muffled voice in the hideout. She was strapped to an operating table in a room of the hideout.
"Hello, miss. You must be Mutsumi Otohime-san. I am Kentaro Sakata, the one who kidnapped you. Don't bother trying to escape," he said.
All Mutsumi did was give him a confused look with her eyes.
"Hmm?" she said, even though it was muffled by the gag.
"What do you mean 'hmm'? It's so easy to follow. I have kidnapped you and held you captive on an operating table!" Kentaro said.
"Hmm?" Mutsumi said again.
"Oh, just shut it," Kentaro commanded, sounding agitated. He slugged her across the face, knocking her unconscious.
Meanwhile, in the room upstairs to that one, Kitsune was shackled to a chair and just waking up.
Kitsune groaned. "Ow, my head. What happened? And where am I? How did I get here?" she asked the air, which yielded no response.
That's where she struggled, strained, and tried any other means of escape for all of another five minutes. Then she saw someone burst through the wall opposite her, catching her really off-guard.
She tried to say 'Kei-kun, over here!', but it came out as a series of unintelligible noises because her gasp of surprise put too much air into her lungs. He looked her direction, though, so it didn't really matter.
When Keitaro tried to approach, however, a cage of lasers appeared, surrounding her operating table. This made him stop. Then he held out his fist and opened it. What came out was a black orb of energy. Then, he chucked it through the lasers towards the operating table.
Kitsune was really surprised when she saw that Keitaro had somehow teleported right next to her.
"How did you do that?" she asked.
"It's one of my powers," Keitaro answered, starting to remove the shackles.
"Really?" Kitsune asked.
"Yep. And before you ask, I'll tell you later," Keitaro promised, finishing the task of getting rid of the shackles. He had made a blue key materialize and fit into the lock. It opened the shackles.
"Let me guess, you read my mind?" Kitsune guessed.
"Nope, I just expected you to say that," Keitaro responded.
"You know, you've been surprising me ever since the whole robot attack the other day. How do you keep doing it?" Kitsune asked, rubbing her wrists from being under shackles.
"You know, I don't really know. But, I planned to tell everyone back at the Hinata about my powers tonight, until this whole mess showed its ugly face," Keitaro said.
"Why?" Kitsune asked.
"Well, they're bound to ask sooner or later, after that show just yesterday. Plus, how else could I explain you're disappearance and my being gone for a while?" Keitaro pointed out.
"Good point," Kitsune said. Then, they started to walk to the door, which was locked with an electronic/hydraulic lock. Keitaro was about to raise his arms to open the doors, but Kitsune stopped him.
"I got this," she said. Once he put down his arms, Kitsune raised one of hers. A purple blade came out of her closed fist. Then she ran up to the door and sliced at it with the purple blade. She shouted, "Duck and cover!" Then the doors released a sound similar to a town flooding and exploded, water flying everywhere.
"Wow, Kitsune-chan. I'm impressed. I've never seen that before," Keitaro commented, sounding very impressed.
"Yeah. I invented it," Kitsune responded.
"Ah, I see. Getting the pattern now?" Keitaro asked, sweeping the dust and metal fragments off of his arm.
"Yeah. Psi energy is super easy to use once you've got the experience to do other things. I guess it's kinda like cooking," Kitsune noted.
"Yes, it is. What I'm impressed with is the fact that you learned so fast, you were able to invent and pull off an advanced ability on your first try. But, anyway, let's go. We need to hurry. If we don't rescue Mutsumi-chan, she'll practically explode and destroy everything, including Japan," Keitaro warned.
"Right!" Kitsune said, running with him down the hall to search for the missing Mutsumi. She hardly seemed fazed that he said 'including Japan' for a moment.
'Wait, "including Japan"?' she thought while running. Her mental voice sounded freaked out. And like a Southern gal (A/N: That's how she sounds in the anime).
...
Meanwhile, the rest of the Hinata gang was looking for Keitaro in the Mecha Tama IV. Su had taken out her old Keitaro tracker and installed it into the airship. She was manning the controls, causing mild airsickness.
"Dashing through the air, looking for the guy, who manages our all-girls-dorm, hey, we have to try!" Su sang to the tune of 'Jingle Bells'.
"Su-chan, what are you singing?" Naru asked, sounding fearful for her life, which wasn't so far off of the mark.
"Oh, I just took the tune of a Christmas song from America and put my own words in!" Su said, turning back to look at Naru as she answered that question.
"How would that even make any sense? It's the beginning of summer, so why would you-" Naru started to ask.
"Su-san, duck!" Sarah shouted, causing Su to duck. Then everyone heard a bump on the front of the flying machine.
"What was that?" Shinobu asked.
"Probably the duck," Sarah said, smiling.
"Su-chan! You have to be more careful! We could crash!" Motoko warned. She seemed really...concerned...that she was in a giant flying mechanical turtle with a crazy kid at the wheel. Yeah, we'll just leave it at that.
"I know. Let's see...Oh, we completely missed him. He's behind us now," Su said. Everyone facefaulted.
"Well, turn around!" Naru commanded from the floor.
"Okay! Sheesh, you don't gotta be a backseat driver," Su groused, turning the aircraft around.
...
"This way!" Keitaro said while running through the halls of Kentaro's hideout. They were still searching for Mutsumi.
"Um, Kei-kun, not to be impatient, but when are we going to get there?" Kitsune asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
"She's close, I can feel it," Keitaro said. Then they came upon a room where they heard drilling. They heard this noise and hid behind the wall.
"Alright, we're here, right?" Kitsune asked.
"Yeah. I just saw him in there with Mutsumi-chan. It wasn't pretty. But we need a plan to rescue her. He probably didn't hear the door exploding with all these loud machines," Keitaro said. Then he took seven chi stones out of his pocket (A/N: chi stones are like metal balls, only not and, when you roll them around in your hand, they're said to center your chi). He startes rolling them in his hand.
