Flesh and Blood revisited: Gemini

by Cyblade Silver

Takaya and Shinya Aiba: twins divided by a cruel fate. Sometimes, however, fate can be more kind...

19. Warrior With a Closed Heart

When he woke up, a bit disoriented and surrounded by darkness and unfamiliar shapes, Takaya took a deep breath and tried to regain his bearings. The last thing he remembered was trying to save Shinya from Balzac. The bastard had shot him with something, and then everything had gone black. It had to have been some kind of knock-out drops, or a stun-gun or something like that.

He wasn't particularly happy about that, and when he got his hands on Balzac he was going to do things to him that would make even Shinya sit back and gape… but, first he was going to have to get his bearings again. And for that, he needed to know where he stood.

(Shinya? Are you all right, brother?)

(Yeah,) Shinya said, though his younger twin sounded a bit more cranky than he'd have thought he would; even in this kind of a fix. (I feel like I just got trampled by a horse, though. Are you all right, brother?)

(Yeah,) he said, pausing for a second to take stock of himself.

Probably something else that could be blamed on Balzac; that bastard had a lot to answer for. Opening his eyes once he was sure that there was no one close enough to see that he'd already woken up. He didn't know what they'd do to him if they realized that, and frankly he didn't want to find out. The sense of motion had alerted Takaya to the fact that he and Shinya were most likely onboard one of the ADF's transports; he didn't think they were being flown in, both since aerial transports were more vulnerable to Radam monster attacks, and because he was familiar with the sounds that large vehicles made when they were in motion.

True, he'd never ridden in anything this big before, but the sounds of the motor and the feel of the road going by under the wheels was nearly the same as all the other times he'd spent in vehicles like this. Looking around the interior of the transport, Takaya quickly caught sight of Shinya. His younger twin was sitting up on the bed just beside the one Takaya himself had been laid out on, and he was gingerly touching his left flank in the way Takaya could remember doing when he had had bruises and he hadn't quite known where they were. Not wanting to disturb his brother while he was working at such a delicate task, Takaya just watched and waited.

And hated Balzac all the more for what he'd done.

(Did he hurt you?) Takaya asked, as he saw his younger twin settling back down on the hard pallet just like the one he'd awakened on.

(Not badly. It's just, the cuffs are a problem.)

And it was only then, after having Shinya draw his attention to them so bluntly, that Takaya really took note of the cuffs binding his wrists. (And here I thought you training yourself to escape from handcuffs back when we were kids was just something you did to show off. Makes me kind of wish I'd paid better attention to what you were doing back then.)

(Funny, Ta-kun,) Shinya said, studying his own restrained wrists for a few, long moments. (But, I don't think I should do it now.)

He was just about to ask what Shinya had meant by that, when he heard the sounds of muffled footsteps coming toward them. Or maybe it was back to them, since the two of them had to have been loaded into this transport by someone, but either way there were people coming, and it was just best if no one knew they'd recovered. With barely a look to Shinya, since it was obvious that his younger twin already knew what was coming, Takaya lay back down on the not-particularly-comfortable pallet that he'd found himself on when he regained consciousness.

Forcing himself to relax, not the easiest thing to do when he was surrounded by potential enemies and almost helpless to fight back, the way he was at the moment, but knowing it was best that none of them knew that he and Shinya weren't quite as out as they'd looked, Takaya closed his eyes and focused on what he heard. Just because he'd been deprived of one of his senses, that didn't mean that he was entirely helpless. It just meant that he would have to be a lot more attentive to what he heard while the soldiers were working.

He and Shinya hadn't had time to make any plans for escaping, not even the most tentative ones, before the soldiers had come back into the transport and they'd had to lay low, but he knew his brother well enough to know what Shinya would have suggested if he'd been able to. He even agreed with it: wait until the soldiers inside the transport were sure that they were out, then jump them, knock them unconscious, and then Shinya would fly the two of them out of here.

