Rise of the Defender
by StraightedgeEpyon
Summary: Darkness falls upon the earth as the angels begin their attacks. But when there is darkness there is also light as a new Magna Defender rises to fight the darkness and protect the earth
I own nothing
Beta read by TOAT
Chapter eleven
(In outer space)
A small, metallic object was seen heading past the moon, all the way to earth. It was much too fast to be a comet, and then it slowed down to reveal a sleek, silver, arrowhead-shaped ship with laser cannons mounted on the wings (think the Nubian Ship from Attack of the Clones).
The ship went to the underside of the planet, cloaking itself from Earth's satellites. The ship passed through the atmosphere, traveling at high velocity through the dark, starry sky straight towards Japan.
"This is the right planet," a figure mused from the cockpit. "His energy signature, although hidden, emanates from this part of the Earth."
The ship made its way into a desolate area of Fukushima. In one of abandoned power plants, the ship landed without making a single sound. The underbelly of the ship opened up to reveal a figure clad in all black, battle-scarred armor, with a cape behind him. The figure's helmet motif seemed to be that a lion, but with horns on the sides of the head, with a gold collar around the neck. The figure stepped closer to the edge of the building overlooking the desolate part of the city.
"He's here somewhere on this world, the last of our kind," the figure said, looking at the city in the distance.
The figure tapped a wrist-mounted device on his left arm, and two small, orb-shaped probes emerged from the ship. The probes flew towards the city with incredible speed to begin their objective.
"Soon, we will meet, Magna Defender," said the figure.
(Deceptica's Lair)
"Hmm…" Deceptica hummed from her chair in the room as she observed her monitor in amusement.
What she was seeing were the human scientists of NERV, researching the remains of her fallen soldiers through their eyes.
While their function had ceased, Deceptica had found out that NERV took the remains of her fallen soldiers. Connecting to her dead grunts, through their eyes, she saw that they were running secret experiments on the remains of her creations, possibly attempting to figure out their design, or to revive them in some way.
Although she used the earth's primitive chemical resources for their creation, taken separately they would be easy to decode, but melded together and used the correct way, they would be very difficult to crack, which is how she fueled her soldiers. Even for this human scientist called Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, it might take years, if not decades, for her to crack, much less attempt to replicate.
"Mistress," said Hornet, entering the room.
"Shhhh," shushed Deceptica. "I'm watching something interesting."
Hornet looked at the screen in curiosity, watching as the human scientist was analyzing the remains of his fallen brethren, felled by the Magna Defender. The human scientist grunted in frustration, much to his mistress's amusement as she looked at the microscope containing a sample of their lifeblood.
"Hornet, our lifeblood does not solely comprise of radiation, you understand that correct?" Deceptica asked, getting a nod from him.
"Yes, Mistress," he said.
"During my raid on the abandoned power and medical facilities, I had discovered many other useful chemicals. One chemical, in particular, code-named Z-90.
"It was intended to be an experimental energy fuel source. But, as always, the humans couldn't make it work, which was a typical trait. They always scratch the surface of an object, never once looking for a different angle."
"But you did, Mistress."
"Indeed I have. Oh, what is she doing now?"
Deceptica and Hornet watched as the doctor began to connect wires in the machinery parts of her soldiers, namely half of the metal it was made of. No doubt it was an effort to see who or what could have created it.
("If I can't figure out what this substance is that ran through you, then maybe I can find a clue as to who or what created you,") said the woman on the screen.
"We can't have that," Deceptica chuckled, her horns glowing.
SPARK! SPARK! SPARK!
("Wha?!")
GURGLE!
("Ugh, gross, the smell,") she cried, covering her nose.
The insectoid that Ritsuko had been researching had instantaneously short-circuited, frying its internal mechanics, and its organic flesh melted into a puddle of green slime.
("Oh, great! There goes another one.")
"Ha, Ha Ha, watching her repeated failures brings me such delight!" laughed the insectoid creator.
Hornet merely remained silent, watching as the human scientist called for the area to be cleaned and sanitized so that she may start again.
"Shouldn't we be worried, Mistress?" Hornet asked.
"About what, Hornet? "
"The humans at NERV eventually discovering us."
"It is of no consequence. Their vision is too narrow, their sole focus on these "Angels" as they call them has been advantageous for us. The more resources, the better. Of course, if you're that concerned, I will send you to monitor NERV's activities from afar as well as their shipments, what comes in, and what comes out. If they have anything of interest, steal it." his creator instructed him.
"As you command, my Mistress." Hornet bowed low and departed.
As her general departed, Deceptica turned her attention back to her screens, observing Tokyo-3, planning her next move.
(With Shinji early morning)
Shinji can be seen jogging around the park, keeping up with his training, keeping himself fit and in shape. Looking around, he saw that he wasn't the only one, as other joggers, jogging up and down along the opposite way, some even walking their dogs. It felt good for Shinji to clear his thoughts, as he ran working up a sweat.
