Here is a chapter that I am very proud of. I hope you will enjoy as well.
(This is a recap from the last episode)
Awakening!
Michael then pressed the transformation code again, and pressed the enter button, before setting the trunk-box down.
555
Standing By!
Then, a red light glowed around Michael, as the Sol Foam suit transformed from black to light red. The Photon Blood also transformed from red into black. The Fullmetal Lung armor transformed into a jet-pack like armor. Michael had transformed into a new and more powerful. This was Faiz's Blaster Form.
(time jump for recap)
Michael then presses the enter button.
Exceed Charge!
The Photon Blood created a giant red blade, before Michael slashed it at the Ox, who had blue flames emerging from them. Thus, executing the Photon Breaker attacker.
"Osada-san! Inui-san! Get down!" Saya told the two, as she grabbed their wrists and hurried them out of the parking lot. The slash caused a force which sent Kusaka and the Scarab Orphnoch flying out of the parking lot, before the Faiz symbol appears on the Ox's back, which caused it to explode into blue flames. The explosion was massive, almost destroying the stadium.
(time jump for recap)
Near a fence, Mari, in her human state. was crying her eyes, due to the shocking revelation.
"Why?! Why did this happened to me?!" Mari asked herself, crying. Mari then hears footsteps approaching, and she turns to see Sawada. "Sawada-kun?"
"Mari…" Sawada said, taking out his hand. "Take my hand. I know what I did in the past, but I'll explain everything. Just take my hand."
Mari hesitated for a bit but took Sawada's hand, and Sawada helped her up. This was a start of some explanation Sawada had to do.
(cue Justiφs's by ISSA; same as the original except a switch in places: Michael in Takumi's place, Yuka in Mari's place, Kiba in Keitaro's place, Sawada in Kiba's place, Saeko in Yuka's place, and Takuma in Kaido's place. Kaido, Mari, Keitaro, Murakami, Kaixa, Faiz's Axel Form, and Delta will also be included. Kitazaki and Faiz's Blaster Form are now added.)
(Created by Shotaro Ishinomori)
Hirogaru uchuu no naka Can you feel?
Chiisa na hoshi no hanashi wo shiyou
Tell me the truth shinjite 'ta mirai ga
Kuzure sarou to shite'ru
Kanashimi wo kurikaeshi (Written by Shoji Imai; Music by Kazunori Miyake)
Boku-ra wa doko e yuku no darou?
Ima hitori-hitori no mune no naka (Character Designer by Tamotsu Shinohara)
Me wo samase The time to go
Tsuyoku aru tame ni (Produced by Jun Hikasa, Naomi Takebe and Takaai Ustunomiya)
Mata mamoru koto to tatakau koto
Dilemma wa owaranai... hashiri-tsuzukete mo (Directed by Naoki Tamura)
(The) end justiφ's the mean
Episode 34: Red Balloon
Kikuchi Cleaners
Saya walked to the cleaners, with Michael and Yuka following her.
"You knew about that and never told us?!" Michael asked. "Even I couldn't see that Mari was an Orphnoch. I thought that experiment failed!"
"What experiment?!" Yuka asked Michael before turning to Saya. "You have some explaining to do, Saya! Why did you hide this from us!"
"I didn't think I'd have to tell you or Mari. The reason that the Faiz gear didn't work for her was the her Orphnoch power wasn't awaken yet," Saya explained. "But, due to Kusaka being a step ahead… The truth of the Ryusei School reunion is in the air."
"What have you been doing after the reunion?" Michael asked.
"I've been working on some new gadgets for Faiz to fight stronger Orphnoch," Saya explained.
"You're saying that you designed the Axel Watch and had Sawada delivered it to me," Yuka questioned.
"Yes. After I discovered that you were an Orphnoch who didn't attack humans… I knew I had to talk to you. But, Sawada-kun didn't let me go to protect me from the Lucky Clover," Saya explained.
"What's all the noise," Keitaro asked, groggy, waking up after dying his hair back to black. "Where's Mari-chan and Takkun?"
"Umm…" Saya said, coming up with an excuse.
"Out!" Michael exclaimed. "They had some customers they needed to deliver clean laundry. I don't know when they will be back."
Then, Saya's phone rang and she picked it up.
"Hello? Sawada-kun? I understand " Saya said, before hanging up.
"Was that Sawada?" Michael asked Saya.
"Yeah. He has the Ryusei School students gathered for the truth. He wants to talk to you too. He say that you were a failed experiment," Saya whispered.
"A failed experiment?" Michael asked Saya.
"I'm just as confused as you are," Saya quietly responded, before turning to Yuka and Keitaro. "We're going out! We'll be back soon! Osada-san, could you take over our shift with Keitaro?! Thanks!"
Saya and Michael left before Yuka could say anything; leaving Yuka with Keitaro.
