Chapter 2

Hoshikawa Subaru:

Subaru woke, unmercifully, to a blinding headache. Sharp pain radiated through each of his temples, and ended with pins and needles behind his eyes. The only cognizant actions he could manage were to squeeze his eyes tightly together, roll over in bed, and pull his covers up over his head. Subaru was sure he was going to throw up from the feeling like his brain was splitting in two. At least he was at home, in bed. He made a valiant effort to fall back asleep and escape the relentless pounding. He was clueless as to what he might have done to deserve such agonizing pain.

Nearly an hour later, Akane came up to check on him, concerned that he hadn't yet gotten up on his own. She found her son, curled in a tight ball with his hands clutching the sides of his head beneath the sheets of his bed.

"Su," she gently shook his shoulder to see if he was awake. Akane was relieved to see his eyes crack open, though just barely.

"What's wrong Su?" she asked softly.

"I've got a killer headache," he croaked before shutting his eyes again

"Would you like to take something for it?" Akane offered.

Subaru simply nodded. He vaguely heard his mom retreat back down the stairs to the kitchen where she rifled through the cabinets for aspirin. Even as he heard this, he made no effort to get up.

"So do you just lie there all day?" Subaru heard a deep voice sarcastically snigger from his nightstand, "I was under the impression humans were a little more active."

Subaru's eyes snapped open in shock at the jab. Forgetting about his headache, he pushed himself into a sitting position, almost toppling over again as his head started to swim.

"Who said that?" he asked into thin air, beginning to suspect what the answer might be.

"I'm hurt," the voice said snarkily, "I hang around to keep an eye on you and make sure that you're okay, and as thanks you don't even remember my name. Are all humans this rude, or are you just especially imbecilic?"

Subaru quickly jogged his memory. Last night, what had happened last night? Oh yeah, how could he have forgotten his little encounter with the glowing E.T.? His visualizer was neatly folded beside his transer on his nightstand, so he reached over and put them on.

There was still no sign of the dragon-like creature.

"Uh, where are you?" he asked hesitantly.

A sigh rattled from the speakers of his transer, "In here you idiot. It was your idea after all."

"Oh yeah," Subaru mumbled, a little on the slow side this morning.

Warrock suddenly materialized from the transer, appearing right in front of Subaru's face. He would have to teach this alien some basic manners, especially those pertaining to personal space. Unfortunately, Subaru's headache spiked again with the resulting exposure to Warrock's EM body.

Squeezing his temples Subaru hissed in irritation, "Go back into the transer."

Warrock cast him a haughty look, like he had no intention of following orders from a mere human boy.

"Please!" Subaru tacked on after seeing the alien's red eyes flash.

Warrock mercifully conceded, disappearing in a flash of light and a quick chime from his transer signaling the successful download. Subaru took a deep breath, trying to clear up the muddled mess that was his brain. He was pretty sure that he had felt sick like this since he had met the alien. Warrock's crazy EM waves were most likely clashing with his own brain waves, hence the disoriented thoughts. He was just making a shot in the dark here, but he was guessing that his transer helped to contain most of the waves, but some were still escaping. He should probably talk to Amachi-san as soon as possible, in case this was some sort of threat to his health, but there was no way he could tell the scientist the whole story. Warrock would ditch him if he even breathed a word in reference to the EM alien, and he didn't want to lose the only lead he had on his father.

His racing thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the ding-dong of the doorbell. Curious, Subaru slipped out of his bed, crossing his room to listen from the doorway. His mom had already answered it, allowing the unwelcome sound of none other than Shirogane Luna's clear voice to reach his ears…

"Good morning Hoshikawa-san," she chirped politely, "May I ask where Subaru-kun is this morning?"

Subaru grimaced, she'd come to drag him off to school again.

"He's not feeling well I'm afraid," Akane's voice sounded worried, "He's been in bed all morning with a headache."

"Oh!" Luna seemed surprised.

"You'll have to come check on him another time when he's feeling better." Akane said.

Subaru was tempted to smack his head on the doorframe. So his mom was encouraging them? Great, Luna-chan and his mom teaming up, he'd never survive.

"We will Hoshikawa-san. I hope he gets well soon. Have a good day."

With that, Subaru heard the door close. Quietly, he slinked down the stairs to the kitchen, just as his mom was about to bring him a glass of water. She looked surprised when she looked up to see Subaru standing there in socks and his rumpled clothing from the day before.

"'Morning," He mumbled, passing her and slouching down into a chair at the table.

Akane's lips tugged upward a bit at the sight of her son, but she wordlessly passed him the glass of water and an aspirin before fixing him some breakfast.

"I take it you're feeling a bit better," she said glancing away from the pan of eggs she was frying, "You just missed that group of kids from school."

"I know," Subaru said dully.

"You don't sound too disappointed," Akane observed, sounding a little bit disappointed herself.

Subaru didn't answer, frowning slightly. Akane served him the finished eggs before turning to clean the kitchen. It was silent for a few minutes, not an uncommon occurrence among the small Hoshikawa household.

"I think I'm going to head over to AMAKEN after lunch," Subaru said after finishing his breakfast.

"As long as you feel well enough Su," Akane said with a motherly tone.

"I will," Subaru answered with a roll of his eyes. Geez, moms sometimes.