"What are you doing?" Kitsune asked.
"Hmm? Oh, this? Just a nervous habit," Keitaro answered, putting the chi stones away.
"Aren't you just showing off?" Kitsune asked.
"No. Why?" Keitaro responded.
"Nothing. Okay...How about you distract him while I get Mutsumi-san out of that chair?" Kitsune suggested.
"Alright, then. That works," Keitaro said. He ran into the room first while Kitsune watched while hiding.
"Kentaro-san! Let her go!" Keitaro yelled.
Kentaro turned around. "Ah, I see that the cavalry has arrived," he said.
"Let Mutsumi-chan go! She had nothing to do with our fight in high school!" Keitaro pleaded.
"Well, I don't plan on releasing her anytime soon," Kentaro said.
"Then I'll make you release her!" Keitaro said.
"Do you know how cliche that line is?" Kentaro asked, laughing his head off. Once his laughter died off, he pressed a button on a remote and an army of robots came out from behind him. These robots looked more like thugs.
"Kentaro-san, when will you ever learn? I could take them apart easily. Watch," Keitaro said confidently. Then he put both his arms out and spread out his hands. The robots started floating with a purple glow around them.
"Keitaro-san, do you really think I didn't think of that? It's impossible for you to tear them apart," Kentaro said.
"I know," Keitaro said, smiling confidently. Then, through the ceiling, a lightning bolt struck one robot. Then Keitaro brought the robots closer together. The one shocked robot touched other robots, essentially frying Kentaro's army.
"Huh. Never seen that one before. Guess I'll have to use my strongest thing," Kentaro said. He pressed another button on his remote, opening up the floor under him and revealing a set of battle armor. It made him look like a cartoonishly large muscle-bound freak once he got inside.
"Behold! My mark I Exoskeleton! It resists all your energies. You can't hit me with anything of those four energies of yours," Kentaro said.
"Wow...nice helmet. You get all the premium channels on that thing or...?" Keitaro joked.
"Alright, you asked for it!" Kentaro yelled in singsong, raising his arm. Rocket launchers came out and his arm looked like a weaponized stick. "Say 'hello' to my giant friends!" he taunted. The missiles fired off, coming towards Keitaro.
Snapping out of the stupor Kentaro's ugly battlesuit put him in, he looked to the missiles and raised his fists, causing them to glow red before bringing them down to the ground. This made spikes of rock abruptly erupt from the ground around him. Keitaro then grew psI blades from his fingers and twirled around, cutting the spikes where they stood. He picked them up with psi and made a rock shield. That caused more dust and smoke and some fire on the rock.
Kentaro smirked as the missiles hit, thinking it hit Keitaro. When the smoke cleared, he saw a giant wall of flaming rock flying towards him. He was startled for a second, but then swung forward and broke apart the rock. As the dust cleared, he saw a figure running up to him, fist raised and glowing red. He just stood there as he got punched by Keitaro, but nothing happened. The punch did nothing to Kentaro's suit. Kentaro just punched Keitaro, causing him to fly across the room to where he was, landing on the ground with a skid.
"Getting creative, are we? Seems a little soon, doesn't it? Well, it's my turn now," Kentaro jeered. He raised his arm and the hand opened up. A bazooka came out, shooting out the explosive incendiary ammo.
Keitaro took a stance akin to Motoko's 'get ready, I'm going to castrate you' stance, with a similar face. A glowing blue katana blade rose out of his closed fist. He ran towards Kentaro, slicing open the bazooka bombs with the blade. He was running in a manner like he was running across a tightrope. His hands were behind him, his right arm only moving to slice the oncoming bombs. A ball of electricity was forming around his other hand. You know, typical ninja sprint.
Once he got close, he flipped above a bazooka shell and stabbed Kentaro's suit in the head with the katana. Then he leapt off of Kentaro, who's back was arched with surprise. As the katana dissolved into the air, due to the true-to-word energy immunity Kentaro's suit had built in, Keitaro jumped off of the ceiling and dive-bombed the mechanical-suited man, left hand first. Kentaro's hand opened up and a sword popped up. The impact was...well, bright, to say the least.
Kentaro was shaking from the jolt of Keitaro's electric punch. He was shaking from the electricity for a few seconds, then was blown back by the force.
Keitaro landed, perfectly unscathed save for one scratch on his arm from the sword, in front of the mecha-menace.
"Hah! Gotcha!" Keitaro said.
"...Hmph. It'll take more than that to bring me down, you buffoon," Kentaro said. Keitaro gasped at this comment and at seeing the bulky suit fall off after the electric punch to reveal another armor suit, this one making him look more like a weaponized super soldier than a muscle-bound giant.
"What? How did you do that?" Keitaro asked in astonishment.
"Don't you remember? I had a thing for maximizing space. The phase is gone, but I still have the knowledge," Kentaro said, tapping two fingers on his forehead. "And I still have the knowledge of how to trap you in a cage that cancels out all your energy outputs," Kentaro continued, pressing a button on a remote suddenly. Then a cage popped up out of the ground and trapped Keitaro in a cage glowing maroon.
"What is this?" Keitaro said. He tried to punch the bars, only to realize that the bars were lasers and that his hand was on fire as a result of the failed attempt to smash the cage. "Ooh! Ow! Hot!" he exclaimed, patting out the small flame.
"These lasers are programmed to block the energies and stop them from activating. They take away your super strength, super speed, super agility, and anything else your four energies give you," Kentaro explained.
"Well, I have a confession to make. I didn't show you all my powers," Keitaro confessed, seeing that Kitsune unlocked Mutsumi's shackles and quietly dragged her over to some storage crates sitting conveniently nearby.
