Chapter 2: Debut of a New W/Rebirth! Two-Wills Angel!
Another edit here!
During that very moment when Amata started watching "Skies of Aquaria", more developments had been occurring at the new grounds for which this world defended itself. Like the Deava from twelve-thousand years past, this organization helped train the human beings that bore the potential of Aquarion, or "Element Users" as they were called.
For most still new to this world, it must be known that back twenty-four thousand years ago, the original Aquarion was made and tested in the heat of battle against - ironically enough- its own people. Back in that time period, two major civilizations occupied Earth – the humans, and the "Shadow Angels". While both were capable of incredible acts of both goodwill and cruelty, both sides looked at each other with disgust and envy – the Humans hated the supposed superiority of the Shadow Angels, while the Shadow Angels themselves both despised the mortality of humanity and envied their vitality. In a twist of fate, however – as Amata/Alex knew nearly by heart – war erupted between both sides because the impossible had happened.
A Shadow Angel, the crimson-locked "Angel of Massacre" Apollonius, and the human warrior Celiane, had met in the field of battle and fell in love.
By coming to understand the humans' true potential for compassion and the fact that the majority of Shadow Angels had strayed from any attemptable path to peace, Apollonius chose to shed part of his essence to create the ultimate guardian for a new age: the Mechanical Angel, Aquarion. Piloting it alongside Celiane and their major human ally, Scorpius, Apollonius managed to drive his brethren back and win victory for humanity.
However, the mutual hatred between Angels and Humans had grown far too great for Aquarion alone to stop. With one vengeful blow, most of the Shadow Angels faced annihilation from an unknown blast, and their capitol city, Atlandia was reduced to a mere shade of its former self. Even worse, the ward of both Angel and Human – the Tree of Life, that root of the entirety of Earth, almost collapsed. And with it, all life on their world would vanish for all eternity. In a fit of outrage at a love deemed forbidden, all had unintentionally pushed themselves to the brink of destruction.
To prevent such a disaster, Apollonius chose to give himself up to the Tree, reestablishing its connection to the world while sealing the few Angels left in sleep. As the last pieces of life flowed away from his being, Apollonius looked to Celiane and promised her this:
"We will meet again, Celiane…so please, protect this beautiful world at all costs!"
And with that, the world, so near to the end, was born again.
'And I already know how the next cycle played out' Amata thought wryly to himself, although he WAS curious as to how accurate history managed to be with concerns to the story of Apollonius and Celiane's new selves – Apollo and Silvia de Alisia, or "Apollon" and "Sylvie" as people remembered them. One question tugged at him insistently, though. The question was: Just what was the new Deava, the organization with Aquarion's official power, like if a new threat happened to appear? And, more importantly, just what was he supposed to interfere with?
"Looks like I'll need a little detective work for this one," Amata affirmed to himself. "I guess the trouble has only just begun!"
If only he knew how soon that statement would come true.
Not too far from Neo-Kowloon, this world's own counterpart to Hong Kong, life had continued as it normally did at the new facility of Element Users – the Holy Angel Academy.
One detail in particular, though, stood out like a sore thumb that somewhat marred the aesthetic majesty of the school. Namely, the gigantic wall that split the front of the island academy like a knife, brilliantly deemed the "Berlin". One could not look at it and say it would make sense at face value – Aquarion itself needed absolute unity amongst its trinity of pilots. Any form of desynchronization would do far more harm than good.
Of course, one would seem to grasp the situation immediately once they actually entered the grounds. For you see, the right and left sides of the school had become separate bodies for teaching the Elements. Whether as a precaution to prevent any kind of repeat of the original wars or a tragedy far more recent, amongst the many changes that Neo-Deava made, there was one that nearly made it a for a straight decade at the academy.
For all intents and purposes, Male and Female Elements were to be taught separately at all times. Enforcing this standard were three entities that helped the academy along for the last few years – for the girls, Madame Suomi, a devout nun that lead all of them in religious activities in order to support the "purity" of all-female combinations with the "Aquaria" as well as the church established in honor of Aquarion itself. Leading the males was Sergeant Donar Dantes, a rigorous military man with cybernetic arms that did more than put the boys into shape. Lastly, there was a new function – a new seal – within the Aquaria machines themselves, the "protecting wall of chastity", the Guize Stones.
Yes, "chastity" is mentioned here because, as a robot formed from three machines/Vectors, Aquarion also combined its own power with that of the Elements piloting it, causing parts of their souls to overlap. In more blunt and embarrassing honesty, the Elements…become "one", in a sense.