It was about twelve thirty when Subaru left his house for AMAKEN. He still had a small headache, but nowhere near as bad as the one he'd woken up with. The midday sidewalks were fairly empty, allowing him to start a nondescript conversation with Warrock. The alien had been hiding in his transer all morning, but seemed a bit edgy nonetheless.

"So did anyone see you last night?" he asked.

"I was not detected. Although that man who brought you home ran a few scans, he did not suspect you or your device." Warrock's visage gleamed on his transer screen as Subaru walked through a patch of sunlight.

Subaru smirked slightly, "See, I told you it would work." But his gazed shifted to the side as he breathed a small sigh of relief. He had been unsure if his little ploy would work or not. It had only been a guess, but then again, his guesses were usually right.

"Indeed you did," the alien admitted, unfamiliar enough with human expressions to read Subaru's relief, "It seems you were useful after all."

Subaru scowled a bit but pressed on, "So will you tell me about my dad now?"

"No."

"Why not?" Subaru burst out, earning a few glances from those passing by. He lowered his voice and asked again, "Why not?"

"I rather like it in here, and I think I want to stay for awhile. I can't have you kicking me out as soon as you know what you want to know." Warrock said smugly.

Subaru ground his teeth. So the alien had figured it out. Bummer, he'd need to devise a new plan for extracting the information he wanted.

"Why do you want to stay?" Subaru questioned, "You've seemed pretty shifty all morning."

Warrock wouldn't meet Subaru's stare, "I am a fugitive, on the run from my own kind. It has been a while since I've gotten to lay low."

"I see," Subaru digested the information, "But what if I decide to turn you into to a scientist or something like that, so they can take you apart and examine you?"

"Then I will leave, and you will never learn about your father," Warrock said simply, "And people will think you're crazy when you go around screaming about invisible aliens without any proof. People didn't like that idea when Diago mentioned it either; it seems to make them uncomfortable."

Subaru didn't say anything, mulling it over.

"I am fine staying in here, but you might have to humor me a little if you want to hear about your father," Warrock said dropping a hint.

"Fine!" Subaru answered with a scowl, sensing he's just conceded to an ultimatum. He dropped his arm that had been holding the transer screen near his face. As he continued walking, he almost missed Warrock's last comment.

"…And I will leave if I happen to put you in any mortal danger."

Subaru bee-lined straight for Amachi's labs upon his arrival at AMAKEN. He felt he needed to ascertain that harboring an alien fugitive would not be bad for his health before he fully agreed to it. He found the man soon enough. Through the window of Amahchi's lab door Subaru could see that he was still working on the same rocket, perched atop a small step ladder. This time the rocket had power coils attached and the engine whirring. Subaru made sure to knock.

Unfortunately, knocking wasn't going to cut it. Amachi was wearing a pair of earmuffs to drown out the noise of the engine; even the doorbell would be no good in this case. Frowning in concentration, Subaru summoned as screen on his transer and established a link with the lock on the door. He watched the code scroll across the screen for a moment before taping a few commands on the screen. About thirty seconds later his frown had turned into a grin. With one last tap he shut his transer and looked through the lab window. The doorbell went off with an earsplitting screech quickly followed by the lights in the lab beginning to flicker on and off like in a deaf person's house. Amachi frantically looked abound in confusion, trying to decipher if the doorbell was some sort of alarm he had set off.

Eventually he saw Subaru at the door who nonchalantly smiled and waved back. Amachi dismounted the step ladder, almost falling, and then proceeded to trip over the huge power cords on the floor. Subaru winced; he most certainly was going to get chewed out for this. Amachi turned off the engines and opened the door, a very unhappy look on his face.

"Something urgent Subaru?" Amachi asked, sounding slightly peeved at being interrupted.

"Sorry," Subaru shrugged, "I just wanted to talk to you for awhile."

Amachi's frown dropped instantly. It was not very often that Hoshikawa Subaru came around just 'to talk.'

"Sure thing." Amachi stepped out of the doorway, gesturing for Subaru to come inside. Subaru found the nearest stool and sat down, his face pensive. When he didn't start Amachi started.

"I'm giving a tour of the labs later today so I should probably clean up and eat lunch. Thanks for the 'alarm' anyway." Amachi smiled, raising an eyebrow, "If you wanted, you could help me host the tour. Your experience and input would be appreciated, not to mention the kids coming are your age. You might be able to make them feel more welcome."

"Nah," Subaru said dismissively, "Anyway, the reason I came to see you is because I had a bit of a headache all morning and it got me thinking. Is there any research available on how EM waves might negatively affect humans, or is that something I should look into? I just finished up my last project on magnetic fields, so I'll be needing some new material."

"No, there isn't any pre-existing data." Amachi confessed with a sigh, "Wave technology is so recent there is still a lot we don't know about it. It has only been a few years since your dad developed a way to harness wave energy. The research you're talking about has been causing some problems around the lab lately. The engineers developing new equipment have been having troubles with getting patents from the government. Apparently there are some people in politics who are worried about the side effects of new wave technology."

"What do you think about it," Subaru asked, curious, "I'm sure you at least have a theory."

Amachi smiled, "Thanks for your vote of confidence." He sighed before continuing, "Don't quote me on this, but I believe the benefits of wave technology outweigh the risks. The units themselves give off very few EM waves. The dangerous parts are the energy sources, which are all in space, so that disadvantage really isn't a problem. Harm due to over-exposure is negligible."