"Oh? What didn't you show me?" Kentaro asked with a mock piqued interest.
"This," Keitaro said. Then, he pointed his finger out the cage and a little black orb formed at the tip of his finger. The orb shot out to the ground where he was pointing. He suddenly appeared at the spot he pointed to. Then he took that same meditative stance as when he pulled the tracker out of thin air that Su was imagining. The same white orb formed in front of him as before, too, and in the same manner. So what was different? The result. Keitaro grabbed the orb and smashed it on the floor this time, causing circle waves to spread outward like ripples in water.
Keitaro's eyes started glowing white. Then, the ground suddenly ejected leaves. These leaves swirled around Kentaro's battle suit, leaving him confused and looking around in wonderment.
Then Keitaro closed his open hand to make a fist. The leaves exploded, leaving a whole lot of smoke and dust. When all that settled, there was a crouching Kentaro in its place. He was coughing and waving his giant mecha-hand to clear the smoke.
Once he finished that, Kentaro chuckled. "Is that all? You're more empty-headed than you seem. This suit can't be scratched by a nuclear bomb; what makes you think a string of tiny leaves would do anything?" he taunted.
"Nngh!" Keitaro said, eyes narrowing.
"And big deal, you escaped my laser cage. You can't beat me. You're nothing but a weakling," Kentaro said, first sarcastically then with a smirk.
"Grrrrr! You!" Keitaro said, trying to punch Kentaro with a glowing red fist. Kentaro just stood there while the punch did nothing. Then he punched Keitaro, causing him to backpedal.
"Wow, Kei-san. You must have really bad grades to try that again," Kentaro remarked.
"You...Stop calling me that, you irritating jerk!" Keitaro said, voice filled with rage. There was a suddenly-appearing spike of rock as Keitaro punched the ground, then another few, then he became encased in a giant round boulder.
Then something busted through. When the debris cleared, Keitaro wasn't the bespectacled man whom nobody fears. He was a menacing bespectacled gorilla whom caused fear into everyone. He was so menacing.
"Ah, I remember this!" Kentaro said.
"Grrrrrrrrrr..." Keitaro the beast growled. (A/N: This idea was inspired by Naruto, in case anyone was thinking 'Hey, he copied Naruto!'). Then he leapt at Kentaro the muscled hulking freak, tackling him. Keitaro attacked ferociously at the armor. After five minutes of this, the suit cracked.
Meanwhile, Kitsune was instructing Mutsumi on the basic things that psi energy in general could be used for. She had already helped with the extra energy removal.
"Wow. So, there's this cool purple energy that lets you read peoples' minds?" Mutsumi asked.
"Yeah. And there's two kinds of it, too. I have one kind and you have the other," Kitsune explained.
"Cool! Can you teach me about it?" Mutsumi asked.
"Well, as far as I know about it, I can only teach you some of the things I know. I have the kind that you don't have, so I can do some things you can't," Kitsune explained.
"Aww," Mutsumi said sadly.
"Well, it's the other way around, too. There's a reason why you can read people without trying. I can't do that," Kitsune said.
"Oh. that's cool," Mutsumi said.
"Yeah. He said there was a secret to it, too. He said the secret was light. I didn't get it at first, but he showed me what he meant. He showed me how light was related to the mind. Apparently, it represents wisdom and being pure of heart," Kitsune explained.
"Well, that is cool," Mutsumi said.
"Yeah. And I have to teach you stuff because Kei-kun is a little busy," Kitsune said, pointing to the beast slashing away at the armored enemy.
"Oh, okay. Wow, Kei-kun looks really angry," Mutsumi said.
That's when Keitaro finished pounding on the mechanical Exoskeleton. He started to look more normal as he was just standing there, inspecting his work. He hit so hard, there was dust everywhere. And the dust turned to smoke as Kentaro got up, his Exoskeleton now smaller, but still looking just as menacing as the one that made him look like he had a disproportionately small brain and freakishly large muscles or a weaponized super soldier. He looked like a knight of yore now with his new suit out and the old suit shed and on the floor.
"Fool. Did you really think that old monster would stop me? You forget. I studied all your energies. I have armor resistant to your stupid super punch and that monster. You can't fatally hurt me," Kentaro taunted.
"Dude, seriously?! Are you sure you're not still in that phase with the maximizing space?" Keitaro asked.
"Heh. You are a sad excuse for a Guardian. Do you really think a monster could get to me? You'd need a lot more than that to take me down," Kentaro said, raising his arm and letting out a mace, glowing with fire. He swung it around like a real knight. He charged at Keitaro and swung.
And hit something that wasn't a body.
Keitaro was holding his hands out in front of him and there was a purple field of energy right in front of him. It not only stopped the mace, but held it in the position it was in when it hit the field. No matter how much Kentaro tried to pull it away, he couldn't. It was impossible. Then Keitaro grabbed the mace and yanked it towards him, pulling Kentaro with it. He punched Kentaro as he was flung at Keitaro, causing an audible head-hitting sound inside the metal suit and for Kentaro's head to spin for a bit from dizziness. In that time, Keitaro grabbed the arm of the metal suit and slammed it on one side of him and the other for two seconds before throwing Kentaro upwards. He crashed through the ceiling and up into the air for a few seconds. Keitaro then put a purple orb on his fist. After Kentaro's few seconds of air time were up, he landed right on Keitaro's orb-covered fist, which is how he ended up flying across the room and hit the wall across the room from the storage crates. After that, Keitaro held a hand out and trapped Kentaro in a blue field and a purple field. Kentaro pressed a button on his knight-like suit, making it fall off like the other suits. He started to bash the imprisoning energy field. Meanwhile, over by the storage crates...
"And that's all I can teach you," Kitsune said.
