Settling back into his bed, after so long in the infirmary – even though he didn't remember much except waking up with Takaya and Aki – was a nice change of pace. Now, if he could have avoided the nightmares, then things would have been perfect. Still, this was the best sleep he'd gotten without some kind of life-threatening injury, or drugs, to help him along; something to be grateful for, at least.
Turning to look over at his wall clock, he found that it was just a little under an hour before he and Takaya would have normally gotten up for breakfast.
(Brother?)
(You're alive.) There was genuine relief in his brother's voice, and for a moment Shinya felt a swell of sympathy.
(Of course I am,) he said, trying to lighten the mood. (Did you think I'd die so easily?)
(I didn't know what was going to happen,) Takaya said, sounding more than a little uneasy; Shinya could definitely sympathize. (I'm glad you're still alive.)
(I am, too,) he said, levering himself up and out of bed, then starting to undress.
The clothes he'd worn to bed last night were pretty much only suitable for sleeping in, or for when he'd been recovering in the treatment room, but he couldn't honestly expect to go traipsing around OSDG Headquarters at large in nothing but this. Not if he didn't want to look crazy, at least. So, he was going to have to do something about them.
Washing up and changing, Shinya made a mental note to get in a shower when he had the opportunity to get back to his room. It'd been entirely too long since he'd indulged himself with a long, hot shower, and he was looking forward to it. When he was finished with his morning routine, Shinya left the bathroom, tossed his sleepwear into the hamper, and went over to his small closet to get another uniform.
It could have been annoying, wearing the same kind of clothes day in and day out, if he let himself think that way, at least. Still, given how many things there were to distract him from the niggling little details of life like what he wore and such, Shinya figured that he'd be able to cope. Well, that and the fact that he didn't actually have anything besides spare Space Knight uniforms to wear.
Heading over to the door, Shinya opened it to find Takaya waiting for him there. There was a look of profound relief on his face, and Shinya tried not to think about the reasons for it. It would be enough that he and Takaya were back together; they wouldn't let it be any other way.
"Good morning, Ta-kun," he said, smiling as Takaya's expression settled back into its usual stoic lines.
"Good morning," Takaya said, with a small, brief smile. "My Shin-chan."
I
While he waited for the tekkapod that he had come to consider his own to finish healing his body, Dagger seethed over the injuries to his pride; such wounds as those would not be so easily salved. He was supposed to be better than the traitors; he was complete, while the two of them had been unable to complete their own transformations for whatever reason. It was infuriating: he had been beaten by half-creatures, those who still clung to the miserable little dustball that Lord Omega had determined to conquer.
That was not the way things were meant to go; he was the one who should have been defeating them with ease, no matter the fact that they possessed the advantage of superior numbers.
Instead, he was within the halls of Lord Omega's great ship, having been forced to spend an interminable amount of time recovering from the wounds that those vile little half-humans had inflicted on him. It was infuriating.
Oh, there were no physical wounds on his flesh, no scarring such as that he had inflicted on one of the traitors; the scar that Blade bore on his face was a point of pride for him, and he only regretted the fact that he hadn't been able to rip open Evil's face, too.
His armor, however, had been broken; the facial covering shattered, a lens missing, and the organic circuitry exposed for all to see. And while it was true that he could have easily been healed of such a thing within the tekkapod itself, he would still remember the damage that had been inflicted on him by the traitor Blade. He would remember, and thus seeing his own armored face, whole and unmarked, would feel like a mockery to him.
That was why he had left before the cosmetic damage to his armor had been repaired.
Leaning against the large organic structures that held the tekkapods, his armor gone and his right hand cupping the right side of his face, Dagger breathed steadily as he again considered how, precisely, he would kill Blade and Evil for this insult. It would not be an incidental challenge, but there were things that he had learned while he was being shaped into a proper servant of the glorious Radam empire. More specifically, something particularly interesting.
A thing that, if he could lay his hands on enough, would provide him with a superb advantage in the next battle; something that he could use to kill Tekkaman Blade and his little brother, Tekkaman Evil.
(Lord Omega?)
(Yes?)
(Could I ask a favor of you?)
II
They had finished breakfast without running into anyone they'd known very well, and so hadn't ended up getting drawn into any conversation that neither of them had been in the mood for, but he really should have known better than to expect it to last. He and Shinya just weren't that lucky.
"Hey, D-Boys," Noal greeted cordially, as if he hadn't just basically admitted to being fully willing – and even ready – to kill them if the situation ever called for it.
Now, it wasn't as if he was begrudging Noal his commitment to his friends and to the Earth, since he wasn't stupid enough not to realize how dangerous he and Shinya would have been if they were ever made to side with the Radam, but knowing that you were speaking to your own potential assassin was bound to make anyone uneasy. He wasn't going to say anything, though; there was no point. Noal wasn't the kind of person who would listen.
"Well, since it seems I'm a bit too late to sit down and have breakfast with you boys, how about we all head down to the gym and try to work off some of that extra weight you've both been putting on?" he suggested, gently poking Shinya in the abdomen, with the kind of teasing smile that Takaya usually only associated with his younger twin.
(Why is Noal being so nice to us, Ta-kun?) Shinya asked, sounding about as bewildered as Takaya himself felt.
(I don't know, Shin-chan,) he said; their talk from last night was still fresh in his mind.
"I don't believe it," Noal said, looking from him to Shinya with an incredulous grin. "You're actually doing the 'twin' thing," he laughed.
"What?" he asked, nearly at the same time as Shinya did; that only made Noal laugh harder, for some weird reason or other.
"Never mind; never mind," the blond said, obviously working to get himself back under control. "I guess it makes sense, what with you two actually being twins. Anyway, seriously this time, do you guys want to head down to the gym with me?"
They didn't have any really pressing engagements elsewhere, and they probably would have headed down there eventually anyway, if only to keep their minds off of… all of the other things they could have been thinking about. So, with a quick look at Shinya to see what he thought of the idea – which made Noal snicker again – he turned his attention back to Noal.