Warehouse
A majority of the Ryusei School students were gathered. Kyosuke still wanted to kill Sawada for, in his eyes and words, stealing the Delta gear and giving it to Kitazaki.
"You made a mistake being us together. I'll kill you… Then that Inui guy. Then fight as Delta," Kyosuke said.
"What are you guys thinking?! Takumi and Saya are fighting over Delta's influence! This isn't why Father sent us the belts! It was to fight the Orphnoch… And protect everyone…" Mari said to her classmate.
"Mari's right. I still can't believe that we're Orphnoch. But still… You guys are talking about a belt!" Rina exclaimed.
"You don't understand Delta's power. Once I become Delta again, you will understand," Kyosuke said.
"I wonder about that," Arai said. "The one to become Delta…might be me."
Kyosuke and Arai took steps away from the girls and faced each other. Kyosuke's face faded gray on the left side, and white on the right side. Kyosuke then transformed into the cyborg-looking Crab Orphnoch. While Arai, with his face faded gray, transformed into the Dragonfly Orphnoch. The two were going to start to fight, until Sawada transformed into the Spider Orphnoch, and slashed them both with his Happo Shuriken.
"Both of you stop!" Sawada demanded, before all three of them transformed turning to Mari and transformed back to his human form. "Mari… That time I was trying to kill you… I lied. The Orphnoch power wasn't commanding me. Saya and I took and gamble with your life. She thought by killing you would awaken your Orphnoch power. The reason you weren't able to use the Faiz gear, was that you're Orphnoch power wasn't awaken yet."
Then, Michael arrived on Auto Vajin, with Saya riding on the back. Both of them took off their biker helmets and joined the conversation. Kyosuke and Arai reverted back to their human states.
"Why is this outsider here?" Kyosuke asked.
"Kyosuke… Quiet," Saya said calmly.
"Sawada-kun…" Mari said softly. "I don't understand. How are we Orphnoch? Everything was normal at the reunion."
"Fake memories that were implanted in you. All of us died," Sawada explained. "If you don't believe me…then maybe this video will."
"What video?" Mari asked, before Saya took out Mari's old video camera, and plugged it in into an old projector for everyone to see.
"But what does this have to do with me?" Michael asked.
"You'll see," Sawada said. Then, the taped played.
Ryusei School Reunion Tape
"Hello, I'm Sonada Mari and this the Ryusei School class reunion of 2002," Mari introduced herself. The camera then cuts to the group of Ryusei School students, who were also Mari's classmates. The students were Sawada Aki, Kimura Saya, Kusaka Masato, Abe Rina, Tomoko Kyosuke, Mihara Syuji, Inukai Syoji, Kamjio Haruko, Nishida Kiyotaka, Shindo Takahisa, Arai Ken, Kawachi Yuki, Ito Asami, Ota Shingo, Aonuma, Takamiya Kouta, and Kinoshita Yusuke. Their teacher, Mr. Masuda, was also present.
"Before we have a good time, always remember to come prepared in an outside night reunion with fireworks," Saya said, holding up 12 sets of fireworks, to fire and to hold.
"I hate it when you always come prepared," Arai complained.
"At least I didn't get poor grades in writing," Saya jokingly snapped at Arai, before turning to Mari. "Mari, what are you… Are you shooting a video?"
"Yeah," Mari responded.
"Be careful, Kusaka might make-out with me," Saya joked, which had the group say, "Ooh."
This causes a chase between Saya and Kusaka, jokingly as friends.
Kikuchi Cleaners
Meanwhile, at Kikuchi Cleaners, Keitaro was washing dishes, while Yuka was cleaning the table.
"Ah, it's okay, Osada-san. You don't have to do that," Keitaro told Yuka.
"It's alright. I'd like to help out too," Yuka said, trying to not have Keitaro worried. Both of them then resumed their activity. "It seems that Michael and Saya has been out for a while though."
"Maybe they're trying to give us some time alone?" Keitaro assumed.
"What do you mean?" Yuka asked.
"The truth is… I still like you, Osada-san," Keitaro admitted, which caught Yuka off guard. "Ah, don't worry about it. I've given up! You're with Michael, and I'm happy for you. Really, don't worry about it."
Yuka then started to feel sad for some reason. Sure, she went on a date with Keitaro, but she also went on numerous dates with Michael. She felt like a two-timer at the moment. Yuka then turns to see a pigeon on the window still, outside. Yuka shakes her head no, telling the pigeon that it wasn't the right time, and the pigeon flew away.
"What's wrong?" Keitaro asked.
"Oh… Nothing," Yuka said, trying to cover up her growing Orphnoch power giving her some new abilities, like birds being attracted to her, since Yuka was the Crane Orphnoch.
Later
Yuka decided to email her pen pal, DefenderofJustice.
