"Director Hayasugi! We have confirmation!"

The cat Faunus jerked upright in his seat. "What? Confirmation of what?!" he demanded.

The technician turned to face him, her eyes wide as she pointed to the monitor displaying the pod room. "We have confirmation of activation! One of the units is coming online even as we speak!"

"Which one?!" Hokuto snapped.

"It's the E7, sir. The E7 Kagayaki has just been activated!"

"By whom?!" the cat Faunus asked as he stood up.

"It's the boy, Tsuranuki, I think you said his name was." The technician did a quick double check. "Yes. It is. It's Tsuranuki."

Hokuto was in shock. Finally... he was about to see if his project would pay off... and if it was even right to rope children into this war even further than they already were.

OPENING FILES:

CLASSIFIED

DECRYPTING...

FILES DECRYPTED

OPENING FILES: E7 KAGAYAKI

The first of the units to be activated, this machine is built for power. Equipped withn a power motor, the E7 can operate in any conditions, including near vacuum, making it perfect for dealing with Kaiju Grimm that can absorb the air around them. The unit stands at twenty-six meters in height in humanoid form and weighs a hundred and ten tons in both battle and default forms.

The unit is equipped with treads on its ankles for quick movement and is stronger than the other units. Its hands are protected by metal guards that can be used to boost its punching power, and it is also equipped with a drill for drilling through metal, rock, and concrete. This drill can be upgraded to a more powerful form, called Powered Mode.

The driver of this unit is Tsuranuki Daimonyama.

CLOSING FILES

TERMINAL ENTERING STANDBY PHASE

"When it comes to power, it comes in many forms. But in reality, power is what we make of it." The figure leaned forward to expose a pair of eyes glinting behind a set of glasses.

"So, what do you see power being used for? Good? Evil? Or just the right thing? What is the right thing? And what is worth fighting for? Well, only you can decide that."

CHAPTER IV - ACTIVATION

'Ugh... My head...'

That was the first thought Tsuranuki had as he came to.

'Maybe taking a nap wasn't such a good idea after all...' he thought as he tried to get up.

Only to discover right off the bat that he couldn't.

He couldn't get up.

Hell, he couldn't move anything. It felt like his entire body was strapped down, or at least wrapped up super tight so he couldn't even see.

But if that were the case, then he would be suffocating if it was a full body wrap.

And why did he feel so... funny? Like he didn't...

Have any... arms and legs...?

Wait. No arms and legs?!

That was enough to send him into a panic.

Tsuranuki couldn't move because he had no limbs to speak of. And that was enough to make anyone panic. He tried in vain to open his eyes, but much to his shock and horror, he had none. And he was unable to hear, as well. It was like he had been stripped and locked in an isolation chamber after being injected with morphine to numb all sensation. And yet he was unable to move.

All he could do was scream in his thoughts.

Or at least that's what any normal person would've done. But Tsuranuki was not the kind of person to crack that easily. Instead, he started to try and calm himself down as best he could. His thoughts were racing a million miles a minute as he struggled to get them in order. 'Okay, Tsuranuki. Just calm down! It won't do you any good to break right now!' he thought to himself.

He tried to take in a breath, but failed. He brushed that aside and focused his thoughts. 'That's it. Just take it easy and try to think.'

Tsuranuki was finally able to calm his frantic mind and he relaxed as best he could. If there was one thing he did take away from his mediocre training, it was that he had to be calm and not let his imagination run wild when it came to Grimm or even rogue Hunters. Any of that could lead to failure in a mission, injuries, or even death. He knew how harsh the world was, as his father had died during a dispute with a rogue Huntsman three years ago.

And with his friend Hayato being targeted for a potential recruit for Satyra, he wasn't about to let him go down that path.

'Okay. Let's see. Well, I know for one thing I can't move, period. I don't have any arms or legs, I can't see, hear, or even speak or anything else. I feel like I've been wrapped like a roll of sushi, and I can't breathe. That's usually a cause for concern. But how did this even happen? And where am I?' the boy thought.