"All right," he said, waiting until the man had regained most of his composure.
"Right," Noal said, looking amusedly from him to Shinya and back again.
III
"Dagger, you've recovered from your injuries?"
"I have," he said, kneeling before the great Warlord's throne once again. He had explained his plan, and detailed what he would require to carry it out, and yet he was not entirely certain that his Lord would give him what he needed. It was absurd; the traitors were a threat to everything they were planning, and thus it was only sensible that every one of their resources be dedicated to the elimination of those worthless half-creatures, and yet he still felt uneasy. "I'm ready to return to battle."
"Are you? I see that scar on your face has not yet healed."
"I left it that way; I chose to, intentionally," he said; could it be that which was making him uneasy? The thought that his Lord would be unwilling to allow him to return to his hunt for the traitors if he did not appear to be in perfect form?
"Indeed?" he felt the ancient weight of the Warlord's gaze settling fully on him. "I trust that you have a reason."
He seethed momentarily at the reminder, and then shoved his anger aside; there would be ample time to revenge himself on the true authors of his disfigurement later, he would see to that. "Yes; to remind myself of the humiliation I suffered at the hands of Blade, and his little brother, Evil."
"Ah; I suppose it would have to be something like that. Still, I have decided that I will give this assignment to another…"
It had to have been this, what he had been so uneasy about. Still, even if he had to argue with his Lord, then so be it; he would not be denied his vengeance. "Wait, please! I can't allow anyone else to have this assignment! I swear, I'll kill both of the traitors with my own hands!"
"You want revenge, then," Lord Omega said, seeming almost to savor the word. "Along with that plan you told me about; you're certain of victory?"
"Yes."
"Then I will have faith in you, Dagger."
This time… this time, I will definitely kill both of you. Blade. Evil, he vowed, as Omega's signature teleportation enveloped him. He knew where the most important elements of this plan that he had been forming were stored, and now all that remained was to gather them. And then to begin laying the foundations of a trap that would cripple Blade and his worthless brother, Evil; to kill them, both for the Radam, and for himself.
IV
Feeling a familiar sense of tired satisfaction, the kind that athletes and martial artists both shared, Takaya smiled slightly. It was strange to think about, the fact that he had been with Noal for two-and-a-half hours without feeling the urge to punch the other man in the face, but Noal actually seemed to be making an effort to get along with them. Time would tell how long it would last, but he would make it a point to enjoy it.
The alarm, this time he recognized it as the 'general-alert' right away, went off and he chuckled. They were all lucky that the alarm hadn't started blaring five minutes earlier, or else he would have been in the middle of a shower.
(Everyday's the same, eh brother?) Shinya's sardonic amusement came through clearly over their link, and Takaya found that he couldn't help a little teasing of his own.
(At least I'll be decent for the meeting,) he retorted. (You said that you were going to be taking a long, hot shower, and we both know what that means. Lazy Shin-chan.)
(I got out a couple minutes ago, uptight Ta-kun,) Shinya pointed out, with a certain degree of smugness. (My hair might still be a bit damp, but I'll be making the meeting.)
(Yes, I'm sure you'll look very dignified, standing in the main room with a damp towel wrapped around your head,) Takaya chuckled.
(I should punch you for that.)
(I'll hit you back,) he retorted, grinning; he'd really missed this, and Shinya was clearly making up for lost time, too.
(Silly Ta-kun,) Shinya said.
Takaya grinned. (Shinya-sune.)
Leaving his room at last, Takaya eventually caught up to Shinya in the halls. And, just as he'd been expecting, Shinya tried to smack him on the back of the head. Dodging, Takaya tried to flick Shinya's nose when he got close enough. His brother dodged likewise, and the two of them shared grins.
Running his fingers through his damp, disordered hair, as the two of them started making for the main room at a quick clip, Shinya was clearly regaining his composure. Breathing out, Takaya gathered his. They'd been having fun, but now wasn't likely to be the time for fun; alerts usually only meant one thing: the Radam were moving again.
V
When the Gemini Boys made their way into the Central Room, looking about as stoic as ever, Noal found himself envying their composure at the same time that the wondered if there was anything behind it. Still, now wasn't really the time to think about what their superheroes might or might not really be thinking about.
"Help me! I'm surrounded by these- these creepy, bug-eyed monsters! I've been locked up here with them for a month!" begged the man's voice on the transmission, the one that one of the radio-operators had picked up. "I'm in Area 138, Agricultural Plant no. 36! Help! Someone, anyone, please help me!"
Chief Freeman signaled for the nearest comm. tech to turn it off. Those words pretty much killed any lingering good mood in the air.
"We received this message about ten minutes ago," the Chief said seriously, sweeping them all with his pinkish gaze. "It was sent from the Orbital Ring."
"So, there could still be survivors there?" Aki asked, sounding almost hopeful.
"But, that's not possible!" Milly burst out.
"Come on, I'm sure you know how big it is," he said, smiling. "I'm sure there are a lot of places to hide."
The twins couldn't have checked all of it, and humans were more clever than even some of their own kind often gave them credit for. Besides, it was another chance to spit in the eye of the Radam and all their Tekkamen, stealing their victims right out from under them. Of course, blowing them into space dust was a good way to do that, too.
But then, that was what the Gemini Boys were for.
"Either way, we can't just let this go," the Chief said; he would have been the first to point out such a thing, if the Chief hadn't beaten him to it. "Prepare the Blue Earth for launch immediately; you'll be going on a rescue mission."
"Roger!" all of them answered at once; even the Gemini Boys, which was kind of funny when you thought about it.
VI
They all left the comm. center together, and she turned back to look at the twins. The both of them seemed to be off in their own little world, but every so often one of them would look up as if to check that they were still heading in the right direction. Noal said that they were just 'doing the twin thing', and that she shouldn't worry too much about it. She didn't think even he knew what he actually meant when he said that, so she opted to ignore him and keep periodically looking back to check on the twins.
