Chapter 13:
Shirogane Luna:
"Welcome to the morning show! Nagasaki here to give you a rundown of the news!"
The TV was on in the kitchen when Luna came down to get her breakfast. She was dressed and ready for school, her entire look immaculate as usual. But when she saw her father sitting at the counter, eyes fixed on the flickering light of the TV, she couldn't help but tug her suit jacket just a smidge straighter.
He didn't turn to look at her.
So Luna took her place at her usual spot at the counter. Avery delivered her a plate of fluffy scrambled eggs and toast. Luna poured herself a mug full of steaming water from the waiting kettle and dropped in a bag of English breakfast tea before digging into her food.
"The Satellite Police has assured us that they are doing their upmost to fend off these attacks. In partnership with AMAKEN's finest minds they will be developing countermeasures for future attacks."
Luna took a mouthful of eggs and glanced at her father out of the corner of her eye. A frown had pulled down the edges of his mouth. A crease had formed between his eyes.
"But the question that is on everyone's mind is this: will it be enough? After AMAKEN's announcement last Wednesday many people are shaken. Don't know what I'm talking about? Well, it's best to be informed. I will play the recording of the press conference hosted my Dr. Mamorou Amachi himself."
The screen cut to another scene. One that had played over and over and over again. Everywhere. On every news station. On public television. On screens in the wave rails. One would have to live under a rock to not know about it. And not for the first time, Luna wondered if Subaru had seen it. He hadn't been to school since these new developments. A warped, pixelated image of Amachi took up a platform in front of a crowd. Cameras flashed. Reporters held up recording devices. There was no less than seven microphones blocking the scientist's boyish face.
"I'm going to start out by saying that many of you will not believe what I have to say here today. Many of you will not want to believe what I have to say. But I promise you that AMAKEN has full record and research to support my statements. It will be made public to anyone who has any doubt."
The crowd is silent. No one yells out questions because no one knows yet what to ask.
"The fact is, the EM attacks that have been happening over the past month are not the work of mere viruses. We have seen evidence of dynamic higher thought in these creatures – in their actions and their response to the environment. What would, in simple terms, be categorized as 'sentience.'"
A rumble stirred the crowd, but Amachi continued.
"These creatures, we've termed FMians, originate from our extraterrestrial source of EM energy. The energy we've been collecting had to come from somewhere, that is no surprise. The surprise to us all, the scientists at AMAKEN labs included, is that our source of power is also the source of life for FMians. Just like we think in brain waves and act in electrical impulses, FMians to think and act while operating on EM energy. So yes, in that sense, they are similar to viruses. But they are not viruses."
The crowd was really stirring now. Reporters turned to each other, exchanging words and looks of utter disbelief.
"FMians are intelligent life forms that can react to their surroundings. So far they have acted in anger, in chaos, and in anxiety. They can use emotions like that to their advantage, not just to hurt people, but also to possess them."
A cry of outrage rose up from the crowd, "That's preposterous!"
Even through the blurriness of the screen, Luna could tell Amachi's eyes flashed, "Maybe you will think that until you see it for yourself. But we here at AMAKEN labs have seen it. The Satellite Police have seen it. And whether you agree or not, we will be doing our best to prevent these attacks from happening and to stop them if they do."
"What do they want?" A different reporter piped up.
"We don't know. We don't know if they have a goal in mind. We don't know why they're causing this destruction. But we intend to find out. AMAKEN and the Satellite Police are working together to bring a stop to these attacks as soon as possible. But we don't know when that will be. We will be keeping the public updated to the best of our ability. AMAKEN has set up a newsfeed and alert system that is easily accessible via transer. There you can read about our research on the topic of FMians and find and new and relevant discoveries being made. The Satellite Police will keep it updated with safety information and any future attack updates."
Just as another question was about to be asked by the crowd – Luna had seen this video too many times to count – her father shut off the TV. Without a word, he took a long drink of his coffee. He still didn't look at her. Luna attempted to eat her breakfast in relative normalcy.
"It's terrible what's happening." Avery said, refilling Luna's father's mug when he set it back down.
"It's ludicrous." He snapped, "It's a bunch of know it all nerds who just want their dreams about ETs to come true. They saw a chance and they took it. They're simply blowing these virus attacks out of proportion."
Luna wanted to point out that two of these so called 'virus attacks' happened at her school and Amachi certainly hadn't blown anything out of proportion, but she simply took another bite instead. Chewing her food instead of running her mouth. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't very well run off on an empty stomach.
"And the Satellite Police!" He continued, "They've never been much good at anything. They just run around after errant viruses like a bunch of little kids on bug hunt. They can't stop anything before it happens and there's never anything to 'investigate.' It's a program. It's a virus. It can't do anything other than make a little mess."
Luna wondered if her father would call a wave rail full of people dead 'a mess.' That's certainly how it would have turned out if Rockman hadn't been there pursing the virus, because that virus hadn't been localized. It had wreaked widespread havoc.
"Now they all think they're high and mighty. That they know better than everyone else. Idiots. All of them."