Are you doing well, DefenderofJustice? People's kindness and good will really shine in hard times. I don't have any right to accept something like that though. I'm having hard times right now. Very hard. I'm a complete idiot for being caught with two boys who both like me. I'm dating one of them, but I still feel bad for the one who still has a crush on me.
Yuka then pressed the send button, hoping that her pen pal, would receive and reply to her mail. Then, she heard a notification sound not far from here. Yuka then turns to see Keitaro taking out his phone.
"It's from CloudyThenSunny!" Keitaro exclaimed, which had Yuka even more curious. "Are you doing well, DefenderofJustice? People's kindness and good will really shine in hard times. I don't have any right to accept something like that though. I'm having hard times right now. Very hard. I'm a complete idiot for being caught with two boys who both like me. I'm dating one of them, but I still feel bad for the one who still has a crush on me."
This had Yuka to find out that DefenderofJustice and Keitaro were the same person.
Ryusei School Tape
"Come on, Sawada!" Kyosuke encouraged Sawada to kick his Ryusei School jacket. "You've always hated this jacket!"
"I really shouldn't," Sawada said.
"We won't tell Father!" Asami exclaimed.
"Why not?" Sawada said, taking the offer. Sawada then took off his jacket with the students and Masuda chanting his name.
"Sawada! Sawada! Sawada! Sawada! Sawada!"
Sawada then kicked the jacket like a soccer ball, which went over the field. The whole group screamed in an happy expression, know that Sawada had gotten his revenge on the jacket he had to wear on field trips.
"Did you get that on camera, Mari?!" Kawachi asked.
"You bet!" Mari exclaimed.
The tape then cuts to three figures limping towards the students
"Who's that?" Rina asked, before the figure in the middle had blue flames coming out of its body, and crumbled into ash. Mari started to turn and run, but lost her balance.
"Mari!" Masuda cried, helping Mari up. "Let's go, Mari!"
"Sensei, it's already too late!" Inukai told Masuda, before the Slug Orphnoch appeared, which had the Ryusei School students run in terror.
"What is that thing?!" Kinoshita exclaimed.
"Oh my god!" Takamiya cried. The Slug Orphnoch grabbed Masuda before tentacles came from the Slug's mouth and into Masuda's nostrils, which caused him to die.
"Sensei!" Saya cried.
"Let's go!" Kyosuke exclaimed, trying to not let go of Saya, who screamed more after the Slug Orphnoch killed Kinoshita and Asami. Then, more Orphnochs appeared. The Elephant Orphnoch jumped in front of Aonuma and mauled him to death.
The rest of the students made it to the end of the trees. But, Kusaka Masato was worried about a certain classmate.
"Where is Mari? Mari! Mari! Mari!" Kusaka cried, before Arai was then stabbed by the knife-like sickles of the Mantis Orphnoch. Takamiya was later killed by a stab to the heart from the rapier of the Scarab Orphnoch, who later killed Takahisa with a fatal slash.
Mari's camera was still recording the events through her camera.
"Everyone run!" Mari cried, to prevent more of her friends from being killed. Sawada was then sent flying through the school entrance stairs from the flail of the Scorpion Orphnoch.
Ota ran into the Elephant Orphnoch, and tried to escape from him. But the Elephant strangled Ota to death and stomped on his chest.
Inukai and Haruko were just as frightened as Saya was. They tried to climb up the fence, but behind the fence, was the Ox Orphnoch charging through and stabbing the two with his horns.
"Call 119!" Mihara exclaimed, before he saw Rina getting stabbed in the back, while trying to crawl away, from the right knife-like sickle from the Mantis Orphnoch. Mihara whimpered in fear as he then got fatally slashed by the Mantis.
Nishida and Kusaka ran from the Scarab Orphnoch, who managed to catch up to them. The Scarab then grabbed Nishida and snapped his neck. Kusaka then looks behind and gets punched by the wrecking ball fist Ox Orphnoch, which sent Kusaka flying to get slashed in the stomach by the Scarab Orphnoch, which had Kusaka fall in the ground and loose conscious.
Kawachi was being strangled by the Scorpion Orphnoch, before Saya and Kyosuke let out more screams. As the Scorpion finishes strangling the now-dead Kawachi, he injects Saya and Kyosuke neurotoxin poison, from the top needle on his head, which paralyzes their movement, slowly killing them.
Mari was the last one left and the Slug Orphnoch was walking closer to her.
"Please be a nightmare. Please be a nightmare," Mari prayed to herself. But, the attack from the Slug Orphnoch never came. The Slug was punched into the stomach by the Wolf Orphnoch. Then, the two engaged. The Slug Orphnoch tried to stop the Wolf by spitting out his pink saliva. But the Wolf was too quick for the Slug. The Wolf soon overpowers the Slug, and after one last punch to the stomach, the Slug Orphnoch bursts into blue flames and disintegrates into ash.