Balzac had probably reported that Shinya didn't need anything like Pegas to transform into Tekkaman Varis, so Takaya could at least hope that none of the solders would be too interested in how his younger twin still managed to transform when Pegas wasn't nearby.

As he began to hear the soldiers talking around him, Takaya wished for a few seconds that he could talk to Shinya about what they were going to do when they got back to OSDG Headquarters, but he knew that it was obvious when he and Shinya used their telepathy. Chief Freeman had told him that he'd been able to see the light on Shinya's forehead, the one that Takaya himself had always seen when he and Shinya would use their telepathy when they were within each other's line-of-sight. He'd thought it was something only he could see, some other artifact of the transformation that was only visible to other Tekkamen, but now that he knew that Chief Freeman had seen it, he wasn't willing to risk any of the ADF soldiers seeing it.

Forcing himself not to react as one of the soldiers lifted up his right hand, Takaya relaxed his face as he felt the soldier's thumb moving over the back of his hand. He didn't know what was happening, and he couldn't risk opening his eyes to see anything without giving away the fact that he was still awake to notice what was happening to him, so Takaya forced himself to relax.

"You know, Tekkaman, I don't know how you managed to shake off the effects of that tranquilizer that the Lieutenant Colonel dosed you with," the soldier said, and Takaya couldn't quite stop himself from tensing as he felt a sharp pinch in the back of his hand. "But I have to thank you for being so cooperative."

The feeling of what was obviously a needle sticking into his hand brought Takaya's attention squarely to the fact that he shouldn't have been so concerned with tricking the soldiers. He should have told Shinya to break out of those handcuffs and then the two of them should have gotten as far away from this transport as they could. But now, he didn't even know if Shinya was still awake to hear him if he called, and he was already starting to feel tired and disoriented from the injection he'd just been given.

"This dose is twice as strong as the last one, so don't think you're going to be getting up so quickly this time."

As Takaya felt himself slipping into unconsciousness again, he could only hope that Shinya would at least be all right; he doubted that they would be kind enough to keep him and Shinya together the way they were here.

I

Standing in front of the pupation-chamber that Sasuke, Miyuki, and the other surviving Tekkamen had been transferred to – most likely while he had been recovering from the damage that Takaya had inflicted on him – Spear sighed. He didn't know what he was going to do about Takaya and Shinya; they seemed determined to stay back on Earth, refusing to return to their proper place. Refusing to come back so that the three of them could all be a family again.

He knew that it was the fault of their late father, that it was because of him that two of Spear's younger siblings refused to return to their proper places in the cosmos. The trouble was that he didn't know what he was going to be able to do about that; Omega-sama was not going to be so lenient with him if he didn't start showing some positive results soon. He would have to start being more ruthless, to show Takaya and Shinya just what it meant to betray their family for complete strangers the way they had done.

He just hoped that he wouldn't be required to do too much to them; misguided or not, traitors or not, Takaya and Shinya were still his younger brothers.

Forcing those dark thoughts out of his mind with a bit of mental exertion, Spear turned his attention to the remaining members of his family. Sasuke was nearly finished, his baby brother having merely been placed in a state of suspended animation while the few remaining alterations were carried out, but it was Miyuki that he was more concerned about at this point. There was still something off, something that seemed unfinished, about her.

He didn't know what to make of it, and it was honestly starting to worry him a bit.

(Spear. Is there something troubling you?)

(Yes,) he admitted, having the feeling that his Lord wanted to ask him something, and grateful for the consideration he was being shown. (I don't know if you'd be able to do anything about it, but I'm worried about Miyuki,) he said, reaching out to gently caress the tekkapod that held his only sister. (I can't sense her; not like the others, but it doesn't feel like she's trying to block me out. I'm confused. I don't know what I can do for her.)

(Be patient, then,) Omega-sama said firmly. (Things will work out, or they will not. Now, as to why I contacted you: the humans seem to have deployed some new weaponry. You are to report to the Orbital Ring and assess it. If the situation seems favorable to you, you are to destroy this new weaponry. I will not have the humans gaining any further advantages in this war.)

