NOTE: New story! I told myself I'd never write another story of a character other than Ben having the Omnitrix after Emi 10 (That story is dead. I'm never going back to it). But I got the idea, and I honestly couldn't resist writing this story at all.
This fic takes place after Yakuza 3. Spoiler warning for everything up to 3, including 3 itself.
Enjoy and Review!
Chapter 1: Of Aliens and Dragons
Haruka Sawamura stared at the wreckage of Morning Glory, her home for the past year or so had been utterly destroyed. Due to the events orchestrated by Yoshitaka Mine, the United States' FBI, and other members of the esteemed Tojo Clan, she and her new family had been dragged into their chaos. However, thanks to her adopted father-figure, Kiryu Kazuma, everything turned out fine.
Well…mostly fine. Some important lives were lost in the mayhem that had ensued.
"Rikyia…" Haruka thought back to the deceased captain of the Ryudo Family. He had given his life in order to protect her Uncle Kaz from getting killed. She wished it hadn't happened, but she was thankful for his actions. It wasn't the first time she's experienced the loss of people she's cared about. The death of her mother at the hands of her biological father during the Millennium Tower incident came to mind.
"Haruka?" The daughter of the Dragon of Dojima perked up. She saw Izumi, the youngest of the Morning Glory children, walking over to her. Izumi is a small girl with brown hair tied into a ponytail. She's wearing a white shirt with pink polka-dots with a yellow skirt and blue leggings underneath.
"Izumi? What's wrong? Shouldn't you be asleep with the others?" Haruka asked.
"Couldn't sleep. I had a nightmare." Izumi muttered. "I was looking for Uncle Kaz, but he wasn't here."
"He said he had to go out to get some groceries for tomorrow since everything else had been wrecked with the orphanage. But, I'm here, so you can tell me if you like." Haruka smiles warmly.
Izumi nodded her head, knowing she could trust Haruka the most. It wasn't like she couldn't trust the others, but Haruka always made time to hear them out if they had issues. Sitting down on the beach's sand next to the other girl, Izumi stared at the ocean. "I had a nightmare about the Morning Glory again, when those mean bad guys showed up and wrecked it. Everyone got hurt and Uncle Kaz didn't appear to save us. I-I…" Izumi didn't want to finish, tears welling up in her eyes. The youngest was quickly embraced by the eldest, holding her close.
"It's okay…it's okay. Everything's going to be fine, we're all okay." Haruka continued to whisper soft comforts to Izumi in hopes of calming her down. She should've expected this to happen and cursed herself for not seeing it. Unlike herself, the kids of the Morning Glory have no ties to the Yakuza world. Other than the Ryudo Family, who weren't really that bad of guys, they never had any real issues since moving to Okinawa.
The Tojo Clan popping up at their doorsteps to drag her Uncle Kaz back into some mess was unexpected. Maybe, if they had seen it coming then none of this would've happened but what's done is done.
But what hurts Haruka the most is her inability to protect everyone else. She wasn't big and strong like her Uncle Kaz or the other Yakuza men she knows, she's just a young girl who can only sit on the sidelines.
Watch as her mother dies at the hands of a bastard.
Watch as her Uncle Kaz and Kaoru were going to die from a 'bomb'.
Watch as her new home was destroyed in front of her and the rest of her family.
And watch as her Uncle Kaz was stabbed in the middle of the streets of Kamurocho.
Throughout thick and thin, her Uncle Kaz remained strong and protected her. He's fought and fought and fought countless enemies who wished to do him and others harm. He's lost so much and so much due to his past as a Yakuza in the Tojo Clan. Was it too much to ask that the world could just leave him alone for once?
Is it too much to ask the world to just let her help him?
"H-Haruka." The oldest was brought out of her thoughts by Izumi. She looked down at the little girl to see her pointing up towards the sky. "L-look! In the sky! What is that?" Haruka looked up towards the night sky, seeing the bright streak racing across the stars.
"I think it's a shooting star."
"A shooting star?"
Haruka nodded her head, smiling softly. "Yes, it's explained that when you make a wish upon a shooting star, then your wish will come true."
"R-really?" Haruka answered by nodding her head. Excitement overtook the little girl, she stood up on the sand and looked towards the 'star'. "In that case…! I wish that the Morning Glory gets restored quickly, so that we can all be happy again!" Izumi declared.
Haruka loved the sweetness of her wish. "That's a wonderful wish, Izumi."
"You make one too, Haruka!" Izumi exclaimed.
"M-me?"
"Yes, it wouldn't be fair if it was just me."
Shaking her head, Haruka stood up and brushed the sand off her skirt. "Okay, then. I'll make one too." She said to Izumi before gazing at the beautiful sky. "I wish…that for once…I could be strong enough to protect not just myself, but Uncle Kaz and all the kids at the Morning Glory." She decided to keep this one internal, not wanting to worry Izumi again.
"You didn't say it?" Izumi tilts her head.
"Not all wishes have to be said out loud." Haruka giggled. She found Izumi's pout cute, especially the way she turned back towards the 'shooting star'. The daughter of Kiryu didn't put much stock into her wish coming true as things like that weren't real. But she wanted Izumi to believe it and give you something positive to look forward to. "C'mon, Izumi, let's get back to bed before Uncle Kaz comes back-"
"Uh…Haruka?"
"Hm? What is it?"
"Are shooting stars supposed to change directions?"