Well, what are you doing about it? That's what Luna wanted to say.
"They put the public in a panic and it's playing havoc on my stocks!"
Luna pushed her plate away. She was nowhere near full, but it didn't matter. She stood, offering Avery an apologetic smile before grabbing her book bag and heading for the door.
"Where are you going, young lady?" Her father's voice was still cool.
"To school." Was her short reply. Now wasn't the time to start an argument, "I don't want to be late."
Luna didn't wait for a response. And once the cool morning air hit her throat, she felt leagues better. In and out. In and out. Like she could dispel the tightness in her chest with a mere change in atmosphere. The sun bounced off her platinum curls and she unconsciously checked to see that her pigtails were symmetric.
"Prez!" Kizamaro waved energetically to her when she was still a block away. That brought a smile to her face, breaking the mask of indifference that had been there before.
"Yo, Prez!" Gonta greeted as well when she joined them, "Are you stoked to hear that we are living in the days of aliens?"
Well, at least someone was happy about AMAKEN's discovery. Gonta had been saying that same line multiple times a day since last Wednesday. The news of FMians brought fear, but Gonta was able to find the silver lining: aliens.
"So, Prez." Kizamaro began as they started walking in the direction of Subaru's house, "I looked through AMAKEN's transer app that Amachi mentioned, but I didn't find anything about Rockman, like you wanted. At least, nothing by that title. See, since AMAKEN knows that FMians take a host in order to become physical, so they've removed the FMian's names as indicators. Like, patient privacy you know? Now people can't make the connection between the human and the FMian involved in each attack."
"So they don't hold us responsible?" Gonta asked. And it was weird to hear him use an inclusive pronoun. 'Us' being Gonta, Utagai, and Ikuta. That they knew of, anyway.
"Exactly!" Kizamaro exclaimed, "Even I couldn't figure out which set of data was Gonta's. And I was there, you know?"
"That's… very thoughtful of them." Luna hummed. She didn't put such consideration past Amachi. Especially not when his valued coworker had been one of the victims as well.
"They say strong emotions leave a greater opening for FMian manipulation. In Gonta's case, it was his anger."
Gonta nodded like that was to be expected.
"One thing that I did find, and I think this was referring to Rockman's involvement, is that FMians grow insanely powerful with a host. Their energy is better contained, and therefore more effective in directing into battle. AMAKEN admits to having no solid countermeasure for that level of power. And yet, multiple threats have been neutralized."
"Wait." Luna paused her steps as several pieces fell into place. Clear as day, she could still recall the sight of Ikuta-sensei merging with – what she now knew to be an FMian – through the lens of Subaru's visualizer. And Kizamaro was implying that he couldn't decipher Gonta's data from the others, "Rockman-sama… he's one of them?"
Kizamaro sounded like he was trying not to crush Luna's hopes and dreams, but he was failing miserably, "Rockman is on par with these creatures, Prez. He goes toe to toe with them, no problem. It makes sense that he's an FMian too."
Luna mentally kicked herself. It was pretty obvious. Subaru had even implied as much on an earlier occasion. But she'd just been so blinded by hero worship and she'd resisted the idea that her crush was probably not entirely human.
"Prez, if it's the same as it was with Gonta." Kizamaro glanced at their much taller friend, "It's highly likely that the person Rockman is possessing has no clue what's going on."
It felt like they were missing something. Some piece of information that would complete the Rockman puzzle, so to speak.
"Then why does Rockman-sama stop the attacks?"
Kizamaro shrugged.
"And why does he look more human than the others?"
Gonta shrugged.
"And what is he doing the rest of the time." Luna felt herself getting a little worked up, "I mean, he can't be Rockman all the time." She looked at her friends, "Can he?"
They both shrugged this time.
Another memory was niggling at the back of her mind. It felt like forever ago when it had happened: the first attack on AMAKEN. Rockman had saved the three of them from the FMian who called himself Cygnus. Luna had thought it was strange that she'd heard two voices addressing the aggressive swan man: one from Rockman's mouth and one from his transer.
She didn't mention this two her friends, for once a little wary of their judgment. She needed more time to think and decide what she ultimately wanted to do about the whole situation.
"Let's go get Hoshikawa-kun." She said instead.
When they knocked on the door, Akane invited the trio in to the kitchen. Subaru was standing at the sink, washing dishes that must have contained their breakfast. He offered them a simple 'hello' and went back to his task as his mom took over the rest of the arrangements.
Piles of packages sat out on the table – the fruits of Luna and Akane's hard work the previous day. Cookies in baggies tied closed with colorful ribbons. A bright array of pastel mochi. Two dozen cupcakes decorated with frosting and crystalline sprinkles. It was quite the spread.
"Kizamaro, why don't you carry the mochi." Akane packed everything away and handed boxes off to their respective bearers. "Gonta, you take the cupcakes. But you need to be extra careful to make sure they don't shift or it will squish the frosting. Su, you can take the cookies when you finish up the dishes."
"Yes, mom."
