And here's a third chapter!

We wanted to get this one out because some big stuff happens in it, and I think you're all going to like it.


It was a rather windy day in town, which was fine for most, as it made the weather feel cooler, great for walking outside. That was a feeling Nephrite was having as he walked through the town, a card in his hand which he was looking at while he was dressed casually. It was an ID card that was made for him, showing that he officially existed among society now, specifically under the name of Masato Inazuma.

Apparently, the clan had decided to make him a cousin to Kensuke. He had to admit, that was a good course of action, as the Azure Dragon Tribe received a bit less scrutiny than most other groups in Japan from what he understood.

"With this… I can make up for what I did before." he said, putting the card away in his pocket "I just hope they'll be patient with me."

As he continued to walk, he eventually came across the police station, with a large number of people in front of it. Raising a curious eyebrow at this, he got closer to see what it was about, letting him see the cameras and microphones several people were holding "A news report perhaps?" he mused, stopping just at the back of the crowd, yet he was still able to hear what the representative of the police was saying.

"Is that true, Chief Inspector?" one of the reporters asked, putting a microphone forward for the Chief Inspector to speak into.

"Yes, it is with pride that I confirm that our countermeasure against the monster threats is on the verge of completion. Within a very short time, we can begin mobilizing our countermeasure to protect the people of our fair city," the Chief Inspector smiled.

"And what is this countermeasure?" one of the reporters asked.

"I'm afraid I cannot reveal such details at the moment. All I can say is that once its complete, I'd hate to be the monsters that have been causing trouble," the Chief Inspector said.

"Well then, if that's true I think everyone will be sleeping a bit easier knowing the Police are on the case," one of the reporters said with a nod.

Nephrite frowned a bit at that. He was admittedly still a little skeptical of the validity of the claim, but then…stranger things have happened. Either way, it wasn't his direct concern for now. If they could fight Youma, that would be more problems for the Dark Kingdom. His thoughts were cut short when he felt some water drop onto his shoulder, and looked up to notice that it was starting to rain, to which he quickly took shelter in one of the nearby buildings, at least until the rain stopped.


Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Makoto was grumbling about the incorrect weather forecast as she ran with her bag covering her head like a makeshift umbrella. So focused she was on trying to find somewhere to get out of the rain, she didn't notice someone else ahead of her until…too late.

"Ouch…" she said with a wince as she fell back on her behind "What's the big ide…a…" she started in a rather incensed tone, before trailing off as she realised the person she'd crashed into… was Motoki.

"Sorry about that." Motoki said, holding a hand out to her "Makoto, right?"

"Um… yes, that's me." she said in a much more subdued tone, letting him pull her to her feet with a blush on her face.

"I'm really sorry about that. I was lost in thought," Motoki apologized, before noticing the fact she didn't seem to have an umbrella on her. "Ah, do you need an umbrella? Here, you can share mine," he said.

Unknown to him, she was barely hearing him as she looked at him dreamily, completely lost in thought because his voice reminded her of her former love.

"Um…Makoto?" Motoki asked, snapping her out of her daydream. "Shall we get going?"

"Ah, right," Makoto nodded as they were soon walking together under the umbrella.

As they walked, they had a bit of small talk. "So, Makoto, I heard you're a pretty good cook," Motoki said.

"I guess I am," Makoto said a bit shyly.

"That's great. I'd love to try some of your cooking sometime," Motoki smiled.

"Of course, anytime!" Makoto said excitedly. "And please let me do the cleaning too while you're at it."

"Wow, that'd be a great help!" Motoki said gratefully.

At that Makoto took out a notebook and handed it to Motoki. "Here, please write down your address, phone number, and your favorite dishes!" she said as she took the umbrella to hold on to, while Motoki blinked and soon wrote down the information she asked.

"Huh, you're pretty funny, Makoto," Motoki chuckled a bit.

"I get that a lot," Makoto chuckled as she read the notes she got.

As she did, the rain stopped and soon Motoki put away the umbrella.

"Darn, I kinda wish it had rained longer," Makoto muttered.

"Pardon?" Motoki blinked.

"Oh nothing!" Makoto said quickly.