(Yes, Omega-sama,) he said, inclining his head in a subtle bow.

Advantages that they had most likely gained from Takaya and Shinya's collusion; he hated that fact, knowing that his own younger brothers had betrayed Omega-sama's cause and abandoned their true place in the universe, but hating it would not make it any less true. The twins might have originally been forced to leave by their late father, but Spear had seen the defiant expressions on their faces when he had first come to retrieve them. It would not be an easy thing, getting his younger brothers to give up whatever absurd ideas of rebellion that the humans had most likely planted in their heads, but if Takaya and Shinya were to survive in the new world that Omega-sama would create, then it would have to be done.

Leaving the sanctuary of Omega-sama's vessel, Spear called his mount to his side with a mental effort and continued on his way. He'd been transformed when he came out of his tekkapod, after he'd been healed after Takaya had fired a Voltekka at him. He still couldn't understand why one of his own younger brothers would do something so cruel, but he was determined to find out.

Likely enough, it had something to do with those humans who had captured them, though he doubted the woman was responsible; she didn't seem like the sort, and the fact that she had been so willing to put herself at potential risk to protect Shinya said a great deal about her character. He would have been hesitant to attack the ship where his brother was sleeping, yes, but the woman would have had no way of knowing that. So, under the circumstances, Spear could respect the human woman's courage.

Standing on the back of his mount, Spear guided the creature out of Omega-sama's ship with a combination of subtle mental nudges and slight repositioning of his feet. From the tone of Omega-sama's mental voice, it seemed as if the Warlord wished for him to remain on the Orbital Ring, at least until he was recalled. It made sense, he supposed; there was no real way to know how long he would be required to stay on the Orbital Ring, how many of the humans' new weapons that he would need to deal with before his mission was complete.

Leaving the weaker gravitational influence of the Moon, Spear barely spared a thought as he slid down into the Earth's gravity-well. Using his own thrusters, Spear broke away from his original trajectory and flew toward one of the nearby airlocks. He was pleased to have found one so close, and as he made for the airlock so that he could reverse his transformation and rest from his journey, Spear spared a thought for his younger brothers.

He hoped they were doing all right.

II

Waking up after being forcibly sedated twice in what seemed like a short time wasn't Shinya's idea of fun, but as he listened to what was going on around him, he realized that that wasn't quite the end of his troubles. There were people around him, and some of the smells wafting toward his nose he could recognize from his stays in the Space Knights' infirmary; so he at least had some idea where he was at the moment. Not that it was likely to do him much good at the moment.

"You can stop pretending to be asleep now, Tekkaman Varis," said a smug voice, one that he wasn't at all happy to hear. "We all know you're awake; I heard your breathing change a few minutes ago. Your recovery-time is very impressive, I have to say. That was almost as long as a normal person would have taken to recover, and that was two and a half times the amount that any normal person would have been exposed to. You really are quite incredible."

"Yeah," he said, opening his eyes at last.

Sure enough, there was General Colbert, looking down on him in a sad, pathetic attempt to be paternal. Given the way Shinya felt about the man, and all that he'd just been through at the hands of one of the bastard General's underlings, the attempt fell about as flat as an Origami crane that'd just had a bowling ball dropped on it. When Colbert leaned over, reaching out like he was going to touch Shinya's face or something weird like that, Shinya moved his head so that he was just out of the bastard General's reach.

He didn't quite manage to keep the bastard from touching him, but at least Shinya could say that he hadn't been entirely passive; if he was going to be confined to this hellhole for an indeterminate amount of time, while the Chief and his and Takaya's fellow Space Knights worked to get them out of the clutches of General Bastard and his hired goons, Shinya would take what victories he could get.

"Brother, where is he?" he asked, sitting up once Colbert stood back far enough that he could do so without smacking his head against the asshole General's.