Now that he wasn't panicking, he was able to get a small sense of where he was. It wasn't much, but he could get an idea that he was in some kind of facility. He could feel something beneath him, straight and metallic. He focused in on that faint sensation, his essence trying to grasp what it was. Tsuranuki faintly felt something shift, and he jolted a little. 'What was that feeling?' he thought in surprise.

The boy focused on it again, and now that he was, he could sense a metallic nature, something resting beneath his wheels...

Wait...

'Wheels?!' Tsuranuki thought. 'What's going on here?!'

He tried to figure out how to see. He needed to know what was going on, and more importantly, what he had become. He let his mind expand out, trying to get a sense of his new form.

Now that he was trying to actively sense his own body, he could feel that it was very different than his own human flesh and blood. For one thing, he felt like a snake. A long, twisting snake. But he wasn't a snake. Not in any way, shape or form. Except for maybe the similarities in basic shape. But the fact he had wheels was an indicator that he was something else. Something more metallic, maybe mechanical or biomechanical in nature. But what was he?

Okay. Now he was getting somewhere. He knew he had wheels, and apparently had some snakelike characteristics. But he lacked a face, eyes, ears, and mouth. So maybe he wasn't a true snakelike creature. Maybe some kind of vehicle? But what kind? The only one he could imagine was a truck with several containers on it. And actually, that's what he felt like. Like he had containers attached to his front.

But that didn't explain the metallic structures beneath his wheels. Those felt more like rails. And last he recalled, trucks used for hauling weren't meant to ride on rails! That meant he wasn't a truck. But... wait... was it...?

His desire to see just grew at that. He needed to know. Was he really a truck or something else?

Tsuranuki's vision finally began to restore itself. A flash dashed across his vision briefly, making him help in his thoughts before it spread out to become static. And then words filtered across his vision.

UNIT: E7 KAGAYAKI

STATUS: ACTIVATED

DRIVER: TSURANUKI DAIMONYAMA

AURA: STABLE

BATTERY OPERATION TIME: 36 HOURS

ENERGY LEVELS: 100%

The boy was surprised at this as the words faded, revealing the interior of a large facility of some kind. Now that he could see, he could make out several other sleek shapes, and each one of them sent a jolt through his new body.

The shapes on either side of him were not trucks.

They were shinkansen!

And he was one of them.

Tsuranuki tried to figure out how in the world he could've become a shinkansen. The last thing he remembered was staggering down to a nearby building, the one that was undergoing renovations, in hopes of finding some help for Hayato. He had been battered, bruised, and beaten from his fight against that woman, the fox Faunus. He managed to make his way inside and down to a small room that held what appeared to be futuristic beds, and yet, when he had fallen asleep in one... next thing he knew he had woken up as a shinkansen.

Wait. What if those pods hadn't been beds, but... something else? Something else entirely?

It did seem possible. But who in their right mind would develop something to turn someone into a shinkansen? It didn't make much sense.

Tsuranuki wracked his thoughts as he tried to figure out what the hell happened. He knew for sure that his wounds hadn't been bad, but they hadn't been superficial, either. But... then how did he become a shinkansen? Were his wounds much worse than he thought?

But if that were the case, then he'd... have... died...?

DIED?!

Tsuranuki's mind reeled at the thought. Was he really dead?! Was he just a ghost!? Could he even be considered alive in this state?! His thoughts whirled around in his mind as he tried to figure this out, but the more he thought about it, the more the conclusion seemed to be real. He wasn't alive anymore. He was dead.

Deceased.

A corpse.

And his soul was now possessing the shinkansen. He started to panic, feeling something racing inside of him as his new body responded to his emotions. He felt a slight jolt as his new wheels reacted to this new sensation. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't want to be stuck like this, a ghost controlling an inanimate object. He wanted to be able to move freely, to have arms and legs, to be alive again! To live his life again.

'I gotta get outta here! How do I change back?! And am I really a ghost!?' he thought.

That word was all it took.

The next thing he knew, his sleek form began to shift and change, and his vision became a swirl of color, making him sick to his nonexistent stomach. He felt like he was going to barf, but he no longer had a stomach to purge. Instead, he tried to focus on what was happening to himself. Tsuranuki could feel his entire frame shifting and changing, parts linking and moving, and then it was over. He was standing, but upon seeing how different things were now in terms of his height, a sense of intense vertigo came over him and he wound up staggering back, tripping over his big metal feet and landing flat on his butt as he slipped on something. He groaned to himself in his thoughts as he shook his new helm, trying to regain his sense of balance.