All that information aside, taking a break from classes was one of the more prominent of the female students, Zessica Wong. Amongst the academy's tenants, she was notable not only for her attractiveness (read: her cute emerald hair, striking violet-blue eyes, and rather…well developed female attributes for her age), but also for her natural affinity with the Aquaria unit and her more…liberal view of the opposite sex. Out of all the females, she was probably the most vocal and open-minded about "Gattai" with a boy, much to the ire of Miss Suomi and her orange-pigtailed, glasses-bound (and much fuller in the front) friend MIX, both of whom practically breathed the conception that cross-gender unions with the Aquaria were forbidden. Had Zessica been more attentive, she might have found ways to defend the other sex, but she paid no mind to them for the moment.
The reason why? She was intently looking at some peculiar object she chanced upon – a red USB drive bearing an 'H' stylized to look like flames.
"Hmm…" Zessica pondered "What exactly are you, little guy?" Taking it closer to herself, she spun around to the general direction of her dorm room. "The suspicions are too much! Mou!" she pouted, her curiosity too strong to ignore – and with no apparent answer at hand.
To think that she would learn more about this strange memory drive at the same time as she discovered more truths about Aquaria…
Having reached the near-end of the movie, which was basically an altered version of the original series' finale (altered in that Apollo was now a pretty-boy that might have alluded to Apollonius, while Silvia was played by the woman from Amata's memory, "Alicia" as she was called, athough something in his new memories insisted that she was much more to Amata), Amata just idly listened to Alicia's song playing as he decided to clean up the theater – just to be polite in returning Mr. Blue's hospitality. Quite frankly, he summarized the movie as being just like the anime from his world – love it or hate it, it does have good points going for it as a visual story.
"Shame it's out of print now – what a nice movie." Amata mused as he started gathering more trash from the empty theater.
Or, he assumed it was empty, so he was certainly surprised by the sight not far from him – a head of violet hair with two locks to the side, the rest of it bundled up around a strange hair-ornament that looked suspiciously like rabbit ears. Daring to examine the admittedly cute girl at a closer range, Amata was surprised to see that the girl, clad in a black-around the torso shirt with long white sleeves, a two-layered skirt with doilies on top and a shade of pink on the bottom, and lighter-violet mid-thigh-length socks, actually having tears sparkling on her cheeks. And damn, was she cute! The emerald eyes only enhanced the image this girl presented.
Hesitating for a bit, Amata then gathered himself in a helpful, but bemused smirk as he asked the girl "Anything the matter, miss?"
"Ah!" the girl yelped in surprise as she became aware of someone other than her being in the theater. "I-I'm sorry! I'll leave right away!" She then stood up before attempting to leave.
"Now hold on there, ma'am!" Amata cautioned the girl as he tried to stop her from leaving. "I should be sorry, being so blunt like that" he added as he sheepishly grinned, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. That seemed to calm the girl down some, since she just blinked before letting out a small giggle. Fully defusing a positively embarrassing first meeting, Amata then inquired the girl,
"Would this be your first time watching "Skies of Aquaria"?"
"Yes," the girl responded, "but I'm sorry for intruding! I didn't think there would be someone else in here!"
"Ah, don't worry about that!" Amata casually waved that aside. "Oh, but where are my manners? I'm Amata Sora, here to help!" he said, extending his hand on bent knee like a gentleman. Judging from the girl's blush, he must have been doing it pretty darn well.
'Wow, this actually worked? You'd think this stuff was possible only in the movies!' Amata thought to himself.
"I-I'm Mikono Suzushiro. P-pleased to meet you, Amata-kun!" she answered in kind, letting her hand be grasped by Amata's.
"I should be pleased that this place is still floating thanks to nice folks like you coming along to watch!" Amata couldn't help but crack a joke, if only to make Mikono feel more comfortable.
"Oh, y-you don't have to thank me, Amata-kun!" Mikono protested his goodwill. "Um…but is it okay if I have a copy of the movie?"
"Ah, darn! No luck there – "Skies of Aquaria" has been out of print for the last decade." Amata told her. "You know what? Let me return your being here by telling you more about it! Just wait for me outside, okay?" he offered her along with a smile.
"O-okay!" Mikono took him up on the offer. "Thank you Amata-kun!" With that, she kindly left the theater, awaiting Amata after he finished up here.
Amata was probably never any luckier than he was before now. He actually got to meet the kind of girl most anybody would kill for! As he picked up the pace with the clean-up, though, he contemplated Mikono herself for a bit.
"She certainly is nice, but I can't help but wonder – is she the new Silvia?" He thought about the possibility – and came up with the idea that she might really be Silvia's reincarnation.
"So I guess Amata would've been the new Apollo" He mused, remembering Amata's levitating powers.
"But then again, what if Apollo and Silvia aren't restricted to just single personas in the new cycle?" he wondered – that was what happened to Celiane, so who was to say that it wouldn't happen again?
