Chapter 3: Fate and Friendship, Part 1
"Hold it right there, criminal scum!" A voice rumbled. Hideki glanced upwards and saw that a large, green, winged dragon had stepped him on. Upon its head sat what appeared to be a sort of switchblade, which whipped forward with a loud snap.
"Tasuku, here," Another voice said, Hideki and Marie's focus shifted again to a flying, blue-haired…kid? A pair of rotating discs made of light next to his ankles appeared to be what was keeping him airborne. Next to him, a disc-like Core Gadget in the shape of the Star Pulsar floated nearby. The kid was slowly descending to the ground as he talked on the radio, "We have apprehended the suspect, and have an injured civilian; please send the medical team,"
"Roger," a voice crackled through the other end of the radio.
"Suspect?!" Hideki protested.
"That's right," The dragon responded. He then turned to Marie and Shion, "Don't worry, you two, you're safe now!"
"But I didn't do anything!" Hideki yelled.
"A likely story," The dragon replied sarcastically.
"But it's true!" Marie, "That guy, um…" She then looked to Hideki, as if waiting for him to say something. Hideki caught on quickly.
"Hideki," he replied flatly, propping his head up with his arm. He'd never mentioned his name, had he?
"Yeah," Marie continued, "Hideki may be an idiot, but he didn't do any of this!"
'Idiot?!' Hideki thought to himself, a vein popping on his forehead.
"You should be chasing after the nut-job in the samurai armor! He went that way!" Marie pointed down the alleyway.
The kid and his dragon companion turned and looked at each other, puzzled.
"I didn't see anyone in that alley when we flew over, did you?" The Dragon asked.
"No, Jack, I didn't," Tasuku replied, gripping his chin. He then noticed the Core Gadget on Hideki's arm. Bringing up his Star Pulsar, he looked up the Core Gadget in his database, "It says here that this Deck Case and Aquatic Princess, Marie are registered to one "Shion Wakamichi". So why is this guy wearing it?"
"That's a bit of a long story," Marie replied.
"Half of which I've apparently missed," Hideki deadpanned.
"Wakamichi? Marie?" The voice crackled over the radio, "I thought I knew those names! I believe they're with the Compatibility Experiment." There was a brief pause, "Oh, this is sure to complicate things. Tasuku."
"Yes, sir?"
"Once the injured civilian is secured, I'll explain everything back here at headquarters,"
"Roger that," Tasuku replied as the radio fizzled. He made a gesture towards the green dragon named "Jack". Taking the prompt, Jack lifted his foot and released Hideki. Hideki stood up and dusted off his clothes, "I apologize for that," Tasuku continued, "But I'll have to ask both of you to join me at Buddy Police Headquarters once the girl is properly cared for."
The ride to the Headquarters was quiet and awkward. A Buddy Police patrol van had picked them up and not a word was shared between Hideki, Marie, and Tasuku throughout the entire ride. Tasuku, while having his arms firmly crossed, seemed to be catching a nap, his partner Jack having retreated into his Deck Case. Marie would be glancing around between the outside window, the others riding around, and her feet, likely preoccupied with Shion and her situation.
Hideki was pretty preoccupied, himself. The reality of what had happened was finally sinking in. Had he really just played a card game with his life at stake? Does that happen often around here? And, despite his lack of interest in Buddyfighting, didn't a Buddy only work for one person at a time? He at least knew that much.
Hopefully the answers would be found in the large building they were pulling up to. The Buddy Police headquarters was a skyline-dominating, tube-shaped structure ending with a large crystal at the top. Being the Worldwide headquarters, it housed some of the most intricate equipment the human world had ever produced.
Hideki watched as they pulled up to the gigantic, crystalline monument to the cooperation between Humans and Monsters, legal or otherwise. A bit of an ironic twist, actually. When they arrived, they were greeted by a blonde-haired, bespectacled woman in a red beret and an effeminate version of the outfit Tasuku wore, a clipboard in her hand.
"If you would follow me, please," she said with a professional smile. Hideki and Marie stepped out of the van, but Tasuku remained inside. The woman took notice of this and poked her head into the van, "Tasuku, we're here." she said brightly.
With a startle, Tasuku snapped awake, "I… I wasn't asleep!" He said. That statement convinced nobody.
"Tasuku, you've been working hard all day and all night," The woman replied, "You should go home and get some rest,"
"No, I'm fine, Stella!" Tasuku retorted as he stood up.
"Those are orders from Professor I, I'm afraid," Stella replied, turning up her hands.
Tasuku sighed, "Fine," he said calmly. Grasping his head to fend off how tired he really was, he pulled out his Deck Case, "Let's go home, Jack." At that, Jack popped out of the Deck Case once more. With a gleam of Jack's eyes, the Deck Case transformed once again into the Star Pulsar and the rings appeared at Tasuku's feet. The two floated into the air and vanished into the night sky.