Tsuranuki lifted his gaze and finally got a look at his new body.

Or rather his new frame.

He could see that his new legs were mostly blue on the lower portions with white upper legs, and what appeared to be the shell of the shinkansen's rear engine on the sides of his legs. Golden yellow accents - what he saw to be pistons on his feet - stood out to his vision, and he slowly lifted a leg, spotting something on his ankles. On each side of his ankle were two caterpillar treads, like those of an excavator. He flexed his foot, feeling the systems of his new frame moving the appendage. The pistons also moved, and he wondered if those were to boost his running speed somehow. And with the treads, he wondered if they were for additional mobility.

Tsuranuki lowered his leg and cast his gaze down at his chest, noticing in surprise that it was the front end of the shinkansen. He slowly raised a shaking mechanical hand and touched it, dark grey metal fingers brushing the blue and white armor before ghosting up to the glass that covered where the cockpit would be for the train. He could faintly feel the sensations, and it was eerie as hell. The headlights on the front of the train gleamed in the light from the facility's ceiling lights, and Tsuranuki took the time to look at his hand resting on his new chest.

His hand was covered by some kind of guard that resembled a shovel that was equipped to an excavator or backhoe, but at the same time not. Pistons attached to it no doubt would boost the force of his punches, which would go a long way to defeating Grimm, or anything, really. The mere thought sent a shiver down his new spinal struts, and he shuddered, his new armor rattling against his metallic hide. He shot a glance to either side, noticing in surprise that his shoulder guards resembled the back end of the shinkansen's front engine. His hand drifted to one of them and he brushed his fingertips against it, surprised at the sensation. And now that he thought about it, he was curious as to what his helm looked like.

Tsuranuki looked around, trying to find something that would reflect his new face. His gaze landed on a nearby slab of metal - no doubt for repairs or something - and he grasped it, pulling it close and holding it up to face level.

His new face was actually quite impressive, he thought. For one thing, the helm seemed somewhat aggressive, with a vent on either side of his face. Two white protrusions swept back, and on the forehead was something resembling a commander's fin from the Gundrazer series he had seen several months ago. This commander fin was a lighter shade of blue, contrasting his helm which had blue for the majority of its armor, with white and gold accents. His new optical sensors were a fierce shade of green, and his faceplate was pure white. All in all, it seemed to suit him.

He slowly raised a hand to touch his faceplate, his metal fingertips brushing the metal. "...Wow..."

Tsuranuki paused, his hand going to his throat. He touched the metal armor on his neck, surprised. His voice sounded much deeper than he remembered. And it had a metallic edge to it, something he hadn't expected.

He spoke again, feeling his new vocalizer vibrating as a result. "What... what am I?"

"Sir, he's online and active," the technician said, catching Hokuto's attention.

The cat Faunus walked over to the window and peered out at where the six units were, and much to his surprise, he was staring at one of them in its humanoid form, the E7 Kagayaki. Its optics were looking down at its chest, and one hand was on its neck. Within those green optics was a purely human intelligence, and a smile crossed his face.

The LinkPod had worked.

"Get me the mike," he ordered.

The woman nodded as she handed him the microphone. He took it in his hand and pressed the button.

"Unit E7, can you hear me?"

The machine's helm snapped up, scanning left and right for his voice. Hokuto wasn't about to address the Driver by his name yet. He had to judge his reaction first.

"What's going on here?!" the machine demanded, slowly getting to his feet. "Who are you? Where the hell am I? And why in Glob's name am I a shinkansen?!" He almost slipped on his treads, only to spread his arms in an attempt to catch his balance. "W-Whoa!" He stood like that for a few seconds before he slowly straightened up. He was unsteady in his new frame, but he was adapting quite nicely. Hokuto spoke again into the mike.

"Calm down, Unit E7. Everything will be explained shortly," he stated, still gauging the reaction of the machine before him.

"And why do you keep addressing me as Unit E7? My name's Tsuranuki Daimonyama!" the machine snapped, green optics blazing in anger.