"Well, I'll just have to improvise as things get along – and besides, Mikono is still a nice girl to know, reincarnation playing in or not!" the youth concluded, taking the trash to the right disposal bin before he locked up the theater. Checking to see if he still had the money from yesterday, Amata was half-surprised to see it had changed from U.S. dollar bills to actual golden orbs!
"Munny and a near-infinite pocket space?" Alex questioned the circumstances. "Yep, I am DEFINITELY in for a wild ride!"
And with that - after clearing things up with Mr. Blue, of course! - Amata departed for the first "date" he ever had – in any world!
Catching up with Mikono, Amata led her to one of the boat-taxis he assumed were common place in this city.
"Trip for two please, mister!" Amata told the driver as he and Mikono settled into the boat. Handing over the exact amount of 15 munny for one trip, Amata just sat back and watched the scenery with Mikono. What caught his attention, though, were reports of "Abductors" paralyzing the traffic center of New China City coming from the radio the boat provided.
"Those Abductors attacked again," Mikono said forlornly.
"Yeah – guess that's why people can't afford even little pleasures like movies these days" Amata nodded. "We can only hope that the Aquaria can get the job done when they attack."
At the mention of Aquaria, Mikono seemed to drop a level in her cheerfulness, which Amata noticed right away. However, Mikono changed things around with "Abductors or not, I just can't stay cooped up at home forever. The sun's too nice to ignore!"
"Nice policy to follow, Mikono-san." Amata added his two cents in.
"Most people just call it stupid" Mikono objected bashfully before a motorized boat brushed a little too closely to their ride, causing Mikono to fall into Amata. Before Amata could ask her if she was okay, her hair ornament actually flew out of her hair and bit him!
"AHH!" Amata reacted naturally.
"WHAT THE F*^% IS THIS THING?"
….with added chili and other spices.
"Ah! Sorry!" Mikono apologized, which prompted the weird…creature to stop biting on his ring finger. "This is my pet cat, ShuShu. Sorry for his behavior!"
"THAT is a cat?" Amata just couldn't wrap his head around the idea – that was NO cat!
"Of course he is! Aren't you, ShuShu?" Mikono plainly answered before petting the little pet. ShuShu, in turn, purred with delight.
'Guess that justifies her calling him a cat…if only a little.' Amata speculated, no small amount of annoyance being directed at the strange creature.
"I found him after an Abductor attack, and I've been taking care of him ever since!" Mikono added, as though ShuShu being what he was and his subsequent glare at Amata before twirling his tails threateningly were completely natural.
Letting it slide for the moment, Amata decided to tell her about the Aquaria movie – although it didn't need much explaining, since the "fairy tale" of Apollon and Sylvie was common knowledge these days. What did capture his interest, though, was the fact that the song Alicia sung for the movie was actually popular enough to earn its own series.
'Is this a deliberate reference to popular culture and the entertainment industry as is? Or do people's tastes still act like they do in my own time?' Amata wondered. 'Guess wherever you go, some things really are universal.'
A strange person wearing a white coat and a butterfly mask just sneezed at that very moment. "Somebody must be using my lines" he mused in annoyance.
A few moments later, Amata and Mikono were enjoying the city-view from one of the mountain-side buildings.
"Hey, Amata-kun. Did you know that, supposedly somewhere in the world, there's a school where they train the pilots for the Aquaria?" Mikono asked Amata in a new conversation. "They say that only those chosen by Aquaria could ever become Elements. People like Apollon and Sylvie…" she continued, just as they both reached a statue depicting Apollon and Sylvie in a rather intimate kiss.
'Not exactly something people should probe into', Amata mused as a sweatdrop rolled down his forehead, slightly disturbed that people would commit something so private and intimate to public art.
"Say, Amata-kun, have you ever dreamed of piloting the Aquaria?" Mikono inquired. Just looking at her with a bemused face, Alex simply replied
"What kid wouldn't want to ride a real giant robot, even if only for a while? But," he paused for a moment, "I can't help but feel as though I wouldn't be good enough, seeing as how I'm not Apollon."
"Huh? Why do you say that?" Mikono asked him about that opinion.
"The original Aquaria was made using Apollon's spirit and the bond between him and Sylvie. You could say that the two of them were the real heart and soul of Aquaria." Amata conjectured. "And considering what they were like in life, I don't think many other people could match up - least of all someone like me."
"So it means that the only people who can pilot it are people with strong elements…" Mikono drew up, depressed. But before Amata could object, she then looked at him and said "See, Amata-kun? We're a useless pair!"
"GAACK!" Amata yelled as he randomly face-faulted at Mikono's contrasting words and voice – unfortunately, he face-faulted backwards on a staircase, which basically translated to one thing: very bad case of lulu.
"Amata-kun!" Mikono cried in shock and worry as she raced towards Alex's fallen form. "Are you okay?"