'Two straight weeks and Deceptica hasn't made a sound,' the young Defender thought as he jogged.' What could she be planning next?'
Shinji kept on running and running, coming across a family doing early morning exercises. Stopping briefly to get a drink of water from a nearby drinking fountain, he saw them and they ultimately made him think of his adopted family, Andros and Ashley.
He still remembered the day they found him. They were chasing after a rogue monster of the former Machine Empire that found his way to Tokyo. Andros, Ashley, Kai, and Karone had chased him down to put a stop to him for good.
(Flashback)
A large, gray-blue robot with spikes around its mid-section, large legs and large, spiked balls for arms, stood in a deserted, now-ruined train station, across from four spandex-colored individuals, ranging from red to yellow to pink and blue.
The legendary Power Rangers, Galaxy, and Space Rangers, respectively. He was heavily damaged from the long-drawn-out fight with the rangers, parts of him were starting to smoke.
"Well, looks like you're running on empty, you walking tin can," said the blue ranger with his saber out.
"You've given us the run around long enough, Spikebot," declared the red ranger, materializing a weapon that looked like some sort of drill sword.
"It ends here!" added the one in pink, obviously female, unsheathing her saber.
"We're sending you to the scrap heap," said the yellow ranger.
"You can try! I'll crush you all!" Spikebot exclaimed, slamming his mace down.
Spikebot tossed his mace arm at close range, causing the four rangers to scatter. The blue and red ranger both went in close range and struck Spikebot low in the legs, the pink and yellow rangers materializing their respective special weapons, a bow for the pink ranger, and a long-range slingshot for the yellow ranger. In complete sync, both jumped high and fired.
ZAP!
ZAP!
"ARG!" the machine groaned in pain.
This act got Spikebot literally steaming. His eyes suddenly lit up and lasers shot out of them, nearly hitting the pair. Space Red and Galaxy Blue both took the opportunity and went high and low, red went high while blue went low and struck Spikebot at the same time, bringing him crashing down on his back.
"YOU WON'T BEAT…ME!" Spikebot roared.
"Looks like, we already have." said the blue ranger
"Circle around, let's finish him off!" said the red ranger
"Right! " Pink and yellow said in unison
The four got into a square position, as Spikebot stood up, and saw himself surrounded. The Rangers powered their weapons to full and charged, then in flashes of red, pink, yellow, and blue, Spikebot was overcome. He fell down and exploded into metal parts. The quartet breathed a sigh of relief that one more threat from the machine empire was neutralized.
"Let's head back to Megaship. We need to see how the others are doing on Vega-5." said the red ranger.
"Right, we-"
"Hmm." a small voice whimpered in pain
"Huh?" went the yellow ranger
"Ashley What's matter?" asked the pink ranger
"I thought I heard-" the yellow ranger identified as Ashley saw something lying under the bench underneath the ruins of the platform
Rushing to the platform, she quickly removed the wood debris and gasped in horror. A small boy Japanese boy, of four with brown hair, and blue eyes that were shut in pain. His body was riddled in cuts bruises, and other various injuries.
Powering down to revealing herself to be a young American woman with long brown hair and brown eyes, turning to her fellow rangers she cradled him gently in his arms. The little boy coughed opening his eyes to look at the one carrying him, before closing them again in pain.
"Who is this boy, and what was he doing here all alone?" asked the red ranger
"We need to get him to a hospital and fast!" stated Ashley while the blue ranger shook his head
"His injuries look severe; he might die before we can get him there," said the blue ranger.
The boy groaned in terrible pain, but he managed to croak out
"Big…monster…did…this," he groaned in pain.
"He must have been in the area when Spikebot attacked." guessed the pink ranger surveying the area where he landed which included destroyed train tracks and a wrecked platform.
Obviously, the little boy was on it, when Spikebot smashed it in one shot, and he wasn't able to get away fast enough, which led him to get hurt severely.
"We should have gotten here quicker! Damn it!" Andros cursed
"Then there's no choice, we have to take him to Megaship," said Ashley as the others looked at her with disbelief covered by their helmets.
"Are you sure?" asked the blue ranger
"Yes, Kai, the Megaship has medical tech far beyond anything earth has currently," said Ashley
"And Karone and I both got some new healing arrays from back home, which should cut recovery time in half," added Andros with the Pink ranger nodding
While their conversation was going on a transparent black-armored, caped figure was watching what was going on. Keeping his gaze on the boy in Ashley's arms.
'He is the one.' the stated the figure
It wasn't until after a moment Karone caught sight of him, while her brother and friends didn't. The figure merely nodded at her before vanishing. Andros called Decca for a teleport back the ship, and prepare the med-bay. All four rangers were surrounded by an electrical force field, and beamed directly upwards towards the sky.
(End Flashback)
'What originally was one of the worst days of my life, suddenly turned and became the start of a brand new life.' Shinji thought with a smile as he continued jogging.
Soon he found himself traveling through some apartment complexes, he slowed down when happened upon two policemen, questioning and attempting to calm down a woman in her late sixties.