Haruka turned back around to see that the 'shooting star' was no longer racing across the skies but instead of coming down towards the beach. Her eyes widened and Haruka quickly grabbed Izumi to pull her away. "GET DOWN!"
CRASH!
After ensuring that she and Izumi were okay, Haruka looked up to see if anything had been damaged. Luckily everything was still intact and nobody had been hurt. The only difference being that some people had been disturbed by the loud crash, but probably brushed it off. The other kids of the Morning Glory seemed to be too deep asleep to wake up. "Okay…nobody's hurt."
"H-Haruka?" She looked down to see Izumi clutching onto her. "What was that?"
Haruka hugged her close, not entirely sure, but wanted to comfort her. "I'm not sure, but we're all okay. That shooting star didn't seem to hit us." Haruka looked over to see smoke rising from the far other end of the beach. "Looks like it crashed all the way on the other end of the beach."
"What do you think it is?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to check it out. Stay here, Izumi." Haruka instructed as she stood back up.
"B-but…!" Izumi started to protest.
"If anything happens, you'll have to inform Uncle Kaz about what's going on. Though, I'm certain that it's nothing dangerous." Haruka reassured Izumi, patting her head softly. "I'll be right back." She was rushing off before Izumi could say anything else.
Izumi just hugged herself, trying to reassure herself that Haruka would be just fine. It was a shooting star, so there's no way anything bad could happen. But she was praying that her Uncle Kaz would hurry back to protect them. Once he was back everything would go back to normal.
Little did Izumi know that on this night, their lives would never be the same again.
Haruka reached the end of the beach, where a small crater had been created in the sand. Taking hesitant steps towards it, Haruka prepared for anything that could jump out at her. Once she was right above it, Haruka found herself staring at a small round black pod. "A ball?" Suddenly, the hardened sand beneath her feet crumbled, causing the oldest child to fall into the crater. "Eek!"
Stabilizing her balance, Haruka kept herself from falling over. But now she was right in front of the pod, which upon closer look seemed even more strange. It was like nothing she had ever seen before in her young life. Suddenly, the pod reacted to her presence and opened up revealing a bulky black and white watch with a green hourglass symbol.
Haruka was now completely lost at this point. "A watch? What is a watch doing in outer space?" Against her better judgment, Haruka reached out to grab the watch only for the thing to jump at her in response. It latched onto her left wrist, clamping down on her skin with a soft hiss. "KYA!"
Amongst her family and friends, Haruka was always known to be level headed and intelligent. However, in the face of something she had no knowledge or experience with she began to freak out. "G-get off! Let go!" She tried to pry the watch off her wrist, but the damn thing was practically glued to her skin. The young Sawamura girl climbed out of the crater in hopes of finding anything that could pry the thing off her wrist.
In her haste, she missed the way the watch's dial started rotating. It eventually stopped, but underwent some sort of change. Its interface and tubes switched from green and white to pink, but kept the rest of its colors exactly the same.
Haruka cared little for the new appearance of the device, opting to try and pry it off with a stick she found. Unfortunately the stick broke quite easily, annoying the young girl. "How is it that Uncle Kaz always finds useful stuff out on the beach, but I can't?!"
Eventually Haruka just gave up, resigning herself to her fate. She'd probably have better luck getting some hospital to remove it than anything the beach could provide. Which means she should hurry back to Morning Glory before Izumi starts getting too scared. Giving the watch another look, a bit of curiosity overtook Haruka. "What even are you? You're not like any normal watch I've seen before."
She poked one of the buttons, causing the dial to pop up suddenly, revealing the pink circuitry underneath. "Weird…" She saw that the dial's faceplate had switched from an hourglass to a weird looking icon. Pinching the dial with her index and thumb, she turned it and gasped at the icon switching to another one. "What the…? Yeah, I've never seen anything like this before." She kept turning the dial, counting that there were only 10 icons present. "I wonder what would happen if I…" She put her finger on top of the dial and pushed it back down. She screamed when everything around her exploded with bright pink light.
On this day, the life and fate of Haruka Sawamura changed forever.
"Uncle Kaz! Uncle Kaz!" Kiryu Kazuma, the legendary Dragon of Dojima and ex-fourth chairman of the Tojo Clan, saw Izumi running towards him. The ex-Yakuza was confused as to why she was still awake when it was way past her bedtime. Putting down the grocery bags for the moment he was greeted by Izumi crashing into him. His larger and tall body didn't react to her impact, but he did hug her back. "Izumi? Why are you awake?"
"I-I was having a nightmare, but Haruka helped calm me down! But, that's not important right now! You have to help Haruka!" Izumi panicked. Even when dressed in his Hawaiian shirt and white pants, Izumi still felt incredibly safe whenever she saw him.
Instantly Kiryu was put on high alert. "What?!"
"A-a shooting star just came flying down towards us! Haruka protected me as it crashed down at the end of the beach! She went to look for it, but hasn't come back yet! She told me to wait for you and tell you what happened!" Izumi explained.
"I see…" Kiryu furrowed his brows looking towards the direction Izumi had pointed at. He had heard some loud crash as he was walking through the streets of Okinawa but paid no mind to it. Now he was cursing himself for not hurrying back over to check on the kids and now Haruka could potentially be in danger again. "I'll go check it out. Izumi, stay here and I'll be back with Haruka quickly."
"But, I want to come with-"
"I know, but I need you to get the others up just in case something goes wrong. Explain the situation to Ayako and she'll know what to do. Can you be strong for me, Izumi?" Kiryu asked. He knew that wsa asking a lot of her, but he needed to find Haruka.