Mari screams as she got up and ran, but the Wolf Orphnoch stops her.
"No! I'm just…!" The Wolf tried to explain, before Mari managed to escape from his grip, but runs into the Dragon Orphnoch, Kitazaki, who walks closer to Mari. "Stop it!"
The Wolf Orphnoch pushes Mari away so he can protect her from Kitazaki, who easily overpowers Takumi with his couple of slashes from his dragon-like claws, which sent the Wolf flying to a tree. Kitazaki then walks towards Mari, still recording the event. An injured Sawada sees Kitazaki walking closer to Mari.
"Mari!" Sawada cried, as he ran in front of Mari to protect her, but was slashed by Kitazaki, which had Sawada fall on the ground. Kitazaki then lifts Mari with his dragon-like claw and starts to choke her to death. Sawada then reaches his hand out for Mari. "Mari!"
Sawada then lost his life when he loses consciousness. That's when the tape cuts off.
Warehouse
Saya was in tears, when she ends the tape.
"That was almost a year ago. All of us died, and were revived into Orphnoch," Saya choked. "This was all Smart Brain's doing. Only me, Sawada-kun, and Kusaka-kun, remembered what happened. Inukai-kun and Haruko started to remember… But Kusaka killed them. Kusaka set a bug into the Kaixa gear that killed Inukai and had his Orphnoch form take his place. Haruko saw that other Father fought that Orphnoch, which caused her to be killed by Kusaka."
Michael remembers on how Kusaka killed Haruko, as the Bee Orphnoch, during his first fight as Kaixa.
"But… I don't understand," Michael said. "What does this…"
"You were the format to follow… For human experimentation," Sawada said.
"Hey… What are you…" Michael said, before he started to have his brain hurt, which caused him to cover his ears, due to the noise.
"What's wrong?!" Mari exclaimed, running to Michael. Then, the noise stopped.
"I remember," Michael said, before grabbing Mari. "I remember."
The group then heard some oil barrels follow over, and turned to see Michiko.
"Osada Michiko," Michael said.
"You!" Sawada exclaimed. "What are you doing here?! Have you been eavesdropping?!"
"No! I…just like oil barrels and I thought I'd take one," Michiko lied.
"Not a very convincing lie," Michael commented.
"What did you hear?!" Sawada shouted.
"Nothing important. That is I heard about a massacre, monsters, and something about human experimentation!" Michiko admitted. "Look, I keep following you because… I want to be your pupil."
The whole group was confused.
"Hey. This is the wrong place at the wrong time," Michael said to Michiko.
"And who are you to tell me what to do, fortune teller?" Michiko snapped at Michael.
"Osada Yuka's…boyfriend," Michael said, which made Michiko laugh.
"Seriously?! Out of all people she chose you?!" Michiko laughed.
"This girl is annoying. I'm leaving," Arai said, trying to leave, but is stopped by Kyosuke.
"This isn't over. I still have a score to settle with you," Kyosuke said.
"Don't get in my way. I'll be the Delta belt before you," Arai said before running off.
"I still can't believe that we're Orphnoch," Rina said.
"I didn't want to tell you. Sawada, Father, and I only did it to protect you guys," Saya said.
"But… Father is an Orphnoch can't be possible. He was kinder than anyone we knew!" Mari exclaimed, before thinking of Yuka. "Actually… It might be possible for there to be Orphnochs who still have a human heart."
"To add more detail to the reunion, three more Orphnochs were born at that night," Sawada added, before showing blurry photos of the Snail, Worm, and Dolphin Orphnochs. "Only one of those Orphnochs are alive."
Kiba's Apartment (the next day)
"Looks like you're famous, Kaido," Kiba said, showing Kaido, who had his hair dyed back to black, a newspaper, which had him and Keitaro carrying the young boy from the building fire.
"Me risking my life for a young human… It's a cool story, isn't it?!" Kaido exclaimed.
"Yes. You've changed opinion of you," Kiba said to Kaido, whose phone then ranged and he answered kt.
"Who the hell are you?" Kaido asked. "Eh? What? Like I should care!"
Kaido then hanged up.
"Who was that?" Kiba asked.
"The kid I rescued yesterday is at a welfare center. He says he wants to meet me," Kaido said. "This has been going on since this morning!"
"Why won't you go?" Kiba asked.
"Well! I hate kids," Kaido responded.
"You were a kid as well," Kiba pointed out, which made Kaido to think of a comeback line. But, nothing came to him.
"Touché" Kaido responded.
Police Station
Soeno and Sawamura were eating their lunch, and talked about the Smart Brain Employee who was caused of many building fires.
"How's your end?" Soeno asked.