Around her was shattered glass broken, wood, broken pottery, she was going on about something giant that caused the damage, and not teenagers. Shinji paid it no mind as he kept jogging. Unaware of what was lurking in the dark spaces in the alleys, eight pairs of green eyes were watching the humans scurry along.
"Hehe-heh-heh, so much to do, so little time. And so many humans to eat." the spider cackled in a sing-song voice
(Later that Day Suruga Bay, South Of Tokyo-3)
Standing just a few hundred meters from the shore, EVA Units 01 and 02 stood ready to repel the Angel as it broke the surface of the ocean. Shinji had stared at the Angel carefully, feeling it was something much different about it. Its flow, the way it moved
"This is -"
"Cover me, idiot! I'll show you how it's done!" The cocky redhead shouted as she forced her Unit 02 into action. Raising her lance, she charged towards the 7th Angel.
"Asuka, hold on!" Shinji shouted
Spear in hand, Asuka leaped into the air and brought the weapon down on the beast, cleanly splitting it in two. Misato was ecstatic.
("All right! Way to go Asuka!")
"You see that, Third Child?" Asuka asked, basking in her guardian's praise, "A battle should be elegant and clean."
Shinji didn't drop his guard, however.
'That was way too easy…' Shinji thought. His eyes widened as he saw the split angel rise.
("ASUKA! MOVE!")
"Say wha-" was all the girl could say before the two halves of the Angel started to transform into two smaller Angels, both of them the same size as the Eva's themselves, though with slightly different color schemes.
Asuka looked on in horror as the two Angels grabbed her, lifted her off the ground, and effortlessly tossed her out over the ocean. She landed, headfirst muddy sandbar of the shore, her Eva's legs twitching uselessly in the air, with her cable detached.
Shinji grunted a began firing at the now twin angel, who evaded the shots in almost fluid-like motion. As if they were dancing in tune.
"Hmm." Shinji hummed getting an idea
Shinji stopped firing, and discarded his rifle, and detached the cable
"Much better, but I'm not gonna have a lot of time, " said Shinji keeping his eyes trained on the angels
("Shinji what the hell are you doing?! Attack now!") Misato ordered over the comms
Annoyed Shinji willed the unit to cut audio to think clearly.
"Sorry, gotta concentrate." said Shinji eyes darting to the lance Asuka dropped "Ah!"
Unit 01 ran over and picked up the weapon, ignoring Asuka's situation.
"I'm borrowing this," he said rushing over to now twin Angels
The audio suddenly connected on again and Misato's voice came on over the comm.
("Pilot Ikari! What do you think you doing? You can't take them head-on! Retrieve your rifle!") the captain ordered
Shinji ignored her order and began engaging the two angels dodging simultaneous attacks. The two angels surrounded the purple Unit. Shinji remained ready as he was remembering his training from previous Power Rangers.
' Mike and Leo always said anticipate the first attack, from a two one fight to come from behind.' he thought
Sure enough, the angel that was behind him, attacked first. In quick response he side kicked the attacking angel, pushing it back, then blocked an attack from the angel in the front with the spear.
The angel thrust its arm and took off the right shoulder armor of the Unit, but it didn't deter Shinji as thrust back with the lance scratching its flesh, he jumped back to get some distance as it swiped at him. Then got in close and hit them both, ramming them vertically with the spear.
("Shinji stop messing around and fight! You don't have much time!") Misato shouted
" Well who's dumbass idea was it to put a five minutes fight time on this thing?" questioned the boy resuming his attack
(" The commander's and Ritsuko's apparently.") replied Misato
"And here I thought she was supposed to be smart."
("What's that supposed to mean?!") the Dr. shouted in indignation
'Cut off audio.'
Studying the two angels who had just gotten back up, Shinji had suddenly got an idea. But he would need to time it right, for it to work, he glanced at the timer on the display and he was down three minutes.
The two angels lined up and charged, Shinji took out the prog knife, and charged at them as the clock began to run out, Unit 01 hit a flying shoulder tackle ramming one, the clashed the spear with the other, kicking it off.
Shinji resumed clashing and blocking attacks, the Defender saw the half of the angel come rushing from behind, leaping back getting some distance from the front angel, both Angels spread out to cover both ends, one on the left and one on the right.
Which what Shinji was waiting for. Both Angels charged at him at the same time while Unit 01 took a kneeling position, gripping the knife and the lance tightly.
"Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it,"
The two halves of the angel were inching closer and closer, while Unit 01 remained on one knee crossing its arms remaining perfectly still, as soon as both Angels got within range.
"NOW!"
TOSS!
TOSS!
SHINK
SHINK
Shinji had tossed the spear and the Prog knife at the exact same time, impaling both angels directly into their cores, and they both fell down dead.
"Two for one special," He joked seeing Asuka now digging herself out of the sand
Shinji plucked the spear from the now-dead angel, walked over to Asuka who willed her red unit to rise from the sand, and stand up. Shinji handed it back to Asuka who snatched it back angrily, Shinji merely scoffed and walked off back to HQ.