The little girl wiped away her tears, nodding her head quickly. "Y-yes, Uncle Kaz!" He placed his hand on her head, comforting her a bit.
"Thank you. I'll be back with Haruka." Kiryu stood up, rushing towards where he hoped Haruka would still be.
Little did Kiryu know that what he would find at the end of the beach would forever change not just his fate his fate, but the fate of the Yakuza world and more.
"W-what am I…?" Haruka stared down at her hands, utterly baffled by the pale white skin and green claws. From what she could tell she was no longer human. Rushing towards the water to get a better look at herself, she gasped in shock. She resembled a large fish similar to an alligator or shark. She has large green fins, a green anglerfish-like lure, two sets of two gill-like slits on her chest, and grey narrow eyes. She's wearing a black and gray suit with two blue tubes that have water inside. She has two thin green lines on her loin cloth with a zig-zag pattern that points outwards. On her chest is the pink hourglass symbol of the watch. "I-I-I'm a monster?!"
Haruka stumbled onto her rear, panicking in fear. "W-what do I do?! I can't go to school looking like this! What do I tell Uncle Kaz and the others?!" The young girl wanted to cry, her life seemingly over by this freak incident.
"HARUKA!"
She flinched, quickly stumbling to her feet. The alien's eyes widened after realizing who that voice belong to. "Uncle Kaz…?" She started to be filled with hope before realizing something terrible. "I can't let him see me like this! He won't recognize me and will think I'm some kind of monster! Well… I guess I am some kind of monster now." She mourned the loss of her normal life. Haruka tried to find somewhere to hide, but there was nowhere on the beach that would supply good cover for her. Thus, leaving her to stand in place as the owner of Morning Glory arrived.
Haruka could count the handful of times she's seen her Uncle Kaz genuinely surprised and now this could be added to that. His usual stoic face broke as he stared at her unusual appearance and all she could do was manage a little wave. Her action brought him back to his senses, the Dragon of Dojima shifting his body to a stance.
"What are you? And where's Haruka?"
"W-wait! It's me, Uncle Kaz! I know it doesn't look it, but I'm Haruka!" She exclaimed, hoping he would believe her. Unfortunately, it was clear as day that he didn't believe her, and her Uncle Kaz was much more of a punch first kinda guy in these situations.
And she really did not want to know what the end of his punches felt like!
"I was told that Haruka was here, now tell me what you did with her before things get violent." Kiryu started walking towards her, causing the girl to back away.
"I didn't do anything with her! Please listen to me and understand that I am Haruka!" She was basically begging at this point for him to listen.
Kiryu stopped, staring at the terrified alien. He looked into her eyes and saw that she was really begging for him to listen. "Fine… I'll give you one chance. Prove to me that you're Haruka…only something she and I would know."
"Your sworn brother's name was Nishikiyama, both you and him were in love with my mother Yumi. The 10-million-yen incident where they both died was back in December 2005 in-"
"Enough!" Kiryu stopped her, his face showing several different emotions but one of them was confusion. "...Haruka?"
"H-hey, Uncle Kaz."
"What happened?" He asked softly, no longer doubting if the creature in front of him was his adopted daughter. There were only a few people who knew the truth of that entire incident and his feelings towards Yumi, Haruka was one of them.
"I-it's a long story…"
Above Earth's atmosphere was a large sword hilt-shaped spaceship. It had blade-like wings extending above and below it. The ship has a muted brown color with silver accents and has multiple openings that glow red with energy. Inside of the ship, multiple humanoid robots were operating the ship, trying to repair that damage it had taken in the recent battle. In the center of the main room was a massive cylinder tube, containing the battered body of the owner.
"The Omnitrix… Have you located its signal yet?"
"W-we're working on it, sir. We currently have scouting droids scanning its last known-"
"HURRY. The more time you waste finding the Omnitrix the more likely that some worthless welp will have claimed it! Retrieve the Omnitrix or suffer my wrath."
"O-on it, sir!"
"I see, so this watched latched itself to you and turned you into this…monster?" Kiryu tried to make sense of Haruka's tale.
"I'm starting to think 'alien' since it came from space, but yeah." Haruka sighed, hugging her legs close to her chest. "I'm sorry, Uncle Kaz, if I had just waited for you then none of this would've happened."
Kiryu shook his head. "No, don't put any blame on yourself, Haruka. Had I been here instead of doing some night shopping then none of this would've happened. You did good with keeping Izumi and the others safe in my absence."
"B-but I'm stuck like this, Uncle Kaz!" Haruka shot up, yelling at this point. "Goodbye school, goodbye hanging out with friends, everyone at the orphanage is gonna think I'm some kind of freak, and I've just created new problems for you, Uncle Kaz! All because of this stupid watch!"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"Eh?" Father and daughter stared at the blinking symbol until a red flash erupted around Haruka. When the light died down, Kiryu saw that Haruka had turned back to normal. Looking down at her left wrist allowed him to see the watch that had been responsible for this stuff in the first place. "Haruka, you're…?"
She touched her face before looking down at her hands. "I'm normal…? I'm me again!" Haruka and Kiryu stared at each other before embracing one another in a tight hug. "I'm back to normal."
"Yeah, I'm thankful." Kiryu released a breath of relief. It had scared him to think of what Haruka's life would become if she had been stuck in that state, but it seemed like their fears were unwarranted. "Let's head back to Morning Glory before the rest of the kids get worried."