Motoki nodded at that. "Oh, sorry to cut this short, but I need to stop by my school," he said.

"Oh, I see," Makoto said, sounding a bit disappointed. "Well alright then, I'll come over on Sunday," she said cheerfully before running off, much to Motoki's confusion.

After she did…

"Friend of yours?" he heard a familiar voice to him, turning around to see a girl his age with long brown hair, wearing a white lab coat over her clothes.

"Reika!" Motoki said happily, before he took notice of the lab coat "Judging by that… our date tonight is off?" he asked sadly.

Reika put her hands in front of her "Sorry, they need my help for longer than expected today." she said, before going up to him and giving him a quick peck on the cheek "I WILL make it up to you though." she promised "So, that girl?"

"Ah, she's a friend of Usagi's." he said "She offered to come help me clean up my place on Sunday."

"That regular of yours at the arcade huh?" she said "Well, I'll have to thank her for that." she added with a smile.

He nodded, before looking a bit more downcast "So… did you think more about THAT?"

She sighed "I have been… but I still don't know what I'd prefer to do."

"Well, take your time. Its an important decision after all," Motoki smiled, to which Reika returned it even if her expression was a bit melancholic.

"Hey you two," came Mamoru's voice, causing both of them to turn and see not just him, but Kensuke coming over as well.

"Hi as well to both of you," Reika smiled, before looking at her watch and gasping. "Oh dear, sorry both of you but I need to take care of some things. If you've got some time, could you please have tea or something with Motoki for me," she said quickly, before running off. "I'll see ya later!" she called before she was out of sight, leaving Motoki to sigh in disappointment.


A short while later saw the three of them at a local cafe. "What's up with Reika? She seems even busier than normal," Kensuke asked.

"Ah…you see…" Motoki sighed before explaining the situation. How Reika may be going to Africa to study and further her research.

"What is she researching on that she needs to go to Africa of all places?" Mamoru asked.

"Its really incredible. She's looking for the origin of life on the planet," Motoki said, his expression very much bright and admiring.

"Well…she's lucky to have you considering how much you support her," Kensuke sweat dropped, before idly adding under his breath, "Too bad she probably won't find what she's looking for."

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Motoki asked.

"Oh nothing, just wondering a bit about that research," Kensuke said quickly.

"So, what's going to happen now?" Mamoru asked.

"She's…still not sure what to do," Motoki frowned.

"That's not what I meant!" Mamoru said. "I'm asking you! How do you feel about this?"

Motoki was a little taken aback by that, but he looked down and thought about it. "Well…I want her to stay close by if possible. But at the same time I don't want to restrict her future," he said.

"That sounds just like you," Kensuke sighed. "Not sure if that's a good or bad thing sometimes."

Motoki chuckled awkwardly with a sweat drop at that one. "Oh, that reminds me, do you like rice with hashed beef?" he asked suddenly.

Both Kensuke and Mamoru blinked in surprise at that. "Um…not particularly?" Mamoru blinked.

"I'll eat it if it's served at least," Kensuke blinked. "Why the sudden question?"

"Oh, well, Usagi's friend Makoto is going to come over this sunday to cook and help me clean up." Motoki said with a smile… and completely missed the way Kensuke froze and started glaring.

Mamoru however noticed "Oh boy." he muttered, before grabbing Kensuke's arm "Can you give us a minute real quick Motoki?" he said, before quickly pulling Kensuke away from the table while Motoki just watched with a confused blink.

Once they were far away enough, Mamoru sighed "Alright… talk."

Kensuke was silent a bit, before looking down "Makoto… I have a crush on her." he admitted with a blush "And she keeps falling for guys that remind her of a jackass former senpai that broke her heart for some reason. Motoki apparently has a similar voice to him."

Mamoru winced at that. "Okay, yeah I can see how that's an…issue…" he said. "Though…I question why she's so hung up on someone who broke her heart like that and never looked back," he frowned.

"That's exactly what I'm wondering a lot of times too," Kensuke grumbled.

Mamoru sighed a bit at seeing Kensuke's issue. "So…" he started. "Want some help with your uh…relationship issues?"