The cat Faunus smiled to himself.

The project was a success.

Tsuranuki felt anger bubbling in his chest as he clenched his metallic fists.

Whoever was speaking to him sure had the gall to call him 'Unit E7' or whatever it was. The voice was clearly not human, as it was more demonic sounding in tone. He recalled old legends of yokai spirits, spirits that were said to manifest as demons or other supernatural creatures, and he wondered briefly if he was about to fight one of them. In a world where Grimm came from a dark ooze, it didn't seem that far off to think that such creatures like yokai could exist in this world.

He felt his new hydraulics tense in his frame and he crouched a little, his new optics flicking left and right, his new audios tuned to their highest sensitivity to pick up even the faintest of sounds.

Tsuranuki waited in tense anticipation of the demon coming out of the walls or something.

But nothing did.

At least that's what the thing no doubt wanted him to think, he mused as he turned his head, scanning around him with his newly enhanced vision.

Then the voice came again, only this time it was more familiar.

"Tsuranuki Daimonyama."

He jerked back in shock, his feet sliding out from under him due to his treads and he landed on his metal butt with a grunt. Tsuranuki groaned as he looked up at the ceiling. "Mr... Hayasugi?"

"Sorry for the deception, but don't worry. I said everything will be explained," the voice of Hokuto Hayasugi replied.

"Just what the hell happened to me?!" Tsuranuki shouted.

"Calm down. I can't explain if you're yelling at me," Hokuto said gently.

He growled, but relented and just sat back, drawing his legs close to his chest as he gazed at the ceiling, fixing his gaze on a camera that was watching him.

"First off, as for what's going on, it's quite simple. You and your friends have been selected to partake in a special project that could very well be the salvation of Japan," Hokuto began. "This project, Project SKL, has been in the works for several months now, ever since the death of my wife Sakura at the hands of Mothra. I'm sure you remember that one."

Tsuranuki did remember. He could recall seeing the news and then the funeral, during which Hayato was just crying nonstop. He wished he could've made more of a difference then. "I remember that," he said. "Hayato was upset for days."

"Yes. That attack drove home a key fact for me that no one else has realized until now." Here Hokuto paused, and Tsuranuki could sense the tension in the room. "Japan is currently engaged in a war of attrition against the Grimm. More specifically, the Kaiju-class Grimm that surfaced fifteen years ago."

Silence filled the air, and Tsuranuki almost felt like it was oozing over him. It made his new circuits crawl, and he shivered a bit. "So... what does this have to do with what happened to me?" he asked slowly.

"Everything, Tsuranuki," Hokuto continued. "I started this project after Sakura's death as an attempt to prevent the loss of more of Japan's Hunters, as well as to ensure that time is bought so the seal beneath Mt. Fuji can be strengthened."

Now that was something he hadn't expected to hear. He was on his feet in a flash, gazing at the camera in shock. "You gotta be friggin' kidding me!" he blurted. "Someone wants to break the seal?!"

"I'm not joking," the cat Faunus explained. "The attacks have been getting more and more brutal with each year. And they're only costing us more and more lives with each one. Even our best Hunters are slowly being whittled down. And frankly, it's causing a lot of people to lose hope." He paused, then continued. "And that is why this project was developed. To give Japan a symbol of hope to rally around."

Slowly, Tsuranuki looked down at his metal hands, realization dawning in his optics. "You mean to tell me that...?"

"Yes. Tsuranuki, you and your friends have been selected to be a part of this project. You may not have been Huntsman or Huntress material, but you have the aptitude and drive to be a part of this project," Hokuto stated. "Your skills will be best utilized in this project. It is our best bet... and the best bet for Japan's survival."

"... Just one question. What... what am I?" Tsuranuki asked. "I mean, I know I'm a shinkansen, but..."

"The name of the mecha you are now is called Shinkalion. The frames have been named after the project itself: Project SHINKALION. It stands for SHINKAnsen LIberates Our Nation," the cat Faunus replied. "The shinkansen in the past liberated Japan from poverty and allowed us to become a technological powerhouse. So, why can't it be used to liberate us from despair, too?"