They were all heading to the Blue Earth, there to make their way to the Orbital Ring so they would be able to rescue that poor, brave man who had escaped from the Radam only to be confronted by their vicious monsters.
Once they were all safely onboard the Blue Earth, Honda informed them that there would be a two-minute delay while he finished the repairs to the Blue Earth's hull. Not wanting them to have any more problems than what the Radam would be all-too-willing to provide for them, Aki sat back and waited. The twins seemed to be kind of edgy about something, but then they were going into a probable battle with the Radam's seemingly endless hordes of monsters, so that was only to be expected.
When they were given the green light to launch, the powerful rumble of the engines gave her a few moments of calm and comfort. Just hold on out there, whoever you are; we'll be there soon. They soon cleared the last of the atmosphere, and she set about her navigational duties in earnest. It might have fallen to the twins to save them from any of the Radam monsters that might try to attack them, and to Noal to fly the ship, but it was up to her to guide the Blue Earth safely on its way.
"I wonder how many survivors there are," she mused, not entirely aware that she had been speaking aloud until Noal responded.
"Who knows?" Noal said. "Let's hope that there are only enough to fit on the ship."
"Noal!" she admonished, looking back at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the navcomp. "We should hope for more people to have survived than just that; even if it's just one person."
"No; it would be better if there was only one," D-Boy said, his expression unreadable.
"What?" Noal demanded, and Aki herself wondered how D-Boy could be so callous. "Are you saying you're not in the mood to rescue anyone?"
"Brother and I will go anywhere with you if it means we can fight the Radam," D-Boy said, folding his arms behind his head. He looked relaxed, but there was an intensity in his eyes when he looked toward the Orbital Ring that she didn't know quite how to interpret.
"Then, you shouldn't even care if it's just one person, or a whole crowd!" Noal snapped.
"No, it would be better if it was just one person," D-Boy said firmly. "When you're alone, you don't have anything to lose."
"What?" Noal asked, and she was about as curious as he was.
"How can you say that?" she implored, not liking the ominous tone of D-Boy's words. "Wouldn't you be sad if something happened to your brother?"
"That's not a question you should ask, Aki."
D-Two's contribution to their conversation didn't make her feel any better about the situation they might be heading into; if anything, his words were more ominous than D-Boy's. The rest of their journey to the Orbital Ring was made in a tense sort of silence, not something she was entirely fond of, but the voice that broke the silence didn't improve the general mood at all.
"Help me! I'm trapped! Outside, there's- and-!"
"We've been cut off," she reported.
"Then, the Radam must have found him," Noal said grimly. A brief look passed between D-Two and D-Boy; both of them looked wary, but resigned to heading inside to take a look. "Aki, which spaceport is closest to us?"
"Wait a minute," she said. "The 6th spaceport, two kilometers; that's the one closest to our position."
"Blue Earth, we've been disconnected from this end," Milly said, appearing just after she had deactivated the navcomp screen. "What about you?"
"It's the same, here," she reported. "We're just about to go in."
"Good luck!" Milly said.
"Roger," she said, smiling at the younger Space Knight's concern.
As Noal guided the ship closer to their ultimate destination, Aki began to notice something wrong.
"Damn, the gate's still closed," he said; she only had a half a moment to wonder just what in the heck he thought he was doing, before Noal fired the Blue Earth's laser cannons, and dropped them down into the air lock. "We'll just break in, then!"
That was bound to cause them some problems when they wanted to debark, but for now, she honestly couldn't think of any other way that they would have been able to get inside the Orbital Ring to be able to help the people who had been trapped up there by the Radam and their monsters. She didn't want to give into the pessimism that the twins had so obviously developed over their time fighting the Radam, and Noal clearly wasn't willing to, either.
VII
As they all made their way to the airlock to get some EVA suits, so they wouldn't have trouble breathing and not exploding from the pressure differences and stuff, Noal took a moment to consider the Gemini Boys. They were being all grim and serious, as if they really believed that this was all some kind of Radam trick. Now, there was such a thing as healthy skepticism, but this was verging into all-out paranoia.
He'd have to find a way to lighten the mood; paranoia wouldn't do any of them any good.
As they trooped out the exit, with the small bit of weirdness that came from feeling your own footsteps rather than hearing them, Noal saw D-Boy and D-Two doing the twin thing again: a single look passed from one of them to the other, and the other ducked his head in something that was obviously meant to be shorthand for a nod.
"Brother and I will handle this on our own," D-Boy said, his helmet still clutched under his arm; D-Two was already putting his own helmet on and getting it fitted snugly.
"What are you talking about?" he demanded; he'd almost expected this, but that didn't mean he was going to go along with it. "We're all going together."
"There's no telling when the Radam will strike again, and brother and I are the only ones who can fight them," D-Boy said, not turning around to look at him; it was as if he was already halfway down the main corridor; already confronting whatever it was that was making him and D-Two so jumpy.
"And here we go again…" he said; granted, the two of them were just about the most powerful fighting force that the world had ever seen, but there was no way he was letting on that he thought that.
"It's too dangerous for just the two of you on your own," Aki said.
"Just stay here, and be ready to launch the Blue Earth at any time," D-Boy said, calmly enough that it was all Noal could do not to roll his eyes at the kid; he really hated dealing with the self-sacrificing types. "Brother and I will be back soon."
"Hey, we're not your chauffeurs," he said, smirking slightly. "Fine; just get going."
"We're going, Noal," D-Two's voice sounded kind of funny, coming from both his small comm. and from under his helmet where it was slightly muffled. "Stay safe while we're gone."
"You two stay safe, too," Aki said. "And, remember to keep your radios on at all times, okay?"
"Okay," D-Boy said calmly.