Subaru nodded, digesting this new information. It sounded like harboring Warrock may be a problem. He was from space after all. Either way, it sounded like he had a new research project on his hands.

"Thanks Amachi-san. I'll look into it." Subaru said making his split-second, executive decision.

"No problem, Subaru-kun. Anytime you need me." Amachi had already started shuffling blueprints together in an attempt to make his lab look tidy before his visitors arrived. Seconds later the rigged doorbell went off, causing the earsplitting ring to shriek and the lights to flicker frantically.

"Darn, those kids are prompt," Amachi yelled over the noise, "And Subaru, you had better fix that doorbell today or I'm going to call your mother."

Subaru was frozen, stock still, staring with dread at the door. Through the glass he could make out three now familiar shapes: a large boy, a small boy, and a girl. Crap! They had found him again, the illustrious lady Luna and her lackeys. He had to split, and fast, or he'd never escape. Hoping they hadn't already noticed him, Subaru slipped behind the rocket engines, grateful Amachi had been working on a rather large project lately. By now Amachi had opened the door, silencing the alarm. Subaru just had to wait for the right moment to slip out unnoticed while they were talking.

Shirogane Luna:

Luna had to admit, she jumped a little when the doorbell set off a blaring sound like a sickly foghorn. This scientist, Mamoru Amachi, must have a weird sense of humor, but she was told he was the best scientist in the labs. The alarm turned off, the moment the door opened to reveal the man himself. Luna's impression first was that this guy looked way too young to be an expert. Then second, he didn't look as nerdy as she had expected (especially from all her experience with Kizamaro).

"Hi guys," He said with a friendly smile on his boyish face, "I'm Mamoru Amachi. Come into my lab and we'll get started."

He led the way into a spacey, open lab (apart from the giant rocket engine occupying the entire right side of the room). It was a sort of orderly mess she would expect from a genius's laboratory, but it was still intriguing to see it firsthand.

"Sorry about the doorbell," Amachi-san said with some irritation, "Someone thought I needed a wake-up call from my work, so they decided to reprogram it."

He said the last part in a raised voice as if he expected someone else in the room to hear. When no one responded, he sighed becoming serious, but maintained a warm smile. "Alright, I suppose we should start with the tour and then I can answer any questions you need for your school project."

Luna was just about to wonder if this scientist was a touch bit crazy from whiffing one too many chemicals when she heard the door open and close behind her. Spinning on the spot she barely caught sight of an odd red jacket and spiky brunette hair. Despite her confusion, she heard Amachi-san sigh again, this time with far more disappointment.

"I had hoped he would stay," Luna could just make out Amachi-san murmur under his breath, "I should have known better than to get my hopes up."

"Who was that?" Luna asked, pretending she hadn't heard his remarks.

Amachi looked at the door, an impassive look on his face before he answered, "Hoshikawa Subaru. His dad was a close friend of mine. AMAKEN is like a second home to him. He does a lot of research here too for the other scientists. I was hoping Subaru-kun would help us with the tour, but it appears he is otherwise engaged this afternoon."

There was a ghost of a smile on his face. Luna was pretty sure Amachi-san knew Subaru had left because of Gonta, Kizamaro, and herself.

Luna looked at the door again, miffed, "Well isn't he all high and mighty."

Amachi-san laughed, placing a calming hand on her shoulder, "He is a piece of work, that's for sure. But I think the reason he left was to go start a new project. He just had a new idea this afternoon, I'm sure he wants to get to work on it right away. We can't fault him for that."

Luna huffed, not satisfied.

"Excuse me Amachi-san," Kizamaro said, adjusting his glasses, "I was just wondering, does Subaru-kun really do all that research on his own? It would seem highly unlikely, especially because his school grades don't reflect anything past average intelligence."

Amachi-san's eyes widened slightly at that statement. Secretly, Luna wanted to punch Kizamaro for being so tactless, but she let it slide because she was curious to know the answer herself.

"Do you guys know Subaru-kun?" Amachi-san asked curiously.

"Yeah!" Gonta finally made his debut, "We are trying to force him to come to school with us!"

This time Luna couldn't resist. She punched Gonta in the burly arm, hard.

"So, does he?" She attempted to bring the conversation back on track.

"Yep," Amachi-san nodded, raising and appraising eyebrow at the group with newfound interest. Luna could feel his eyes examining them, true to his profession. "He's been tagging along with his dad since he was a troublemaking toddler (though the troublemaking part hasn't changed much). He started his own project when he was nine, and has been working here ever since."

Luna found this hard to believe, but knew the scientist would have no reason to lie to them. If Subaru was so smart, why did he seem so lackadaisical about his studies? She, the class president, was now even more determined to right this wrong.

Later, Luna would regret letting her mind wander so much. She couldn't stop thinking about her elusive goal. If Subaru was as smart as they said he was her job might be a lot harder than she had originally thought. At the end of the day the only part of the tour she remembered was one little, immaculate, and very empty lab: Subaru's.

Hoshikawa Subaru:

Subaru breathed a sigh of relief as he stole away from Amachi's lab. That had been a close call; too close for him. Now he couldn't even hang around AMAKEN without running the risk of encountering Luna's pesky little group.