Kensuke opened his mouth, probably going to decline…but then he remembered how dense the parties involved could be at times…and made his choice. "I…think I'd like that," he said after a moment. "So…any suggestions?"

"For starters? Go the direct route with Motoki," Mamoru sighed. "I'm willing to bet he literally doesn't realize what's going on even with all the hints in his face."

"Wouldn't surprise me." Kensuke admitted, before they went back to their table after a moment.

"Welcome back," Motoki said cheerfully at seeing them back.

"Glad to be back," Kensuke sighed as he and Mamoru sat down.

"Something wrong?" Motoki blinked.

"Not wrong per say, but well…we kinda need to talk," Mamoru sweat dropped.

Motoki blinked, looking a bit confused.

"Alright, for starters, Makoto is infatuated with you." Mamoru said bluntly.

Motoki blinked in surprise at that "She is? I didn't even notice."

"That's nothing new." Kensuke snorted "Didn't Reika have to tell you straight to your face she wanted to be your girlfriend?"

Motoki blushed at that "Well… I suppose she did."

Mamoru shook his head with a sigh "Anyway, reason she's into you is actually because, apparently, you have a similar voice to the senpai that broke her heart, yet somehow she's still into that guy."

Motoki frowned at that "That doesn't sound very healthy honestly."

"It's not." Mamoru said with a nod, before patting Kensuke's shoulder "And Kensuke here likes Makoto."

Motoki blinked in surprise at that, before his eyes narrowed in thought "Wait… is this why you were angry with me when I first met Makoto a few weeks ago."

"Yes, it is." Kensuke said with a sigh. "And for the record, sorry about that. I probably shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"Well…can't say I really blame you…to some extent," Motoki sweat dropped, before frowning a bit.

"At any rate…" Mamoru sighed, trying to keep things on track. "We're thinking its probably a good idea to avoid accidentally leading her on, and saving her the heartache when she'll no doubt find out about Reika."

"That I can do," Motoki nodded. "Kind of a shame thought. Was looking forward to trying her cooking," he idly mused.

Kensuke facepalmed a bit at Motoki having a slight airhead moment. "I'll be sure to let you know if we're ever doing anything that includes cooking," he grumbled a bit.

"That sounds great," Motoki smiled.

Mamoru sighed at that "Anyway, from there, we need to make sure she spends some time with Kensuke but doesn't start pinning for another guy."

"I think Usagi could probably help out a bit there." Kensuke admitted "Plus she DID say she'd help me anyway she could."

"Alright then," Motoki nodded. "Hope things go well between you and Makoto then," he said cheerfully.

"And just a few minutes ago he was worrying about his girlfriend," Kensuke couldn't help but sweat drop a bit, a feeling Mamoru shared.


A while later…

"So that's what happened," Usagi mused, as she was talking to Kensuke over the phone, Kensuke having explained what happened. "Sure, I'll talk to Makoto. Hopefully if things work out for both of you, she'll be able to get over her ex."

"Thanks, Usagi. I really appreciate it," Kensuke sighed. "Just don't make it too obvious. I admittedly feel kinda bad taking advantage of the situation like this in a way," he sighed again.

"Well…considering the alternative was waiting for the inevitable heartache of finding out about Motoki's girlfriend…this isn't so bad," Usagi sweat dropped.

"Fair enough," Kensuke sighed. "Thanks again, Usagi."


A few days later…

Makoto sighed as she walked through town. Her mood had been so good not long ago, but a sudden call from Motoki, saying that she didn't need to come over, kinda doused her enthusiasm. Honestly, if not for Usagi calling and saying that Kensuke could use some help, she'd probably have spent the rest of her time moping.

That was probably why she hadn't even bothered asking what Kensuke needed help on, and from there…she just went along and soon found herself at his apartment. Ringing the doorbell, she didn't have to wait long before he opened the door for her.

"Hi Makoto," Kensuke smiled. "Thanks for coming over, and sorry for asking a favor on such short notice," he said.

"Its fine," Makoto smiled. "I didn't really have anything planned today after all. So, what did you need help on?"

"Well…things have been a bit busy lately and before I knew it I was a bit behind on cleaning, so…yeah. Mind lending me an extra set of hands?" Kensuke said sheepishly.