"Just…one…question…" Amata managed to force out. "How…can you…say…depressing words…so…cheerfullyyyyyyyy….." And like that, he fainted from a small concussion…right onto Mikono's bosom.
Waking up a little bit later, Amata had a small headache before everything came back to him. Looking up, he saw Mikono smiling in embarrassment…upside down?
'Oh god, don't tell me…' Amata immediately lifted himself up from Mikono's lap, prostrating before her and repeating "I'm Sorry!" over and over again. To anyone passing by, it would've seemed a pretty crazy sight – like a boyfriend apologizing profusely before his girlfriend for something he did wrong.
"Oh, Amata-kun…" Mikono started, but was interrupted by ShuShu leaping out from his place in her hair and barking at the distant sky.
A sky that now held lights approaching like a vulture swooping in for the kill.
"Kagura," a grizzled voice talked to the redheaded, exotic man leading the Abductor squadron. "Don't fool around. This mission is the Mithra Gniss's maiden voyage, so stay strictly to reconnaissance. Understood?"
Kagura, a yellow-eyed man in a black shirt with a feathered collar and blue pants that seemed very tribal, casually accepted with a nod before he pressed the sphere on his right side, allowing his robot's sensors to amplify his own senses – particularly his nose. Taking in a deep breath, he then let out a feral grin.
"So this is Vega…." he mused, "…it smells good."
Instantly, the strange spherical walkers flew into different directions, the bulbous pods from underneath panels flipping out from their sides launching out like tentacles before they captured as many people as they could, tearing up parts of the city in the process. Despite the city's automated turrets doing the best they could, the Abductors suffered no casualties before they sliced the turrets apart with one sweep of their beams.
"Crap!" Amata yelled as he saw the grey machines decimate the defense turrets. "Mikono-san, quick! We have to get away from here!" he shouted as he grabbed Mikono's hand and tried to make a run for it. Before they even got a yard away, though, one Abductor unit landed right near them. Analyzing Mikono in particular, it prepared to extract her when automated gunfire shot into its head.
As the grunt crashed, Amata and Mikono saw what destroyed it – the Aquaria, though one that seemed built more for defense and military firepower as opposed to the original Aquarion. What made it stand out was the admittedly more…masculine color scheme – blue, black, and some green on its chest – as well as how it chose to attack. Wielding a rifle not unlike the one found in most video games, it kept firing at targets only at little movement on its part. Unfortunately for the pilots, it would prove to be a terrible disadvantage – flashing down from the sky and across from the waters forming the city bay, a magenta humanoid robot that looked like a moth brandishing an ax suddenly slammed the Aquaria Type-M away.
Righting itself in time, the Aquaria fired rapidly at the Mithra Gniss, which only dodged each shot as it closed in. Close-up and personal with the Aquaria, the enemy mecha knocked it to the right before it flash-stepped behind it, batting it with its ax before the second hit sent the Type-M flying again. Just before the Type-M could retaliate, however, the Mithra Gniss was right in its face, charging into the Aquaria with a resounding CLANG!
As the Abductor commander fought in practical circles around the Aquaria, Mikono could only watch in shock while Amata tried his damnedest to keep her safe. "Ah dammit – the stairs are busted!" he yelled in frustration. It didn't help his mood any that the Mithra Gniss knocked the Type-M down with just three swings of its ax.
Adding insult to injury, the moth-mecha grabbed the blue Aquaria before it sent it flying into one of the buildings within the city. Just as it looked like a winged devil poised to execute the Aquaria, though, a missile barrage prompted the Abductor machine to dodge away from its prey. Destroying the missiles with a well-timed sweep from his ax, Kagura's mecha was treated to fighting a pink version of the Aquaria, which fared a little better by shooting conservatively.
Regarding each other for a moment, the Type-F Aquaria's main pilot broke the silence. "We meet at last, boys." stated a pink-and-black-suited Zessica.
In the second cockpit, her friend MIX just added "Boys are just rough when they're fighting. It looks so disgusting!"
The third member of their group, seemingly-Indian Sazanka Bianca, just opened up communications with the boys before exclaiming "Cayenne-sama! It's really you!"
Of the three pilots of the Type-M, black-spiked Cayenne could only shake his head at the girl's antics. Why now did one of the team have to go all-fangirl just because an attractive male was present?
Getting back into the action, the Mithra Gniss just hefted its ax onto its right shoulder.
"The new prey smells different," Kagura noted, "Kind of funny!"