"Just don't go turning into Tekkaman Blade in front of all of our guests, D-Boy, or else they'll think you're one of the monsters we're trying to save them from," he said. "Listen to D-Two."
The Gemini Boys disappeared from his sight without another word, off into the recesses of the Orbital Ring to find the survivors of the Radam's constant offensives.
"Noal!" Aki snapped.
"What? It's not like anything I said wasn't true. You know that D-Two's a lot more sensible than our D-Boy," he said, giving her a mock-incredulous look.
VIII
As the two of them moved down the long, empty halls of the Orbital Ring, passing the evidence of the Radam's constant attacks, Takaya felt the uneasiness in the pit of his stomach deepening steadily.
(It's just the same.)
(Yeah; it is,) Shinya responded, as the two of them continued on their way to their intended destination, sweeping the corridor with their helmet-lights as they went.
There were times when it was fine to just rely on their enhanced senses, but as unlikely as he found it, there still might be a chance that they would be picking up human survivors from
here. And, if that was the case, they wanted the people to be able to see them when they came. Even though the thought of he and Shinya wearing great, big, radiating beacons on their heads gave him the cold shakes whenever he thought too much about it.
They'd be lit up all nice and bright if Tekkaman Dagger decided to pay them a visit, and they were bound to suffer for it.
"D-Boy, what's the situation?" Aki's voice came in loud and clear over the comm., just the way it was intended to; it probably hadn't been intended to startle the hell out of him, but he was wound tightly enough that intent didn't matter so much in that case.
"Sorry, brother's too busy panicking," Shinya said flippantly; Takaya softly punched him in the shoulder for that. "We're just about to enter the agricultural plant; there's no Radam in sight right now."
"That's good," she said. "You and D-Boy be careful."
"Don't worry, Aki," Shinya said, patting him on the shoulder. "I'll make sure brother stays out of trouble."
(Shinya-sune,) he said, rolling his eyes as Aki and even Noal started laughing over the comm.
(Silly Ta-kun,) Shinya said, giving him a sidelong look; he just knew that Shinya was smirking at him behind that breather mask.
Opening the door in front of them manually, since this like pretty much all the other sections of the Orbital Ring was without power, Takaya took a deep breath to steady himself. He could feel Shinya straightening up beside him. This wasn't the time for playing around; not anymore.
The shattered tanks on either side of them were eerily reminiscent of… things he'd rather not think about. Looking at the mix of gasses and their present volume, wanting to take his mind off of the things he couldn't change, Takaya raised his eyebrows slightly. "It looks like there's oxygen in here," he said.
He and Shinya both removed their helmets, and he took a deep breath of the air. It was cold, and a bit stale, but that was probably all he could expect considering the circumstances. Looking around at the room with his unfiltered eyesight, Takaya found he couldn't quite suppress a shudder of distaste; the ship, our ship- clenching his jaw, he forced that thought back down into the recesses of his subconscious where it belonged.
"Hey, is there anyone in here?! If there is, answer me!"
"Don't worry!" Shinya called, pitching his voice to carry through the room. "We've been sent from Earth to help you! We have a ship!"
There was no response to either of them; the uneasy feeling that had been settled in his stomach began to creep up the back of his spine. This didn't feel right; nothing about this felt right. It was like there was something he was being forced not to see; something almost like the sense he always had of Shinya, only...
He couldn't sense it, not at all, he could only tell where it wasn't.
(Are you all right, Ta-kun?) he felt Shinya's right hand on his lower arm, squeezing gently; just the kind of anchor he needed.
Reaching over to rub the back of his younger twin's hand, Takaya sighed. (Just… memories; that's all.)
(Yeah.)
They stayed like that for a few seconds, each taking comfort from the other in this strange-but-uncomfortably-familiar place, before they started moving forward again. Their clasped hands giving the both of them something to hold onto. Takaya was glad for it, and he knew that Shinya was, too.
IX
Ah, here they were at last; so predictable, always playing the gallant heroes. It seemed all too appropriate that they had fallen in with humans who called themselves Knights. Letting loose a small tendril of thought, right into the link that all Tekkamen shared with one another, he watched in amusement as Blade's mouth fell open, and Evil slammed his feet into the floor in an effort to bring his forward momentum to a complete stop.
It was terribly amusing, the way their hands each tightened on the other's, as if they were trying to lend strength to their feeble, incomplete forms through something as prosaic as physical contact; it was cute, pathetic, and so utterly, utterly futile.
Moving forward again, now and then sending out spikes of his own awareness to skitter across their shared link, keeping the little half-creatures off-balance, and just generally entertaining himself, he continued on his course to the appointed stage. It would soon come time for him to reveal himself, and thus the trap that he had so perfectly constructed, but for the moment he would amuse himself by toying with his unknowing prey. Vengeance was a thing best savored, long and slow.
"What's going on?" the little scarred traitor demanded, after he had given a particularly harsh shove to their mental link; he laughed at the expressions he would no doubt see on their faces, judging by the emotions he was sensing from them.
"Oh, so it's just the two of you?" he said, turning and grinning down at the little traitors from the control board he was standing atop. "That's good."
"Fritz!" the scarred traitor snarled.
"Oh?" he mocked. Dagger bared his teeth in something that could almost be mistaken for a grin. "It's been such a long time since I last heard that name. But, that's all in the past, now. Don't you agree, Blade? Evil?"
"So, you couldn't even die when brother killed you?" the other traitor demanded, his blue eyes snapping with amusing, impotent fury.
"I wasn't going to die so easily," he shrugged indifferently. "But you… The both of you are going to die, right here and now! You're traitors! The traitors Tekkaman Blade and Tekkaman Evil!"
"You were the one who sent out that distress call?" the scarred traitor demanded.
"Yes, it was a ploy to lure the two of you here," he said; he'd even recorded it just for them and their little human pets, but he wasn't about to start off on any irrelevant tangents. He had prolonged this farce for as long as he desired; it was time to end it. "And also, to kill you!"