"Wow. I can't believe how hard this was to learn," Mutsumi commented.
"Yeah. Kei-kun's a great teacher, but not me. I just tried to teach you the same way he taught me," Kitsune said.
Then Keitaro scurried behind the crates while Kentaro was trapped in the purple and blue prison.
"Hey, Mutsumi-chan. Kitsune-chan, how is her training going?" Keitaro asked.
"Well, I taught her all I could, but she still doesn't know about any of her unique abilities. I just taught her the basics," Kitsune said.
"Alright. Good. I have a plan,"-here he whispered the plan into their ears-"and he'll be out like a light. Kitsune-chan, have you taught her the light laser yet?" Keitaro asked.
"Ooh, light laser?" Mutsumi asked, sounding interested.
"Never mind. Kitsune-chan, please teach her the light laser. Alright, gotta go. Kentaro-san's about to break free," Keitaro said, getting up and moving out from behind the storage crate.
At that moment, everyone heard a loud sound resembling metal hitting rock, only it had an electric effect to it.
"Oh...WHAT THE...?!" Keitaro yelled at seeing what Kentaro had become. He was holding his deformed knight-like suit.
"Surprise, water for brains. I said I studied those four energies. In addition to being energy resistant, this suit is energy absorbent. You've been giving me energy to beat you with all this time!" Kentaro explained.
"Gah!" Keitaro exclaimed. What he saw was a man in a suit of armor glowing red, a glowing purple glove, a glowing blue helmet, glowing yellow boots, and a glowing purple sword, the glove holding it also glowing purple.
Kentaro smashed his weapon into the area, causing Keitaro to have to dodge by jumping. The weapon caused cracks to appear in the earth where he struck. Kentaro tried to strike Keitaro thrice more. On the fifth try, though, Kentaro actually hit him. He swung sideways, catching Keitaro in the gut, sending him flying towards the storage crate where Kitsune and Mutsumi were watching with deep interest. They gasped at this.
"Kei-kun, are you alright?" both of them asked, concerned. Instinctively, Mutsumi lifted his shirt. He had a big burn mark where his gut was.
"I'm fine, girls. Thanks, but I've gotten worse injuries from Motoko-chan and Naru-chan alone. I'll just heal myself," Keitaro said. Keitaro put his hand on his stomach and it glowed green. The burn around his hand seemed to disappear. When he lifted his hand, that was the case.
"Whoa. How did you do that?" Kitsune asked.
"Tell you later," he responded. Then Keitaro got up, went out into the open, and took out one of his chi stones. His hand glowed red, the stone doing the same. Then the stone turned into a big puff of red mist, floating down to the ground. Once it touched the ground, a mysterious stranger appeared.
"Who's your friend, Kei-san?" Kentaro asked teasingly.
"I'll tell you about me. I'm the guy who's going to give you the whopping of your life," the mysterious stranger answered. He had an eye patch covering his eye and yellow fingerless gloves on his hands.
"Hey, Kei-san. In a jam?" he asked.
"Yeah. Thanks, Genji-san," he said.
"Anytime. So, this creep again..." the man known as Genji said.
"You've met him?" Keitaro asked.
"Yeah. He tried to take us down once. He failed, obviously, but he was tough," Genji replied.
"Hmph. It would seem I have a talent for forgetting faces. No matter. One obstacle or a hundred, I'll take you down, Keitaro-san," Kentaro replied.
"Just try, creep," Genji and Keitaro said at the same time. They both took a fighting stance and narrowed their eyes.
"Alright, you losers asked for it," Kentaro said dismissively. He plunged his sword into the ground and hit his right fist into his left hand, causing a circle of purple energy encasing electricity to form in his hands. He split his hands apart and pointed his orb-covered hand at the pair standing at attention, two orbs of the same appearance as the one in his hand flew towards them. Keitaro held out his hands and the purple field around the projectiles dissipated. Then Genji did the same and the electricity absorbed into his hands, turning into sparks.
Keitaro grabbed Genji's leg and spun around, releasing him and launching him at Kentaro's glowing robot suit. Genji was poised to strike while he was flying at the mechanized man. Keitaro then ran to catch up to Genji with superspeed, also poised to strike. They both reached Kentaro at the same time and hit him likewise. Kentaro hit the wall opposite the side they were on and stayed slouched against the wall that way for a few seconds.
"Nice! We cracked his suit! Thanks, Genji-san," Keitaro said.
"Anytime. Now, I gotta go. The guys are holding the pot roast in a couple days and I gotta go help them set up the decorations," Genji said.
"Alright. See you. Thanks again," Keitaro said, holding out his hand.
"Just call again if you need help," Genji said as he turned to mist and reformed as a chi stone in Keitaro's hand. Keitaro pocketed the stone again.
"...So, you thought you could team up on me with someone, huh? Well, nice try, ex-buddy, but it will take more than that to take-" Kentaro started, getting up.
"-you down, I know. You've said it a few times," Keitaro said.
"Oh, have I now? Well, I'm not finished with you. I'll get you if it's the last thing I do. Even if I have to go through those insufferable girls to do it," Kentaro said, suddenly getting bitter.
"You leave the girls out of this," Keitaro commanded, suddenly sounding more serious.
"Ohoho. It seems I've hit the nail on the head," Kentaro smirked.
"Girls, now!" Keitaro yelled.
"'Girls'? I don't think so. I captured both of the ones walking with you and the rest know nothing of me. What makes you think a bluff will save you now?" Kentaro taunted.
"I'm not the one who needs saving now," Keitaro asked, smirking. The girls just mentioned jumped out from behind the crate. They landed right next to Keitaro.
"What?! How did they escape?!" Kentaro asked.
"Does it really matter now?" Kitsune asked, smirking. With that, the trio raised their hands towards Kentaro...