"You've no need to worry about him," Colbert said; the smile on the jackass General's face made Shinya long to leap out of the bed and kick him. "He's been taken care of quite nicely."

He could see the other soldiers standing around, though, and he knew that if he did anything too aggressive they would probably come down on him like a collapsing wall. Leaning back against the wall of the room that he'd been shoved into, Shinya forced himself not to tense up as Colbert continued to leer down at him. He wasn't going to give this bastard and his goons anything.

III

As he was yanked forward by the group of soldiers, Takaya tried not to think about what might be happening to Shinya. He'd have the opportunity to contact Shinya once the two of them were alone; no sense letting anyone here know anything about him that they didn't have to. Once he found himself alone in his cell, the mesh door slamming shut in front of him, Takaya waited until he couldn't hear the footsteps of the soldiers anymore, then leaned back against the wall of his cell and concentrated.

(Shinya, are you all right?)

(Fine,) his younger twin said, though he sounded kind of annoyed.

(Balzac,) Takaya said, gritting his teeth and hissing slightly as he thought of all the power-hungry bastard had done to them.

(Colbert, actually,) Shinya said sardonically.

Takaya didn't know how to respond to his younger twin's assertion, so he decided that it was best to change the subject. (Are you all right?)

(Better than I was,) Shinya said.

(I'm glad,) he said, then paused as he realized something. (What are we going to do now, though?)

(I'll figure it out. Don't worry, Ta-kun,) Shinya said, and Takaya got the impression that his younger twin was thinking deeply about something; but then, Shinya always had some sort of plan when he was somewhere he didn't want to be.

His brother was probably thinking of ways to get the both of them out of this place; Takaya knew that he just had to trust his younger twin to get them through this. He didn't know if father would have approved of that, about him counting on someone who was younger than him – someone who he had promised to protect back when they were both normal boys – but anyone who had known the two of them could tell that Shinya – and earlier, Aiba Shinya – was a much better planner than he had ever been.

It wasn't that he couldn't plan things on his own, it was just that Shinya was the more inventive of the pair of them; if there was anyone Takaya knew that he could count on to get them both out of this mess all right, it was Shinya.

IV

When she'd woken up, about half an hour before her alarm would have interrupted her sleep and let her knowthat it was time for her to start getting ready for her day, Aki hoped for a moment that the events of yesterday had been some kind of horrible dream. That, when she went to D-Boy's room to check on him, she would find him there. Maybe staying with D-Two, since the two of them had been subjected to some pretty horrible things during yesterday's battle with those Radam monsters, but she hoped that seeing someone familiar would help a little, at least.

Washing and dressing quickly, Aki made her way down the corridor to the room that D-Boy had been assigned. On her way there, though, she met up with Noal. Normally, she wouldn't have thought anything of that, but it was the expression on his face that let Aki know that this wasn't like any of the other times she had met up with him in the corridors of Headquarters.

"Aki," Noal said, shrugging in something that Aki couldn't help but know was a depressed sort of resignation. "They're not here, Aki," he said, walking up so he could stand next to her. "The ADF arrested them yesterday, remember?" he asked, obviously trying to be as gentle as he could while he talked; Aki still felt like her heart was breaking.

"I know," she muttered, stricken. "I just-"

"Yeah," he cut in, stepping closer so he could pull her into a gentle, one-armed hug. "I know."

They stood like that for a few, long moments; each trying to draw some strength from the other's presence. If she hadn't been so worried about the twins, and if she hadn't been desperately trying not to think of what D-Boy was feeling after he'd been separated from everyone who had tried to help him hold onto his humanity in the face of everything the Radam had done to him – not to mention everything the ADF was probably going to do – she might have found the situation they were both in ironic. She still remembered the time when Noal wouldn't have cared nearly as much if something had happened to the twins.