Raising his tekkaset, the key to his own, complete transformation, Dagger willed the metamorphosis to happen; the little traitors called out to him once, but he ignored them. "Teksetta!" Once his armor had fully enclosed him, and his wound was visible for all to see, he turned his attention back to the traitors. "Tekkaman Dagger!"
He would do them the honor of telling them why they were to die this day; not only for betraying their master and abandoning their proper place in the universe, such a thing might have been forgiven if they had just been intelligent enough to surrender themselves once it had become clear that they were not where they truly belonged, but after this… he would not forgive them this insult.
"Blade!" he snarled. "This scar of mine that I received from you, shall be avenged today!"
Raising his hand to the ceiling, where he had carefully placed cluster upon cluster of disrupter crystals, setting the stage where he would see the traitors suffer and die for their betrayal, he felt nothing more than a slight, momentary tingle as the energies washed over him. And even this was more than either of the traitors would feel.
At least until the time came.
X
When Fritz had made that stupid, over dramatic gesture at the ceiling, Shinya had almost expected that something would actually happen. Still, Fritz seemed to be a little addle-brained from what he'd gone through after Takaya had defeated him. Seriously, he was complaining about injuries that could only be seen in his armored form, and that could have been healed in a few hours by a tekkapod?
Fritz was being an idiot. Sure, he had been more than a bit vain sometimes, but that had been mostly a joke. Still, he sounded like he obviously meant it now, so they would have to deal with him. Even if his reason for fighting them was stupid.
"Teksetta!" he and Takaya shouted together, just like they always did.
Unfortunately, that was the only thing that went the way it always did. The next few minutes – a subjective eternity – were filled with the kind of pain that Shinya thought he had left behind when he'd escaped from that damned tekkapod. Hearing Takaya's screams from just in front of him certainly didn't make Shinya feel any better about his situation. The pain; it was like being flayed with a cheese grater, and then submerged in some kind of acid solution.
His throat felt raw from screaming, by the time the pain subsided and he found himself lying prone on the floor of. His burning lungs demanded air, and Shinya took in as much of it as his raw throat would allow.
"How sad," Fritz all but cackled. "You're both trapped in an Interference Spectrum; it nullifies the Tek Set System. If you both keep trying to transform, the energy you generate will only be redirected, and then you'll end up hurting yourselves!"
"Damn it…" Takaya muttered; Shinya spared a sympathetic thought for the rawness in his brother's voice. "This isn't possible."
"The only thing that awaits you and Evil now is death, Blade!" Fritz sounded entirely too gleeful about that. "But don't think I'm going to let you and your little brother off with a painless death, traitor!"
Shinya thought for a moment that he could hear something crackling, like ice chipping or something, but the sight of Fritz's glowing arrow so very, very close to where he and Takaya were both lying almost helpless wiped those thoughts right out of his mind. Leaping up from the floor, just as Fritz fired, Shinya felt Takaya grab hold of his arm and pull him out of the reach of the explosion.
After that, it was like one long, intermittent, horizontal rainstorm. Only the raindrops were Fritz's exploding senbon, and if they caught one of those things anywhere, they were going to get worse than wet. A lot worse.
"Run away, run away!" Fritz taunted. "Just keep running as far and as fast as you can!"
Another one of his arrows buzzed past their legs, and Takaya yanked him out of its path and into a dark, confined space under the cover of the smoke and flying debris from the explosion. He didn't know quite what his brother was thinking, but when Fritz flew right past their hiding place without a word or a look back, Shinya allowed himself to breathe more freely. They weren't safe, not so long as Fritz was still loose in the Orbital Ring with them, and not when they were still beneath so many of those Interference Spectrum crystals, but they were in less immediate danger than they had been.
(Shinya, let me see your Tekkaset,) Takaya said suddenly, turning his attention away from the Interference Spectrum crystals that hung above them like malevolent chandeliers.
(All right, brother, but -) Trailing off once he had actually had a chance to look at the key to his own transformation, Shinya saw the semi-long crack running up the center of it. (Oh.)
(Shinya,) Takaya's eyes darted from Shinya's own eyes to the tekkaset in his hands. (Can you make it disappear again?)
(Maybe…) He concentrated, and the crystal in his hands vanished to wherever it was that their crystals stayed when they weren't being held.
(Good,) Takaya looked up at him, right into his eyes; mind-to-mind like this, it was almost all he needed. Almost. (Shinya, I don't want you to do that again,) he said in a rush. (Not until I know it's safe.)
(Are you underestimating me, Ta-kun?) he asked, looking back into Takaya's green eyes with the same intensity that his brother was trying to use on him.
(No, Shinya,) Takaya said. (I just-)
(What?)
(I don't want you to suffer anymore, Shinya,) Takaya said, his mental tone somehow quieter, or maybe it was just more subdued. When Takaya laid his forehead on Shinya's shoulder, he was surprised by the gesture; neither of them had done that kind of thing since they were kids. (I can't watch Shin-chan suffer.)
(My hopeless Ta-kun,) he said, reaching out to wrap his arms around Takaya, and gently stroking his brother's hair. (All right; I'll let you protect me, just this once.)
"D-Boy? D-Two?" Aki's voice over the comm, the first voice he'd heard in some time that wasn't either telepathic or belonging to someone that wanted to kill him, was a welcome relief.
"Aki, it's good to hear from you again," Takaya said, sounding as calm as he ever did. It was something they'd both learned to do, and it was important that they keep doing it; they'd never have any peace otherwise.
"What's happening, D-Boy?"
"It was all a trap; brother and I aren't able to use our Tek Set System," Takaya reported, while Shinya himself kept a lookout for Fritz; speaking out loud like this, there was a better-than-average chance that the Radam Tekkaman would be able to find them.
He didn't know what he would do if that happened, what he could do without his armor to protect him, but he would at least do something.