"But what do we do about this?" Haruka lifted the watch.
"We'll try to figure out a way to remove it once we get back."
"Right!" Haruka followed after Kiryu, but not before giving the pod one last look. Call it a gut feeling, but she felt like something was going to go wrong, but she didn't know what.
"Uncle Kaz! Haruka!" The kids of Morning Glory loudly hurried over to their caretaker and big sister. They were all voicing their concerns over them after Izumi had explained the situation, and their resident dog, Mame, was barking his concerns as well. The youngest had ran over to Haruka, wrapping her arms around her.
"I was so worried! I thought something bad happened!" She cried. Haruka felt terrible for worrying her, trying to soothe Izumi's fears.
"I'm sorry, Izumi. I'm perfectly fine, see?" She raised her arms to show that nothing was wrong with her.
Taichi, a young boy with a heavy build dressed in a red T-shirt and shorts, noticed the watch on Haruka's arm. "Woah! Haruka, what's with that weird watch?" His question got all of the kids to simmer down, their attention now on Haruka's wrist.
"O-oh…it's-um…" She didn't really know how to explain it. She looked towards Kiryu for help in explaining.
"Look, let's all calm down. It's been a hectic night for Haruka, let's all sit down at the table, and we'll explain. Okay?" Kiryu's orders were heard, and the kids started moving towards the table. Once everyone was seated, Kiryu explained the situation to them all. The idea of keeping the mysterious nature of the watch a secret did cross his mind, but in case something caused Haruka to transform again he'd rather not have the kids freak out. When he finished explaining, there was a period of silence for the kids to digest the information.
Haruka shrunk down a bit, worried that they'd all be freaked out by the thing stuck to her wrist-
"Show us!" Koji spoke up first. He has short black hair and wears a blue shirt with brown shorts. "I wanna see Haruka transform!"
"Eh?" Haruka tilted her head.
"Yeah! It sounds epic!" Taichi added.
"B-but-" Haruka stammered, shocked by their excitement.
"I gotta agree! It sounds like some sci-fi movie!" Mitsuo exclaimed. He is a young boy of African American decent. He's wearing a green polo with dark green shorts.
"I can't say I'm not interested in seeing it." Riona adds. She's a young girl with long black hair, she's dressed in a long-sleeved pink shirt and red shorts. "B-but, that's only because the others are willing!"
"M-me too!" Eri spoke up before turning her head away. She's a withdrawn girl with small pigtails. She's wearing a light blue patterned polo with blue jeans stopped above her ankles.
Shiro kept his eyes on Haruka's watch. "I'm kind of interested in seeing how it works. If it causes abnormalities, then it might help me with some research." He's a young boy with a bowl cut. He's wearing a yellow hoodie with blue jean shorts.
"While I won't pester you as hard as they would… I can't say I'm not curious as well. It's something interesting." Ayako, the second eldest said. She has long twin braided black hair. She's wearing a light green button up with a white blouse underneath, and a long white skirt. "But if you don't want to, then don't feel pressured, Haruka."
Kiryu, who was aware of the fear Haruka had, smiled down at her. "See, Haruka, there's no need to be afraid. They're your family, they'd never be afraid of you…no matter what."
She clutched the fabric of her shirt, fighting back the tears that were building. Haruka scolded herself for being so quick to cry, she had grown out of this years ago. She's witnessed several grown men including her own mother die. She's strong…so she shouldn't cry so easily, but she just loved her life here at Morning Glory so much.
She was stupid to believe that they'd be afraid of her transforming into aliens…thinking she's become some freak instead of the Haruka they knew. Sucking it all back up, Haruka raised her head and smiled brightly. "Right!" After everything they've been through, something like this wouldn't tear them apart.
WHHMMMM!
"Hm?" Kiryu's ears picked up the noise first. He stood up from the table to search for it, confusing the children.
"Uncle Kaz?" Haruka asked, but she went ignored.
"What's wrong with Uncle Kaz?" Mitsuo asked.
"I don't know." Eri responded, growing concerned.
As his kids were discussing his behavior, Kiryu stayed on guard. Years of fighting have taught him one thing and it was to always stay on guard. Especially after Rikiya's death, he didn't want to risk anything getting the jump on him like that again. Suddenly, he caught the sight of three objects hurling towards them. As they got closer, the children also became aware of what had spooked their adoptive father. They all got up from the table with the younger ones backing away in fear behind the eldest as three objects arrived at their location.
Kiryu and the kids observed the three mechanical droids that hovered in the air, their appearances were clearly not of anything they recognized on Earth. The Dragon of Dojima stood protectively in front of the kids, waiting for the droids to do something.
One of the droids turned its head to the kids after scanning Kiryu, not finding their target. But once it had found Haruka, the droid located their objective attached to her wrist. Without warning it, along with its two companions, pointed their blasters at the eldest child and fired.
"Haruka!" Kiryu realized their target quickly pushed the girl out of the way before the red bolts could hit her. He glared at the enemy machines with the ferocity of a dragon and pulled Haruka to her feet. "Haruka, you take the kids and run!"
"B-but, Uncle Kaz-"
"I can handle this! Can't you see that they're afraid?!" Kiryu's question caused her to look at the kids of Morning Glory, who all look terrified out of their minds. Just like when Mine and his goons showed up and trashed Morning Glory. "You're the oldest, so it's your responsibility to watch out for them. Now, go!"