(NERV HQ Gendo's Office)
"He's a bit reckless, very unorthodox, and obviously has a problem with authority but the boy got results. Killing two angels at once with minimal damage, is very impressive," commented Fuyutsuki handing Gendo a copy of the report of the seventh angel battle
"Indeed, this was…unforeseen. The boy is not supposed to be this way." Gendo said, "What have you managed to find on his previous place of residence, Angel Grove?"
Sighing Fuyutsuki answered
"Reportedly it was a large town in California, that was wiped out when the second impact happened, but has long since been rebuilt by its surviving populace. Any other official information on the town beforehand was lost," Fuyutsuki informed
"Have you also discovered who it was that took the third in?"
"Yes, Akagi did say the MAGI turned up the name of his current guardians. An American woman by the name of Ashley Hammond, with her husband Andrew. They work for the NASADA program, similar to the NASA program in Washington D.C."
"Hmm…"
The aged sub-commander knew just by looking at his former student, he knew he was planning something.
"On another note, Dr. Akagi hasn't made any headway with the remains of those insect creatures-"
"I am aware of that sensei. Their design is more complex than originally thought. They keep disintegrating before she can delve deeper into them. Almost as a failsafe." Gendo cut in
"What exactly is the plan for their remains? To use them further enhance our Evas?" asked the old man
"I believe they are key to furthering the dummy system control and possibly furthering instrumentality," Gendo stated
"We're proceeding on as scheduled. Why the rush?"
"We still don't know what we're dealing with in regards to these insect creatures, and the Magna Defender, who himself is a wild card. These are unexpected and unexplained factors. We must leave nothing to chance."
"I see." said the sub-commander
The desk phone rang on Gendo's desk, Fuyutsuki took it as his cue to leave, with papers in hand. Flipping through them as he exited the door, he pulled out an old photo.
It was of a young woman and a young man with light blonde hair with black highlights, holding hands with a brown-haired Japanese boy no older than five, in the middle of a park. A community picnic. Organized by an English woman named Katherine Hillard-Oliver.
'He looks so happy, but that name Ashley Hammond. That name holds some significance for some reason.' Thought Fuyutsuki
"Perhaps I should look deeper into Angel Grove's history. I know there's more to that city than meets the eye."
(With Shinji the next day early morning)
"Are you certain about this Kendrix?" asked Shinji over his Morpher holding a Geiger counter in his right hand
("Yes, I've recalibrated the outposts satellite to detect radiation spots within the city and sure enough, there were some radiation trails moving in certain areas, like your current location.") Replied Kendrix
"Deceptica and her cronies, are moving under us and we don't even know it, swell," he replied lamely
("I've done my own bit of research on those Insectoids from a few samples I snagged from Akagi's lab, and I found they give off a certain Ionization. I need you to get a scan of the area and if possible bring me back any more samples you find.")
"Will do," said Shinji zipping up his black hoodie and putting the hood over his head
("By the way, are you sure you don't want talk about what happened with Captain Katsuragi?")
Shinji froze briefly at the mention of her name and what transpired immediately after the angel battle when Unit 01 was docked. He was exiting the entry plug, he began to hear something whispering to him, causing Shinji to space out briefly, and, he began to see someone in jet black and silver armor approaching him with hostility coming for him. He managed to snap out of it just long enough to see a hand coming straight for his face.
Only for him block out of instinct, and literally push back the person which happened to be Misato, causing her to trip and fall down on her ass, in surprise and embarrassment that she was knocked down by one of their pilots in front of everyone. Shinji startled at what he did himself, just went on to the locker room without a word.
"She startled me, I didn't mean to push her down and embarrass her in front all of NERV like that. Besides she did try to slap me for no reason at all, I just reacted on blind instinct." Shinji explained moving ahead
("Are you sure that what it was? From what I could see from the video feed, you looked spaced out about something when you exited the entry plug.") said Kendrix with concern
"It's nothing, Kendrix. Nothing at all."
Shinji raised the Geiger counter to get at least an inkling of radiation detection. The dial on the device started to move just a little before going back down.
Frowning Shinji continued on the trail, the dial started to rise up a little as he neared a large parking structure in an apartment complex.
"Maybe there's something here." he mused walking inside the parking structure.
The dial started to rise up a little more the closer he got. Walking into to find an assortment of parked cars lined up in rows on both sides, moving cautiously he continued forward, the Geiger counter reading getting a little stronger.
"Now I might be on to something."
RzZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Shinji looked from side to side in between the vehicles for anything out of the ordinary
RzzZZZ
"I'm definitely getting closer to whatever it might be."
Shinji reached the opposite end, the signal reached close to red almost dangerously. He examined in the between the cars, crouching down he found a small hole with an oddly colored string bluish string, putting the counter to it.