Both Aquarias then engaged him in a pincer maneuver, but he aerially weaved through the bullets and missiles with little problems. Taking advantage of the missiles' heat seeking capabilities, the Mithra Gniss directed them onto the ground in front of the two faux-Machine Angels. At this point, the more vocal members of each team – MIX for the girls and ski-hat wearing Andy for the boys – broke down into an argument, completely throwing cooperation out the window. Unfortunately, this was all the distraction Kagura needed, as the Mithra Gniss suddenly whipped a magenta tornado from its ax, sweeping the two Aquarias together.
When the two collided, two things happened in sequence: first, the whole of each trio met their counterparts in a sort of astral overlapping. However, due to the effects of the Guize Stones as barriers barring contact between the two sexes, both were knocked away from each other – with the Type-F grazing the statue of Apollon and Sylvie just enough for it to start toppling right onto Amata and Mikono!
"Mikono! Get down!" Amata yelled before he flattened himself and Mikono onto the ground, shielding her just as the statue crashed onto them.
Gathering all of her energy just to ascertain Amata's condition, Mikono was terrified to see blood dripping from Amata's head. "Amata-kun! Stop! You're hurt too badly!"
"Don't worry about this…I can handle it…" Amata tried to assure her.
"But - " Mikono started, but Amata interrupted with "Letting other people get hurt like this…not being able to help…that's what really hurts me, Mikono-san." At this point, Amata now bore an expression stonily set in determination.
"It's gonna be alright, Mikono-chan – I'm not gonna let you get hurt, no matter what!" he resolutely stated, even as the battle between the Type-F Aquaria and the Mithra Gniss continued.
"Amata-kun! Don't do this! You don't have to!" Mikono protested, just as the Mithra Gniss finally noticed them. With both Aquarias out of action for the moment, it seemed like the both of them were done for!
"No…" Amata said to himself. "It cannot end here…it will NOT end here….Not like this!" Unbeknownst to him, but noticed by Mikono, two strange objects – green and black USB drives – floated out from his coat.
"Amata-kun?" Mikono asked, thoroughly confused by both the objects and by Amata's rising…aura?
"I will NOT just lie down and die…" Amata's voice started rising in volume, enough even for the Aquarias to hear.
"WHEN THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE…."
Both of the drives then plunged into his heart, announcing their true names and power:
"CYCLONE!" "JOKER!"
"I HAVE TO FIGHT FOOOOOR!"
And with a triumphant roar, a sudden tornado of wind, and the Aquarias' breaking into the individual Vector planes, Amata Sora and Mikono Suzushiro were transported into the red-detailed Vector Zed. In that instant, Amata's entire world was flooded with pure power.
Every emotion that the original Aquarion felt, even when it was just a machine…every heartbeat of every life on the planet….every last vision, dream, memory gave him more power than he could have ever hoped to grasp, could have even dared to dream about. But now, he did have the strength necessary for him to win.
Amata finally understood how he would Interfere with this world's fate. He finally understood what real power he now possessed.
And more importantly, he knew just what words to use to get that power unleashed!
"REBIRTH GATTAI! GO…AQUARIOOOOON!"
With an entire twister revolving around them, Mikono, Cayenne, and Zessica – not to mention the whole of Neo-Deava, who were watching the spectacle from start to finish – were understandably surprised. It was even more so when the three Vectors – one male, one female, and one playing host to both – did what had long been regarded as "forbidden":
They all combined!
"Wait…stop…"Zessica's astral self implored the gestalt, "It's too much! It feels like…"
"We're being ripped apart…"Cayenne continued in her stead. "And..and…"
"It's like we're all going to burst!" Mikono concluded for all of them – save the one who initiated the process.
"Everyone…" Amata's voice reached out to all of them, "Don't fight against it. This isn't just us and Aquarion in here anymore. Now…"
As the transformation sequence for what would have been another Aquarion neared completion, two new factors introduced themselves with a cry of "CYCLONE! JOKER!"
"We and the heart of this world….BECOME ONE!"
With the symbols of Cyclone and Joker crashing into Aquarion, something else was awakened. In a flash of purple light and emerald gales, another legend – another HERO, touched down on Earth.
From the entire right side, green light reminiscent of the swirls of a tornado veiled the right half of the new Angel, with an ethereal emerald scarf flying from his neck. Contrarily, black and purple armor stylized like the muscles of some ancient guardian demigod decorated the rest of this new form.
Looking on in pure awe and shock, all who witnessed the transformation of the Vectors into this…truly humanoid titan could only say one thing, as Kagura himself did.
"What…what exactly ARE you?"
Combining the power it now wielded with the soul of the one who initiated it, the giant spoke.
"I…am the new Guardian Angel of this world. One who seeks the truth of this legend of the end!"
Dramatically turning to its right side, the giant that was once Aquarion spread his hand, as though he wielded claws.
"I…am…Aquarion…DOUBLE!" the great titan announced at last.