Makoto smiled a little in amusement. "Sure," she chuckled as she walked into the room.

The inside of the apartment…was a little messier than usual. Nothing too serious, but considering the size…it would take a while to clean, so she could understand why he wanted some help. However, as she walked in she idly noticed something. "What happened to Nephrite?" Makoto asked,

"Oh, he's got his own place one floor down," Kensuke said. "Since he officially exists now, we figured it would work out better that way. It helps that the tribe opted to legally make him a cousin of mine, so it's not crazy to imagine he'd live close by."

"That so?" Makoto said with a blink, looking down at the floor "Well, guess we should avoid making too much noise then."

"That'd be good yes," Kensuke chuckled as he went for the vacuum cleaner…and accidentally knocked one of the (thankfully empty) tables over, causing it to hit the floor with a loud crash. Both Kensuke and Makoto looked at the fallen table with sweat drops at that.


"What was that?" Naru asked in alarm, looking up. Currently she was in the new apartment that Kensuke's family had gotten Nephrite, wanting to help him set up.

"Hm…Kensuke DID mention he was going to do some cleaning today. Perhaps a slight mishap," Nephrite mused.

"He's okay, right?" Naru blinked.

"He should be yes," Nephrite nodded.

"If you say so," Naru frowned a bit.


Back in Kensuke's apartment, he and Makoto had started cleaning after straightening out the table. They were tackling the issue room per room, and doing more than one thing at the same time. As they cleaned, Kensuke WANTED to say something…but he found himself getting cold feet each time and they just continued with the cleaning.

"This place isn't too dirty, but with how big it is, it can take a while," Makoto mused.

"Y-yeah, it can be a bit of a pain to take care of some days," Kensuke chuckled, glad she'd started the conversation. "Part of why I enjoyed having Nephrite as a temporary roommate."

Makoto snorted at that. "You made a former General help you clean?"

"Hey, he was getting a free room. I think it's only fair," Kensuke snorted. "That and he took to it surprisingly well."

"Huh…didn't think he was the type," Makoto blinked.

"Me neither," Kensuke shrugged.

As he said that, she wiped some sweat off her brow "Ok… this room's done, what's left?"

"Well, this was one of my guest rooms… only thing left is my bedroom." he said.

Makoto blushed at that, and tried to say something…but found herself getting tongue tied. Oh sure, the rational part of her brain was saying that it was just for cleaning, but the part of her that was less than rational…kept thinking all sorts of stuff.

Kensuke saw that and winced a bit. "On second thought, let me do the cleaning on this one," he said, before idly looking at the clock. "Tell ya what, why don't you prepare dinner first. I'll help ya out as soon as I'm done cleaning," he suggested.

"R-right…" Makoto said, still blushing a bit as Kensuke went into the room. She stood there for a bit…before she finally got her head back on straight, and went over to the kitchen. Having already used the place before, it wasn't hard for her to start preparations. As she put things together, she did so in a somewhat half aware way, and before she realized it…she'd gotten the ingredients together and started to make hashed beef rice.

Blinking a bit, she sighed but continued with the preparation anyway. No sense in wasting what she already started after all…and it's not like Kensuke specified anything in particular. Before long she'd finished the preparation, and soon started the cooking process, just as Kensuke came out of the room, having finished cleaning.

"Smells good," Kensuke chuckled. "What's on the menu?"

"Hashed beef rice." she answered "Is that fine?"

He blinked in surprise "It… is yeah." he said, before admitting "Motoki… told us about the original plans for today by the way, so…"

She sighed at that "Yeah… guess my hands just went on auto-pilot… sorry if it's-"

"No, no, it's fine. That kinda stuff happens." he assured her "But I gotta say… I don't see why Motoki interests you… he's kinda dense at this sort of stuff."

"Honestly? It's because his voice reminds me of my old Sempai," Makoto sighed.

Kensuke sighed at that. "...okay, I gotta ask…why are you so fixated on the guy? It's one thing if he was still part of your life and maintained some friendly relations…but from what I understand, he left and never looked back after pretty much breaking your heart," he said. "Sorry if I'm bringing up painful memories…I just…feel like it's not healthy…"

Makoto paused, before sighing. "Maybe…maybe you're right…" she sighed. "Maybe I should just forget about him and move on…" she said, her eyes hidden by her hair as she looked down a bit. "But for me…its just…its just not that simple…" she said, and Kensuke noticed a small glint, and realized that was a tear that had fallen from her eyes.