It just went to show how much D-Boy and D-Two had become an indispensable part of the Space Knights during the time that they had stayed with the team. It was so different from those first days, where the twins had worn the uniforms but there had still been an obvious – though mostly self-imposed on their parts – separation between the two of them and the rest of the Space Knights.

Aki was glad that she, Noal, Milly, and the others had managed to break down the walls that D-Boy and D-Two had tried to put up between themselves and the rest of the world. She still didn't know what they had suffered, what had made them think that isolating themselves in their various ways was the best option they had, but she was still determined to find out. Still, she knew that they would have to focus on rescuing the twins from the ADF and General Colbert before she and the other Space Knights would be able to find out anything more about them.

And, they would probably need time to recover from whatever it was that General Colbert and his forces were going to end up doing to them.

"Come on," Noal said gently. "Let's go talk to the Chief. I'm sure he's already got some idea how to handle this."

Nodding wordlessly, not really feeling up to speaking at the moment, Aki let Noal lead her back down the corridors toward Comm. One. She hoped that the Chief did have an idea or several about what they were going to be able to do for D-Boy and D-Two; Aki didn't know what she was going to do, otherwise.

V

It was odd, Spear reflected, how silent the halls and corridors of the Argos were now; he knew why that was, and he knew that soon the ship would be filled with sound and life once more, but it was still odd to him to be in a place that had once been his home-away-from-home and to see it so desolate. Sitting on the bed that had been placed in his quarters, the bed that he'd never actually had a chance to use before Omega and his Radam forces had come for him and the other members of the Argos' crew, Spear reflected on how wonderful it would be when he finally managed to bring Takaya and Shinya back to Omega's fold.

And that woman as well, he mused, thinking again of the dark-haired human who had been so quick to try to protect one of his younger brothers from what she saw as a threat. It was an admirable thing, that courage she had displayed when facing what she must have seen as the worst threat possible. Shinya will be happy to see her again, at least.

Takaya would probably tease him about his crush, since that was what Shinya would have done under the same circumstances, and it seemed to be the prerogative of all siblings to tease each other about their romantic prospects. And, given the fact that she had been so willing to stand up to him as a mere human, it was clear that she would make a worthy Tekkaman. Still, there was the matter of transporting her to Omega's vessel, since none of the tekkaplants that had been cultivated on Earth were mature enough to produce tekkapods as yet.

True, they were producing the nutrient gas that enabled others of their kind to receive extra sustenance, and that would serve to protect them from any humans who might seek to do them harm, but the fact remained that not one of them was mature enough to produce even a single tekkapod of their own. If he was going to make that woman, whatever her name turned out to be, a true part of their family, then he would have to find a way to bring her to Omega-sama's vessel so that she could undergo her transformation, and also so that his misguided younger brothers could finish their own.

Rising from his bed, Spear made his way down the corridors of the Argos toward the kitchen area. Those few perishable supplies that had been carried on the ship had mostly been cleared out by the activities of his father and younger siblings, but Spear could remember with a wry sort of amusement the relief he'd felt when he realized that he couldn't smell anything when he was wearing the armor that had been granted to him by the Radam's transformation. Disposing of even the small amount of spoiled food that had accumulated in the Argos' refrigeration unit would have been much more of an ordeal otherwise.

Still wearing a shadow of the amused smile that he'd worn when he'd been forced to carry spoiled food out of the Argos' refrigerator, Spear reached the kitchen and looked around. He knew very well that he could simply return to Omega-sama's vessel if he desired to truly have his energy replenished, but he knew that his craving for food would not be satisfied if he did such a thing. This craving for food that he was experiencing was more a thing of the mind than the body, Spear knew. Besides, above and beyond all of those considerations, it would be nice to have a flavor in his mouth that he could actually identify.

There were still a few non-perishable food items stored in the kitchen, but there were still times that Spear wished he had the supplies to cook something. He enjoyed cooking, and beyond the practical reasons that someone would want to do such a thing, the activity had always served to settle his nerves when he was feeling on-edge. Still, being inside his tekkapod served to relax him as well, and without any way of gathering the supplies that he would to prepare even the simplest meals for himself, Spear knew that he would just have to leave it at that for the time being.