Haruka clenched her fists, once again upset at having to leave everything to him again, but she complied. Turning to her adoptive siblings, she started urging them all to run. "Everyone, we have to run! Uncle Kaz can handle whatever those things are, but we'll just be in his way!"
"S-she's right…!" Ayako found her voice. Finding her bravery to protect her new family this time. "We have to run!" With the two eldest yelling at them, the kids raced for the gate and took off from Morning Glory.
Unfortunately, their escape wouldn't be so easy as the droids began giving chase. Kiryu jumped into the air, grabbing one of them and throwing it to the ground. But he wasn't quick enough to stop the other two from chasing after the kids. "NO-!" He was stopped by the droid he had attacked. It tried to impale him with its claws, but the dragon dodged it. "Fine! I'll quickly take care of you and go after those two!" Kiryu declared. "Keep them safe, Haruka!"
Haruka didn't know if they should stop running or not, but the further away they were from the orphanage the better their chance of survival. "Maybe, we'll be safe if we hurry into town! Don't stop running-"
WHHMMM!
Haruka and the kids gasped as the noise grew closer to them. Looking back, they saw as two of the droids were catching up to them. This caused the fear of the children to grow even more as the dangerous machines approached. "How did they catch up with us so fast?!" Ayako questioned.
"D-do you think that Uncle Kaz-" Shiro didn't want to finish, but he didn't have to for everyone to get the message.
"No way!" Taichi growled. "Uncle Kaz…he wouldn't lose so easily!"
"Taichi's right!" Haruka backed him up. "Uncle Kaz must be dealing with one of them while the other two are chasing after us!"
"But why would they be after us?! What did we do?!" Koji yelled.
Haruka mentally paused at that, not stupid enough to stop running. She looked back at the droids and then down to the watch on her wrist. The thing had appeared in some pod from space, then these things came down and tried to attack her. Now they're chasing after her and the kids… "No, they're chasing after me…!"
"After you?!" Ayako turned to Haruka.
"They must be after this watch! I mean…if this thing can apparently turn me into aliens, then something or someone must want it, right?!" She noticed that the sounds of the droids were getting closer. "Everyone, turn for the beach! We'll hide in the rocks!" They listened to her, and all headed down into the beach, ducking for cover. Thankfully, the droids were momentarily confused but were searching the area for their hiding spot.
"W-what if we just give it to them? Won't they leave us alone then?" Eri asked, trying to be optimistic.
"Considering that they shot at us immediately and that I can't take this thing off, then that idea isn't going to work." Haruka responded.
"If we don't do something then they're going to find us and I'm not sure if we're going to like what happens after." Shiro's grim reminder didn't help at all.
Izumi sniffled, terrified out of her mind. All she wanted was for them all to be safe and happy, which is why she made the wish on that shooting star. But all it did was bring them trouble in the form of these killer robots.
Haruka saw Izumi crying and frowned. She had promised the girl that everything would be okay and right now they're running for their lives. But she didn't know what to do to fix the situation she inadvertently put them in.
Once again, she was useless-
"You're the oldest, so it's your responsibility to watch out for them."
Haruka looked down at the watch, an idea coming to life in her head. "That's it…!"
"What is?" Koji asked.
"The watch! If it got us into this mess, then it's going to get us out!" Haruka brought up the watch, pushing the buttons to pop up the dial. She scrolled through the icons, trying to decide what to pick. The problem is that she's only transformed once and doesn't even know what these other ones are.
"B-but are you sure it'll work?!" Eri asked.
Haruka looked down at Izumi before answering. "We won't know until I try, right? I'm the oldest, so I have to do my part in protecting you guys as well."
BLAST!
"KYAAAA!" The children screamed as the droids had finally found them, raining down bolts upon their hiding spot. Haruka didn't have time to keep questioning which one would be the right choice, so she slammed down the dial and hoped for the best.
FLASH!
The droids stopped firing on the kids, waiting for the dust to settle from their attack. Their scanners looked for the Omnitrix's signal. They beeped in confusion as it didn't appear to be in the location, they believed it to be. The robots failed to notice the large orange dog leaping behind them until it was too late. The creature sunk her claws into one of the droids, tearing the metal apart with savage fury. "RAGH!"
The kids had managed to get more cover during the confusion thanks to Haruka. They all stared in amazed awe at their older sister's transformation. Haruka had transformed into a large orange dog-like creature with no eyes, ears, nose, or tail. She has three gill-like nostrils located on each side of her neck. On her left shoulder was a black and pink brace with the watch's symbol on it.
"So cool!" The boys yelled, stars in their eyes.
"Beat that thing, Haruka!" The girls cheered her on.
Haruka continued slashing at the machine wildly with her claws, causing sparks to explode from the decaying droid. The second one attempted to blast her, but her senses picked up on its intent and jumped off the first one. Its bolts hit the first droid, blowing it to bits. Haruka landed on top of the second one and sunk her teeth into it and tore it apart as much as she could. The droid didn't stand a chance against the dog girl and went crashing into the rocks, exploding into pieces. Haruka landed onto the sand, howling into the night sky as her adopted siblings all ran over to her.
"You were so awesome, Haruka!" Taichi exclaimed.
"You saved us!" Ayako softly pets Haruka, earning a soft noise from the oldest child.
Riona examined Haruka's new appearance, slightly confused. "But how did you do all of that? You can't even see." She waved her hand in front of Haruka's face.
"Are you some kind of dog? You're a weird looking one for sure." Mitsuo tried to poke her gills, but Haruka jumped back and growled at him. Mitsuo raised his hands in defense. "Sorry! Don't bite me!"