"Nothing. I can't find any clues on my end either," Sawamura responded. "Just where did this man disappear to? There was a recent fire earlier yesterday that took a life of a boy's parents. That happened eight years earlier with a young girl's parents. She survived with a boy carrying her. Could this be history repeating itself."
"Not sure. But at this rate, we might as well declare him legally dead and get it over with," Soeno said.
"What do you mean?" Sawamura asked.
"He could be hiding someone where…or he might have been eliminated by some-" Soeno theorized.
"Eliminated?!" Sawamura exclaimed, cutting Soeno off. "No way!"
"This is just a while guess. But in those serial fires and gas explosions…I think some larger power is at work," Soeno said.
"Larger power? You don't mean Smart Brain?!" Sawamura exclaimed.
"Yes," Soeno nodded.
"But why would they do that?" Sawamura asked.
"Don't know," Soeno replied before looking at the Smart Brain magazine he took from the beauty salon. "If I knew that, I wouldn't be having such problems."
Kikuchi Cleaners
While having lunch, the group was silent with each other. Keitaro tried to maintain social interaction, but nothing took off. Michael was still shocked on how he was a Smart Brain experiment, Mari was still in processing on how she was an Orphnoch, and Saya was still in regret.
"Come on! You've got to say something!" Keitaro exclaimed.
"Something," Michael responded. "Happy?"
"No. You haven't talked to each other since yesterday. What happened?" Keitaro asked.
"It's…hard to explain," Michael said.
"None of you have seen Osada-san, have you?" Keitaro asked.
"No, why?" Michael asked.
"I haven't seen her since yesterday," Keitaro explained.
"Maybe she's with Kiba," Michael said, before flipping out the Faiz phone to dial Kiba's number.
Kiba's Apartment
Kiba's phone then rang and he answered it.
"Hello?" Michael asked. "Michael? What is it? Osada-san. I haven't seen her since yesterday."
Kikuchi Cleaners
"She's not with you?! Call her and tell her to not move!" Michael exclaimed before hanging up. "Thank you for lunch, Keitaro!"
"What's wrong?!" Keitaro asked, following Michael, who got in Auto Vajin and put on his biker gear, outside.
"Something's not right," Michael said. "I'm going to look for her."
"I should come too!" Keitaro exclaimed.
"No. You should stay here with Mari and Saya," Michael said, before speeding off. Keitaro didn't listen, as he ran inside and grabbed Mari and Saya, who hadn't touched their food, and forced them in the laundry van.
"What the hell are you doing?! You don't grab women like that!" Mari exclaimed.
"Sorry. I just have a bad feeling about this!" Keitaro exclaimed, before driving off to help Michael to find Osada.
Wakakusa Child Welfare Center
"The boy you rescued was 8-year-old Suzuki Teruo," A woman explained, who was the one who called Kaido. "He doesn't have any relatives. He lost his parents in that fire."
"Yes," Kaido nodded, before he quickly leaned forward. "So what? I didn't come to meet some kid, I came to complain about you guys! You keep on pestering me on the phone!"
"But Teruo-kun really wants to meet you!" The woman said. "I think he wants to thank you for saving him. Please wait here, I'll get him!"
"No, no, no!" Kaido exclaimed, but the woman was already gone. "That's really not necessary."
The woman showed Kaido the boy, Suzuki Teruo, who was a kid wearing red and had black hair, with a paper airplane in his hands.
"You wanted to thank me?" Kaido asked. "Hurry and say it. Hurry!"
Teruo looked up at Kaido and said…
"Idiot!"
Teruo then threw his paper airplane at Kaido's face.
"Ow! What the hell!" Kaido shouted, before Teruo ran to hurt Kaido.
"Why didn't you save my mother and father?!" Teruo screamed, as the woman held back Teruo. "Idiot! Useless! Useless! Idiot! Useless!"
"Sorry!" Kaido apologized, before running out of the welfare center, still hearing Teruo's screams. Kaido then fell when he couldn't run anymore. "The hell's wrong with that kid?!"
House
Sawada entered the house, and looked at his cell, which said "A perfect place for a hideout".
Sawada saw Michiko, wearing white dress, leaning on a stone model of a person.
"Yo," Michiko greeted.
"Why do you keep following me?" Sawada asked.
"You were right, arrogance may be blinding me. I need to be one of those Orphnochs who are top-tier. Is there a term for that?" Michiko asked.
"You're talking about the Lucky Clover," Sawada said. "They have an empty vacancy for one member. But, you'll be in the same place where you started. Hatred."
"That is why… I want you to train me as your student," Michiko said.
"Why me, specifically?" Sawada asked.
"You look more experienced as an Orphnoch, and I want you to teach me what an Orphnoch is," Michiko requested, before bowing. "Please! I have nowhere to go, and this beautiful house is all I could find! Please think of it as a present! If you want, we can hire private chefs and maids!"