"Why not?" she asked.
"I think it's because of some kind of special beam called the Interference Spectrum," Takaya reported, after a moment of hesitation that only Shinya was equipped to understand.
"What?" Noal demanded. "Then just come back here, right away!"
"No, we're going to stay here," Takaya retorted; Shinya tensed as a shadow passed by their hiding place, but it turned out to be nothing more than his eyes playing tricks on him, so he relaxed. "Noal, you and Aki should get back to Earth."
"No way!" Aki exclaimed.
"What are you and D-Two planning?!" Noal demanded.
"Brother and I will find our own way out; I'm sure we'll be able to Tek-Set then," Takaya explained calmly.
"Don't be so reckless! Just retreat!" Noal ordered, and Shinya was touched by the blond's concern.
"If brother and I are able to Tek-Set, then I'm sure we'll be all right. We just need to find a way out."
(Takaya-!) he tried to warn his brother, but Fritz grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of their not-so-hidden-hiding place and threw him to the ground before he could get out another word.
"Blade," Fritz said, his attention obviously focused on Takaya.
Bracing his arms against the deck, Shinya started to turn himself over, to try to do… whatever he could against a fully-armored Tekkaman. But then, before he could even get to his knees, Fritz kicked him over onto his back and pinned him there with his foot. A foot pressed against his throat, no less; as he gagged, trying to breathe past the armored foot crushing his throat, Shinya activated his comm.
Even if he couldn't do anything meaningful against Fritz, he could at least let Aki and Noal know what was going on between them.
"Let me go!" Takaya demanded.
"I've been thrown aside! Branded useless for losing to the two of you!" Fritz exclaimed. "I'm going to savor this!"
XI
When he felt the comm. break in his hand, after Fritz had thrown him against the far wall, Takaya could only hope that Noal and Aki had the sense not to make any more transmissions. Shinya's commlink was the only one still intact; the only connection either of them had to the Blue Earth anymore, and to a way back to Earth itself. Shaking off the minor disorientation from his harsh stop, he opened his eyes to see Shinya struggling in Fritz's grip, trying in vain to pry that armored hand off his neck.
What was worse, though, was the sight of Fritz with the sharp point of his double-ended bow drawn forward, obviously preparing to drive it into Shinya's head.
Running as fast as he could, Takaya body-slammed Tekkaman Dagger from the side. He was quickly back-handed for his efforts, something he'd been expecting, but at least he had managed to make Fritz let go. That was all he'd really had in mind; all he could really do at the moment.
XII
He'd heard D-Two struggling and gagging, and then a sudden grunt from D-Boy, followed closely by the sound of something soft being slammed into a metal wall. He'd also heard the Gemini Boys' conversation with Dagger; that guy was obviously off his nut, and just as obviously violently homicidal.
"They're both alone," Aki said, just after she'd switched off their end of the connection to D-Two's comm.; no sense in letting Dagger know that they were still eavesdropping on his little party.
"Aki, we're taking off now," he muttered, though he was still more concerned about those "Interference Spectrum" crystals that D-Boy had mentioned in his report.
"Noal!" Aki shouted.
"D-Boy said he and D-Two could handle things once they were out, right?" he asked; there'd obviously been some miscommunication between the two of them. "Well, let's get them out." he said, activating the laser cannons and letting them charge up. "I'll bore a hole with the lasers; you just keep an eye on D-Two's comm.," he reported; at least now they'd be able to do something to help. "For God's sake, those kids are taking on a Radam Tekkaman in human form… I was right to call them Dangerous Boys!"
For all his grousing, though, he could tell that Aki hated this forced idleness almost as much as he did.
XIII
With his arm wrapped around Shinya's waist, pulling his brother along as he got his wind back after that near-strangulation he'd just been put through, Takaya felt the heat of Fritz's exploding senbon as they passed uncomfortably close to his back. Shifting his brother a bit, Takaya put his own body between Shinya and exploding projectiles behind them. Even in spite of the fact that he knew Shinya wouldn't be happy with him for doing it, he still had a promise to their father to keep.
He was just in time too; one of the projectiles drove itself into his back just as he had gotten Shinya out of harm's way. Throwing his brother forward so he wouldn't land on him, Takaya fell prone to the floor.
(Takaya, you idiot!)
"Really, Blade? Have you and Evil really given me everything you have?" Fritz mocked. "The, die!"
(Shinya, get to the door!) he shouted over their link. (Go, quickly!)
(You're not dying here!) Shinya snapped back, turning and heading right back for him.
Fritz kept up a barrage of deadly projectiles, and even fired a couple more of his arrows; Shinya dodged and ducked them, a look of fierce, implacable determination on his face. Takaya could respect that, he would have done just the same in another situation like this, but he still worried. Neither of them had their armor now; they were as vulnerable as any normal human who'd had the misfortune to get on the wrong side of a Radam Tekkaman.
He could hear Fritz chuckling behind them, and when he looked back over his shoulder, he saw that the evil Tekkaman was standing with one of his glowing, exploding arrows at the ready.
(Shinya! Forward!)
Moving in synch with his brother, they managed to make it to and out the doors in front of them, letting it close just before the arrow exploded against them. He and Shinya held onto each other as they rode out the explosion, and he felt the boots of his insulated EVA suit warm slightly. He was just glad that his and Shinya's heads had been far enough away from the blast that their hair hadn't caught fire.
Free now of the threat of Fritz's insanity, something he doubted would be for very long but he was thankful for the reprieve all the same, he breathed a little easier.
(No good out here, either,) Shinya groused.
He almost asked why that was, but then he looked up, and had to bite back some creative profanity: there were clusters of softly glowing Interference Spectrum crystals all along the ceiling of the hallway they were in.
"Damn it!"