"And Luna-chan," Luna stood at attention, waiting for orders. But in that brief span of silence, her stomach growled loudly, deprived of its usual morning nourishment. Luna felt her face heat with embarrassment. Kizamaro and Gonta, bless their souls, said nothing about it. Subaru, however, had to smother his laughter with the towel he'd been using to dry his hands. Akane actually did laugh. Like mother like son, "Luna-chan," Akane swiped a protein bar from a box, "You take this."
"But I want to help." She whined, still taking the protein bar.
"You helped make all these goodies," Akane countered, "I think that's more than enough work for you."
"Yes, mom."
It had just sort of slipped out. It took Luna a half of a second to want to pull it back in and swallow it whole. Her face went from rose pink to ruby red.
But Akane just rolled with it. She put a hand on Luna's shoulder, ignoring the boys' surprised faces as she said, "Good. Now, you four had better get going so you're not late for school."
"If only."
The comment came from Subaru's direction. Akane shot her son a look, complete with one eyebrow raised. Subaru had the decency to look appropriately chided, but there was still a defensive glint in his eye.
"You haven't been to school in four days." Kizamaro reminded Subaru, "I don't think you have the right to complain."
"I didn't." Subaru grumbled.
But the conversation got pushed aside as they all put on their shoes, hoisted their boxes of goodies, and set off down the street. Luna chewed on her protein bar as the boys talked among themselves. Which mostly involved Kizamaro giving Subaru the rundown of what had happened in the past week. Subaru admitted that he hadn't watched Amachi's press conference yet, so Kizamaro shifted the mochi around in his arms and pulled up the feed on his transer.
"Huh." Was all Subaru had to say about it.
Kizamaro pushed his glasses up on his nose with his transer hand, "I assume you already knew most of that."
"For the most part." Subaru confessed, "I didn't know what Amachi was planning to tell the public though."
"There's a lot more information on the AMAKEN app."
Subaru nodded, "I'll have to take a look at it."
Luna almost asked what Subaru thought about the Rockman quandary they'd had earlier this morning, but then she thought better of it. Subaru looked to be in a good mood this morning and she didn't want to ruin that. It seemed like the extra sleep had done a lot of good for him. There weren't any bags under his eyes and his expression was more open than usual.
She was getting much better at reading him.
The morning was uneventful, save for Tsukasa offering to help run the bake sale during lunch.
"I was planning to come to the next STEM club anyway." Tsukasa said, "I might as well do my part to contribute."
For the millionth time, Luna was amazed by the boy's good attitude and willingness to help. He'd always been that way, as far as she could remember, it was just much more polarized now with Subaru around. They made such an odd little group.
Lunch time rolled around which meant it was time for the bake sale. Luna split the boys up into two groups – making the obvious choice – so that Kizamaro and Gonta would manage sales for the first half of lunch and Subaru and Tsukasa for the second half. She elected herself to be general overseer for the whole process. Almost a third of the goodies were ones that she'd helped to make after all.
So she found herself, sitting off to the side and wolfing down the sandwiches that Avery had packed her and listening in as Subaru and Tsukasa talked.
"I hope the teacher didn't pile the homework on you when you got back today." Tsukasa stated, "I know how that can be. Some of them are just relentless."
Subaru tilted his head in an acknowledging fashion and made change for the pair of girls who had just bought a cupcake each, "It wasn't too bad. I'm used to having a lot to take home and do."
"Props to the skiving school club." Tsukasa laughed.
Subaru smiled at that. Both boys had a notorious reputation for being absent. Luna recalled a few times when other students had attempted to introduce themselves, thinking they were new. Although, in Tsukasa's case, Luna had a feeling it had more to do with his new hair color.
"But I take it you're feeling back to one hundred percent?" Tsukasa asked.
"Yeah."
"Good."
"What about you?" Subaru asked in return, "How was your physical therapy last week?"
Tsukasa rolled his eyes, "So boring. They have to check all my reflexes and stuff, which is just a bunch of dumb little tasks that seem to have no meaning to anyone but the doctors. But then strength rehab is usually a pretty nice little workout."
"That doesn't sound too bad."
"Nah, it's not."
Tsukasa smiled and greeted some customers, suggesting the mochi. He sold five packages before he had another chance to talk, which was when Subaru asked offhandedly.
"Are you coming with tomorrow?"
"Hmm?" Tsukasa hummed, unfocused, as he stashed the revenue.
"Tomorrow. Shirogane-san said that we'd be shopping for parts."
"Where?"
Subaru sneaked a glance at Luna and she realized that she'd been caught listening in. All the same, he was the one to respond to Tsukasa's question.
"There's a good tech shop downtown, near Kodoma mall. I think the plan was to go after school tomorrow. I'm sure Shirogane-san would put you to good use, carrying bags and all that."
"I resent that." Luna mumbled.
"But it's true." Subaru argued.
She didn't deign that with an answer. Subaru went back to his conversation like nothing had happened and Luna went back to listening.