...and each one of them fired a very-bright-purple laser at him.
"Gah! I hate this one!" Kentaro exclaimed, cowering before the purple beam headed at him.
The beams caught him square in the gut. Not only that, but they actually went through the suit to the person and bounced off him and the inside of the suit, making an audible sizzling sound. The beams just kept bouncing between the suit's interior and the person contained within, causing a sharp "Ow!" to be heard with every other bounce and a fit of giggles from the girls.
"Here, let me help you with that," Keitaro said, grabbing the suit by the neck and punching the head a few times. It cracked like a tin can, leaving Keitaro huffing and puffing like the wolf in the story. Then he put his hands into the crack in the suit, pulling it apart.
Kentaro was knocked out from the punch to the head he sustained. The lasers bounced out of the suit and through the ceiling into the inky night above.
"Wow, he really did have a thing for maximizing space," Kitsune noted.
"Well, the warden is unconscious, so what do you say to a jailbreak?" Keitaro asked.
"But we're not in a jail," Mutsumi noted.
"It was a metaphor, Mutsumi-san. Anyway, let's go home," Keitaro responded. They headed for the door, but stopped halfway, hearing coughing. They turned back to see Kentaro waking up, making them gasp.
"Correction: not unconscious," Kitsune amended, getting in a ready stance.
"Urashima-san...you may have won this battle...but you have no idea what's coming...I'll get you yet!" Kentaro said, voice shaking with rage.
"Yeah, and I'll be here to stop you," Keitaro said, holding his hand out and forming a blue projectile.
But, before he could shoot, a crash could be heard and everyone turned to see Su's mecha-Tama crash through the wall with all the Hinata girls inside. It landed on Kentaro's leg, making him fall on his back. There was a hole in the head of the mechanical turtle transport.
"Su-chan, next time...don't put the battery in the head, please," Naru pleaded in deadpan. Then the Hinata gang looked over the edge of the crashed vehicle.
"Hey, there he is!" Su shouted, running up to Keitaro to kick him. He got kicked, but didn't go flying like usual. Su was smiling like her inner maniac.
"Hey, Su-chan," Keitaro said, rubbing his cheek where Su had kicked him, smiling.
"Hey, Urashima-san. What about us?" Motoko asked. She got out with everyone else and headed over to Keitaro, Kitsune, and Mutsumi.
"Well, normally, I'd scold you girls for following me even though I specifically told you not to, but you actually took down my enemy, so we're okay for now," Keitaro said.
"You'd scold us? Yeah, that's pretty hard to imagine," Sarah pointed out, making everyone laugh at Keitaro's expense.
Everyone heard the groaning coming from where Kentaro was. They turned abruptly to see Kentaro lift the Mecha-Tama off of his leg while visibly struggling. He yelled, "Now!" to his right.
A man walked out from behind the crates wearing a mask you only see on Halloween horror movies on the chainsaw maniacs. This gave all three of the good guys startled looks.
The mysterious masked man absorbed the projectile Keitaro shot and blasted one of his own at the ceiling, causing an explosion over the Hinata gang and rubble to fall on the group. Then he blasted a very-bright-purple projectile at them. Keitaro had to make a force field to keep everyone unscathed. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't be blinded by the big burst of light that exploded from the projectile as it hit.
When the rubble stopped falling, Keitaro stopped perpetuating the force field protecting the whole lot of them and looked around.
Kentaro was gone. No trace at all. Gone.
"He's gone," Keitaro noted.
"Who cares? Let's just go home now," Kitsune said.
"I second that," Mutsumi said.
"Well, I'm sure it's going to come back to bite us in the heinie, but I think going home to rest is a good idea. Well, good job, girls. Now, let's go," Keitaro said.
"Oh, no. You're not going anywhere until you explain what happened yesterday with the robot and anything else you're hiding!" Motoko yelled.
"Motoko-chan, let's at least get home first, please? I spent lots of energy in that fight just now," Keitaro said.
"You were fighting just now?" Shinobu asked fearfully.
"Yeah. He distracted that guy while I freed Mutsumi-san," Kitsune responded.
"In any event, I'm beat. All in favor of going home this instant, say 'Aye'," Keitaro said tiredly.
"Aye!" came all replies but Motoko's and Naru's.
"Narusegawa-chan, Motoko-chan, what is your vote?" Keitaro asked.
"Oh, fine. But you have to promise that you'll explain everything that you're not telling us, got it?!" Naru yelled.
"I agree with Naru-san. You are not telling us some things we wish to know," Motoko added.
"I promise," Keitaro said.
"Well, alright then. Let's start going home," Naru said.
"Wouldn't you rather take the fun way home?" Keitaro asked.
"What's this 'fun way'?" Kitsune asked, sounding intrigued.
"This," Keitaro said. He raised his hand, now glowing white, and he grew angel wings. He flapped his wings and rose up into the air like...well, an angel.
"Whoa, cool! Wish I could do that," Sarah said.
"Ask and you shall receive," Keitaro said, raising his hand again. Sarah sprouted angel wings the same way he had.
"Whoa! Can I fly?" Sarah asked, flapping each wing.
"With a small amount of practice, yes," Keitaro replied.
"And to think you, of all people, could do this!" Sarah responded.
"I've had practice," Keitaro said.
"Can I have wings, Sempai?" Shinobu asked.
"I want wings! Give me wings, please!" Su asked.
"I'll take you up on that offer, Kei-kun," Kitsune responded.
"Ooh! I want to try these wings!" Mutsumi responded.
"No thanks. I'd rather walk," Naru responded.
"I feel the same as Naru-san," Motoko said with indifference in her voice.
"Okay. Here you go," Keitaro said. He raised his hand, once again glowing white, and everyone who asked got the wings. Two motorcycles also appeared next to Motoko and Naru.