His look fell a bit at that, before he put a hand on her back "Hey… if it hurts too much, you don't have to…" he said, but Makoto started talking anyway.

"I was really in love with him, so I managed to get him to talk to me alone one day when it was raining. I poured my heart out to him, told him just how I felt. I was sure he was gonna accept, but… after being silent for a bit, he told me he didn't feel the same way… that he COULDN'T feel the same way about a girl like me." she said even as tears fell from her eyes.

Kensuke frowned at that. "Well then he has no idea what he was passing up," he couldn't help but say. "He didn't even try to get to know you."

She sniffed a bit "Thank you… I think… the reason I still think about him is that his voice made me feel calm whenever I listened to him… kind of like my father before-" she said before suddenly clamming up.

He frowned "Makoto? What's that about your father?" he asked her, wondering why she stopped talking.

Makoto didn't answer…but instead her hands started to quiver, her body shaking, and to his surprise and horror, she started to hyperventilate, and she even started swaying.

"Makoto!" Kensuke gasped, as he quickly caught her (and turned off the fire while he was at it). Carefully removing her hands from the utensils she had in a near vice grip, he quickly moved her to the couch and gently set her down, holding her close as he felt her slowly start to calm down. He didn't know what happened…but he could tell that when he brought up her father…it couldn't be a good memory…

He didn't say anything, just kept holding her till finally her breathing became normal, to which he started to slowly let go…but instead she grabbed onto him, holding him tightly in a silent plea. Kensuke blushed a bit despite himself, but ultimately obliged, waiting for her to fully recover.

Eventually she calmed down…but when she did, he felt her weeping into his shoulder. Kensuke didn't say anything, letting her weep into his shoulder, lightly patting her on the back as she did. Eventually her sobbing slowed and stopped, but she continued to let her head rest on his shoulder.

"Makoto… can you tell me what happened?" he asked her softly.

She sniffed a bit "What do you know about Flight 123 in 1985?"

Kensuke blinked a bit at that. "That flight…" he frowned as he thought about it…and then his eyes widened…and slowly shifted to horror when he remembered. "That flight was in a massive accident…there were only 4 survivors…two of which were young girls…Makoto…are you saying…?"

Makoto nodded a bit even while she was resting her head on his shoulder.

His frown returned at that before he hugged her tighter "I'm sorry you had to go through that… I'm guessing the adults that survived weren't…?" he asked.

"No… they were just two random strangers." she answered, her voice a little hoarse.

He nodded "Then, who did you go live with after it happened?"

At that, Makoto was silent… for FAR too long.

Kensuke's look hardened a bit "Makoto… who do you live with right now?"

She was still silent, before finally admitting it "Nobody."

Kensuke had a hard frown at that, before he spoke up. "Ok, as soon as we're done eating, we're going to your place and getting all your things. You're moving in here with me."

Makoto…took a moment to register that. When she did though, her mood did a 180. "Wait, what?!" she said in surprise, her feelings of sadness at the memory…being replaced by a feeling of trying and failing to fully process what he'd just said.

"I am NOT having one of my friends who's been through shit have to live alone, especially when I have more than enough to offer," Kensuke said firmly…though his expression softened. "Unless of course you don't want that," he sighed a bit.

"Ah, n-no, I honestly appreciate it, I just…I guess you caught me by surprise," Makoto said awkwardly.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Kensuke said with a charming smile. "I'm here for you, Makoto. All of us are, so you're not alone anymore, okay?"

Makoto's eyes widened, before she couldn't help the gentle smile on her face. "Thank you, Kensuke," she smiled as she took her head off of his shoulder, and the two smiled at each other.

…the moment was abruptly ruined when their communicators suddenly went off.

"...seriously?" both of them groaned as they went to check on what was going on.