"Saa…" he slowly raised his hand up, "omae no…" he turned his head and looked with the eyes of Judgment Day, "tsumi o kazoero!" Double finished with his left hand pointing like a gun.
(Now…count the number of your sins!)
And thus, a new legend - a new Interference, was born.
Back at the command center of Neo-Deava, all persons present could only stare with unmistakable confusion.
"The Guize Stones…" the man that served as Commander and Principal stated, dumbfounded, "they were broken!"
Most others, though, noticed the far more drastic changes the Aquaria went under.
"W-what the heck is that?" one of the girls squeaked.
"It looks like…a real, genuine Guardian Angel!" another quipped.
"WOOHOO!" Andy cried in jubilation, more than enthusiastic over the change. "Now THAT is real badassery right there!" he declared.
"H-how vulgar!" MIX responded in kind. "And speaking of which, that abomination is vulgar! The whole IDEA of men and women committing Gattai is vulgar!"
"I HEARD that last statement, Missy!" Everyone jumped at the new voice – it was Amata! "For future reference, could you direct your insults towards something that won't blow up your head when you make it mad?"
If anyone was more surprised about this, it was certainly the lass sitting in the lap of a now-comatose Amata Sora.
"Amata-kun! Wake up!" she pleaded him. "What happened? Please, we have to retreat!" Mikono was practically a nervous wreck.
"Mikono!" Cayenne interrupted, his image opening up in the spherical cockpit of Vector Zed. "What are you doing here? And who's the kid?"
"He's -!"
"Is he the one who hijacked the Aquaria? Why isn't he actually doing anything?" he started losing his temper, especially seeing Mikono on the lap of the person responsible for this new fiasco.
"Hold it, pal!" Amata's disembodied voice echoed throughout Double's new body indignantly. "Like it or not, I'm the one that can keep us alive at this point, but that's only if we all work together here!" Looking at the Mithra Gniss, Amata dared to open communications with it before saying
"Alright, Abductor bozo! If you decide to go quietly and tell us what we need to know, we might just let you go as a prisoner of war rather than another fatality!"
"You…" Kagura could only sniff the kid's scent and inhale before he let loose a sneer. "You actually think I'm gonna tell some freak my world's business?" With that, the moth-like mecha leaped forward with a cry of "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"
"!" Amata reacted, and together with Zessica, he thrust an open palm against the Mithra Gniss – and, right before their eyes, a giant hand of flames and wind mimicking his movements slammed into it, leaving a sizable dent in the mountainside behind Kagura in the process.
Nearly flattened by the attack, Kagura pushed back at Double, countered by a swift left knee to the midsection before the half-and-half Angel spun around with a vicious backhand. Knocked onto the ground, Mithra Gniss leaped back feet-first at Double, who responded using a lightning-speed series of roundhouse kicks that launched the magenta-machine back into the air.
"Ngrrrr…" Now Kagura started unraveling, "Don't screw with me!"
Taking his ax he actually started shooting lasers at Double! With his feet and fists alight with either compressed hurricanes or purple smoke and light, Double punched and kicked each laser back at the Abductor leader with ease, desperately trying to avoid the city proper. Blocking an overhead chop from the Mithra Gniss's ax, Double sent one more hurricane-enhanced punch that knocked both opponents away. At this point, both giants gave signs of battle-damage beginning to appear.
"Such power…" Cayenne gasped out, now feeling the flow of energy that seemed to permeate Double's body. "But Mikono's still – argh!"
Instantaneously, all people present – and those watching – were witness to strange spires not unlike those from Amata's memories rising from the ground. Even more still, an entire procession of what looked like mourners marched up to the central hill, where two people stood in a parody of a wedding ceremony.
"What is this?" Amata wondered, his glowing consciousness floating alongside the cockpits of the Vectors, now suspended in air.
"No – it's the wedding in mourning clothes!" Cayenne realized in terror, "the forbidden union!"
"But who's in the marriage?" Amata and Zessica asked in Mikono's stead, just as the bride and groom turned to face them. To everyone's horror, the bride was Mikono – but the groom terrified Amata more, because aside from the darker shade of red and the yellow eyes, he looked exactly like Apollo!
"Is this what they meant by a forbidden love…?" Amata wondered about both it and the implications it brought. Before anyone could question anything more, though, the vision changed – to something Amata was very familiar with.
Once again, an army of giants, which now looked like variations of the Aquarion and the Mithra Gniss, waged war in a valley of arms plunged into the earth, synthetic liquids – which looked too much like blood to be comfortable – and parts of the giants littering the battlefield. This time, though, they stopped when something broke the perpetual twilight. Like some ungodly fang, a jagged streak of white ripped the sky asunder, daylight giving in to nightfall as blue light shone from only one source:
A moon shaped eerily like a heart.