"You girls know how to ride motorcycles, right?" Keitaro asked the two who didn't want the wings.
"Why are there motorcycles here?" Naru asked.
"Well, I didn't want your ride back to be completely unpleasant, so I offered you some motorcycles. Use them if you want," Keitaro explained while the girls were practicing their flying.
"How are you doing all of this?" Motoko asked.
"It's one of my powers. Tell you what: back at the house, if you have questions, I'll answer them. How does that sound?" Keitaro asked.
"Yes. That's good. Thank you," Motoko responded.
"Okay. Well...thanks for the motorcycles, but I will walk," Naru said.
"I will take the walk as well," Motoko responded.
"Okay, girls. See you back at the house," Keitaro said, flying up to the non-existent ceiling. "Come on, everyone. Follow the signal light!" he yelled. "Don't want to lose anyone." With that, he made his hand glow very-bright-purple and flew into the night sky with the Hinata gang. Well, the ones that opted for angel-wing travel.
"Do you think that we just missed out on something good because of how we feel about the one who gave it to us?" Motoko asked, concerned.
"D-Don't be ridiculous!" Naru stuttered, seeming to have to refocus.
"Now I feel conflicted. On one hand, I feel guilty I just judged somebody's offer based on who they are. On the other hand, I feel relieved I didn't take his offer to fly in the sky," Motoko responded.
"Well, I'm not conflicted. I mean, it's not like we're a couple or anything!" Naru responded.
"Well, I, for one, will take the motorcycle he offered. I want to get home tonight. Are you going to come with me?" Motoko asked.
"I'll catch up," Naru said, out of focus.
Motoko just shrugged and took off on the motorcycle.
'There's something wrong here...like the guy who just got away is a good guy...but what good guy would do this? My Magatama... I haven't felt this feeling in a long time. This tensing feeling that I'm missing something big. I thought I would feel it whenever Keitaro-san tried to peek at us or something perverted like that...but he never caused this before. Not even a little. Looks like I'll have to figure out what's up with that,' Naru thought. Then, with caution, she got onto the motorcycle and drove off.
...
"Whoo! Man, who knew flying could be so much fun?" Kitsune asked as she stepped inside the Hinata with everyone else. She was smiling like she just had the time of her life. That's probably not too far off the mark.
"Yeah! That was fun! We scared, like, ten groups of birds on our way back!" Su said, cheering and smiling and laughing.
"I think we scared more than some birds, Su-san. Those people on that plane were freaking out a lot. And those people on the ground. And pretty much everyone who lives where we were flying," Sarah said, also smiling and cheering and laughing with everyone else.
"Yeah. Those pandas were pretty freaked out...hey, do you guys think I should apologize to that farmer for grabbing some of his wheat?" Mutsumi asked.
"No, I think he'd freak out even more," Shinobu responded. Everyone laughed harder at their lives and all the silly comical things their lives contained at that response.
"Oh, you guys are back," Naru said.
"It is very late. Where were all of you?" Motoko asked.
"Huh? Wait, what time is it?" Keitaro asked.
"It's about eleven forty-five," Naru said.
"Wow. I guess we really let time fly away from us, huh?" he asked the girls that just came in.
"Yeah, I guess so. I didn't know we were out that long," Kitsune commented.
'Guess nobody caught it,' Keitaro thought.
"What were you guys doing out so late?" Naru asked.
"Well, we planned to fly straight home, but everyone wanted to fly around. After all, I don't think flying was part of their normal lives before," Keitaro responded.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Motoko responded.
"Whoa, wait, you're just going to believe a crazy story like that?" Keitaro asked.
"It's been a long couple years, Urashima-san," Motoko said, causing everyone to smile and laugh slightly.
Keitaro clapped his hands together and closed his eyes, getting everyones' attention. Then, he opened with, "Girls, I just want to apologize for not saying anything sooner about my powers. I just knew that anyone who knew about my secret would have to be able to protect themselves from really dangerous men."
"But we can protect ourselves," Motoko said, looking not too impressed.
"Not against these people. No offense to you girls, but these guys have been training since childhood. They've had years of experience and many victories. So many people just like them try to kidnap the people just like me. They use any means necessary, like kidnapping anyone who knows someone like me," Keitaro responded.
"How do you know something like that would happen? Seems unlikely," Sarah commented.
"Seven years ago, three of my best friends went missing after I told them my secret," Keitaro responded.
"Oh, no! That sounds terrible! I feel sorry for you! Et cetera," the girls responded.
"Yeah, they went missing all in the same week, and I haven't seen them since then. Since then, I've vowed to keep this a secret, risking the same thing happening to anyone else who knew. Now, that includes you girls. I need you to promise me you'll never tell another living soul about my powers or you'll all be in great danger. So much is at stake here," Keitaro said.
"We promise," all the girls said at varying times.
"As much as I believe you, a verbal promise is not enough. I need you to make a Pact of Powerful Secrecy. In the Pact, you state that, if you reveal the powers of someone else to the world, directly or otherwise, you will be imprisoned for eternity and the memory of your confession erased from the memory of everyone who knows. Unless you directly publicize it. Then you'll be judged by the leader of the Guardians of God. Then, depending on the verdict, you might perish," Keitaro said.
"Whoa, whoa...'perish'? As in 'die' kind of 'perish'?" Naru asked.
"Yeah. Sounds grim, but it's a punishment for the fools or bad men who want material wealth or any benefit this secret could give them," Keitaro said.
"Wow. Sounds serious. Alright, we'll do it. Where's the pencil and paper?" Kitsune asked. At saying everyone would do it, everyone nodded.
"Not a written pact. Come closer," Keitaro said, gesturing for the girls to come over to where he was standing. Once everyone was surrounding him, he reached his hand out.