A while earlier…

The sound of typing away on a keyboard was heard as Aki was busy at work fine tuning her invention. She wanted to make sure everything was just right, since even if the system could already be used, it wouldn't mean much if something went wrong and it ended up hurting its user. However, as she worked, a warning came up on the screen she was working on, which quickly expanded to reveal a map of the city that quickly triangulated to a particular area.

Shortly after the warning started, Shin quickly entered the lab. "It seems like your scanner system is working," he frowned.

"Indeed," Aki frowned. Aside from creating the armor, the Police had also been developing a means to detect the monsters that kept showing up. They did so by using the energy signatures that were still present on the blood sample they'd recovered from the airport, and while it had taken some trial and error, they'd finally been able to isolate the frequency of the energy that belonged to the monsters…or at least the people controlling them. "Dammit. And the system is so close to completion too," she growled.

Shin frowned, not liking the idea that another monster was out in the city, doing whatever it pleased, and while he appreciated the efforts of the vigilantes who'd been facing them, it still hurt his pride as an officer to be once again left on the sidelines. With that in mind… "Can the system be sortied?" he asked.

Aki looked at him in surprise. "Well…yes," she said. "You CAN use it, but I'm not done fine tuning it," she warned.

"But its going to work, right?" Shin prodded.

"...I'm 95% sure that you'll be able to use it safely," Aki said after a moment.

"Good enough for me," Shin nodded.

Aki looked at him like he'd grown a second head for a moment, before sighing. "Alright, if you want to do it," she sighed, before quickly switching on a radio. "Victory Unit carrier crew, begin preparations for sortie," she said. "Looks like we're gonna have an early test run," she said before quickly hitting a few keys, and the table where the armor had been placed on suddenly shackled the armor to it, and the whole table was being moved to another part of the facility. As it moved, she looked to Shin. "You'd better get to the Victory Trailer quickly. Good luck, and don't die, okay?"

Shin nodded "I'll get it done and come back, don't worry." he said, smiling a bit, before heading out to where he knew the Victory Trailer was stationed… he had to admit it was something of a corny name, but nothing he could do about that really.

Once he reached the bay where the large police truck was located, he saw as the crew loaded in the armor, the Victory 1 System (V1 for short) into the back, while he climbed into the cockpit which had an opening to get into the back where a crew was prepping the system for use.

"Nervous about your first sortie, Sir?" the driver asked.

"Hard not to be. But first things first, let's get to the location safely," Shin smirked a bit, earning a thumbs up from the driver as the console in front of them quickly loaded up the source of the signal they were chasing. Once the pit crew gave them the okay, the Victory Trailer was closed up while the door leading out of the garage was opened, allowing the Victory Trailer to drive out into the city, police sirens blaring.

Shin frowned as they drove towards the location, following the information being fed to their small dashboard monitor. Once they were within a certain range, the monitor gave an 'ok', which was his cue to get up and go into the back. Moving quickly, he quickly changed out of his uniform, donning a black bodysuit before standing in a section of the bay. The moment he did, the crew immediately picked up various armor parts and began equipping it to him, and before long he was donned from the neck down in armor, before they gave him the helmet which he put on. Once the whole thing was assembled, the technicians did final checks on the system, finding no abnormalities, they quickly confirmed said lack of abnormalities.

With the system working, compartments on his left and right hip opened up, to which the pit crew brought a pair of weapons consisting of what appeared to be a jutte and a sidearm, before inserting them into the compartments that were provided which quickly closed again, sealing the weapons inside for when needed.

"We will be arriving soon. Prepare for deployment," the driver said over the radio, to which the technicians immediately began actively monitoring the V1 System's condition while Shin, or rather V1, stood at the ready, grabbing a railing to keep himself steady as the Trailer soon came to a halt and opened up, allowing him to exit the trailer.

When he stepped out, he looked at the heads up display in his helmet, before following it to the source of the signal at a construction site, arriving just in time to see a young man collapsed on the ground, while a blue crystal of some kind was extracted from a young woman… and she transformed into a monster.

"What the hell?!" he gasped, before looking up at where the crystal was flying to, seeing a man with a ponytail and dressed in militant style garb just holding a hand out as the crystal went up to him. Seeing that he thought quickly and made his move. "I won't let you!" he said, holding an arm up as a panel opened up on it, a small object raising up from it, before a grappling cable was fired out, the hook on the end grabbing the crystal out of the air before he retracted it towards himself, the crystal being stored inside his armor with the grapple for now.