The counter read the radiation level was surprisingly minimal almost non-existent barely registering on the counter, taking out a pair of tweezers he plucked a piece of the string and put it in a small plastic bag, unaware that he was being watched by a spider from the ceiling
"Curious little human, perhaps I'll eat him next." said the spider crawling away
Shinji surveyed the area one more time before leaving the parking structure, not noticing a lone shoe a few feet away from the hole. Glancing around to make sure the area was completely deserted.
"Odd, I get the feeling I'm being watched." mused Shinji
Little did he know, up above a small prob had its camera fixed on him. The Geiger counter began to register another radiation spike nearby, following it Shinji happened upon an alley near a small apartment complex.
"Hmm." went Shinji
The closer he got he began to hear noises around the corner, carefully the boy inched behind to see two insectoids behind a large dumpster, burrowing underground.
"Shit! Kendrix, I found two insectoids, but they slipped away.") said Shinji grunting in frustration
("That confirms what we know, they're moving underground. Only popping up when it's safe.")said Kendrix
"They won't be safe be for long, I can promise that!"
("I don't doubt that, but you can search the other areas after you get out of school. You don't want to be late again do you?") Kendrix lightly chided
"That last time wasn't my fault. I couldn't get out of my apartment on time, the landlady was tiling the floors in the hallways, and doing a lousy job."
("Yeah right.")
"It's the truth!"
( Tokyo-3 With Asuka same morning )
Asuka was sitting at the table wolfing down a bowl of cereal almost angrily. It had only been one day since the last Angels were destroyed, but she still was angry about that battle.
She read the Third Child's file, the idiot had no training prior to coming here, while she the great Asuka all her life had been trained non-stop to pilot Eva and take down the Angels and capture glory.
But that Shinji takes out both halves of the angels almost effortlessly while she had put in some effort to kill the one when she arrived in Japan. She didn't believe he wouldn't want the number one spot. He must have done some kind of training.
"Just you wait stupid Shinji the next angel will be mine to kill!" munched Asuka
She finished the last of her food and got her things together for school.
Asuka glanced at Misato's room and sighed, apparently she had a long night of paperwork in disposing of the dead angels, hence the reason why she was still asleep with her penguin. Who has a live penguin as a pet? Honestly, she couldn't get a dog like a normal person.
To her the Japanese were odd. Sure enough, she was on her way to school, greeted by her new friend Hikari Horaki the class representative. They walked to school together in relative silence, they were passing an abandoned building where a certain spider was crawling up the walls, in the dark areas.
"Hehe Ha so many other snack choices, so little time." cackled Tarantulas
Meanwhile, Shinji was running towards school in the opposite way after running back to his apartment to change into his uniform, he made it a point to investigate the other areas for radiation trails after school.
"Well, well if it isn't Mr hero himself, " Asuka said snidey seeing Shinji come from the opposite end of the entranceway.
"Hmm" Shinji groaned not wanting to deal with the second child as he kept walking inside ignoring her he went right inside the building
"Why the rush Mr. hero?" asked Asuka catching up with him "Got more bullies to fight? Or are you going to save a cat stuck in a tree?"
"I'm not big on cats, I'm more of a dog person," he answered as he kept walking
"Hmph."
"Besides if I were you, I'd be less worried about me, and more worried about your rambunctious fan club over there Asuka." gestured Shinji pointing ahead
Sure enough, a crowd of male students just waiting at the front door for the German girl. Asuka groaned loudly muttering German curses under her breath.
Ever since she was enrolled, Asuka became instantly popular with the boys, because of her exotic nature, her foreign accent, and her collegiate background. Also, she was considered quite rare since there weren't many redheads in Japan, naturally, she relished in the attention, but grew annoyed almost immediately when they came around at every corner asking her out literally at every turn.
" Have fun."
Shinji went on inside while the male students began to crowd her. He didn't envy the Second child in the slightest, no he had gained enough of a reputation when he fought those bullies from Tagara high.
'Hmm… odd Rei's a no show again.' thought Shinji looking at her empty seat
The bell rang signaling the start of class. Shinji quietly took his seat, without any fuss, Asuka came in with the class rep in tow, while the rest of the class filed in the teacher soon walked in with a somber look on his old wrinkled face, while the class did their usual bow, sit routine. The old teacher and a very somber look on his old face.
"Good Morning students, I have troubling news today." he began
"Several of our students have gone missing early this morning, members of our swim team, and debate team. Their parents are worried sick, and the police have gotten involved, but so far they have no leads." the teacher explained
The students began murmuring amongst themselves at this information. Shinji narrowed his eyes slightly, and quietly waiting for the man to continue, already having sneaking suspicion of what happened.
"It was probably one of those bug things that got them." one student said out loud
"Maybe it was aliens." another student spoke
"Don't be absurd! aliens don't exist stupid!" a female student said
"Isn't the Magna Defender an alien?!"
"That's enough!" exclaimed Hikari silencing the class
"Yes, thank you Ms. Horaki, we can only hope and pray for their safe return. But for now, let us get started on today's lesson."