"Alright!" Sawada annoyingly exclaimed. "You're very annoying."
"You'll teach me about the Orphnoch power and I'll help you with your revenge!" Michiko exclaimed. "It's a win-win!"
Sawada sighed, knowing that this was going to be a lot of work.
Laundry Van
(Cue Boiling Over by VideoHelper; 0:00-0:32, 1:11-1:29)
Keitaro was worried for Yuka, but not in a creepy way.
"I called Kana-san, Yuka's mom. She says she hasn't seen her all week," Mari reported after a call with her boss.
"She's not at Kiba's and she's not at the salon! She could be anywhere!" Keitaro exclaimed.
"Kikuchi-san... Please calm down," Saya said. "We'll find her. Michael will call us if he finds her."
Plaza
Michael pulls over, takes off his biker gear, and gets off Auto Vajin.
"Osada-san! Osada-san!" Michael cried, until he saw Yuka sitting on a bench.
(End Track)
"There you are!" Michaele exclaimed, quickly running to her. "Why didn't you come back home last night?"
Yuka turns to see her partner in battle.
"Can I ask you something?" Yuka asked.
"Sure," Michael responded, sitting down next to Yuka.
"First. Can you explain why you went crazy on that Orphnoch before that Orphnoch who transformed into Delta appeared?" Yuka asked.
"I just remember. I was a Smart Brain experiment. My grandfather was just diagnosed with AIDS and reached out to Smart Brain for help, but it was too late. Soon after, Jasmine, my sister, got cancer. Smart Brain said that they will treat her with an experiment, with the cost of her humanity," Michael explained.
Flashback
"Jasmine didn't believe it at first. But when she didn't, she refused."
"I won't do it. I am...just a girl. There are more ways, but why this!" Jasmine asked herself (in english), slamming her hands on the stage stairs of her school. Michael soon enter to auditorium to check on his older sister.
Because she refused, Jasmine...
(Cue Hand of Evil by VideoHelper; 0:00-0:24, 1:04-1:16)
The Barnacle Orphnoch then appeared from the shadows, and threw his explosive cylinder at Jasmine, which exploded and had her oxygen burn out.
"Jasmine!" Michael cried.
"Michael!" Jasmine cried, before dying and turning into ash.
"Jasmine! Jasmine! Jasmine! Jasmine!" Michael screamed, before screaming again in agony, before getting hit and knocked out by the Barnacle Orphnoch.
(End Track)
End of Flashback
"Sawada said that I was the format of human experimentation. Why the Ryusei School students are Orphnochs," Michael said. "Sadly, Mari was one of the students as well."
"Sonoda-san is an Orphnoch?" Yuka asked.
"Yes. Fate didn't tell me that. I guess I ruined Mari's chance in living as human," Michael said.
"Don't say that!" Yuka exclaimed. "It's not your fault!"
"Is it? Inui Takumi was supposed to be Faiz! Kusaka Masato was supposed to be Kaixa! I'll admit you're better. And Ryusei School student Mihara Syuji was supposed to be Delta!" Michael exclaimed.
"Calm down! You're confused and I get it! How did you think I felt when I found out I became an Orphnoch," Yuka said. "Please. Don't become Saeko."
"Why do you care for her that much?!" Michael asked.
"She's me! She was bullied like me! She was lonely like me! I want to help her!" Yuka exclaimed, which made Michael look at her.
Super Saitama Arena
Takumi was riding on the highway near Super Saitama Arena, before being stopped by Kyosuke, who stepped on the road.
"What are you doing?!" Takumi asked, putting on his biker gear. "That was dangerous!"
"Are you the one who holds the Delta belt?" Kyosuke asked. "We will take it from you and see who will wield the power."
Arai then appears behind Takumi with a metal pole.
"Hand over the Delta gear!" Arai demanded, before trying to hit Takumi with the pole. But, Takumi blocks the attack with his biker helmet. Kyosuke and Arai quickly transforms into the Crab and Dragonfly Orphnochs, respectively. Takumi quickly takes out the Delta gear from the Smart Brain case and puts the Delta belt on his waist. Takumi then puts the Delta Phone near his ear.
Henshin!
Standing By!
Takumi then puts the phone into the holster-looking Delta Mover.
Complete!
Takumi transformed into Delta and grabbed Arai's punch. However, Kyosuke proved to be more powerful due to the strength from his wrench-like claw on his left hand. Arai jumps and Takumi, but Kyosuke slashes at Arai.
"Don't get in the way!" Kyosuke snapped, before resuming to fight Takumi.
Plaza
"You don't know what Saeko is going to do to you in the future," Michael said to Yuka.
"Tell me!" Yuka demanded.
"I…can't," Michael said. "It'll just hurt you."
"You can never hurt me," Yuka reassured Michael. "I love you."