"Everyone, I need you to place your hand above mine," he said.
"Why?" Naru asked.
"The Pact of Powerful Secrecy. Since all of you saw and knew at the same time, you need to make the Pact at the same time. Now, place your hands above each others'," Keitaro explained. They did as they were commanded. They looked like a girls' basketball team about to get out of a pre-game huddle (A/N: That's what they're called, right? I wouldn't know. I don't play sports much). Keitaro put his hand under the pile of hands. An orb started to form. But, rather than a solid orb, the light formed just the lines of an icosahedron (A/N: I can't really describe it because it is a really a complicated 3D shape. I can say, though, that it is made of twenty equilateral triangles and it's kind of spherical. Kind of complicated math, really).
"Whoa!" nearly every girl exclaimed.
"Definitely not one of the things we saw back at that guy Kentaro-san's hideout," Kitsune remarked.
Suddenly, the place they were standing, the surroundings, everything around them except each other and the complicated shape shifted, as if they were spinning, to a very celestial background. The walls and the ceiling gave way to space and the Hinata's living room floor changed to a very ancient-looking stone platform with a magical aqua glowing spiral. There was a glowing translucent aqua bubble around this platform. Their hands were above the center of the spiral.
"Cool! Where are we?" everyone exclaimed without synchronization.
"We're at the Spire of the Guardians of God. Here, anyone who discovers the powers of any of the Guardians of God must agree to the Pact of Powerful Secrecy to protect themselves and their superhuman friends. The Guardians also take this pact," Keitaro explained.
"'Guardians of God'? I am not familiar with this name," Motoko noted.
"That's because we actively try to hide who we are. The Guardians of God are a group who possess the Kami Energies and control over them," Keitaro explained.
"'Kami Energies'? What are those?" Naru asked.
"Ah, now this I have heard of. Kami Energies are powerful metaphysical energies that can affect the physical world," Motoko explained.
"Huh?" Shinobu asked. She looked just as confused as everyone else.
"Basically, they're superpowers," Keitaro explained.
"Ooohhh," everyone responded.
"Motoko-chan, were you aware that ki was a Kami Energy?" Keitaro asked.
"W-Wh-What? It is?" she asked.
"Yes, it is. You, however, have only been taught the half that requires a weapon as a medium: Shinmei-ryu. It is one of the many schools that teach how to use weapons with ki, but Shinmei-ryu is one of the best schools to teach how to use a katana as the weapon. Most other schools teach how to use ki with either blunt weapons or broadswords, as they're easier to use ki with," Keitaro explained. Snoring could be heard.
"WHAT? And how do you know so much about it?" Motoko asked, sounding intrigued but playing tough in an attempt to mask it.
"Because, when I became a Guardian, I viewed the history of the energies. One of these energies was ki," Keitaro explained.
"Interesting," Motoko responded after a pause, seeming to be at a loss of words.
"You can wake up now, everyone. I'm done explaining," Keitaro said, waking everyone up. They all awoke suddenly, as if they had no idea where they were. "Everyone, I need you to place your hands back inside the orb," he commanded.
"That is an icosahedron," Su said matter-of-factly as she was doing it.
"Yeah. Anyway, please reassume the pact position," Keitaro commanded. Everyone did as told. "You must all vow never to reveal the secret you have just learned to anyone outside of this group standing here. Doing so will result in memory wiping you of my identity and existence. If you publicize this secret, you will be judged by the leader of the Guardians of God. You must never abuse or take advantage of my powers, for that is an offense punishable by death. You must keep this secret, for your life is in great risk if you fail to do so. Do you agree to the Pact of Powerful Secrecy?" Keitaro said, sounding like an ancient religious announcer. As if it was a thing.
"Yes!" everyone said at the same time. They all looked at the icosahedron. Everyone was surprised to see multiple orbs come out of it. Their exact word was, "Whoa!" Solid purple orbs hovered above Kitsune and Mutsumi, a fainter (but still quite solid) blue orb rested above Motoko, translucent red orbs hovered above Shinobu and Naru, and translucent yellow orbs hovered above Sarah and Su. And, the most of all, a space-like orb, a cliff-brown orb, a flesh-colored orb, a heavenly white orb, and a gunmetal grey orb, all basketball-sized, appeared above Keitaro. Keitaro looked totally surprised, making an audible gasp. A chain formed to link all the orbs above the girls and the ones above Keitaro's, which had moved to the center. The chains started glowing, getting so bright as to almost blind them. Then the chains vanished, along with the orbs.
"Whoa! Now that was the coolest thing I've seen all night!" Kitsune said.
"So, Urashima-san, how do we get out of here?" Motoko asked, looking around.
Keitaro didn't respond.
"Urashima-san? I asked you a question," Motoko said firmly.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, I was distracted," Keitaro responded.
"Well, what was distracting you?" Mutsumi asked gently.
"It's...it's nothing. Just the shopping list," Keitaro lied.
"'The shopping list'? Come on, just tell us. We're not going to tell anyone," Kitsune responded.
"It's nothing. I'm sure it'll stop bothering me in a few minutes. Now, should we be getting back?" Keitaro lied, changing the subject.
"Sure," everyone replied.
"Alright, now put your hands one atop the other," Keitaro commanded. Everyone did so. Another icosahedron-thing appeared around the hands, causing them to observe their surroundings once more. This time, it was the stone spiral that gave way to wood floor and the endless space around them suddenly changed to the Hinata-sou living room walls and ceiling.
From there, everyone went to their bedrooms. Obviously, they forgot something. Of course, anyone who had the kind of day they had would want a good night's sleep. Let's take a look into some of their businesses, shall we? Most of them were thinking along the same lines, anyway.