The teacher began his lesson, as Shinji sat down and digested the information he had just received. He slowly began to suspect Deceptica might be behind these disappearances. His thoughts as well as the teacher's boring lesson were quickly cut short when the principal walked in with a familiar face, in tow.
"Hey that's-" Shinji whispered
"Class it appears we have a new transfer student, young man please introduce yourself," requested the teacher, and the young man nodded.
"Hello, My name is Satoru Iwata, I'm from Tagara Jr High." he bowed
The students sans Asuka, and Shinji murmured indistinctively amongst themselves. Why did a kid from a rival school, transfer here?
"Well, now Mr. Iwata. Please take a seat and we'll continue on with our lesson." said the teacher
The glasses boy looked around and spotted an empty desk right next to Shinji. Weaving carefully between the other students, and took his spot right next to the Third Child.
"I didn't know you go to this school, Ikari." said Satoru "Small world."
"Yeah, it is." Shinji replied, "You're from Tagara?"
"Big shock I know, but not all of us there are stuck up a-holes."
"I see."
The class continued on as normal, then the bell rang, signaling the break period. Shinji was now starting to get to know his new classmate, as Shinji gave him a guided tour of Tokyo-3, so he'd get a lay of the land. Satoru mostly seemed interested in the computer room.
It was apparent he was into computers in addition to working at the Firebird nest part-time, so Shinji pointed him to the computer club which he quickly signed up for.
Satoru asked if Shinji was interested in any clubs. He merely replied no, he was always on the move, to be stuck in one place too long. The day ran long and school ended. Shinji was now walking alone out the gates, heading for home, to eat and investigate some more areas.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Shinji went over to a vacant corner to answer the call.
"What is it Kendrix?" asked Shinji over his Morpher
("Satellites have detected moving radiation nearby, several blocks away from you.") Kendrix reported.
"Alright, do you have a specific location?"
("Yeah, but you're not going to believe where.")
"Try-"
RING-RING-RING
'Beware! Beware! Beware!'
"Huh?" went Shinji, looking around the area, seeing that he was completely alone.
"I'm hearing things again," he muttered, departing the area.
("Shinji?")
"Yeah, I just got a bit distracted. W-where's the source?"
Little did he know, a small probe was hovering in the air that had its camera focused on him, particularly his Morphers.
( Later near the Katsuragi/Sohryu apartment)
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Toji Suzuhara groaned, walking alongside Kensuke.
"You realize this is essentially a wild goose chase, right?"
"Come on, where's your sense of adventure, Toji? He's been seen around this part of the city two days ago, so he could show up again tonight." Kensuke chimed with his camera out and poised to start recording.
The pair were of course referring to the Magna Defender, the new hero of Tokyo-3. Some citizens have claimed to have spotted him patrolling the area from the rooftops, alleyways, even some apartment buildings, only catching brief glimpses of him before vanishing. The sun began to set as the two students walked and the evening was setting in.
"Look, geek boy, I gotta get back home. My sister is waiting for me, and my dad's working late tonight again." Toji said almost irritably.
"Look, just a bit longer, okay-"
"And what are you stooges doing here?" a voice asked from behind them.
Turning around, the duo saw Asuka and Hikari, both carrying bags, coming from a convenience store, obviously. Toji groaned inwardly; he already had to deal with the annoying redhead once today.
"We're looking for the Magna Defender. Word has it that he's been seen around here. We're hoping to see him tonight." Kensuke explained.
"Yeah, right," scoffed Asuka. "I live around this area. I'd know it if he was around."
"Really, so you monitor this entire area, red? Doubtful." Toji said.
"Hey-!"
BANG CRASH!
"Huh?" went the trio, hearing a loud sound in an alleyway nearby.
Before any of them could take a step forward, someone came rushing out of the alleyway, covered in a sticky, blueish substance. By the looks of his uniform, he was a mechanic. He glanced to see if he was being followed before resuming his running.
"Huff! Huff! I got to get away! I got to get away!" the young man breathed heavily as he ran.
He ran in their direction in his panicked state, and he collapsed in front of the trio.
"Hey, hey, hey! Easy, buddy, what happened? Where did you come from?" Toji asked, kneeling down in front of him.
"Huff… Huff…man-sized…purple…spider…huff…grabbed…me this morning. Took me down…underground." the young mechanic panted.
"Purple spider?!" Asuka, Hikari, Toji and Kensuke asked in unison.
"I…was not…the only one…down there. There are…others…kids…like you, cocooned up in webs."
"Could those be-?"
"Where?!" another voice, a deeper, almost baritone-like voice, asked.
The kids turned to the left to see the object of Toji and Kensuke's search. The mysterious, sword-wielding warrior with his cape fluttering mysteriously. The Magna Defender coming from the side of the street. He had been observing the area, and the Defender had seen the young man running out of the alleyway in hysterics, confirming Kendrix's information. Deceptica or one of her monsters was nearby and had been abducting people off the streets.