"What?!" Zoisite gasped in surprise, before angrily looking to the source of the cable that had just stolen the Rainbow Crystal and saw what appeared to be a man in silver armor. "Who are you?!" he growled. He was so close to obtaining another crystal and now this interloper had stolen it from him.

In response, V1's side compartments opened, as he grabbed his side arm and jutte, before wielding the gun with his right hand and the jutte with his left, the gun immediately aimed at Zoisite. "You're under arrest! Don't move a muscle!" he said, keeping his gun trained on Zoisite, but ready to shift to the Youma too if needed…even if he was hesitant knowing that had been a human just a few moments ago.

Zoisite scoffed "Please! Do you really think a lowly human like you scares me?"

In response to that there was a bang, and Zoisite felt something fly past his cheek. "That's your only warning, creep! Now hands in the air and tell me how to turn the civilian back!" V1 growled.

Zoisite's mind finally caught up with him…and he noticed something wet on his cheek, before he wiped it and saw the small bit of blood. The moment he did, he glared daggers at V1. "How dare you harm my precious face!" he snarled. "Rikoukeidar, destroy him!" he ordered before teleporting away. Good thing too as V1 had fired another shot, causing it to miss completely.

With the order given, Rikoukeidar turned to face V1 who immediately was on guard. "Miss, I don't know what he did to you, but if you'll just stand down, I'm sure we can get you help!" V1 pleaded, but all he got was Rikoukeidar throwing several vials his way. He tried to evade, but he felt his movements be a little more sluggish than usual, causing some of the vials to hit him, exploding on impact and causing him to stumble back, but despite that, he stood firm, the armor protecting him well.

"Wow, I didn't even feel that," V1 mused.

"I didn't make armor for it not to work," Aki's voice said in amusement, coming from his HUD. "For now, focus on subduing her. Hopefully that crystal you retrieved can be used to heal her, or failing that, we might be able to get a clue as to what these criminals are up to," she said.

"Understood," V1 nodded, before his HUD quickly brought up the option of the type of bullet to use. "Selecting Stun Rounds!" he commanded, the armor responding and adjusting the ammo loadout. With the adjustment done, V1 took aim and opened fire.

Rikoukeidar moved quickly to evade, but the targeting system tracked her movement and eventually the shots fired found their mark, causing Rikoukeidar to shout in pain as the rounds hit her, releasing bursts of electricity aimed to paralyze. However, being a Youma, and one of the Seven Great Youma at that, they weren't enough to stop her, and when V1 went for another round of shots, she quickly pulled out a flask, which she used to catch the shots which soon rebounded back to V1.

His eyes widened behind his helmet, and he barely managed to evade out of the way, even if a few shots hit him due to the slight lag again. "Okay, really glad the suit's defenses work. But something's wrong with the movement," he frowned.

"That's the lack of the fine tuning," Aki frowned. "Its not life threatening, but right now you're only slightly more agile than Robocop."

"...Good thing I don't have to chase someone then," V1 grumbled a bit as he got back up, before holding up his jutte and charging forward as fast as he could.

Rikoukeidar began throwing her vials again, but V1 grit his teeth and tanked the attacks, pushing through as his armor protected him even as it took damage. Once he closed the distance, he lashed out with it and struck her, pushing her back before he started thrusting it forward rapidly, causing her to gasp and groan in pain as she was jabbed repeatedly, ending with a powerful one to the gut, sending her tumbling back. Before she could get up, he quickly opened fire again, causing her body to be further covered in electricity, but even then she continued to stagger to her feet, ready to fight more.

"Dammit Miss, stay down!" V1 growled, keeping his gun trained on the Youma.

"Hold on! We got this!" a new voice declared as Kamen Rider Blade jumped down into the construction site, followed closely by Sailor Jupiter "Alright, what happened here?"

"Blade!" V1 said in shock, before approaching him "I know some of the higher ups at the station might chew me out for this, but I need your help!"

"Wait… who are you?" Jupiter asked, confusion clear on her face.