He quickly made his way out the front doors before slowing down to a more relaxed stride on the sidewalk. It was still too early to go home, so Subaru began to meander aimlessly around the city. Occasionally Warrock would pipe up and ask him questions, but for the most part they were both silent.

Subaru had grown up in Kodoma Town, so he was quite familiar all the streets and parks. He had even explored the city using his visualizer, following the wave-roads as best as he could from the ground. He did that now, sliding his glasses down onto his nose so he could observe the wave-world. The first thing he noticed was the new monorail system, its EM signature glowing the brightest. It was the Wave-Liner, a monorail specifically designed to run purely on wave-energy. It was quickly becoming the fastest and most efficient form of transportation. There had only been a few minor setbacks due to EM virus activity, but it was usually easily taken care of.

"Subaru," Warrock growled suddenly, "Look over there."

Subaru glanced around to see what he was talking about.

"What? I don't see anyth…"

Speak of the devil. With his visualizer Subaru caught sight of a monorail bridge above a waterway about a quarter mile away that was currently swarming with viruses. They were shaped like tiny hardhats with feet and pick-axes that they were using to viciously attack the bridge's console. Subaru guessed that this particular bridge was built to raise for passing boats, hence the computer system. His transer confirmed his suspicions; the viruses were called mettools by virus hunters (or more commonly called "busters") and the Satellite Police. They weren't usually too harmful, just small bits of haywire data glitches; even Subaru had the tools to easily take care of them. Weaponized data cards could be used to summon anti-virus programs via the transer.

Subaru decided to do his public duty and delete the viruses; it may just be one of the most exciting things that would happen to him today. He started to make his way to access the console, rifling through his pockets as he walked for the cards he needed. He wasn't too worried, this would be easy.

But before he could reach the computer, a new virus appeared: a much, much bigger one. It broke into the console in less than a second, disappearing into the network where it started to wreak further havoc. Alarm lights on the bridge accompanied by the warning bells indicated the rising of the bridge.

Great. Subaru broke into a run. This might be trickier than he had originally thought. He huffed as he arrived at the console, immediately flipping open his transer to establish a link. Unfortunately, he was too slow. A whistle of an approaching train made Subaru's head snap up. A red passenger train was barely two miles away, and headed this way fast. He gulped. Double great.

Subaru's fingers flew across his transer screen, occasionally straying towards his pocket for a data card. In five seconds flat he had deleted the mettools (that might just be a record), but that left the bigger problem of the oversized freak virus. It had taken control of the bridge's system and had locked Subaru out. After numerous failed attempts to gain access, Subaru settled for banging the console with his fist.

"Darn-it!" he cursed under his breath. He would have said worse, but he was afraid Warrock might go around repeating those phrases at inopportune moments.

A screeching noise filled the air as the train's brakes were engaged, but it was still moving dangerously fast towards the rising bridge.

"Finally," Subaru grumbled, he looked at his transer again, "Hey Warrock, anything you might be able to do about this?" He attempted to link up with the computer again, but unsurprisingly failed.

"Nope"

Subaru scowled, he knew the alien was being purposefully unhelpful. If the E.T. could clear waveroads like he did last night, a virus should be no sweat.

All Subaru could do now was watch as the first train car slowly mounted the bridge. It stopped midway, but as the bridge achieved its final height with jolt, the leading car tipped over sideways. Good news: it broke away and pushed the other cars back. Bad news: the disconnected car was now lying perpendicular to the rails, one side hanging off the edge of a fifty foot drop (and not into the river).

Sighing with relief, Subaru turned to leave. He wanted to help, but if the police found him toying with the bridge computer after a major accident, he would look pretty suspicious. He wasn't fond of hours of interrogation to say the least.

His intention was to walk home and watch the rest on TV, but something stopped him. He got the feeling he was forgetting something. About a second later, a loud, shrill voice cried out in fear. Subaru spun around with a sinking feeling; a figure was hanging from the door of the train car suspended in space. If he squinted, Subaru could just make out a familiar figure: Shirogane Luna. What a coincidence that she was taking the same train home from AMAKEN that happened to be attacked by viruses that he tried to stop. Creepy…

"Crud!" he muttered to himself, breaking into a sprint back towards the accident.

"What are you doing?" Warrock's voice emanated from the transer, "I thought we were leaving."

"I have to do something! She's going to fall!" Subaru exclaimed, short of breath.

"Why? Just two hours ago you were avoiding that human. I got the impression she was your enemy." The alien didn't sound confused, just matter of fact.

Subaru let out a short bark of laughter, "I may think that that girl is pesky, but that doesn't mean I would want her to die."

"There is nothing you could possibly do." Warrock said flatly, "Are you going to swim across the river and catch her on the other side? You will never make it in time, nor are you able. Go home now so you don't get mixed up in this mess. I do despise interrogations."

Subaru ground his teeth at this EM creature's impertinence, but his mad sprint was suddenly interrupted by a loud static fizz directly in front of him. Subaru slid to a stop just in time to see the giant virus from before materialize in front of him, completely visible without his visualizer. Now that he was close enough Subaru could guess the virus was ten feet tall with red eyes and two massive swords. He swallowed, this didn't look good.

"Hmm, interesting," Warrock observed, "The beast has absorbed sufficient energy from the train's system to substantiate for a short while."