Hikari couldn't help but gasp in awe, seeing him up close for the first time. To her, he looked like a knight in shining, dark armor from the fairy tales her mother used to read her. The only thing that was missing was a shield and a trusty steed.
Kensuke had his camera leveled enough to record him up close and personal, so he'd have something to brag about to the other kids. He thought the Defender wouldn't notice, but he did, and would deal with it later. The Defender helped the collapsed mechanic up to his feet after he had calmed down enough.
"Now, tell me what you know," he said, reading his name tag, "Mr. Kato."
"There was a man-sized, purple spider-robot thing…he kept snatching people off the streets to eat them. I managed to get out because the web dissolved while the spider had left, but there are others still down there." the young man explained.
"Hmm…do any of you have a phone?" the Defender addressed the three kids beside him.
"Sorry, I left mine back at school," said Toji sheepishly.
"Oh, no, I don't have mine, either," the otaku groaned, missing his chance to help a superhero.
"Mine's dead, Mr. Defender. Sorry." the class rep apologized.
"I've got one. My guardian, Misato Katsuragi, gave one to me the day after I came here, for emergencies." the German girl explained, digging her phone out.
"Call an ambulance for him and anyone else I find right now," he said walking forward.
"Where are you going?" Asuka asked him.
"I have a spider to squash."
"Wait, Magna Defender!" said the jock, stopping the warrior, but he didn't turn around.
"You were that Red Giant with the bull that fought that green monster, weren't you?"
"I was," he answered.
"I…I wanted to say thanks, for saving my sister that night." he praised.
The Magna Defender said nothing. He just walked forward into the alley. There was an open manhole cover left by the young man. Kensuke ran after him, but the Defender, sensing it, turned around sharply, extending out his hand tossing a dart out so fast, that nobody could see, causing the boy to stop in his tracks.
"Do…not…follow me," he ordered.
Kensuke nodded dumbly, a bit intimated by his tone of voice and unaware that a black dart, was lodged in his lens, there was an open manhole cover left by the young man. Without a second thought, the Defender jumped right in.
"What an incredible smell I've discovered," the Defender muttered to himself (you know what that's from).
Shinji took out the Geiger counter from behind him to get an inkling of where Deceptica's monster might be. Sure enough, the device got a reading, telling him he was on the right trail.
"Kendrix, can you hear me?" Shinji contacted.
("I can hear you, but barely.")
"Your information was right."
("Naturally,") she replied.
"Readings are much stronger down here than earlier on. I might be able to find the spider," said Shinji.
("The spider?")
"Yeah, it's got to be that large spider from before when I first encountered Deceptica." Shinji explained, finding a piece of bluish web on the wall.
"I'm getting close."
(Be careful, Shinji, I hadn't had the chance to strengthen your armor yet from electrical attacks.")
"I will."
Rzzzzzzzz!
"Readings are much better down here. I may be able to lock…huh?"
Sure enough, he stepped on a piece of clothing covered in webbing, a school uniform shirt of a junior high school student.
"Oh, no, this must have been from one of the students that went missing. I'd better hurry!"
Shinji soon reached an old, abandoned subway tunnel, and much of the area was covered in webbing above the destroyed platform. On the walls were several moving web coverings, indicating there were people inside them. Moving forward carefully, Shinji heard a deep, raspy, creepy voice. Switching his sword to blaster mode, the Defender ducked low and moved silently to catch the spider off guard.
"He-heh, I hope you taste just as good as the last human I devoured," he cackled in front of a frightened woman, her whole body covered in webbing, leaving only her head exposed.
Slowly, he drawled his claw across the frightened woman's cheek, careful not to nick it, savoring the taste of her obvious fear.
"He-heh-ha. Dinner-"
"Is canceled," a voice said from behind.
BLAST!
"Gahw!" the spider yelled in pain in being hit by a laser blast from behind, making it stumble away from the woman.
Looking up, the spider saw the black, armored warrior, the Magna Defender, holding his smoking blaster.
"Magna Defender, we meet again at last," said the spider, cackling. "Of course, when we last saw each other, my mistress had you writhing in delicious agony."
"Yeah, and I intend to pay her back for that, although I don't think we've been properly introduced," the Defender replied, keeping his blaster trained on the spider.
"You're right we haven't. I am Tarantulas, second general of Deceptica." The spider introduced with a cackle.
"Now that's out of the way, I'm only gonna ask once: Where is your mistress, Tarantulas?"
"Already weaving her own webs, Defender, the humans of this world are so predictable, so short-sighted and narrow-minded. Because of those flaws, this world will be easy to take."
"Not while I'm around, bug!" exclaimed the Defender, switching his blaster to sword mode.
Immediately, he got into a Soresu stance. While Tarantulas was snapping his claws viscously, Shinji looked behind the monster, at the people trapped, trying to figure out a way to release them safely from the spider's web.
Tarantulas charged first, clashing his claws with the Defender's sword. Tarantulas's strength was equal to that of Steelsting's, as Shinji found himself being pushed back almost effortlessly. He parried with a right, diagonal swing, then a vertical thrust, then a spin-around horizontal strike.