Tsuranuki kept his gaze on his hands as he flexed them slowly. "Shinkalion..." He tried the word out, and the very sound of it sent shivers down his spinal struts. It seemed to fit. It sounded aggressive, strong, and powerful. But underneath it, there was a hint of something else, too. A hint of a new possibility... for a better world. He looked up, giving a thumbs up. "Mr. Hayasugi, count me in!"

In the observation deck, Hokuto smiled broadly.

"Good. Now, there's been a couple of disturbances in the area around Fukushima, as well as in Tokyo itself," Hokuto explained. "The first has to do with a recent sighting of what appears to be a bull-like creature. It's attacking the location closest to where Hayato was last seen."

A growl escaped Tsuranuki's vocalizer as he clenched his fists. "How do I get there?" he asked.

GRIMMFALL

The last thing Phil Ken Sebben expected was to get a call from Genki Sanban.

His hand flew out to tap the button on his desk, and the monitor on his desk phone flashed with her image.

"Genki. What's the occasion for this call?" he asked.

"It has to do with recent events in Japan," she explained. "I am sure you have heard the news of the recent attack six months ago?"

"How could I not?" Sebben asked as his hand tapped the eyepatch over his right eye. "Everyone was talking about it for weeks afterwards. Why? And how does this tie into recent events?"

Genki closed her eyes and began to explain the story. The whole time, Sebben was listening with wide eyes as she told of the recent developments regarding Satyra, and of their desire to recruit a young cat Faunus who was utterly terrified of them, and had extensive knowledge of the shinkansen bullet trains. But when she got to the project, he was utterly in disbelief. He had seen much and heard much of different efforts to try and leverage any sort of edge over the Fallen and Grimm, one of which he was drastically opposed to - that project being the Denver Shadow Line. It took an awful lot to shock him.

And this really shocked him.

He had heard rumors of a top secret project being carried out by Japan's government, but this... to hear of this kind of project...

For once, Sebben was utterly shocked. Japan had actually developed something to give them a fighting chance... and to give people a sense of hope?

"This project... is it even really viable, given... well..." His voice trailed off as he gritted his teeth. "...the ones needed for it are young?"

"Rest assured they are well above the age that you fear," Genki assured him. "They are all in their teens, to say the least."

"Teenagers... Japan's fate rests in the hands of a bunch of teenagers..." Sebben rubbed his temples with his fingers. "Great... Just great..."

"They would not have been chosen if they didn't have qualities that are sorely needed," Genki explained. "And it helps their Auras are double the reserves of a normal person."

"Very well. If they can prove themselves, then we'll consider the possibility of expanding it to GrimmFall... or barring that, setting up a branch here in America," he said.

"I only wish it won't have to come to that..." Genki said softly.

The mayor of GrimmFall closed the commline shortly after and sat back, his fingers tenting as he reached up to his eyepatch. "Hmm..."

EN ROUTE TO TOKYO CAPTURE FIELD

If there was one thing Tsuranuki was sure of, it was that Hayato would freak over what he was doing right now.

He was currently en route to the capture field holding the bull-like creature that had attacked Tokyo, driving along the shimmering energy rails that had formed in place of the regular rails. The very sensations of his new frame were enough to make him feel a bit giddy, in all honesty. The feeling of his wheels moving along the rails, the power of his engine racing as it granted him movement, and the wind rushing past his metal armor... 'Man! Hayato is going to flip out when he learns what I can do!' he thought excitedly.

But at the same time, he had a mission to focus on.

He forced the excitement from his new processor as he neared the capture field. He could see it growing larger with each passing moment, and finally he spotted the curve in the track leading directly into the field. The bluish energy barrier shimmered as he drew closer. Tsuranuki braced himself as he passed through it, a tingling sensation racing across his entire frame. It felt like he was speeding through a rainstorm. Then just as quickly it began, the sensation ended and he was within the field.

Had he been human, his jaw would've fallen open.

All around him he could see rail tracks, crisscrossing over a platform suspended in the center by two large pylons connecting to the field itself. Above the center of the platform was a large entryway, and he surmised that it was some sort of exit or entry point. The top of the entryway was closed off by large plates, and in the middle of the platform was none other than the bull-like creature, except this time it had grown from a mere bull into a monstrosity. 'Okay! How in the hell did that thing get so big?!' Tsuranuki thought as he came around and applied his brakes. The sensation of the brakes pressing down was eerie in many ways, but not as weird as the sensation of his engine slowing down.