"She's not gonna bite you, Mitsuo!" Riona rolled her eyes.
Izumi approached Haruka and wrapped her head in a hug. "Thank you, Haruka." Her big sister responded by nuzzling her head closer, making Izumi giggle.
"I guess you can't talk when you're like this, huh?" Shiro realized. "You really are like a dog?" Haruka nodded her head in response.
"Uh…guys?" Eri got their attention. "Shouldn't we hurry back to Uncle Kaz?"
…
…
…
"AH! SHE'S RIGHT!"
"RARGH!" Haruka roared before taking off back towards the orphanage.
"Haruka! Wait!" Ayako and the others chased after the alien dog.
"ORA!" Kiryu finished tearing the droid in half, leaving its remains to explode on the beach. The Dragon of Dojima had a few cuts on his arms, but nothing that would count as serious injuries. He had no time to rest anyways, since he needed to ensure that his children were okay. He was about to run off to find them until a dog's panting could be heard. He assumed it was Mame, but the footsteps were too loud to be him. It wasn't until the dog revealed itself that Kiryu put himself back on guard. Luckily, he caught sight of the brace on the large orange dog, recognizing the symbol as the one on Haruka's watch. "Haruka?"
"Ragh!" She replied happily, jumping on top of him. Kiryu was knocked over as Haruka nuzzled his face, happy to see he was okay.
Kiryu couldn't help but smile. Even though he couldn't verbally understand her, her feelings were more than clear. "Yes, I'm happy to see you're okay as well. But what about the other kids?"
"Uncle Kaz!" He looked over to see the rest of the children had finally caught up to them and were all okay. "You're okay!" The youngest of the children all joined Haruka in dogpiling Kiryu, while the older ones controlled themselves, but their relieved faces spoke enough.
Suddenly, the brace on Haruka's shoulder started to ring before flashing red and turning her back to normal. She examined herself for a moment and shook her head, gagging a bit. "Yuck…metal does NOT taste good." Her comment caused her entire family to start laughing at her or in Kiryu's case just a smirk.
It seemed Haruka used that watch of hers to protect the other kids from those machines. That alone filled him with pride. But at the same time he couldn't help but be concerned about those menaces that had invaded his home. What if more came trying to get to Haruka and that watch? What if he couldn't protect her or the other kids? It was bad enough when his past came knocking on their doorstep, but this was something else entirely.
That watch needed to come off.
Back inside Vilgax's ship, one of the Bioids approached their injured master. "L-Lord Vilgax, it would seem that the scouting squad had been destroyed before they could fully transmit the location of the Omnitrix-"
"FOOL!"
"U-uh…sir?"
"Instead of wasting time informing me of the failure, send one of our Mechadroids down there to retrieve it!"
"But sir, after our ship had been heavily damaged most of our forces had been impacted too. What if the Mechadroid isn't enough-"
"Are you disobeying me?"
"N-never, sir!"
"Then do as I say and retrieve the Omnitrix!"
"Y-yes, sir!" The Bioid hurried to the control panel to issue a command to the Mechadroid and launched it down towards the last known signature of the Omnitrix's location.
"Take it off?! No way, Uncle Kaz!" Taichi was wholeheartedly against the idea.
"You're not even the one wearing it, Taichi…" Izumi pointed out.
After they were certain everything had calmed down, Kiryu and his children continued their discussion about Haruka's new watch and the battle. Kiryu had voiced his desire of having the watch removed from Haruka, which was met by some refusal.
Koji spoke up next. "I have to agree with Taichi here. Haruka totally kicked butt as that dog thing. It would be a waste to just get rid of it."
"But it also brought those robots here to kill us! Did you just forget that?" Riona reminded him. The boy stammered a bit at that, losing some of his gusto.
"W-well…not really. But she did save us." Koji knew that if Haruka hadn't acted then they would've all died there.
"But, we aren't certain if she can pull something like that off again." Shiro butted him, earning a glare from Taichi and Koji.
"Who asked ya? All you did was hide!" Taichi yelled.
"So did you!" Shiro shot back.
"Okay, okay! Calm down!" Ayako got between them before a fight broke out. "We can have a reasonable discussion about this without it breaking into a fight. Besides, it's not any of our choices to make."
"It isn't?" The boys all tilted their heads.
"No, it's Haruka's." After she said that, all heads turned to the eldest. The daughter of Kiryu was staring at the watch in contemplation. On one hand it was what allowed her to protect her siblings from those droids but was also the thing that brought them here. She wasn't too sure how to feel about the watch at the moment.
"Maybe, it would be best for all of us if I could get it removed. Then we could be safe, and nobody would get hurt-"
"BREAKING NEWS!" She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sudden news broadcast on the TV that was luckily still in working condition. Izumi had been watching it with Mame and was saddened by the interruption of her little program. But that soon went away as screams of terror and fear were heard from the TV.
"W-we're here in downtown Ryukyu wh-where a giant robot is attacking the city!" The cameraman points that camera up to show the massive 40 feet tall Mechadroid wrecking havoc across the city. "We're still waiting for responses from the government and law enforcement, but I'm afraid it may be too late by the time they arrive! Please! Anyone! Evacuate your homes and get as far away from the city as you can!" The Mechadroid points its palms down at the street and blows up some of the buildings. The explosion hits near the reporter and camera crew, cutting the footage.