What came after it, though, thoroughly rocked Amata to the core, especially as it held one too many blades embedded into its body like bone. Turning around with the great, but terrible slowness of a butcher leaning in for the last swing of the cleaver, was a monster black as death, and yet white as the very moon that rained light upon its form. Razor-sharp edges, claws and swords that seemed as though they were actually living entities, and the red slits among black eyes gave all the identification Amata needed.
The infamous Devil of Begins Night, Double FangJoker, had been reborn – as an organic mockery of its original self.
And that was before its tentacles lashed out, spearing every last giant through before FangJoker…consumed them.
Even though Amata had already seen a variation of such devilry in video games, it was even more gut-wrenching in reality – all of the giants being broken apart and screaming their last words as the monochrome demon brought them all spiraling in, rippling like water as they were consumed. Leaving the battleground barren, the beast lowered its head, as though offering the inhumane sacrifices it had devoured to the heart-shaped moon.
And, with one last glance at all those with the misfortune of watching this tragedy, it smiled with the rivers of Hell dripping from its teeth.
Breaking the vision was the Mithra Gniss suddenly charging towards them on all fours, brimming with an inky smoke that Kagura paid no mind to. Reacting by a hair's width, Double preempted the attack and slid around Kagura's mecha, lashing out with several windy palm-thrusts before bicycle-kicking his enemy away.
"Amazing…" Mikono remembered her voice, gripping Amata's unconscious body just to keep it safe.
"No kidding! I can feel this newbie's strength!" Zessica butted in, finally getting over the shock of both her and Cayenne's respective Elements kicking in.
"I'm lost on whether to take that as an insult or a compliment," the slightly-altered voice of Amata appeared again, "But maybe it's time we wrapped this up!"
Quite suddenly, wind whipped about from Double's position, nearly enveloping the green-and-black giant. While everybody else got understandably frightened, Mikono noticed a smile creasing Amata's lips. Seeing this, Mikono just held on with all her might, giving all of her faith onto Amata's shoulders.
'He can handle this' she assured herself, 'I just know it!'
Thankfully, the twister also incapacitated Kagura as well, spinning him above the dome of wind that formed around Aquarion. Not wasting the chance, the Two-World Hearts Angel suddenly conjured up a scaled-up version of the black Joker Memory, pressing it on the J before plunging it into a slot on the right side of his waist. With a mechanical voice announcing "JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE!" Aquarion then leaped into the Mithra Gniss, the very air around them assisting in pushing them further and further beyond the atmosphere.
Eyeing the bestial warrior one last time – 'For now, at least', Amata mused' – Aquarion opened its arms (it crossed them across the Mithra Gniss's front as they launched) with a defiant push before somersaulting back, straightening out with one last cry from Amata:
"JOKER EXTREME…CRUUUUUSH!"
And like an arrow of the gods, Aquarion rushed with both feet aimed at Kagura, splitting apart Joker-end first. Boosting once more, both halves of Aquarion Double met Mithra Gniss's stomach area before crashing into a stray asteroid from the nearby belt.
Suffice to say, one could already guess how much it hurt when more than the majority of the asteroid broke up in a spiral of dust – all from the impact point.
Kicking up from the broken machine, Aquarion Double could only look at it before a familiar mystic circle – a Dimension Gate – sucked the now-limbless Mithra Gniss into it, probably going back into wherever the Abductors made home.
"Looks like it's only just begun," Amata stated grimly using Aquarion's faceplate, before Zessica brought up an imminent issue:
"Not to rain on everyone's high spirits, but…shouldn't we be undergoing some kind of atmospheric re-entry right now?"
As if to illustrate her point, Aquarion slowly drifted down towards the Earth – which made Amata aware of the situation, which then caused the poor robot to accelerate!
"NOW what do we do, genius?" Cayenne snarled at Amata, even though he couldn't see his consciousness as it was now.
"Aside from helping your temperament, pal? Just one thing." Amata responded as calmly as he could.
"EVERYBODY BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
Aquarion dropped like a rock from a several-stories-tall cliff, rolling around comically in its fall as all of its occupants let out shrieks, "gah!" or "YAAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!"
Desperately trying to slow down the fall, Amata summoned up every last bit of wind the Cyclone memory could produce, making Aquarion appear more like a condensed twister the further they went. Finally reaching minimum velocity, Amata let the winds loose, creating a memorable hurricane around the landing area. His heart beating far too fast to settle down, Amata involuntarily knelt down, his right hand pounding the ground in the process. Daring to look back up, Amata noted the few scars the battle left on his hometown. Disheartened but not broken, Amata simply listened to the jubilant cries of Neo-Deava as Zessica and Cayenne exited their cockpits, trying to assist the two new members of their team with the same.
With the days' events catching up to her, Mikono managed a small smile before she tried to wake Amata up."Amata-kun, let's go."