"I'm going to have to pass." Tsukasa said, something slightly devious flashed in his eyes. But he probably just thought that her and Subaru's bickering was funny, "Aw man, it sounds like fun, but I have other plans. But like I said this morning, I will be coming to STEM club for the quad copter assembly. I'm pretty excited about that!"
Subaru agreed and chipped in with some technical terminology that soon that the boys tied up in a more detailed, fast moving conversation so Luna didn't see any point in interrupting. It wouldn't be long before the bell rang for the end of lunch anyway.
But absently, Luna wondered why Tsukasa had been so interested in where they were going, not when?
Hoshikawa Subaru:
The next day, just after checking out at the tech store, Subaru started to get the nagging suspicion that something wasn't right. But with his arms full of bags and boxes, there was no way to check his transer or message Warrock.
"Why do I have to be the one to carry everything?" he asked.
Luna only chided him, "Gonta and Kiza have things to carry as well, Hoshikawa-kun. Don't complain."
Gonta and Kizamaro were carrying stuff, yes, but not nearly as much as Subaru had been saddled with. Subaru wondered if this was payback for something, but he couldn't recall doing anything wrong. It was just Luna being Luna.
"Kid." Warrock whispered from Subaru's transer when the other three dallied in the tech store.
"I know." Subaru whispered back, "But I can't get away from these guys right now."
He wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing that Warrock stayed quiet. It certainly wasn't his normal response to situations like this. Subaru still counted himself lucky that no one had asked about the weird voice that occasionally shouted obscenities from his transer.
The four high schoolers did their best to carefully navigate the sidewalks, laden as they were with their purchases. But pedestrians were growing increasingly dense as the clock ticked closer to rush hour and it was inevitable that someone knock into Kizamaro, what with him being too short to see.
A kit of colorful breadboard wires fell from Kizamaro's arms and broke open on the sidewalk. Little pieces of all shapes and sizes went skittering across the pavement and underfoot. Kizamaro quickly set his other things aside and knelt down to retrieve as many wires as he possibly could. Luna joined him before he even had a chance to ask. Gonta glared at the suspect pedestrian, but they had already moved on, unconcerned.
Subaru felt like that moment was the precipitating factor – like the final crystal that knocked all the others out of a supersaturated solution.
Something pulsed in the atmosphere, making his head squeeze. Butterflies tickled his stomach and he screwed up his face as if that would help him swallow back the laughter that wanted to break out.
Kizamaro was the first.
He started giggling from where he was on his hands and knees, sweeping colored wires towards himself to protect them from further damage.
"Can you believe this?" Kizamaro snorted, "This is terrible. Practically the worst case scenario!" His announcement was punctuated by giggles.
Luna was the second. Subaru could tell that she was trying to hold it back behind her hand. She snorted once, lost the battle, and then broke into uncontrolled chuckles.
"Don't move, Kizamaro! We don't want to crush anything."
"That's what I'm trying to do!" Kizamaro shot back through another helpless round of giggles, "Gonta-kun, can you grab that one over there?" He pointed to a yellow wire that had fallen by the gutter in the street.
Gonta followed Kizamaro's finger and then let out a loud guffaw, "Geez, all the way over there." He laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world, a literal 'LOL' moment, "Be more careful, Kiza."
"I'm trying!" Kizamaro giggled.
Subaru felt intensely uncomfortable. Not only because of the weird waves had he sensed in the denpa space, but also because Rock had yet to say anything. His friends were acting out of their minds and he felt liable to join them if he didn't get the hell out of dodge.
"Hoshikawa-kun!" predictably Luna did her best to command him even as she laughed, "Help us!"
Subaru put down the packages that he'd been burdened with, like he was going to help, before saying, "I think I left my wallet back at the tech store. I need to go get it."
He turned on his heel and sprinted back in the direction they'd come from. All around him, pedestrians were gripped in different stages of helpless laughter. Behind him, Luna called out, "You didn't even buy anything, Su…" She cut herself off with another snort. And by then, Subaru couldn't hear anything else.
A rush had filled his ears. The waves, signal, whatever it was. It was getting stronger.
"Kid!" Warrock shouted. He sounded irritated. Like he had already tried to get Subaru's attention. But for the life of him, Subaru couldn't recall if he had.
"I know!" was his only response. He skidded around a corner and checked the alley. Deserted. Perfect.
"Denpa-henkan. Hoshikaw Subaru. On air!"
He felt like he had to say it. Amidst the buzz in the air and the pressure in his head, it seemed like the best way to confirm that his message would get across to Warrock. And as soon as the transformation started – as soon as the wash of energy eddied about his limbs – it all cleared. Subaru's mind felt icy and his body felt like light. Actual light, not just the sensation of lightness.
Opening his eyes, his red visor displayed a set of readings he'd never seen before. Not for viruses and definitely not for FMians.
"Rock." Subaru chewed his lip as he scanned the readout, "What's going on."
"Someone thinks they're a big shot." Warrock growled, "They've turned their EM energy outward and projected it onto the people in the area. They're obviously begging for attention."
"And idea who it is?"