The residents of Morning Glory were shocked to silence by the chaos that was happening so close to their home. Kiryu regained his senses first and addressed his kids. "We're leaving."
"What?!" Some of his kids exclaimed.
"But, Uncle Kaz, you saw that thing! It looked just like the robots that attacked us!" Taichi exclaimed.
"Exactly, it would be best to hurry and get as far away before that thing can find us or more specifically, Haruka." Kiryu finalized.
"No."
Everyone turned to Haruka, who was staring at the TV. "Haruka-"
"No, Uncle Kaz!" The eldest daughter interrupted him. "That thing is here, because of me and you just want me to ignore that?!"
"I have to protect you kids, if that thing is after you then I have to do what I can to keep you safe." Kiryu reasoned. This was no different from the other times he protected her, but those times he was fighting Yakuza, not some alien robot of mass destruction. He was pretty much still trying to come to terms with the recent events this night has brought.
"And I can't just run away when that thing is chasing after me and hurting people! You always did everything you could to protect the people you care about! You've fought over hundreds of grunts just to protect and save me! This is no different than all of those times! But this time, I can do everything in my power to protect you guys!" Haruka declared, staring her adoptive father in his eyes. She refused to back down this time, even if he said no, she'd go anyways.
"What exactly do you plan to do, Haruka? That thing looks really strong." Ayako mentioned, receiving several nods from the other kids.
"Yeah? Well…something in this watch has to be powerful enough to take that thing down. And I won't know until I try." Haruka raised the watch to show her confidence. She turned back to her adoptive father. "Uncle Kaz, I'm gonna go even if you try to stop me-"
"Fine."
"-I want to go help those-huh?" Haruka stopped herself, staring wide eyed at her Uncle Kaz. "Fine?"
Kiryu nodded. "That look in your eyes…I've seen that look in plenty of men twice your size. Each of them possesses a will to overcome any and every obstacle their way. I never thought I'd see it in you too. You want to stop that robot from wreaking havoc and destroying our home, then I can't find it in me to stop you."
"Uncle Kaz…" Haruka gasped.
"Let's do this, Haruka."
"Right!" Haruka's smile was as bright as the sun itself.
"And we'll help too! You can't stop us either, Uncle Kaz!" The rest of the kids didn't want to leave Haruka to deal with everything herself.
"Okay, but you kids stick close to me the entire time, okay?" They all shouted in agreement, allowing him to turn to Haruka. "You, ready?"
"Yeah! Time to save our home!" Haruka declared.
The Morning Glory orphanage managed to arrive at downtown Ryukyu, where the Mechadroid was continuing its warpath in its search for Haruka and the Omnitrix. Kiryu turned to his oldest, watching her turn the watch's dial. "Do you have a plan, Haruka?"
"Not really, but I don't have much of a choice. I'm sure this one will work!" She selected her choice of alien and slapped the dial down.
FLASH!
Standing in place of Haruka was a tall alien with a rough crystalized body. Her body is overall indigo with several dark lines and spots. Her hands and face are magenta, and she also sports six magenta shards on her back, two on her breasts, and one on the top of her head that resembles a horn. Her face consists of a mouth and one large green eye at the center. "Woah…! I feel rocky…"
"What is this guy supposed to do? She looks super skinny!" Mitsuo exclaimed.
"Maybe she can throw crystals?" Eri pondered.
"Regardless, I have to try something!" Haruka ran out towards the street, running up towards the Mechadroid.
"What do we do, Uncle Kaz?" Izumi asked.
"We try to help whoever we can and leave that thing to Haruka! Stay close to me!" Kiryu ordered.
"Okay!" They responded and followed Kiryu into the chaotic streets of Ryukyu.
The Mechadroid released red bolts onto the streets and destroyed buildings in hopes of finding its target. "Hey! Down here!" Looking down it saw Haruka waving its arms at it. Its scanners recognized that she wasn't from this world. "You want this, right?" She pointed at the watch's symbol on her chest, allowing the Mechadroid to lock onto it. "Then come and get it!"
Oh, it was more than willing to do so. It brought down its arms to crush the Crystalsapien, who jumped back to dodge the slam. She kicked the arm, but gasped when it didn't seem to do anything. The Mechadroid's eye illuminated before firing the ground in front of her, exploding the concrete and knocking away into a car. Haruka groaned in pain as the Mechadroid started approaching her.
Haruka tried to figure something out as she wasn't used to fighting, let alone something so huge. Thinking back to all of the fights she's witnessed her Uncle Kaz partake in started giving her ideas of what to do. Turning around to the car behind her, she got a really crazy idea. Gripping the automobile with all of her strength, Haruka tossed the car right at its face, knocking the Mechadroid back from her. "Oh wow! For such a skinny form this one is pretty strong like Uncle Kaz!"
As she battled the robotic menace, her family were helping several people who were in trouble. Kiryu lifted several people on his shoulders and carried them off to a safer area. The children weren't as strong as him, so they settled for yelling and hurrying people that were close by away from the action. Taichi looked at Haruka's fight and grinned, silently wishing that could be him out there acting like a superhero. He was so focused on the fight that he failed to notice the piece of debris falling towards him.
Luckily, someone else did.
"TAICHI!" Kiryu shouted the boy's name, gaining his attention. Taichi looked up to see the debris falling towards him and froze in his spot. Kiryu was already sprinting in his direction to rescue one of his children, but he wouldn't make it in time. Thankfully, before the debris could land, Haruka tackled Taichi out of the way.