While Subaru found this information helpful, he wanted to slap his own forehead. The idiot's voice had brought the virus's attention to Subaru. It growled menacingly as its glowing red eyes fixed on Subaru's frozen form, contemplating.

Please don't notice me, Subaru prayed, I'm not here.

"Playing stupid isn't going to help you Subaru, even if you are quite good at it," Warrock informed him. Subaru wanted to punch that butthead, but unfortunately, he couldn't physically touch an EM wave being. Shame.

The virus lurched toward the sound, blades slicing the air with a sickening swish. Subaru was petrified. He had never even seen a materialized virus before much less attempted to delete one. His mind was completely blank.

The virus advanced in the blink of an eye. Subaru barely noticed the flash of a sword as the flat of one of the virus's blades smashed him backwards. The strike had been so forceful that Subaru rolled till the wall of a building stopped him, hard. He sat up coughing. His chest had taken the brunt of the attack, knocking the breath out of him. He was certain he was covered in bruises and gravel from the ground, but his head spun, too confused to think. With hazy vision he could see the virus advancing to finish him off. Not good. Now was it just his imagination or was Warrock floating in front of it, blocking it from coming any nearer.

"I guess I have no other option," he growled, disgruntled, "We'll have to Dempa Henkan."

"What?" Subaru managed between gasps and coughs.

"'Wave Change' kid, keep up. Your brain waves match mine; it can allow us to pool our abilities. In other words, we can merge."

"I have no idea what you talking about," Subaru mumbled.

"You will soon enough," Warrock sounded frustrated, "Your dad figured it out pretty quick. Now just relax, I'm going to synchronize you."

"What! 'Sychronize me'? What the heck does that even mean?" Subaru panicked, absolutely not calm.

Warrock's EM body grew brighter, forcing Subaru to close his eyes. A sensation like he was being electrocuted and put to sleep at the same time crawled through his cranium like a fog. He couldn't focus on anything but the words Warrock had said earlier…

"Dempa-Henkan. Hoshikawa Subaru, on air."

His mouth moved on its own as a new energy overwhelmed his senses. It started from his chest, spiderwebbing out to his fingers and toes. It was as if someone had spiked his coffee with concentrated caffeine. He felt jittery, as if his body didn't weigh a thing. He was able to stand up, the pain from earlier completely gone. His eyes snapped open, just as hyperactive as he felt at the moment. Maybe it was adrenaline.

When he looked down at himself, he immediately discarded that idea. He was wearing a navy blue suit decked out with blue and silver armor: shoulder protectors, braces on his forearms, and a chest piece that bore his shooting-star symbol from his necklace he wore. His boots went up to his knees in a weird piece by piece fashion, and he knew he was wearing a helmet because a red visor passed over his eyes to the tip of his nose. Now he was pretty sure he was hallucinating.

"Get with the program kid. That virus won't stay stunned as long as you."

Subaru recognized Warrock's voice still issuing from his wrist. He noticed that his transer was fused to his arm, functioning as a section of the armor on his left forearm.

"Um, Warrock?" He hesitated, "What is this?"

Warrock's sigh rasped through the speaker, "Dempa-Henkan," He enunciated each syllable unnecessarily clear, "You are now a Dempa-human, capable of all wave stages and especially powerful thanks to me."

"So what do I do?"

"Attack!" Warrock commanded, dragging his left arm forward. Subaru noticed the virus readying its weapons, while he had nothing but a pushy (or maybe it was pulley?) arm.

"How do I do that?" Subaru asked frantically.

"Point your left arm at it. I'll do the rest."

Subaru had never felt more stupid in his life, but he directed his left fist at the virus. He felt his hand re-align, sections of the armor shifting till it had configured into a streamlined cannon.

"Cool," Subaru admitted, getting warmed up to the idea of having a blaster for a hand. It was 'handy', seriously.

He aimed, and triggered with a thought, bracing his arm for the recoil with his other hand. A burst of violet light shot out, striking the virus right between its ugly, red eyes. It growled, but Subaru grinned triumphantly. He finally had the advantage.

The virus sped towards him again, but this time it seemed much slower to Subaru. He jumped to the side, his movements lightning-quick. So this is what Warrock had meant by powerful. The virus spun around, swinging out its sword in a vicious arc, but Subaru was no longer there. He had jumped up to avoid the attack, but didn't realize how high he would go. From seventy-five feet in the air he fired three more shots at the virus, two of them connecting. Nobody's perfect, he reasoned as he easily landed.

With a parting growl, the virus disappeared, changing its wave state to escape its newfound foe. Subaru didn't have an inkling of an idea of how to follow it.

"What just happened Rock?" he asked.

"It fled, and fast too. I can't sense it nearby anymore." Warrock took the question in stride.

Shoot, Subaru thought, then yelped as he had accidently triggered his weapon and blasted the ground next to his feet. As he looked at the smoking hole he seriously hoped this thing had a safety lock. With that thought, his blaster reverted to his normal left hand.

"Are you going to stand here and admire yourself," Warrock lazily reminded him, "Or are you going to go save that screaming girl over there?"

"Right!" Subaru remembered, "Thanks for reminding me Rock!"

"Don't mention it," Warrock muttered, slightly disgruntled at his new nickname. He hoped this wouldn't become a habit.