Naru was lying awake. Her eyes were closed but she was really awake. 'I am ki glad those two are safe. At least they didn't get hurt. If that idiot hadn't saved the day, they might be dead. Still, what was that idiot doing there? I mean, he had no reason to be there, but he was. Plus, he said he was in a fight before we got there. Not to mention, he saved all of us from the falling rubble. I guess he can be a decent man when he tries. Wait...it feels like I was forgetting something,' she was thinking.
Motoko, meanwhile, was meditating. Well, she would've been, had her thoughts not been troubling her. 'Ki is a Kami Energy? That is very cool indeed. I wish, though, that I knew this sooner. That idiot was a big dummy for not telling me sooner. Why didn't he tell me? Or any of us? Why did he have to hide this truth so badly?' she wondered.
Su wasn't sleeping for a change. Normally, someone finds her hanging from the rafters of someone's room or sleeping next to them (kind of creepy how she never remembered getting in their bed). Tonight, however, she was walking to Keitaro's room to ask him if he knew what that purple ball was. She was bringing it with her to show him. She got to her destination and opened the door quietly. She walked into his room and tapped on his shoulder.
"Kei-kun? Are you awake?" she asked.
"Su-chan? What did you need?" Keitaro asked, rubbing his eyes groggily.
"Do you know what this is? Because I have no clue. I can't even begin to investigate its origins," Su responded.
"Oh, that. Yeah, don't worry. That's just something I call the Hulk Ball. Makes anyone who hits it really angry at nothing and lets them hit extremely hard," Keitaro explained groggily.
"'Hulk Ball'? Why call it a 'Hulk Ball'?" Su asked.
"Yeah. A superhero from a comic book in America. A comic is like manga, but backwards," Keitaro explained.
"That sounds cool!" Su said.
"Yeah, it's kind of cool. But where did you get it?" Keitaro asked.
"Motoko-chan told me she found it in the hot springs," Su responded.
"Oh, so that's where it landed. Well, don't worry. Kitsune-chan already used all the power in it, so it's almost useless," Keitaro said.
"Oh, okay," Su said.
Su leapt out of the room towards her own room, again, for a change. Once she was gone, Keitaro resumed looking straight up, lost in thought. 'I can't believe it. I knew Motoko-chan had ki energy and I found out about Mutsumi-chan and Kitsune-chan, but what I saw is ridiculous. There was an orb above everyone's head! Well that would explain Su-chan's and Sarah-chan's crazy amount of energy. And also why Narusegawa-chan can hit so hard. And also Kitsune-chan being so manipulative. Okay, maybe it was kind of obvious before, but still...I guess I'll just have to help them when the time is right,' he thought. Then the plywood panel moved above him and Naru popped her head through the hole in the floor.
"Did you say something, Keitaro-san?" she asked.
"Huh? No," Keitaro responded.
"Well, I heard a voice coming from down here and it sounded like you, so I thought it was you," Keitaro said.
"I didn't say anything," Keitaro repeated.
"Okay. Well, good night," Naru saId, replacing the plywood panel.
Once she was gone, Keitaro resumed looking at the ceiling again. 'Why do I keep doing that?' he asked himself again.
Naru took the plywood panel off the hole again and poked her head through.
"Okay, I know I heard that. What is it you keep doing?" Naru asked, sounding a little frustrated.
"Oh, uh..." Keitaro started.
'She's onto me,' he thought.
"Hey, where'd that thought bubble come from?" Naru asked suspiciously.
'Busted!' he thought.
...
"Mr. Boss, please. I-" Kentaro started. He was at another hideout with the masked man who rescued him. It simply looked like another warehouse, save for the line of training dummies and the lab in the corner.
"You let him get away!" the masked man, known as The Boss, said bitterly at the man in the suit.
"Please, listen! I know I let him get away with our two hostages-" here the masked man folded his arms, as if in disappointment "-but I've still gathered enough psi energy to execute my final plan. One that will get him good," Kentaro finished.
"Oh? And what, pray tell, is this 'final plan' of yours?" the masked man asked, sounding sarcastic and skeptical and not the least bit interested.
"Oh, you'll see. And once I finish this plan, Keitaro-san will wish he was never born!" Kentaro said, sounding as desperate as he did sure of his plan.
"...This had better work. You have failed me twice already. You have one more chance. Be sure it doesn't go to waste. Or else..." Here the masked man turned to the practice dummy. He shouted, "Hah!" at one of the training dummies, making a loud cracking sound. The training dummy fell apart into hundreds of pieces and landed in a heap on the floor against the opposite wall. The masked man looked at Kentaro, crossing his arms.
"I-I understand," Kentaro said, nervous.
|\/\/|
And that's the long chapter of a chapter. Sorry it took so long. School got in the way. A lot. And idea lead to idea that lead to idea in this chapter. But anyway...
Naru: That thing in the beginning was NOT funny!
Motoko: Yeah! I nearly fainted in that closet thinking it was that guy! (points to Keitaro)
Chris: No, you nearly revealed your presence to the other girls.
Kitsune: How dare you involve all of us in your twisted games!
Chris: Oh, not all of you. I locked Su, Sarah, and Shinobu in a different closet. It was the one next to yours.
Su: (smiling like a maniac) Yeah! I heard moaning!
Sarah: I didn't. I was playing a game on my DS.
Shinobu: I fell asleep.
(Twenty more seconds of silence, where everyone stared at the little ones)
Chris: Again, awk-ward!
[|-=-|]
Also, I would like you, the readers, to think of this as kind of like a TV show. This chapter would have ended the four-part series premiere and the next several chapters will not advance the story plot and will actually be more comical and imaginative, imagining scenarios with the current situation. It's like the TV show Lab Rats. In fact, that show was my main inspiration for this story.
Anyway...I think that's it, so
Bye readers!