V1 gave a quick salute at that "Victory 1, V1 for short, a new system created by the police to combat these monsters that keep appearing."

"A police officer?" Blade said in shock "Well… ok, guess we can work with that. What can you tell us about what happened then?"

"I arrived just as a strange blue crystal was extracted from the civilian, causing this transformation," V1 reported.

"What happened to the crystal?" Jupiter asked.

V1 was about to answer, but…

"Hold on Shin, tell them the crystal was taken by the perp!" Aki suddenly said, sounding rather annoyed. "Don't question me, higher ups want you to take the crystal in for analysis!" she said.

V1 would have argued, but he didn't have time. "The crystal? It was…taken by the person with a ponytail. The one who extracted it in the first place," he managed to say just fast enough to avoid suspicion.

"Damn, so Zoisite got away with another one," Blade growled. "Well, nothing to be done about it. Help us hold this Youma down until Sailor Moon arrives. She's the only one we got who can revert a Youma that used to be human back to being human," he said.

"Understood!" V1 nodded, quashing the tinge of guilt he felt at his deception. Quickly focusing on the Youma, he aimed his gun again. "Don't worry, these are set to stun rounds!" he quickly said, before pulling the trigger, causing the Youma to be shocked again. Moving quickly, he raised his right arm, and another compartment with a grappling hook revealed itself, to which he fired and swung it at the same time, causing it to wrap around the Youma, tying her down.

"Okay…you're definitely more equipped for capturing than we are," Jupiter sweat dropped. It was honestly impressive that the police managed to make something like this. Sure seems like a good investment for the tax money.

"Well, this suit IS in theory usable for stopping normal if severe crimes as well," V1 chuckled a bit.

"Hate to be whoever sees you coming out of the patrol car then," Blade snorted as the Youma was trying and failing to break out of the grappling wire.

"I'm here!" Sailor Moon said as she jumped down into the site, blinking in surprise when she landed, looking at V1 "Uh… who's that?"

"Police officer, he got here before we did." Jupiter said "We… kind of barely had to do anything." she admitted sheepishly.

"Wow, I didn't know the police could make something like this!" Sailor Moon gasped, quite impressed.

"Haha, that's basically what everyone thought when we first announced this," V1 sweat dropped. "But more importantly, I was told you can heal this civilian?"

"Ah, right!" Sailor Moon nodded, before drawing her Moon Stick and held it up. "Moon Healing Escalation!" she called out as the waves of purifying energy washed over the Youma who tried to fight back, but was ultimately unable to.

"Refresh!" the Youma called out, before reverting back to Reika who was on the ground unconscious.

"Huh…that was…something…" V1 blinked, his onboard camera having recorded the whole thing as he quickly retracted his grappling hook.

"You get used to it," Blade chuckled.

"I'd prefer if we could wrap up this situation sooner than later," V1 frowned, before going over to check on Reika, as well as Motoki who'd thankfully been far away enough from the fight. With that he brought a hand to the side of his helmet. "The situation has been neutralized for now. Requesting medical assistance for two injured civilians. I don't see any serious injuries on them, but both are still unconscious at the moment," he said, before turning to the heroes. "We'll take it from here. Thank you for the assistance."

"You're welcome, even if you did the lion's share of the work," Jupiter chuckled a bit as the three of them soon left the scene…leaving V1 to open his arm compartment and retrieve the Rainbow Crystal.

"I hope command knows what it's doing…" he sighed as he looked down at the crystal that seemed to be a massive mystery wrapped into a small form…


Ta-da!

So, first off, Makoto's backstory gets fully revealed much earlier, though only to Kensuke so far... and we already have the first steps in them becoming a couple.

And of course, the debut of V1!

We basically lifted him right from Agito and moved him over to Blade since we felt he'd get more usage here... and he ended up getting one of the Crystals as well.

Yeah, that threw a wrench in everyone's plans, didn't it?

Hope you're enjoying the story so far though and are looking forward for what's to come!

Rouse Card Count:

Blade:

Spade: Ace, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10

Club: 3, 7

Chalice:

Heart: Ace, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8

Diamond: 2

Garren:

Diamond: Ace, 6