Subaru ran to the bridge, making it in a matter of seconds. Everything he did seemed to be fast, like he was sprinting but he wasn't getting tired. He effortlessly sprung onto the bridge despite the fact that it was fifty feet in the air.

"My body feels so light," He observed out loud.

"That's because it's made of waves. You don't have significant mass in Dempa-Henkan. You'll learn to control your own frequency later so that you can pass through solid objects or become completely tangible. But for now, I'm controlling it for you." Warrock informed him.

"Why?" Subaru asked.

"Because if I weren't…"

Subaru looked down at his feet to see that he was knee deep in the cement of the bridge.

He gulped, "Okay, I see why now." He gingerly climbed out of the bridge. Quickly, he resumed his sprint towards the teetering train car.

Luna was still hanging on the edge of the car for dear life, he voice pleading: "Someone HELP me! Get me down from here. I don't know how much longer I can hold on."

Right on cue, her fingers started to slip, but Subaru noticed there was no one in the train car to pull her up. Where had all the passengers gone? In the crucial seconds before he could reach her, Luna lost her grip entirely, screaming as she fell towards unforgiving cement.

Without giving it a second thought, Subaru threw himself off the bridge, intercepting Luna's fall in midair as Warrock made him tangible again. He felt their descent slow as the alien manipulated the wave environment surrounding them to a denser degree. Subaru would have to remember to thank him later for that; he was half-sure that on any other day Rock would have let them go splat. In the back of his mind, Subaru was curious as to how he was supposed to control the wave-states on his own. But now wasn't the time to deal with that. His feet gently alighted on the pavement at the base of the bridge, his smoothest landing yet.

"I made it," Subaru breathed to himself with relief.

He set Luna's feet on the ground, but her arms still clung tightly around his neck. In the distance, Subaru could hear the tell-tale sirens of the Satellite Police force; he guestimated they were about three minutes away. He couldn't hang around much longer, especially when he looked like some sort of humanoid freak-virus. They'd blame him without asking a single question. With an effort he focused back on his present issue: the traumatized girl still squeezing him. Unsure of what to do, he waited a few seconds before saying with forced casualty:

"You can let go of me now."

Luna cracked open her eyes at the remark, staring for a few seconds at her unexpected savior. In one surprised movement, she sprung back a step as if she had been electrocuted. She didn't meet his eyes as she nervously twiddled her fingers. Even through his visor, Subaru could see that she was blushing as she struggled for words. Since Luna looked like she was unable to string a coherent sentence together, Subaru continued.

"Are you hurt?"

"No," Luna's voice was quiet. She peered through her blonde bangs at his face, "Thank you for saving me."

"No problem," Subaru shrugged. He noticed the sirens getting closer. He was getting antsy, impatient to leave, but Luna's questions held him there.

"What's your name?" She asked, here olive-green eyes intent and curious.

A name? Subaru hadn't thought of that. Since Luna didn't seem to recognize him he definitely needed a nom de plume. He brainstormed for a minute trying to come up with something cool. Of course, he was combined with a supercharged alien life form. There was hardly anything "cool" about that – it was just downright freaky. Looking down at his suit and armor only reminded him about that. He sort of looked like…

"Rock… man (that was stupid)," he lamely stuttered.

Subaru looked to meet Luna's gaze, caught off guard when he was how her face was dazzled with admiration. He really wanted to disappear right now, only he didn't know how to yet. Unfortunately, even if he did know, those big, olive-green eyes were making his brain flatline.

He was saved by the sound of tires squealing to a stop on the pavement. Car-doors slammed as the Satellite Police arrived on the scene in full force, armed to the teeth with EM vacuums and disintegrators (Subaru seriously did not want to find out what those would do to him). He tensed, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

A man who was apparently in charge stepped out from behind one of the squad cars to assess the situation. He looked like the kind of man who was married to his work: tall, thin, and scruffy. He looked like he was in his mid-fifties with messy, black hair; bushy, black eyebrows; and beady, black eyes. His only distinguishing personal style was his long trench coat and a red alert-light attached to the top of his head. He pulled out a megaphone to address the odd pair.

"This is Inspector Goyouda speaking. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED HERE!"

Subaru couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow, "Well that was… direct."

Luna suddenly interjected her two cents worth, throwing her arms around Subaru who staggered under her unexpected onslaught, "Rockman-sama saved me. Isn't he just the greatest!"

Goyouda apparently believed it was safe enough to approach the scene; or he just realized that they didn't have a megaphone of their own.

"Who did what now?" his rough question was directed at Luna, but his dark eyes were transfixed by the more oddly dressed of the pair.

"He saved me!" Luna gushed, "I fell out of the train-car and Rockman-sama caught me!"

"Sure kid," the inspector said dismissively, still staring Subaru down. His analyzing gaze was not helping Subaru feel any less self-conscience. All business Goyouda continued; "Is there anyone else on the trashed monorail car?"

"No," Luna said more quietly this time, explaining; "When I saw that the train wasn't going to stop in time, I helped everyone move to the cars at the back. I was the only one left on the front one because I was looking for anybody who hadn't made it yet." She let go of Subaru, clasping her hands behind her back with sudden shyness.

Subaru couldn't help but stare at her in surprise. Shirogane Luna had saved a train-car full of people, and she was being bashful about it? He couldn't help it: he was impressed. She would've had to think and act quickly.