Tarantulas jumped back to avoid an upper, two-handed vertical thrust, but Shinji pressed forward, ducking a swing and landing a kick to the lower midsection, pushing his opponent back. Tarantulas extended the spider legs on his forearms, and at the tips of the legs came out laser fire.
Ratatatatattaaaaaa!
BLAST!
"Gah!" Shinji grunted out, getting blasted to the ground.
"Ha-ha, didn't expect that, did you, Defender?" cackled the spider.
"No, Now I know what I'm cutting off first." the armored warrior replied.
"We'll see."
Tarantulas quickly changed into his spider form and crawled up the ceiling. From above, he began spitting out green globs of acid, melting the concrete.
'Didn't expect that, either. Now, I'm a little worried.' he thought.
"Magna Blaster!" called Shinji, switching up his sword to blaster mode again.
"Are you sure you want to try that? One-shot from your weapon, and you could bring this entire place down." Tarantulas taunted him.
"He's right. I can't endanger the people here. I've got to get them out."
Tarantulas began spitting more balls of acid at the Magna Defender, who narrowly avoided being hit by them. An idea came to him when he noticed a steam pipe above him. Materializing another dart, Shinji rushed towards the organic spider, who transformed back into robot mode.
Shinji took out his sword and clashed with Tarantulas's claws again, this time using powered, vertical and horizontal strikes. Tarantulas struck back, hitting the Defender in the abdomen.
"Gahg!" Shinji grunted out, feeling the pain driving him to his knees.
"Heh-heh, is this all you possess? Was it as the humans call "luck" that you defeated my brethren?" asked the spider.
"Not luck. Just skill and timing, Yah!"
Shinji got in close and stabbed the dart in his left eye/visor, causing him to stumble around blindly.
"Bargh!" yelled the mutant spider.
But Shinji wasn't done there. He quickly cut the steam pipe, causing the steam to billow all over the area, giving him some cover. As Tarantulas stumbled around half-blindly in the smoke, the Defender took the opportunity to cut free his captives. One by one, he ripped the web covering off, freeing Tarantulas's would-be victims, which included, but not limited to, a group of Tokyo-3 high school students, a jogger, an office worker and a shop keeper.
"Take that way straight out! Go!"
Without arguing, they all ran out to the exit.
"Impressive, Magna Defender," remarked Tarantulas. "Now, try this!"
Tarantulas, still half-blinded, pulled out an anchored gun and fired at the armored warrior. His adversary rolled underneath, switching his sword back to blaster mode.
"Eat this!" Shinji countered, firing his weapon.
BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!
"Blagh!" Tarantulas grunted in pain, dropping his gun.
"Now, Tarantulas, you gonna tell me where your master is?"
"You'll meet her soon enough, but for now…"
The spider pulled a ball out from behind him and tossed it.
FLASH!
"Argh!"
In a blinding, brief flash of light, the spider vanished, leaving Shinji alone in a web-covered subway. As he sheathed his sword, Shinji glanced at the weapon Tarantulas dropped and picked it up.
"Hmm…" Shinji mused, getting an idea before walking out.
(On the Outside)
Shinji, still morphed, climbed out of the way he came. Flashing lights were all around the area, obviously indicating that emergency services had arrived to tend to Tarantulas's captives. He jumped onto the roof of a nearby building and observed the scene. Shinji was thankful to have saved them, but Tarantulas still got away. But now he and Kendrix had a better way of detecting the insectoids.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
"Huh?!" Shinji went, looking down on his left hip that carried his sword.
For some unknown reason, the sword started to shake on its own. As if reacting to something nearby. The green gem was glowing on and off.
"This…has never happened before. What could it mean?"
As Shinji turned and walked away, he was being watched from afar by the same, cloaked figure from earlier. The probes had returned to their master's side. While the figure folded his arms to show one, mostly-platinum wrist device.
End Chapter
End notes: Now, not much is really known about the OG Magna Defender's backstory, before the events of Lost Galaxy. What planet did he come from? was there more of his kind? I've tried looking at the PR comics but nothing yet, if ever. But Shinji was unconsciously sensing was this figure, through his link with the morphing grid(Yes, it appears the Magna Defender's power is derived from the Morphing grid). He's learning to become a little more in tune with the grid, like a Jedi with the force or Wally West with the Speed force. And yes he's getting an upgrade, in weaponry like Batman. Since now the battles are going to get tougher for Shinji and eventually he's going to get back-up. And the reason I didn't have Rei in this chapter was because I couldn't come with anything for her. The next chapter will be a hint to what SEELE's got mothed balled, and someone possibly maybe discovering Shinji's secret. Of course, I am open to suggestions, how should I proceed in the next chapter? (Yes GK that includes you too) Thank you to TOAT for beta reading, everyone please stay safe, we're gonna get through this pandemic somehow. Read and Review and Stay Prime.