Before she could though, Amata jolted with one last influx of energy before he fell asleep – again, using Mikono as support. Blushing madly at first, Cayenne's reaction be forbidden, Mikono just cradled Alex close. Even though he didn't give any warnings before-hand or signs of it when they first met, she knew that he was somehow tense, wound-up – and even more afraid than she realized.
"Get some rest, Amata-kun" she softly whispered as she brought the boy close, "you've earned it."
A small smile of triumph and hope visited Amata's lips for a while before he nodded off again. Whatever happened to bring him here, Amata had beaten the odds regardless.
And now, he had found new people – new friends – to call "family".
All in a day's work for a Kamen Rider.
(Theme: W-B-X: Double-Boiled Extreme, by Aya Kamiki and TAKUYA)
(As the song starts, we see the back of Aquarion Double keeping vigil over Neo-Kowloon, the moon shining over everything as his Windy Stabilizer scarf fluttered in the gales. Following the song shifting into its more Rock form, the Cyclone and Joker Memories collided, forming the famous W of Kamen Rider Double alongside the symbol of Aquarion)
AQUARION: CHAIN OF FATED MEMORIES
(Just as the title appears, Amata is seen pocketing both of his current Memories before fading into the wind)
Dub-B-X, CRIME AND THE CITY!
(Amata was waking up to the new day, just as Madame Suomi came in to check on her surrogate ward)
Mata dareka ga totsuzen DOA wo tataku/Once again, there's a sudden knock on my door
(With photos of his flash-dressing, Amata was fully decked-out as he looked to Neo-Kowloon and the real Fuuto Tower)
Jiken no yokan WELCOME TO THE WINDY CITY/I sense a case coming. Welcome to the windy city
(A simplified Amata was running throughout the city, trying to quell any trouble that he came across)
Kono machi ni wa namida wa niawanai ze/Tears don't suit this city
(Amata, Zessica and Cayenne tried to desperately sort the various words and Memories that now flooded the area, before Amata snatched a black one with an 'S' shaped like a skull)
Yami ni hisomu Keyword mitsuke-dasou /Spot those keywords hiding in the darkness
(Mikono and Zessica arrived to greet Amata just before he slumped down, instantly recharged by their presence)
Hitori de wa todokanai yume/That dream which couldn't be reached alone...
(Amata, Zessica and Mikono found themselves in an infinite library, before falling onto a stained-glass platform depicting Amata as both Aquarion and a more sinister Mithra Gniss)
(Kensa suru mugen no Archive! Kioku to iu umi e DAIBU!)/(Search the infinite archive! Dive into the ocean of memories!)
(Gathering his wits as he looked at the two girls, Amata let the halves of Aquarion Double – the windy Cyclone, the flame-like Heat, the crescent-moon-decorated Luna, the lean-muscle and scarred Joker, the robotic Metal, and the knight-like Trigger – appear from his essence)
Kimi to nara kanaerareru HALF AND HALF/It it's with you, we can make it happen: Half and Half
(Amata assumed the classic pose before crying "Henshin!")
(DOUBLE-BOILED-EXTREME!)
(Aquarion-Double went through its various forms, brandishing gauntlets and grieves, different staves, or different guns with each change of the Body Memories)
DUB-B-X! futari no BODY AND SOUL (Hoka ni naisa Only tsumari ainori) hitotsu ni/DUB-B-X two bodies and souls…(There's no one else, I'll only ride with you)…fused into one
(Amata leaped out, brandishing a sword shaped like a key before transforming into Kamen Rider Double on the HardBoilder, and then into Aquarion Double)
DUB-B-X! Saikou no PARTNER deau toki/DUB-B-X when I meet the ultimate Partner
(Mikono and Zessica reached out to Amata as they fell from the sky, with Amata catching them before all three transformed into a silhouetted new Double)
Kiseki okoru (SO WE CAN MAKE IT)/A miracle will happen
DOUBLE wo sagase!/Search for Double!
(The new Double flew across the Neo-Deava group before the three main Aquarions took its place)
DUB-B-X CRIME AND THE CITY!
(Aquarion Double, CycloneJoker form, did the signature pose before the title appeared once more)
(Music ends)
A/N: Whew, there's officially the beginning of my first official project – the first meeting of Aquarion and the Kamen Riders, along with Kingdom Hearts! What does this mean for Amata and everyone else to come? Well, that's the mystery! So read on, and leave reviews, readers!
Just to recap, I only own Alex, nothing more, nothing less! All other elements belong to their original owners!
On that note, I must extend thanks to the authors Newbie-Spud and ngrey651, whose works inspired me to take this foray into the rising stars of Asian entertainment! Kudos to your stories and wonderful characters, fellas!
Until then, see ya later, readers!