"Really! But… What about Keitaro?" Michael asked.
"He still has a crush on me. But… DefenderofJustice is my first friend online. And now that I've found out about him…" Yuka said. "That's why I ran away. To not make any problems for me or him. I feel like I betrayed him."
"You didn't!" Michael exclaimed. "You didn't play with his feelings or lie to him! You don't seem to be the type to betray anyone! I'm not sure if Keitaro agrees with me…but you're beautiful inside out. And I mean that."
Yuka smiles when Michael said that compliment. She would need to look at herself in the mirror when she returns. The moment is interrupted when the fight between Takumi against Kyosuke and Arai was taken to the plaza.
"I don't have the Kaixa gear with me. And I don't want to transform into my Orphnoch form," Yuka said to Michael.
"Don't worry," Michael said to Yuka, before flipping out the Faiz phone.
555
Standing By!
Henshin!
Complete!
Michael transformed to Faiz, and helps out Takumi, but was slashed by two saw-shaped swords. Michael turns to see Kusaka, transformed as the Shark Orphnoch.
"Kusaka!" Michael cried.
"Fight. Fight me so I can test my strength," Kusaka said, before Michael took out the mission memory and inserted it into the left handle of Auto Vajin.
Ready!
Michael took out the handle from Auto Vajin, which became the Faiz Edge, his sword of light. The two then started to clash with their swords. Kusaka seems to overwhelm Michael with the former's high fighting ability. Michael took out the Faiz phone to call Mari.
"Mari! Orphnochs are attacking! We need you to bring the Kaixa gear!" Michael exclaimed to Mari on the phone.
"We're already on our way!" Mari responded.
Yuka, during the meantime, was sitting on the bench, and looked up to see a red ballon stuck on a tree. This gave Yuka and idea for a email for her pen pal.
I'm sorry, DefenderofJustice. This is my last email. DefenderofJustice… For always being there, cheering me on…thank you. I've realized something. Somewhere deep inside of me. I… fell in love with you at one point, DefenderofJustice. But… I've meet someone. DefenderofJustice… I can see a red ballon. A ballon caught in the branches of a tree. I'm just like that balloon. Goodbye, DefenderofJustice. Goodbye."
The laundry van then arrived, and Keitaro got out to deliver to Kaixa gear to Yuka, still looking at the balloon. Keitaro's phone then alarmed him of an email from his pen pal, CloudyThenSunny. Keitaro turns to see a red balloon caught in the branches of a tree.
"Red…balloon," Keitaro said, looking back at the email CloudyThenSunny sent him. Keitaro then makes the connection, after Yuka turns to him. "You're…CloudyThenSunny from my emails."
"Don't!" Yuka said, standing up from the bench. "Don't come near me. I…hurt you…and everyone."
Kusaka, still fighting, sees Yuka, and jumps to attack her, but Takumi jumps and grabs Kusaka, who slashes Takumi in the Fullmetal Lung chest armor. Takumi then takes out the Delta phone, with the Delta Mover, and puts it near his ear.
Fire!
Burst Mode!
Takumi fires at Kusaka, who deflects the blasts with his saw-like swords. Kiba's car then arrives when he pulls over and sees the battles. Kiba gets out and runs to the battle, transforming into the Horse Orphnoch. Kiba was unaware that Mari and Saya saw Kiba's transformation.
"What? Kiba-san…" Mari said in shock, getting out of the van.
"Mari, wait!" Saya exclaimed, not wanting her friend to get hurt. Mari stops and starts to recognizes Kiba's Orphnoch form. It was the same Orphnoch who attacked Sawada, doing the gamble of Mari's life.
"Yuka-san!" Keitaro exclaimed, throwing the Kaixa gear to Yuka, who caught.
"There's no need to transform into Kaixa anymore," A familiar voice said. That is when Kageyama Saeko had entered. "There is no place for you any more. Welcome to my domain! Orphnoch-chan."
"What are you talking about?" Keitaro asked, before Kusaka jumped behind Keitaro, after Kusaka slashed at Michael and Kiba, and reverted to his human form.
"That girl…is an Orphnoch," Kusaka said. "She's like every other one. Let's see how much Keitaro will hate you when I tell him the truth."
"That's ridiculous! Yuka fights Orphnochs like Michael and Takkun do!" Keitaro defended.
"You know nothing," Saeko said.
"It's a lie!" Keitaro denied.
"Why don't you tell him. The basketball team at your old school, where you had your step-sister into a coma before she revived into an Orphnoch. Or how about the three by the three by the stadium…or the two by the park."
"Shut up!" Yuka plead, dropping the Kaixa gear on the ground.
"That's impossible! Yuka-san… She's not a bad person!" Keitaro exclaimed.