Stella sighed, "I'm sorry about that. He gets that way if he thinks we're treating him like a child,"
"I guess I can see where that comes from," Hideki replied.
"He works so hard, even though he's only twelve years old." Stella replied, "I'm afraid he'll work himself to death."
"Wait, he's twelve?" Hideki replied, "I thought he was just, ya know, short."
Stella giggled a bit at this, "If you will follow me, I'll take you to see Commander I."
You could see everything from the elevator. Hideki actually felt a bit ill as the Earth plummeted below him. Still, the night view of the city was something to behold, with every streetlight, house light, and warning light appearing vividly against the darkened ground. Despite the sight, Marie remained in the corner, glancing at the double elevator doors.
"Trying to see if you can spot your house from here?" Stella said warmly in an attempt to break the awkward silence.
"You can see everyone's house from here," Hideki deadpanned.
"Well, in this business, that's kind of the idea," Stella replied without skipping a beat. She had clearly been prepared for Hideki's return.
Even in her melancholy state, Marie managed to stifle a laugh. Stella smiled, as she had released some of the tension in the small room. At the top floor, the elevator doors opened to reveal Mission Control. The enormous heart of the Buddy Police Headquarters was filled with operators working at their terminals. In Vanguard of all of this technology was a television screen the size of Hideki's house. Watching this large screen, a squat man in a captain's chair that was raised at least twenty feet into the air.
"Commander I," Stella said, saluting, "I've brought the two you wanted to see,"
The man in the captain's chair turned his head, then activated a switch on his chair, causing the arm to swivel around so that he faced Hideki and the others, "Ah, yes, welcome!" He said, "I apologize for the rough treatment, but when we noticed that Marie had emerged in such a place, we suspected foul play."
"Yeah, about that," Hideki said, "What is going on, anyway? Should I even be in here? I mean, how much of this stuff is Top Secret,"
"I'm afraid you've already stumbled across one of our secrets," Commander I replied, "I figured it would be better if you knew what was happening. Besides, we need to know just what happened."
Hideki gave Commander I the details of what had happened that night to the best of his ability, Commander I listened with rapt attention, his eyebrows furrowed intently. He gripped his chin as Hideki finished up.
"You mean to say that you and this stranger in the Samurai armor had a full-on Buddyfight?" He said.
Hideki nodded.
"That shouldn't be possible," Commander I continued, "Normally, a Buddyfight cannot occur outside of an arena or within the Buddy Police shield." He swiveled his chair around again, "Then again, we have been encountering some unusual phenomena lately. There's a chance they could be related."
He made some gestures over the control panel in his chair, bringing up the aftermath of the recent attack on the Photon Metal Mine. The building had been reduced to the appearance of swiss cheese, and the wreckage of both parts of the building and the security put in place to keep it safe was everywhere. Finally, an image of a person appeared: with long, gray hair and dark skin in a trenchcoat, carrying a large drill and wearing a maniacal expression.
"These sorts of incidents are increasing," Commander I replied, "We're still trying to investigate the cause, but nobody can say for sure what's happening,"
"So why would somebody like that be after these two," Hideki asked, "You still haven't explained that yet,"
"Those two are a unique case. They are part of a project we are overseeing here at headquarters called "The Compatability Experiment"."
"The what?" Hideki replied.
"Well, it's a thing where, apparently only some people can buddy with some monsters, or," He grabbed his chin, "Erm, I'm sure the scientists in charge could explain it better than I could. Shion and Marie were volunteers for the program which is why, even though Marie had not yet emerged into this world, that she and that deck case were provisionally registered to Shion,"
"Shion!" Marie piped up, "Is Shion okay?"
Hideki couldn't help but slump at just how obsessed Marie was with Shion.
"Apparently, she's already been released," Stella said, checking over a monitor, "Her injuries weren't serious and apparently she fainted from having been in that hold for so long. She's being brought here now,"
Marie's face finally brightened a bit for the first time since she had arrived there. Almost as if on cue, the elevator behind them opened to reveal Shion, having a few bandages to cover her injuries but otherwise no worse for the wear. A taller man in a Buddy Police outfit with short, brown hair escorted her. His name tag read "Takihara". However, Shion hadn't made more than a couple of steps out of the elevator when she was suddenly crushed in Marie's grip.
"Shion!" Marie yelled as she embraced her friend, "Shion, Shion, Shion! I'm so glad you're okay."
"Marie," Shion squeaked, "You're crushing me!"
Marie suddenly realized what Shion had recently experienced and immediately released her, "Ohmigosh, I'm so sorry!' She said.
Shion fought to regain her breath, holding her hands on her knees, "No, it's fine," she said, "I'm just glad that you two are all right,"
"Of course we're okay!" Marie chimed, "That's because you saved us, Shion!"
Shion chuckled, "I'm not so sure about that."