"Here we go..." he muttered. "CHANGE! SHINKALION!"

Tsuranuki felt the transformation begin even before he had fully braked. This time, his vision wasn't a mass of swirling and colors. As soon as his legs had formed, he sprang off the rails, finishing his transformation as he flipped and landed on his feet, one hand driving into the platform below him, the other spread out to the side. He looked up, a sensation of pride filling his chest. 'Not a bad landing,' he thought.

He stood up, clenching his fists as he looked the creature over.

It did resemble a bull still, but it was more the size of a minor Kaiju-class Grimm. It didn't seem to be very strong, but he knew that appearances could deceive. The horns though... those were a real danger. They could gore through anything, it looked like. A strange sensation filled his throat and he made a noise akin to a nervous swallow.

"Okay... now how to go about this..." Tsuranuki muttered. He didn't want to take a risk in just charging in. Not since he had no clue as to what this thing could do.

His optics roved over the bull before it suddenly roared and charged at him. A scream tore itself free from his vocalizer as he backpedaled, slipping on his treads and falling flat on his butt. The bull was bearing down on him and he rolled to the side, the shinkansen armor on his leg getting clipped. A sensation of pain radiated out from the point of impact and he grunted as he looked down at it.

A small gash was present on the armor. It wasn't too noticeable, and it could easily be repaired.

Tsuranuki scrambled to his feet, clenching his fists and looking down at them. The shovel guards glimmered, and an idea came to his processor. He clenched his fists tighter as he watched the bull start to come around. "Okay, creep! Come and get some!" he roared.

He let out a bellow as he thrust his right fist forward, his blow connecting solidly with the bull creature, sending it staggering back as it shook its head, a black and red Aura forming around it..

Wait, an Aura?!

He growled in the back of his vocalizer as he eyed the creature. Something was wrong. He knew that some people possessed the ability to turn into animals due to their Semblance, but this was the first time he ever heard of one that could do this, make someone who was already in an animal body stronger and larger. Unless it had to do with...

Tsuranuki had to wrack his processor as he recalled several members of Satyra who were close to them. In fact, one of them was perhaps the most dangerous, as he was a backer and father of one of their lieutenants. And now that he thought about it, he did recall reading about the man and his Semblance when he went on a rampage in London a few years ago. The situation had been about the same, with the man becoming a bull and then becoming larger due to his rage and anger.

"Rage of the Bull..." he mused. "Frederick Jones, Sr... Am I right?"

The bull creature didn't answer. But the way it looked at him was indicative that it was Mr. Jones. The eyes were hard, and in them he could see human intellect.

The bull - Mr. Jones, actually - charged at him, horns lowered to gore him in the chest. Tsuranuki reacted on instinct, throwing up his arms as his Aura flared, covering his entire frame as the horns made contact. While he didn't sustain any damage, he was sent flying from the impact. A cry of surprise escaped his vocalizer as he landed flat on his back, the wind knocked from his intakes. He sat up, groaning as he did so. "Okay... Maybe that wasn't such a good idea..." he muttered.

"You need to stop just charging in, Tsuranuki," Mr. Hayasugi said over his internal COMM system. The very feeling of having someone literally speaking inside his head made him shudder a bit, but he brushed it aside as he got to his feet.

"Then whaddya expect me to do?!" Tsuranuki shouted. "I'm totally unarmed!"

"Just calm down and think!" Hokuto urged.

"All right! Just tell me how to beat this guy!" the Shinkalion snarled.

"I'm afraid you're on your own with that one, Tsuranuki," Hokuto said seriously. "I'm not sure as to how to beat him."

Tsuranuki growled as he looked around, but in the middle of the capture field, there were no weapons for him to use. All he had was his bare fists. "C'mon... I need an idea here..."

Mr. Jones let out a roar as he charged at the Shinkalion again, prompting a yelp as he leapt back into the air. He was surprised at how high he could jump now. The power of his hydraulics was astonishing, to say the least! He landed atop one of the rails and looked down over his shoulder as the Faunus-turned-bull came to a halt at the edge of the platform, snorting in rage at his prey having escaped his attack.