"DID YOU DO THIS!" Goyouda suddenly jabbed an accusing finger at Subaru while indicating the smoking wreck atop the bridge with his other hand.

"NO!" Subaru and Luna both objected simultaneously.

"I told you!" Luna said, stepping between Subaru and the inspector, "He saved me! How many times do I have to tell you? Rockman-sama saved me!"

While the two began to argue, Warrock got Subaru's attention.

"Look above you," he ordered, "On the wave road. That giant virus is up there wreaking havoc on communications now. If you don't stop it once and for all, it will never see enough destruction."

"Awww," Subaru complained in a teasing tone, "But we wouldn't want to leave these two. And we've only just met."

"Such a shame," Warrock growled, detecting the sarcasm.

An explosion echoed though the open air from the wave road above them. Without another glance up, Subaru took action. He stepped forward, forcefully separating Luna and Goyouda, one with each hand.

"Sorry," he said, leaping up towards the oncoming battle, "Gotta run!"

A chorus of 'come back Rockman-sama' and 'get back here you delinquent' faded behind as Subaru jumped from perch to perch in order to achieve the height of the wave road. Warrock also did his part, altering their frequency to match whatever surface they landed on. At the top, Subaru stood on a wave road for the first time. It was strangely exhilarating, being miles in the air, suspended by nothing but a pulsing, translucent pathway. Looking past his feet he could see the city below, tiny and tinged orange by the EM transmission.

"So, before I barge headlong into another fight, are there any other weapons this thing had got besides the blaster?" Subaru inquired. His left-hand changed when he mentioned 'blaster.' He was going to have to be really careful about that.

"Not that I know of," Warrock confessed, "I'm just compatible with the transer."

Subaru digested that fact. Maybe…

He knew he was still carrying a few active weapon cards. Now if he could only get them. On a hunch, he closed his eyes, focusing on the ones he wanted: sword, gatling gun, power bomb. He peeked. Nothing.

Well, it had been worth a try. With a sigh he sprinted down the wave road after the virus, readying his only weapon. Within seconds Subaru was close enough, aiming his blaster before the virus could notice that he was there.

"Download complete!" Warrock chuckled victoriously, accompanied by an electric chime loud enough to alert the virus of Subaru's presence. The giant turned its burning, red eyes and dual blades on the source of the noise. It started to advance, the growling menacingly. Why is it always me?

"What was that for?" Subaru hissed, keeping the rampaging virus in his sights.

"Do you want these weapons or not?" Warrock said snidely.

"What weapons?"

"The ones you summoned. Now which one do you want?"

"Uhh… gatling?" with a flash, Subaru's blaster transformed into a multi-barreled gun. He swung it around and fired, just in time. The virus that had been charging him was only a few feet away when it was blasted point-blank by a barrage of bullets. The resulting force blew the virus back, completely knocking it over. It crashed into a smoking, semi-alive heap on the wave road.

Subaru stared, completely at a loss for what to do now. The giant virus now looked rather pathetic; a mangled pile of metal, twitching and sparking hopelessly. And he had barely made any effort.

"Finish it." Warrock commanded flatly, "If it regenerates it will only go back to destroying things." He chose the next card: a small, hard sphere materialized in Subaru's hand.

Feeling numb, Subaru let the power bomb slide from his fingers. It landed next to the doomed virus, beeped once, then exploded in a glorious display of pyrotechnics.

But Subaru was already miles away, flashing down the wave road in the blink of an eye.

Shirogane Luna:

Luna was pretty sure she should be dead. She had fallen off a bridge; generally the only people who did that were suicidal (and she was absolutely sure she wasn't). There was a possibility that she had hallucinated everything: falling from a monorail crash only to be saved by a boy in blue spandex and armor that could virtually fly. But the fact that she was still being held for questioning by the Satellite Police defunked that possibility. She couldn't stop replaying the moment in her head.

She was making the last sweep of the primary car when it mounted the bridge, the floor suddenly angled violently, throwing her from her feet. In a whirl of motion she had rolled across the floor, hands scrabbling for a handhold only to find herself hanging in the open air. Her fingers burned as they slipped from the doorframe of the train car, her panicked mind too overwhelmed to even think of a way to save herself. She had screamed when she fell, eyes squeezed shut in anticipation for a painful end. Believe her: there is no peaceful acceptance when you are suddenly thrown to an unavoidable death. A pair of strong, warm arms was the last thing she expected. Luna was not cognizant of what had happened; she thought she was dead and Jesus was carrying her home.

"I made it," She heard a voice sigh with relief, not what she expected from Jesus. By just listening only she could tell it was a teenage boy, not what she expected from a rescuer. Luna's muscles were still tight with fear; she couldn't even relax enough to open her eyes. That was, until the next comment came directed at her.

"You can let go of me now," the voice sounded perturbed and perplexed at the same time.

Luna's eyes sprang open. She was staring directly into a set of (okay, she'll admit it) wide, gorgeous eyes, obscured by a red tinted visor. She would hazard a guess that they were a rich, chocolate brown beneath the ruby glint of the glass. Jittered that she was as such a close proximity with a person of the opposite sex, she jumped back, cheeks immediately flushing with unwelcome heat. Though she bashfully adverted her gaze, she studied her rescuer in her peripheral vision. He was a teenager, about fifteen or sixteen, and only a few inches taller than her. His features were slim and wiry. He was entirely covered in a body suit with light armor (like a superhero would wear) but it looked more like the computer programs NetNavis: humanoid intelligence units that were sometimes used to accomplish small tasks. But those hadn't been used for years, since the development of the transers, and they were never solid state.