Hideki couldn't help but notice just how well these two got along. Marie had been such a downer until Shion had shown up.
Which is why Commander I seemed to have trouble continuing, "I'm glad to see that you're feeling better, Ms. Shion," He began, "And I'm sorry that you have gotten involved in all of this. I can understand if this makes you have second thoughts about joining the Compatability Experiment."
"Oh no, it's fine," Shion replied, "I'm still happy I could take part."
"Soooo," Marie said, "What's going to happen to us now?" She gestured between Shion and herself.
"This is a unique case," Commander I said, "Not only did someone find the chink in our armor on this project, but we've stumbled across a compatible user for Marie at the same time. We'll need some time to deliberate what our next course of action should be."
Marie and Shion sank a bit at this.
"Still," Commander I continued, "While you wait, Hideki should be introduced to the experiment. He deserves to know just what he's gotten himself into."
A bit of a chill ran down Hideki's spine.
"Mr. Takihara, if you could escort these three to Laboratory Room 3106. I'm sure the Professors are worried sick about these two." Commander I said.
"Yes, sir!" Takihara replied.
The ride down to the 31st floor was a bit different than the way up. While she had been melancholic on the trip up, Marie now had her nose pressed firmly against the glass and looked out excitedly.
"Wow!" She said, "Shion, this is amazing! We're so high! And all the lights are so pretty,"
"Mmm," Shion concurred, "I get to see it every time I come here."
"You should see it during the day," Takihara chimed in, "You can see everything for miles around, provided the smog isn't too bad."
"Really?" Marie said with a gleam in her eyes, "The palace back home is really tall, but it's underwater so we can't see very far out of it." Marie rose to her feet and grabbed Shion by the hands, "Shion; we'll come back then, right?"
"Um, sure," Shion replied, a little unsteady.
Hideki, on the other hand, was still bearing the forces of the speedy elevator, the growing pressure of his situation adding an extra knot to his stomach that made the plummet feel even worse.
Finally, the elevator arrived at its destination and its occupants departed. A short walk through the curved hallways and they finally arrived at Lab 3106. Takihara entered a code on a nearby keypad and the doors opened. The lab was the sort of sterile white you would expect, abuzz with monitors and data and well-lit from above. Of particular note was a large, round device that almost appeared to be some sort of portal, its form wreathed in wires, hoses, and diodes, notable mainly because of its prominent placement in the laboratory.
Nearby, a large man loomed over a table covered in documents and research data, so engrossed in them that he didn't notice when the automatic door whisked open.
"Hello, Elvis," Shion called out to him. The man who turned did not resemble the former king of rock and roll in the slightest, but was instead an older gentleman, large and astonishingly muscular, though he had a large, dignified mustache on his upper lip. His outfit seemed a bit more old-fashioned, with a sleeveless vest descending into long coat-tails and a tight, button-down shirt that only seemed to emphasize his musculature. Most curious, though, was the pair of very small horns that protruded from his head.
At the sight of Shion, however, the dignified man's face was suddenly overraught with emotion. Dropping the papers he was looking at, he whirled around, tears streaming from his eyes with his arms outstretched.
"OHHH! SHION!" He bellowed, lifting her into a bear hug.
"Not again," Shion strained.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" Elvis continued, "We were worried sick about you."
"I'm okay, Elvis," Shion struggled, trying fruitlessly to push herself away from her captor. Elvis took note of this and released her. Shion continued after catching her breath, "Is the professor here?"
"He should be," Elvis replied. He turned around and called out within the lab, "PROFESSOR!" he yelled, "SHION IS HERE!"
"Right, right, I'm coming," an equally deep voice replied. Coming out from behind a large stack of machinery came another man. Hideki's eyes went wide and his jaw went slack when he saw the man's face. This "Professor" was the spitting image of the Elvis he had just met! Literally the same face, the same build, and the same mustache! Probably the only differences were his lack of horns and his more contemporary attire, complete with a long lab coat.
"OHHH! SHION!" The professor yelled, his face taking on the same tear-streaming expression of his compatriot as he lunged at her in the same manner. This time, however Marie leapt in between the two, her arms outstretched.
"Now that's enough!" She yelled, "Shion's been crushed enough for one day!"
"H..hello, Professor Elvis," Shion said meekly, poking out from behind Marie.
"Elvis?!" Hideki yelled, grabbing his head, "They're both named Elvis?!" This was a bit too much crazy for him.
The two Elvises turned at the sound of Hideki's hysterics, "Ah, yes, of course, how rude of me not to introduce us," The Professor said, pointing to himself "I am Professor Elvis," He then pointed to the other Elvis, "And this is my Buddy Monster, Demon Lord Elvis of Magic World. Together, we work on..."
The two of them suddenly moved in perfect synchronization, making a grand motion to the contents of the lab, "The Compatability Experiment!"