Looking up at Shinya's sudden shout, Takaya was tempted to do some swearing of his own: right in front of them was one of Radam monsters. Just one, but with no way to transform, one was all that was needed. Dodging out of the way of a sudden spray of venom, he and then Shinya vaulted over the thing's head. Fortunately for them, the hallway they were in was tight enough quarters that the Radam monster couldn't follow them.
Unfortunately, it wasn't quite tight enough to stop the thing turning its head to spit at them as they passed; they were quick enough to dodge it, but it was still more bad luck that he could have easily done without.
Their best chance of getting out of this death-trap that Fritz had made for them was to get to one of the air locks and from there to get outside. They both knew it, even without having to take the time to discus it. Which was a good thing, too, since time seemed to be in short supply right now; at least for them, which was a depressingly common situation these days.
"D-Two?"
"Aki-san, I'm glad to hear your voice again," Shinya said, with genuine relief in his voice; it was something Takaya noticed, but he kind of doubted anyone else would.
"I'm glad you're all right, too," she said, with a soft chuckle. "Noal's trying to make a way for you to get outside, but will you still keep your comm. on?"
"All right, Aki," he heard Shinya say, as he himself continued to watch their backs.
They were still moving as Shinya spoke, of course, but there was always a chance that they would be spotted.
Takaya smiled; it was good to have friends on the outside.
"We'll be in contact soon, Aki. Thank Noal for me, all right?" he heard Shinya say calmly, even as he himself kept alert for any more Radam monsters that might be trying to get the drop on them.
In this case, you could never be too careful when facing Radam monsters; this was probably how normal people felt all the time. Before Aki could say anything else, though, their infamously capricious luck turned against them once again. A pair of Radam monsters burst into the corridor where they'd been standing just four minutes before, shrieking their eerie, mindless battlecries, and skittering on their pointed legs with no feet.
Without even a word to his brother, the both of them took off running.
The Radam monster started spitting at them right away, the sticky streams of venom coming thicker and faster than they had the last time. When Shinya yelped suddenly, thankfully sounding more surprised than anything else, Takaya turned to look back over his shoulder. Shinya had been stuck to the wall by his right arm, and was trying to pull loose even as he watched.
Grabbing his younger brother by the shoulders, Takaya helped him to brace his feet against the flooring underneath them, and they both yanked as hard as they could. Shinya's arm came loose with a sound almost like cloth tearing, and both of them looked at Shinya's right arm even as they scrambled to get out of the way of the pursuing Radam monster. Nothing had been torn; a good thing, that, since they were going to be leaving the relative safety of the Orbital Ring's contained atmosphere, and Shinya had been holding his helmet in his left hand.
The helmet itself was still there, but there was still an expression of mild annoyance on his brother's face.
"Damn it," Shinya muttered, as they continued on their way through the mazelike corridors of the Orbital Ring.
"What is it?"
"My comm. was under that," his brother said, rolling his eyes as they continued down the corridor at a fairly good clip. "I suppose I won't be in touch with Aki soon."
"Bad luck," he groused, shaking his head in irritation.
"Our luck," Shinya said.
Finally they came in sight of one of the air locks, marked as it was by red letters that spelled out its designation, and it was with a profound sense of relief that he pulled Shinya through the armored doors and heard them close behind them. Falling to the floor on his hands and knees, he could just hear his brother panting from the same exhaustion that he'd only now let catch up to him. They didn't have much time to catch their breath, of course; there was still a Radam monster on the other side of that door, and it was only a matter of time before it managed to batter its way through.
They could both hear it trying, even then.
"Almost done," he heard Shinya say, and looked over to see his brother standing in front of the air lock's control panel.
Putting on his helmet, since he didn't want to be caught without it when the air lock began to cycle open, he turned back to look at Shinya. His brother had already put a helmet on, so there was no need for him to worry about telling him to, so he just walked over and patted his brother on the shoulder.
(Bad luck,) Shinya said, obviously tense as he looked from the beast-assaulted doors to the controls for the air lock.
(Our luck,) he muttered, turning to watch the doors as they began to distort and buckle and warp under the battering that Radam monster was subjecting them to.
There was nothing they could do now but wait; wait to see if the air lock would cycle itself open before the Radam monster on the other side of the doors could batter them down. It wasn't looking particularly good for them, but just as the marauding Radam monster had managed to stick one of its pointed appendages through a gap it had wedged in the doors, the air lock cycled open and they were able to break out into open space at last. He'd never seen a more welcome sight than the Earth, hanging placidly "below" them.
(Remember, Shin-chan: I'll go first,) he said, gripping his tekkaset like a lifeline. (You transform once I know it's safe.)
(You won't change your mind?)
(No; I won't,) he said, as he loosened his grip on Shinya's hand, and his brother obligingly let him go.
(We're going to have a talk when we get back to Headquarters,) Shinya groused, seeming to be glaring at nothing in particular. (A long talk.)
(Yeah.) Not that it was going to change his mind, but it was nice to be prepared in any case. "Teksetta!"
Pain. Deep physical agony. Overwhelming all other thoughts except the one: he'd kept Shinya safe, and in the end that was all that really mattered.
When the worst of the agony ended and he stopped screaming, Takaya found that Shinya had maneuvered himself directly in front of him. His brother's hands were pressed against the energy-cage that always surrounded him when he transformed, being held back only by the massive energies that were being poured into his body by the transformation that he was trying to complete. When the Blue Earth buzzed them, moving from one unknown point on the Orbital Ring to another for some reason that he couldn't even begin to guess at, he found himself and Shinya spinning slightly in the wake of their thruster exhaust.
Shinya used his thrusters to keep pace, matching the movements that Takaya had been forced to make. When a quizzical, vaguely nonplussed expression passed over his brother's face, an expression that was directed at something that seemed to be happening behind him, Takaya turned to look back over his shoulder. There were the remains of an explosion there, just starting to clear, and he even thought he could see Fritz go flying from it.