"Are you hurt?" he asked inquisitively.

Right, definitely not a Navi; his expression was genuine, concerned, and a little nervous. Too human to be fabricated. His head was cocked to the side, expecting an answer.

"No," She said, stumbling over her words, "Thank you for saving me."

"No problem," the boy said with a shrug, nonchalant. All Luna could do was stare. She noticed him glance quickly into the distance then to his wrist. There was a transer there, fused to his arm, that definitely meant he was human. Only people used transers. An impatient look was growing on his face; desperate to detain him and learn more she asked her own question.

"What's your name?" She asked, a little ashamed of how eager she sounded.

He was quiet for a moment, thinking, "Rockman," he said, stumbling over the word. Oooo…kay, so weird name, but what girl doesn't like a bit of mystery? Any name works for her when the boy in question has superpowers, is chivalrous, and looks good in spandex. If she didn't watch herself she might start drooling over a total stranger.

Luckily the sound of police sirens cut her off mid-gawk. The nosey Satellite Police arrived to interrogate Luna and her savior. She was extremely nonplussed by the turn of events when that detective, Goyoda, accused Rockman of wrecking the monorail, Rockman ditched them without a goodbye, and she was held for further questioning. The rest is history, well, red-tape anyway.

Hours later, she was released to be sent home. Her parents had seen the news from their respective occupations, and both left messages on the home unit. But she didn't bother to listen to either as only one person was on her mind: Rockman.

Hoshikawa Subaru:

Removing the Dempa-Henkan was the opposite of entering said state. A warp-hole into real space opened up and kicked Subaru out of the Dempa world. Gravity and the other forces of nature welcomed him back in full force, promptly sending him smack onto the ground so that he landed unceremoniously on his face. His body felt heavy after weightlessness and he felt winded from moving at the speed of light even though it had cost him very little energy. Seeing that he was alone, Subaru made no effort to rise from the grassy park he had appeared in. Instead, he lay there, catching his breath and clearing the stars from his eyes. Needless to say, he felt very disoriented.

"Well, that was… heroic." Warrock's comment was laced with derision. Subaru wondered how the alien had acquired such a talent for sarcasm; he most certainly hadn't exercised it earlier.

"What just happened?" Subaru asked himself, completely overwhelmed as the last fifteen minutes of his life finally hit him full force. Number one; he had fused with an alien. Number two; he had saved a girl's life. Number three; he had mercilessly defeated a giant EM Virus. Usually evaluating situations helped him to concentrate, like in his lab, but right now Subaru was at a loss for what to say or do. Luckily Warrock filled that gap.

"Congratulations kid," Warrock's growl sounded amused at the expense of his young partner, "You've become the first successful EM Human."

"What does that even mean?" Subaru's voice was muffled by the grass as he still hadn't bothered to lift his head off the ground.

Warrock's sigh rattled loudly from the speakers of the transer, "I've realized two things from our encounter with the beast; so sit up and listen to me." The command was enough for Subaru to lift his head and study Warrock's image on his transer screen, but no more. Realizing that this was the best attention he would receive Warrock continued, "First, that beast was abnormally large, no? It offers evidence that the increasing Dempa World here on earth is causing higher rates of data diversion, yet earth's defense systems are unable to develop their counter procedures at the same speed. These difficulties will become more and more common, and catastrophic. Which brings us to our second issue.

"I did not realize that I was deteriorating when I entered earth's atmosphere until I Dempa-Henkaned with you. Your human waves were reflected to match mine and I was able to stabilize, even double my EM enegy. I felt the change and realized that I had been slowly dying from the exposure to the machines drawing EM waves from the atmosphere. With this in mind, so long as I am in your transer or Dempa-Henkaned with you, I am safe."

Subaru's eyes widened at this revelation. When Warrock was uncontained his EM signature practically radiated away his life source, seeping off and dissipating in every direction. That was why Warrock had made him so sick last night; powerful waves had been emanating from the FMian and clashing with Subaru's own brain waves. If Warrock stayed on earth without a companion, he would soon fade away. But as partners, Warrock's waves were synched with Subaru's; Subaru was no longer harmed by Warrock's waves and Warrock was not harmed by earth's atmosphere.

With that realization Subaru observed that Warrock was looking highly uncomfortable at the moment. "I propose we form a treaty," He said gruffly, "I will tell you about your father and offer you protection and you will allow me to stay and protect me. I do not expect us to be 'friends' as you call it, but partners. Things here on earth are only about to get worse, but we have the power to advert some of the crisis. Deal?"

Suspicion wormed its way into Subaru's thoughts. Warrock didn't seem like the type of creature to want to be dependent on another, nor had he any concern for humans as he had previously displayed. Not only that, Subaru had no idea what Dempa-Henkan entailed; if he were to do it again, how much control could Warrock gain over him? But on the other hand, Warrock had merged to protect him. Why couldn't Subaru repay him? The alien had also mentioned that he was a fugitive in need of rest, and that he had information about his father. The pros and cons of the situation seemed evenly distributed. The choice was difficult yet easy.

"Deal."