The Shinkalion turned and wiggled his hands on either side of his head, making the bull bellow in fury and back up, only to halt itself as it seemed to realize where it was. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stood up, trying to think of ways to beat this man. "Hmm..."

The Faunus-turned-bull snorted as he shook his head, glaring at Tsuranuki as he watched with his arms crossed. "Maybe..." He then shook his head. "No. That won't work. I don't have any cable or anything like that..."

"Tsuranuki?"

"What? I'm trying to think here!" the Shinkalion snapped.

"I know. But we're running out of time. We need you to defeat this thing before going after the Grimm in Fukushima," Hokuto reminded.

"Would go a lot faster if I had a weapon!" he snarled.

Before Hokuto could answer, a loud bellow caught his audio and he looked down, shock suddenly surging through his new systems as he saw the bull lowering its head... and horns made of Aura energy fired from its regular horns right for him! "GAH!"

Tsuranuki sprang off the rail he was on and landed on another, only to break out into a run as he tried to dodge a few more energy horns launched his way. "Since when did he get this ability?!" he groaned.

"I'm not sure, but I assume this is part of his Semblance," Hokuto cautioned. "You have to find a way to take him down and soon, because if those keep up, the field will collapse, and that's not the outcome we want!"

"Okay! I'll do it!" Tsuranuki yelled. He turned and faced the platform before leaping off, his powerful hydraulics giving him the jump distance needed to land on the platform farther away from him. He landed and spun around, holding his fists ready in a boxing style.

However, that wasn't going to do much against a bull with an Aura. He needed a weapon. Something he could use to his advantage. Something that could penetrate that Aura. Something...

Something like a drill.

A drill that could punch through almost anything.

The Faunus-turned-bull bellowed as he lowered his head, Aura energy seething into his horns for a penetration. Tsuranuki's optics glowed as he braced for the collision.

Only he didn't expect it to come. He instead raised his hand, unsure of what he was even doing. He clenched his hand on thin air, feeling foolish for even imagining he had a drill in his grasp. However, that proved to be the key he needed.

A flash of light filled his optics, making him turn his head away. As quickly as it came, it vanished...

Leaving Tsuranuki with a weapon. He slowly turned his helm back to his outstretched arm, and he gasped in shock at the weapon he now held.

In his grasp was a drill, but not one he was familiar with. Part of it looked like the wheel set on the shinkansen, connected to a hilt and gears. The drill part itself was silver with gold accents, and his hand was clenched tightly around the trigger grip for it. He could feel the trigger itself beneath two of his fingers, and he experimentally pressed it. The drill began to spin slightly and he let off the trigger. "The hell?!" he breathed.

"Ah. Good. That's your weapon, Tsuranuki," Hokuto explained. "The Wheelset Drill. It's good for close combat, and its tip can penetrate through just about anything. So use it wisely."

"Oh... I intend to!" Tsuranuki growled as he brandished it, taking up a fighting stance. "This I can use!"

With that, he charged at Mr. Jones as he bellowed in rage. The Shinkalion raced forward, his drill held out in front of him as he spun it up. However, he missed as he thrust it forward, only for his feet to slide out from under him due to his treads. He landed flat on his chest, only to flare his Aura as Mr. Jones ran him over - literally. While he didn't get much damage, his Aura was starting to weaken.

Warnings flashed across his vision.

WARNING!

AURA LEVELS AT 92%

DAMAGE: COSMETIC

BATTERY OPERATION TIME: 34 HOURS

'Shit... I gotta be more careful,' he thought as he got to his feet, shaking his helm. 'If only these stupid treads didn't cause me to slip... Wait...' He shot a glance down at his feet, and he slowly took a step. His treads spun a little, and he almost slipped if he didn't stop them. 'I think I get it! The treads activate when I need to move fast! But if I can just lock them when I don't need them, then it could work!' He imagined the treads locking in place, nd he felt something in his ankles shift, locking them into place. 'Okay. I got that part down. Now... let's see...' He tried to will them to unlock, and he felt that same sensation, but in reverse.