There was also something missing; it took him a few moments to realize that it was the pain of the transformation trying to force itself that he no longer quite felt. It intensified briefly, leaving him screaming in its wake, but then it seemed to stabilize. He could feel a similar flare of energy from his brother, and he was about to demand just what in the hell Shinya thought he was doing, when he realized that he didn't hear Shinya screaming.
Looking back at Shinya once the last of the coruscating energies had cleared from his vision, he found his brother in full tekka-armor looking back at him.
(Shinya,) he said, relief washing over him like a calming wave; he didn't feel quite up to his usual standards, but he supposed that he couldn't really expect anything better. Circumstances being what they were, he supposed he should really be grateful that he didn't fell any worse. He was still glad that he'd managed to spare Shinya the worst of it, though.
No matter how angry his brother was with him in the end.
(Let's go deal with Fritz,) Varis said, and Blade was glad for the distraction; he'd be glad for a little revenge, too.
(Yeah.)
They landed on the Orbital Ring together, directly in front of Fritz. He wanted to take that bastard apart one armored piece at a time, not so much for hurting him, though he would have been lying if he said that wasn't a part of it, but for forcing him to watch helplessly as Shinya suffered in his trap. There was going to be justice for that; he'd see to it himself.
(I will kill you, you bastard!) he snarled.
(I never expected the two of you to Tek Set with the help of your comrades. I suppose I must have miscalculated in my plans,) Fritz said, raising his bow.
A large group of Radam monsters rose up behind him after that, so the gesture must have been some sort of signal to them.
(Shinya, dual Voltekka,) he said tersely, focusing on his link to his brother.
(Right, Ta-kun.)
As he began the charging process for his main weapon, he could almost feel Varis doing the same just beside him.
"Voltekka!"
When they let go, he had just a few moments to feel satisfaction as Fritz's Radam monsters were wiped out of existence. Then he caught sight of the Blue Earth.
She was falling down the Earth's gravity-well at a dangerous speed, beginning to trail friction flames as she hit the outermost edges of the planet's atmosphere. There was no way that Noal would be able to land safely at those speeds, and little enough chance that the Blue Earth herself would be able to survive reentry if he and Varis didn't do something. A look between them was all it took to communicate the urgency of the situation, and in seconds they were blazing through space with their very own thrusters.
Leveling off behind the Blue Earth, he watched as Varis positioned himself in front of the ship and braced his hands against her nose. Digging his own hands into the wing he had positioned himself behind, Blade fired his thrusters in concert with his brother. That Voltekka had wiped out most of his energy, true, but he couldn't ever remember feeling this weak after firing one.
Something had to be wrong; he had to get back inside the ship before things got out of hand.
He was just about to call out to Varis, when he saw a corona of blue energy surround his brother and dart off in the direction of the secondary air lock. Good, he knows, too, Blade just had time to think, before a powerful wave of dizziness washed over him and he was forced to give up his post at the Blue Earth's wing. He could only hope that she and all her passengers would be able to survive.
Once he was inside the air lock, he focused all of his remaining power into maintaining his transformed state, even in spite of the fact that doing so made him feel like he was bleeding energy into the cosmos. The sight of Shinya's comatose form on the deck in the air lock both reassured and concerned him at the same time; Shinya would get the sleep he so clearly needed, after their attack on Dagger and all that they had been through before that, but he would have been lying if he said he couldn't have used Shinya's help.
Still, Fritz was probably weak enough that it would take much more to kill him; he could hope, at least.
The cockpit doors parted for him, and he just managed to squeeze his armored shoulders through them. He hadn't given much thought to moving around inside the Blue Earth while he was transformed, but that wasn't something he was going to let himself care about. All that was important now was tracking down Fritz and killinghim, before he could think up any more of his horrible plans to spring on them.
"Return to the Orbital Ring, right now!" he said.
"What, did you leave something there?" Noal asked, even as he was forced to lean on his piloting controls in the wake of a sudden, powerful weariness. Noal was looking at him with concern plain on his face.
"I need to kill Dagger now," he said, hoping they wouldn't notice the weakness he was starting to feel in earnest. "Quickly."
"What?" Noal demanded.
Clearly neither of them understood just how dangerous it was to have a Radam Tekkaman still able to fight.
"please, while I'm still in Tekkaman form!" He pushed his face in close to the other man's.
It was crude, he knew it; trying for the kind of raw intimidation that having a determined, fully-armored Tekkaman so close to them would produce in a normal person. But if it worked, he wasn't going to let himself regret it. Better intimidated and alive, than letting Fritz murder them all at his leisure.
"It's impossible," Noal said, looking away from him. "The Blue Earth's entered the stratosphere!" Gripping the man's large collar with his armored hands, Blade found that he could almost respect Noal for standing up to him like this; almost, but that didn't make killing Fritz even one bit less urgent. "We'll be destroyed if we turn back!"
That wasn't important; none of that was important, compared to making sure that Fritz wouldn't be able to come after them again. Why couldn't they see that?! The way he was now, after what the Radam had done to him, Fritz would slaughter all of them if he was left to escape!
He screamed, as a wave of pain and disorientation, worse than the three he had felt previously, broke over him like a mirror being shattered against his skull.
He saw swirling colors; twisting lights; sparks that seemed to explode behind his eyes, and then he found himself kneeling on the floor, staring down at the pitiful remains of his shattered tekkaset. Panting with exhaustion and terror both, he turned and ran back into the air lock as fast as his feet would carry him. He had to see; he had to know that all he had gone through today hadn't been for nothing in the end.
"Shinya," he muttered.
Falling to his knees beside the unconscious form of his brother, he breathed out as he saw the glitter of his brother's tekkaset. Gently turning over Shinya's hand, he sagged with relief as he saw the whole, unbroken form of his tekkaset clutched in his younger brother's grip. It was all right; he hadn't failed entirely… Shinya… god, he was tired…
The air lock darkened, tilting at a crazy angle… and then…