"I have a suspicion. But I can't confirm anything. It'd be weird if it was him because I haven't felt him up to this point."
"Laying low?"
Warrock shrugged from his place where Subaru's transer was fused to his arm. It was a movement Subaru just barely caught out of the corner of his eye as he jumped onto the waveroad above the alley.
"Rock." Subaru focused on the virtual 'pin' Warrock had dropped in his line of sight and followed it, "You're not giving me a very good feeling about this."
"Kid, I don't have a good feeling about this."
With that sense of foreboding, Subaru shot forward. The three-dimensional signal that Rockman could clearly see as simply 'laugh' streamed past him in the opposite direction. The signal increased in intensity for another second before it stopped altogether.
Subaru ground to a halt and met the eyes of his enemy.
It – he – didn't look like much. He was shorter than Cygnus and nowhere near as bulky as Taurus. In fact, he looked closer to Rockman and Harp Note's size more than anything else. His irises glittered crimson. A smirk pulled at his lips. Wild scarlet hair was pushed back by a headpiece decorated with a single spike in the center. His armor was white save for his left arm which was a perfectly polished gold.
"I've been waiting to meet you, Rockman." Was the first thing he said.
And if that didn't ring the warning bells, well then, Subaru would have to be the dumbest brick on the block. Previous FMians had always called him by Warrock's name, if they even recognized Subaru's partner in the first place.
"Shit." Warrock muttered only loud enough for Subaru to hear, "It is Gemini."
Subaru tried to push down the tension growing in his stomach.
"Is there any chance," Subaru addressed Gemini instead, "that if I asked you nicely you'd give up your host and leave earth?"
Gemini chuckled, "No."
"Didn't think so." Subaru mumbled.
"So you'll probably have to fight me." Gemini continued, "Which I will welcome. After all, I've been waiting for you to be at the top of your game. You too, Warrock. Fighting is much better for settling business than asking nicely, after all."
"This isn't Planet FM, Gemini." Warrock said seriously to the other FMian, "Humans take more pride in peace than in battle. It's been that way for centuries."
"Not every human feels that way, Warrock." Gemini sneered. Arches of electricity sparked down his golden arm and solidified into an angry, crackling sword, "Now, Rockman. Let's do this."
Subaru widened his stance and mentally ran through his catalogue of weapon cards. The elec sword from square one had been a bit of a tell on Gemini's part. Subaru might be able to use that to his advantage and play around less with trial and error. He started with a standard wide sword first.
Gemini shot forward in a flash, forcing Subaru to catch Gemini's downward slash on his own sword. He grunted under the force of it. Gemini didn't look very strong, but physique was often misleading with denpa-humans. Subaru knew from experience that he could channel more energy into his strength if he chose to, it would just be more draining than just using his normal strength. But maybe Gemini wasn't worrying about reserves.
Rockman lashed out, pushing Gemini off and followed up with a jet attack. It didn't have the intended effect, which was to surprise Gemini. In fact, Subaru caught a hint of a smirk on Gemini's face when he rocketed by. But Gemini didn't give him the time to think about it, pursing within a millisecond. Subaru had barely hit his cooldown when he was forced to sidestep another swipe of Gemini's elec sword.
In rapid succession, Subaru loaded a gatling gun and fired at point blank. The close range didn't faze Gemini. The white FMian slipped into another wavelength and appeared behind Subaru, evading and then attacking with a swift kick to Rockman's side. Subaru choked, mostly an instinctual response. But what didn't help was that Gemini's strength sent him sliding backwards down the waveroad. Subaru dug his feet in to stop his momentum which caused an earsplitting shriek to fill the air.
Gemini was relentless. There wasn't a moment to recover. The white FMian put on a burst of speed and pursued again. Subaru did his best to block a fast series of swipes from Gemini's golden hand as it fizzed with electricity. But even blocking did nothing to prevent the numbness that was building in his arms. Subaru thought he could taste metal in his mouth.
Warrock could tell he was overwhelmed and cursed, "Kid, get some distance."
Subaru would have loved to oblige, if only Gemini would let up for a moment. But that wasn't likely to happen. Subaru shifted his wavelength and free-fell through the waveroad, Gemini not far behind. The hairs on the back of Rockman's neck stood on end preceding another charged attack. It was all the indication he needed to abruptly slow his fall, twist, flip over Gemini's shoulders, and kick off the white FMian's back. Rockman landed on the original waveroad while Gemini plummeted to the ground, left hand still sparking.
And yet, despite that, Gemini caught himself in time and alighted on the ground with the grace of a ballerina on stage. When he turned to look up at Rockman, he was smiling, a big and sharp smile.
"This is what I've been waiting for." Subaru thought he heard him say.
"Kid," Warrock interjected, "You need a plan."
Subaru's mind was racing, but he was coming up with nothing. Both ranged and melee attacks didn't seem to faze Gemini. Something about this particular FMian was… too comfortable.
"I haven't even put a scratch on him." Subaru murmured.
"Take things up a notch, kid. You're good at this. I know you are. I've seen you fight. You always proven that you match the level of what you fight, so I know you can match him too."