He didn't have much time to even practice this as he was forced to leap back as Mr. Jones came at him again. Tsuranuki landed on his feet close to the edge of the platform and he looked down, seeing the bottom of the capture field.

He gulped nervously. 'Okay... how am I gonna get outta this one?!' he thought in worry.

The Shinkalion turned back to face Mr. Jones as he came around, his horns lowered to gore him through the lower torso. He hefted his drill and aimed it, a desperate idea forming in his processor. "I hope this works...!" he muttered as he braced himself. He spread his legs and crouched, willing his treads to activate. He pressed the trigger for his drill at the same time, and he felt himself jolted forward by his treads. He could feel the whirring tracks against the ground, and he was forced to suppress a shudder as he kept his gaze fixed on Mr. Jones' bull body. "Hope ya like shish kabob! Because that's what's being served on the menu!" he bellowed.

The two collided, Tsuranuki's drill pushing into Mr. Jones' Aura, trying to penetrate through it. An Aura monitor popped up in the lower left hand corner of his vision and he noticed it was detecting a decrease in the Aura of the Faunus-turned-bull. It was significant, and he felt a sense of hope fill his chest as he pushed harder, willing his treads to go faster. A roar escaped his vocalizer as he thrust his drill forward, Aura streaming off of it. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Mr. Jones was caught off guard by this as he pushed back, but his momentum was canceled by the Shinkalion's efforts, which made him bellow in surprise and shock as he was finally pushed off the edge of the platform, his Aura fading from around his body as it depleted. He also started to shift back to his human form.

A sense of terror flooded Tsuranuki's frame as he saw this. The capture field had reached its limit and was about to go down, and he was left with only one choice. He crouched and leapt off the platform, diving right for the bull Faunus. As his body returned to its natural state, Tsuranuki thrust his free hand out as he approached. "Grab my hand!" he cried.

Mr. Jones shot him a scathing glare, only to curl into a ball and fall faster. "NO!" Tsuranuki cried, trying to grasp him. But he was falling faster, and he was out of his range. The capture field vanished, and Tsuranuki could see the city below, with people pointing up at him and the falling Faunus.

The Shinkalion put his arms against his sides and he fell faster, his optics locked onto the man before him. Once he was within range, he spread his arms and legs to slow his descent and he reached out, this time grabbing Mr. Jones before he fell out of range. "Gotcha!"

Despite the bull Faunus being a backer of Satyra, he had been taught in his training that everyone deserved a chance at life, even if they were the worst of the worst. He didn't know why, but he just felt like it was right.

Tsuranuki finally landed on the ground, making a loud crash as he made impact. His frame was shaking slightly from the sudden stunt he had just pulled, but at least he was alive. He looked at his hand, noticing the bull Faunus was struggling to escape. "Nice try, but you're not going anywhere," he remarked as he set the man down as authorities began to swarm around him. With that taken care of, he turned and ran for it, approaching the rail lines and shifting into his shinkansen form before speeding away, unaware that the bull Faunus wasn't even being arrested. The police were more or less checking him to see if he was unharmed, seeing as how he had just been saved by a giant train robot.

"How was that, Director Hayasugi?" he asked.

"I would've preferred you to finish the fight before the field reached its limit, but.. overall, it was a good start," Hokuto replied.

"Next time I'll try to finish it sooner," Tsuranuki said. "That's about all I can do."

"It'll have to do. Now, get going towards Fukushima. There's a Kaiju Grimm there that's about to wreak havoc on the powerplants."

"On my way!"

The sleek train sped down the line, heading in the direction of Fukushima.

PROJECT: SHINKALION

FILE 1-X01

UNIT: E7 KAGAYAKI

HEIGHT: 26.0 METERS

WEIGHT: 110 TONS

COLORS: BLUE AND WHITE WITH GOLDEN YELLOW LININGS

OPTIC COLOR: GREEN

WEAPON: WHEELSET DRILL

EQUIPMENT: TREADS AND SHOVEL GUARDS

DRIVER: TSUNARUKI DAIMONYAMA

AURA COLORS: BLUE, WHITE, AND GOLD

CLOSE TERMINAL? Y/N

Y-E-S_

TERMINAL CLOSING...