"H-Haruka…?" Taichi muttered.
"What did Uncle Kaz say? Stick close to him and keep an eye out! Luckily, I saw you in time before everything could've gone worse!" Haruka scolded him.
"S-sorry…" He apologized.
She heard the Mechadroid approaching and quickly picked him back up. "Don't be sorry, we all make mistakes. Now hurry up and go assist Uncle Kaz!" Taichi nodded his head and ran away. Haruka was then bashed into a building by the towering robot, who then fired several blasts of bolts at the building, utterly destroying it.
"Haruka!" Kiryu and the kids cried out in fear of the worst.
However, their fears weren't needed as the Crystalsapien walked out of the fiery wreckage unharmed. But they noticed that her body was glowing a multicolored light, which was something she hadn't done before.
Haruka felt a surge of power rushing through her and decided to try something. Pushing out her hands, she watched in awe as a beam of light shot out of her and into the Mechadroid's chest, sending it flying back. Haruka stared at her hands in amazement. "Oh…yeah this is kinda cool!" She saw the Mechadroid getting back up and gained another idea. "I think I know how to beat you!"
She stood across from her, waving her arms about. "Hey! Come on! Hit me right here!" She pointed at her chest, gaining concerned looks from her family. They had no idea what she could possibly be planning but waited to see instead of interfering.
The Mechadroid was more than fine with retaliating, unleashing a powerful beam of energy from its eye at the transformed girl. Haruka smirked and held out her hands as the beam hit her dead-on. "G-guh…! Urgh!" She grunted as the beam pushed her back, but she could feel the energy entering her body instead of hurting her. Once she had absorbed all of the robot's beam, power surged through her as if she drank 15 cups of coffee at once.
She grinned as she aimed her hands at the robot's chest. "You know what they say…what goes around comes around!" She declared and launched her rainbow-colored attack at the Mechadroid. The beam traveled much faster than the robot could've predicted and could only watch as it tore through its body. The Mechadroid's upper body exploded in a bright shower of flames and smoke, falling to the ground defeated.
It took Haruka a few moments to realize what she had just done. "I did it…? I did it!" She cheered and she wasn't the only one. The people of Ryukyu were cheering just as loudly for their alien savior. Haruka froze at the sudden praise, having not expected it at all. A feeling of warmth and accomplishment bubbled inside of her chest.
"WAY TO GO!" She looked over and saw her family cheering as well.
"Good job…uh…Crystal-girl!" Izumi shouted as loud as she could.
Haruka would've enjoyed their praise more if she wasn't strapped for time. As in her Uncle Kaz motioning for her to leave before news crews and such decide to try and interview her. "U-uh…thank you people of Okinawa! I was just looking out for you all! Goodbye!" She rushed off down an alleyway to find some cover before the watch could turn her back to normal.
"It's been a week since the terrible robot attack that happened here in downtown Ryukyu and since our crystal savior fought valiantly to protect us!" Footage of Haruka's battle against the Mechadroid played on the news. "The government is still trying to examine the robot's remains and determine what it truly is or what it is! But I doubt that is what is on everyone's minds. I'm certain they're all wishing to know the identity of the crystal hero and they are doing now!"
Haruka, dressed in a pink jacket over a white shirt and a denim skirt, stepped out of the rebuilt Morning Glory. She took in the beautiful scent of the ocean in front of their home and gazed at the bright blue sky above them. Turning back to the entrance, she smiled at the large figure standing in the doorway. "Ready to go, Uncle Kaz? We gotta handle the grocery shopping for today."
Kiryu, dressed in his Hawaiian shirt and white pants, nodded his head. "I have the list with everything we need. It shouldn't take too long to finish this up before dinner tonight."
"Uncle Kaz! Haruka! I think you guys should see this!" Riona's voice called them. The two re-entered the orphanage and entered the living area. They could see the kids gathered in front of the TV, watching the news.
"In other related news, it seems that a runaway vehicle carrying money stolen from various convenience stores is driving recklessly throughout Ryukyu! The police are scrambling onto the scene, but they may not be able to respond fast enough to this theft. After the shocking incident last week, Okinawa has seen an increase in robberies, gang violence, and Yakuza! Is there anyone out there capable of stopping this rampant increase of crime?"
"Well? Is there?" Izumi smiled at Haruka. She wasn't the only one as everyone all turned towards the wielder of the Omnitrix.
"Heh, I guess groceries are gonna have to wait a minute, Uncle Kaz." Haruka apologized.
"It would seem so, since I think there's something a little more important for you to handle." Kiryu gave his approval.
Haruka activated the watch, popping up the dial and scrolling through the roster. "As Taichi so brilliantly came up with…!"
"IT'S HERO TIME!" Haruka happily shouted with the rest of the kids as she slapped down the dial, enveloping their home in a bright pink flash.
Chapter End
NOTE: This long chapter was just to get all of the generic stuff out of the way, so that I could get into the fun stuff later. Ben 10 villains will appear throughout the story and some of the Morning Glory kids may get their own chances to shine as well.
I apologize if characterization for the kids, Kiryu, or Haruka are a bit off. This is my first time writing for them and Kiryu is especially hard to get down in a setting like this.
We aren't going to get into Yakuza 4 anytime soon since I have some stuff that I'd rather get through first. One of things is Haruka getting used to using the Omnitrix.
Haruka's roster is obviously different from Ben's, and you'll have to read the future chapters to find out the whole first 10 that she has.
Happy New Years! See you guys in 2024!