Subaru grimaced but nodded. He downloaded another sword. He steeled himself.
But, once again, Gemini wasn't giving him a chance to do anything. While Subaru had been debating what to do, Gemini had fired off his arm. The entire golden appendage detached and rocketed towards Subaru, shining like a beacon or a flare. Subaru used the waveroad to dodge at the speed of light, but Gemini's projectile curved around and beelined for Rockman once again.
"Homing, fist, rocket-thing." Subaru grit his teeth as he let the waveroad carry him away, "Shit. Why? Of all the things…"
An idea struck him. He jumped from the waveroad to the nearest building and quickly found what he was looking for: a billboard. He shifted frequency and phased through what he belated realized was Misora's face.
A sharp snap filled the air. Subaru followed the sound, looking over his shoulder, and was disappointed to find that the rocket fist was still hot on his trail after successfully phasing though the same billboard. Gemini had to be somewhere nearby, watching, if he knew to do that.
Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, he found Gemini.
More like, Gemini found him.
The white FMian dropped from above, delivering another powerful kick, this time to Rockman's unarmored stomach (seriously, who thought it was a good idea to leave his stomach unarmored?). It caught Subaru completely off guard. More than anything, the shock and surprise were what did him in.
Because, without conscious thought, he'd shifted back to his normal frequency – his physical one – and lost his sword in the process. The force of the kick sent him plummeting to the ground like a meteor. He crashed into something that was only slightly more forgiving than cement. Metal grated and groaned as he attempted to stand. His vision was blurry, exacerbated by his thoroughly cracked visor and helmet.
And after a few seconds when Subaru was finally able to see straight, he dearly wished he couldn't. Because when he looked down, he saw how his chest-plate had been crushed into what should be his sternum. Completely caved in. The shooting star symbol was barely visible from where it was imbedded deeply into his own body. Data sloughed off the whole inverted mess of his chest and dropped to the ground, making noises akin to shattering glass on the concrete. Subaru felt lightheaded.
Consciously, he knew it didn't hurt. But his unconscious knew it should. And it was almost like the lack of pain reception was messing with his brain.
He touched his chest, but he couldn't feel it.
"Rock." He choked out as panic gripped his throat.
"Rockman!"
Subaru snapped his head up and almost passed out at the speed of the action. Inspector Goyouda stared at him, dark eyes wide. He was sitting at the wheel of the car Subaru had just wrecked. The windshield was gone, instead little glass crystals littered the hood of the car. Goyouda must have been on his way the way to the fight when Rockman literally fell on him. What a coincidence.
"Rockman, what is going on!" the volume of Goyouda's shout was growing. Subaru saw the inspector's mouth move, but he didn't really hear him. He just stared back, uncomprehending.
"Kid," Warrock's growl came from Rockman's wrist and somehow broke through the fog in Subaru's brain, "You've got a heal card waiting."
"Thanks." Subaru said hollowly and activated a +30.
"Rockman, you need to give me some answers!" Goyouda raged.
The inspector's voice was simply a clamor at the back of Subaru's brain. He looked down and watched, feeling slightly detached, as the metal of his chest-plate melted and morphed back to its concave orientation. It was still molted and misshapen, but it wasn't excavating his sternum anymore. He touched his chest again and felt the light brush of his fingertips. Subaru breathed a sigh of relief.
His relief was short-lived however, which was starting to become a trend in this fight so far. By some premonition, Subaru checked over his shoulder and up just in time to see Gemini load a canon card and fire from a waveroad above street level. It arched perfectly and Subaru knew it would hit its mark – both Rockman and Goyouda – when it landed.
Rockman channeled his energy and heaved. He pushed the inspector's car backwards, rolling it out of the line of fire before jumping away himself.
Gemini leapt down to the street and faced a huffing Rockman. A smirk twisted his face.
"My, my, Rockman." Gemini tsked, "That's a lot of fall damage you took there. You don't have a very good grip on denpa-henkan if stuff like that is still happening."
"Rockman, who is this!" Goyouda shouted. Subaru screamed internally as the inspector got out of his car and walked towards them. His transer was beeping, two bright dots pulsing on the screen, "I'm calling my men to come take care of you both."
"Don't interfere, human." Gemini deadpanned.
"You FMians act like this is your turf." Goyouda growled and seemed to stalk forward despite his better judgement, "You don't get to show up here and tell us what is and what isn't. I don't care what you're doing, it ends now."
Some part of Subaru's mind wondered at how Goyouda had gotten so close to Gemini as he spoke. Maybe his head had sustained more damage than he thought. But that didn't change the fact that, for a moment, Gemini had shifted his focus to the human who had wandered too close.
Rockman downloaded a sword, shifted his frequency to leap through the inspector, and lunged at Gemini. The inspector froze and shivered as Rockman passed through him. And Gemini didn't have enough time to completely dodge the downward slash of Rockman's sword. It shaved off a good portion of the white FMians heel. Gemini's boot oozed yellow pixels like blood.