"Well aren't you just Mr. Sunshine?!" Kusaka said in annoyance. "Are you going to keep denying the truth and keep tagging along with your Orphnoch friends? You really are an idiot."
"Kusaka… Let me handle the rest," Saeko said, as her face faded gray. This had Keitaro charged at Saeko, to protect Yuka.
"Run, Yuka-san! Run!" Keitaro cried, before tackling Saeko, who already transformed into the Lobster Orphnoch. Saeko threw Keitaro to the ground with her shrimp-like gauntlets.
"Keitaro-san! Keitaro-san!" Yuka exclaimed, running to Keitaro.
"Why you…!" Keitaro said, before tackling Saeko again. Yuka seemed to run out of options. But, she didn't want to transform into her Orphnoch form, due to the fear of Keitaro's reaction. Michael had already accepted her as an Orphnoch, but Keitaro was the first person she had as a friend. She didn't know that, until now. Yuka could transform into Kaixa, but didn't have the heart due to the emotional conflict she was in right now. Yuka ran out of other options, when her face faded white, and she transformed into the Crane Orphnoch, and pushed Keitaro out of the way to fight Saeko.
"Keitaro-san, run!" Yuka cried, fighting Saeko.
"No way… Yuka-san is… Yuka-san is…!" Keitaro said in shock.
"Keitaro-san! Run!" Yuka screamed, while Saeko was dodging her punches.
Kusaka smirked, before turning to see the battle going on in the background.
"Arai…" Kusaka said, before running towards Arai, transforming into the Shark Orphnoch.
(Cue Ryans Breakthrough by VideoHelper; 0:24-1:04, 1:16-1:33)
Kusaka then summoned his saw-like swords and slashed at Arai, sending the latter flying to the Super Saitama Area.
"Kusaka… What are you doing?" Arai asked, getting up.
"Oh nothing…" Kusaka responded, walking towards Arai. "Just revenge for how you treated me."
"It was just for fun! Inukai-kun and I meant nothing to to it! We were just kidding around!" Arai exclaimed.
"You won't think this is fun!" Kusaka said, before slashing at Arai twice, which sent him flying towards the railing, before charging at him and stabbing him with his right saw-like sword.
"I hate you, Kusaka," Arai said, before blue flames emerged from his body and he crumbled into ash.
(End Track)
Meanwhile, Takuma was watching the battle of Faiz, Delta, and Kiba, as the Horse Orphnoch, against Kyosuke, as the Crab Orphnoch.
"Kiba Yuji… You are my prey," Takuma said, as his face faded gray and he transformed into the Centipede Orphnoch, and hits Kiba from the back with his centipede-like whip.
(Cue Uncharted Urgency by VideoHelper; 0:00-0:30, 0:45-1:07)
This had Takuma entered the fight in Kusaka's place.
During this, was the fight between the Crane Orphnoch and Lobster Orphnoch, Yuka and Saeko, who was using her rapier for attacks, but Yuka dodged Saeko's slash attempts. Both were fighting with different emotions in their fight. Saeko transformed in anger for Yuka seeing through her past a few months back, while Yuka transformed to protect her friend, Keitaro.
(End Track as Closing Screen Appears)
To Be Continued
I really enjoyed writing this episode. Especially there was a lot of plot development added to it. I mostly focused it on Yuka, since this is the episode where Keitaro finds out her true identity. Coincidentally, this was published on the 18th anniversay of Yuka's death, otherwise known as the 11th female character to get Inoued (it's a term I made up for killing off female characters for male development, a trope in Toshiki Inoue's writing). I would say spoiler alert, but it's what you expect from Toshiki Inoue. I really love Yuka, as a character. Her story was very sad, and she had a chance for a happy ending. But, nope. Inoue just kills her off so Kiba can be sad. I don't think writers, like Naruhisa Arakawa and Yasuko Kobayashi, would go that direction if either of them helmed the series (Arakawa was working on Abaranger, so it couldn't be helped).
Faiz still has some of my favorite characters and villains. I really enjoy the main six (Takumi, Mari, Keitaro, Kiba, Yuka, and Kaido), the Lucky Clover (Saeko, Takuma, Kitazaki, and J), Murakami, Saya, and Sawada. I know some of you get annoyed with passing around the belts. I kind of don't mind, it kind of foreshadows Takumi's true identity. I can understand where it can get repetitive. Also, I've mentioned that there will be rewrites, so forgive me that I'm inconsient sometimes in future episodes.
Now, it's been a while since I did review reactions.
Reviews:
CardinalHamEggs: You're thinking of the Kaixa Blaygun. Both are cool, they're like lightsabers. I wonder how George Lucas would react if he took a trip to Japan and saw this. I hope you're enjoying the story, CardinalHamEggs.
Thank you for reading, everyone. If you want, you can leave a review to share your thoughts. I will see all of you guys, girls, and all in between, next time. Bye.