"Yes!" Warrock crowed, "Follow up, kid!"
But he didn't get the chance.
A burst of violet light blocked his path to the retreating Gemini, something Subaru knew to be characteristic of plasma gun weapon cards. It seemed like Gemini was utilizing the weapon system in the transer much like himself. But that wasn't the concern here.
Subaru's eyes followed the trajectory of the plasma gun and his heart dropped out of his chest.
Another Gemini stood on the waveroad above them, wearing matching armor and a matching smirk. This one was black where the other had been white. His golden arm was on the right side where the other's had been on the left. Complements completing each other.
"Kid." Warrock had never sounded so tense before, "Run."
The black FMian jointed the white one. They stood side by side. They joined their golden hands, raised them in the air and shouted.
"Gemini Thunder."
The denpa in the atmosphere thickened and rushed to the two, like a lightning rod in a storm. Energy prickled over Rockman's senses and ionized his armor.
Subaru heeded Warrocks advice and ran.
The place where he had been less than a second before exploded in condensed heat and electricity. Light blinded the only onlooker in the area – Inspector Goyouda – who didn't need his eyes to place a call to his forces.
"Bring in the big guns, boys." His voice rasped into the microphone of his transer, "We're hunting these things down."
Goyouda pushed himself to his feet from the place where he'd been blown away, covered in dust and bits of rubble from the crater in the street. He didn't see any of the FMians anymore, but their signals were still being tracked via his transer. Two yellow indicators tracked a single blue one. Every so often, they clashed and the readout spiked.
The last minute was burned into his mind.
Rockman's eyes, wide and terrified, as he examined his own wounds had looked so… young. And the white and black FMians had shown no mercy in their attempt to annihilate him. Something here didn't sit right.
Goyouda dialed a number.
"Amachi, I need you to access the cameras for the 14th block. It's important."
He'd get to the bottom of this, not because his job or life depended on it, but because he had to know the answer.
For the first time since becoming a denpa-human, Subaru felt exhausted in denpa form. No amount of running, dodging, or otherwise fighting would shake either Gemini. The twin FMian nipped at his heels like some kind of rabid dog, grinning all the while. Subaru's chest felt still felt tight and compressed, constantly at the back of his mind, interfering with his ability to fully focus.
The characteristic static of Gemini's elec sword sounded off to his left so Subaru leapt to the right… right into the other Gemini. He only just managed to shift his weight and pull himself, midair, around Gemini's fist, looping behind his back and kicking him into his twin. But the maneuver left gasping.
Subaru sucked in a breath and planted himself on a higher waveroad. He downloaded a sword for each arm, since swords seemed to be the most effective in this case, and waited for the twins to come. They did.
He caught an elec sword on each side. But white backed off a second later, unbalancing Subaru and leaving him open for black to kick him away. His freefall off the waveroad was quickly intercepted by white. That is, quickly and painfully intercepted by white's elec sword. The strike ripped across Rockman's back and sent him plummeting to the ground even faster.
"Kid." Warrock's voice sounded strained. Warrock managed to halt their fall by suspending Rockman's fused transer. But the resulting jerk yanked Subaru's arm out of socket. On the plus side, that also yanked him back to consciousness. On the minus end, it also hurt like hell. Warrock carefully set Subaru on his feet, now at ground level as Subaru hissed over his left arm.
He mentally went searching for a heal card.
"You're out." Warrock supplied, tone grim, "You used them recovering the damage you took while trying to get away."
Subaru felt a very bad word try to slip through his lips.
White and black Gemini joined him on the ground. They stalked toward him like he was their prey, golden arms crackling with energy that had not diminished over the course of the fight.
"You turned out to be less of a challenge than we thought you'd be."
Subaru wasn't sure which one said it. He was busy looking down at his shaking limbs. His vision blurred again. He could feel denpa-henkan coming undone. His head hurt, his chest hurt, his arm hurt. He didn't want to be here right now. Anywhere but here.
But he was here. And Gemini was coming closer. The taste of ozone in the air. The sound of…
Okay, so maybe Subaru had really lost it, because the sound of music echoed around the three denpa-humans, building in volume and intensity.
And the strum of a final chord accompanied a flash of pink light. Harp Note materialized on a wave road above them. Her smile in place, like any good performer, but her face was set in stone.
"Why is it that when I finally decide to come back around down, shit is going crazy?"
"Harp." Gemini muttered in unison, "What are you doing?"
"Whatever I feel like doing!" Harp snapped back.
"You've let your host rub off on you that much?"
"Live a little Gemini. You might like it."
Gemini's stare alternated between the recently reformed Harp and the beaten down Rockman. Warrock was uncharacteristically holding his tongue. No doubt to protect his host from further harm. Both of them were traitors. Both of them would have to be taken care of. But it didn't have to be now. Gemini had already proved that he was more than capable of eradicating earth's 'strongest protectors' should the need arise. He would return when he had all the cards to play.
"I won't fight you, Harp. We can still be on the same side." Gemini said instead.
Harp scoffed, "Gemini, you've always been two-faced. But I can see right through you. Take your plots and schemes and shove off!"
Gemini disappeared in a wave of multicolored light.
Subaru didn't even have the energy to watch them go. With his busted visor, it wouldn't even be worth trying to see where they went. Instead, he crumpled to his knees. Dull pain and numbness raced over his skin. Denpa-henkan was holding. For now.
A shadow fell over his form. Belatedly, he realized that night had completely fallen. Misora – Harp Note – blocked out a nearby street light in a deserted part of Kodoma Town, somewhere near the river docks. She knelt beside him.
"Su…" She glanced around, "Rockman. Are you okay?"
Subaru nodded, but it was slow and unconvincing, "I am now that he's gone."
"Who was that?"
"Gemini." Warrock answered Misora's question for Subaru. He would know more anyway, "He's one of the elites of our clan. But I never imagined that he would be able to split into two with denpa-henkan. He's difficult enough to deal with as is."
"That's why you told me to run?" Subaru asked.
Warrock simply nodded.
"Gemini is a very difficult character to figure out." Harp piped up, "And that's coming from a strategist. He lies to friends and foes alike. His motives and desires are almost impossible to decipher."
"Not to be morbid." Misora asked her partner, "But why would he suddenly decide just to leave Rockman alone?"
Harp sighed, "Exactly. My initial guess would be that we, as Harp Note, presented a confounding factor to the situation. It was all according to plan until we became an extra variable. Or he simply didn't want to surrender his advantage and make it a two-on-two fight."
Misora nodded, but then turned to her attention on Subaru. Her face was pinched in concern, "You don't look so good. Do you… do you need help getting home?"
Subaru stood, albeit shakily, "Well, my legs still work."
Sirens sounded in the distance, causing both teenagers to freeze on the spot. With each passing second, they grew closer, converging on their position.
"It's the Satellite Police, Misora." Harp noted.
That reminded Subaru. It seemed forever ago now – before he had gotten sick and before he had his ass thoroughly handed to him – but he recalled Amachi describing his latest invention with pride. There had been that glint of recklessness in the scientists eye, like he was about to try something completely unprecedented and probably succeed.
"You have to go." He told Misora urgently.
"What?" Her eyes shone with concern behind the blue lens of her visor, "No, we'll be fine. Invisibility, remember? It's part of our skill set. And I'm not leaving you like this."
"No." Subaru gave her a little shove as if that would push her into another frequency, "You don't know cause you've been gone. But the labs developed a weapon for things like us. If it works… it won't be good."
Misora paled.
"Catch a waveroad," Subaru instructed, "Get away from here and untrasform. They can track you in denpa-henkan. Wait for all of this to blow over before you try anything again."
"What about you?" She asked.
He took a deep breath, "I'll be fine. I'll do the same thing and go straight home."
Misora bit her lip. For a second, she didn't move. The sirens came closer. Red lights bounced off buildings. Misora defied expectation and leapt forward. She grabbed Rockman's transer arm, causing Subaru to bite down on his tongue to hold back the yell of surprise and pain. That was the arm that was currently out of socket. Misora tapped the screen a few times and the transer chimed as it downloaded whatever information she'd transferred.
"My transer ID." She explained, "Message me when you get home."
She waited for him to nod before she disappeared in a ripple of light.
"Finally." Subaru rasped. She was gone. Because he was so much worse off than he'd let on.
"No time for tired, kid." Warrock reminded him, "You need to follow suit."
SP patrol cars rushed onto the scene. Their headlights blinded Subaru. But he didn't need to see to shift his wavelength to match the nearest waveroad. He jumped up, biting his lip as his landing jostled his arm. Below him, Inspector Goyouda was shouting orders at his men. The officers fanned out in a structured formation. To their backs were strapped shiny chrome tanks. No doubt the proud product of AMAKEN labs. Tubing and wires connected them to foreboding looking nozzles.
A whir of energy filled the denpa atmosphere as the machines powered on. LEDs lit up and sensors sounded off. A few of the officers looked up at the space Rockman eyed despite the fact that he was currently invisible. So Rockman flashed away.
Or as far away as he could. Subaru stumbled out of light speed, dizzy. He wasn't sure which way was up because his body felt like it was rending in two and all his sensations were off. Hot and cold. Spatial orientation completely shot. Sound seemed to reach his ears from the other end of a tunnel.
Subaru took a step. One foot in front of the other on a waveroad he typically traversed at thousands of kilometers per second. He laughed to himself. How pitiful this was.
"Kid!"
His vision went dark.
"Kid! You're falling!"
His brain was trying to pound its way out of his skull.
"Hold on, kid. Just hold on until we hit the ground."
But there was nothing left to hold on to.
*shoves this chapter at you*
It's ugly, but just take it!
Yeah, sorry. I'm tired. All the same, I thought you all should have this. I'm putting Subaru through the wringer X) I'm also really sorry to leave you with a cliffy, but I'll promise to put my best effort in and have the chapter out as soon as I can (let's go for a week...). As usual, thanks for reading!