Settling himself down at the only table in the Argos' small kitchen area, the same one where his younger siblings and the few other members of the crew who had not gone into hyper-sleep for the journey had all taken their meals, Spear chewed thoughtfully on a stick of beef jerky. He knew that there had to be some method of getting his younger brothers to come back to Omega's fold with him, some way that he could convince them to see reason and abandon their futile struggle, he just needed some space to think. He was the eldest, it was his duty to take care of his younger siblings; Takaya and Shinya just seemed to want to make that harder for him.

Or, perhaps it wasn't a matter of wanting at all; they were misguided by their father's interference, after all. He'd have to think on that, Spear mused, leaning back in the chair he was sitting on. Fleetingly, he wondered which of his younger siblings had sat there in the past.

VI

It was getting harder to keep track of time, Shinya mused, as he ran through yet another kata. He didn't know just what Colbert and his cronies were planning, but whatever it was he didn't like it. Sure, they'd been pretty hands-off so far, when they weren't treating him with elaborate courtesy that he didn't trust one bit, and all that even without him having to punch one or more of them in the face. Not that he didn't want to, but he was a feeling that doing something like that would be a hell of a lot more trouble than it was worth.

Scooping up the towel that had been draped over the edge of the single chair in his room by a soldier whose name he didn't care to learn, Shinya wiped the sweat from his face and neck as he made his way back to the bed that he'd been using while he was stuck in this room. He still had to keep himself in shape, not only for getting himself and Takaya out of this over-glorified prison, but because once they had gotten out of here, they were going to have to go right back to fighting Omega and the other Radam Tekkamen.

There was just no way in hell that those Sol-Tekkamen would be good for anything but hunting Radam monsters.

Once he'd gotten the last of the sweat off his neck and shoulders, he tossed the towel back onto the chair, put his feet up on the bed, and began to do pushups with his left arm. Breathing deeply to focus himself on what he was doing, Shinya still didn't fail to notice the sound of the door to the quarters he'd been assigned sliding open. And, even though he was fully aware of just who it was that had come to visit him, he made it a point not to react.

He wasn't going to give that bastard the satisfaction.

"I'm glad to see you're keeping yourself in condition, Tekkaman Varis." Gritting his teeth, biting back a stream of invective that would have made Grant Goddard himself sit back in surprise, Shinya continued to put his body through its paces. "You're a good soldier."

When he felt a hand on his back, moving up and down in synch with the rhythm that Shinya had established for himself, Shinya bit back a sigh as he continued moving. He was still determined not to give General Bastard the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of him, true, but now that the man was leaning over him, probably leering down that same way he'd been doing when Shinya had first woken up to see his ugly face leaning over him... It was all he could do not to launch himself into an overhead heel-kick that would have shattered General Bastard's skull when it connected.

That would have had severely unpleasant consequences, for all that it would have made him very happy for a rather short time.

Ignoring whatever else it was that Colbert was trying to say to him, not wanting to tempt his desire to do something likely-fatal to the bastard who was holding him and Takaya captive, Shinya carefully shifted onto his right arm so he could give it the same kind of conditioning that he was working on in his left. After five more reps on his part, Colbert finally left his room. He didn't know just what had drawn the bastard off, and he honestly couldn't have cared less.

Continuing through the routine that he had established for himself during whatever amount of time that he'd spent in this damned, stuffy hellhole, Shinya cast his awareness out to someone else. Someone who'd once been just a room down the hall from him, when they were both still in the only place either of them felt like they belonged anymore.

(Hey, brother; are you all right?)

(Yeah,) Takaya said, though there was something in his mental tone that Shinya didn't really like; something that made him think that his older twin was keeping something from him.

Like maybe Takaya way lying to him, trying to keep him in the dark so he wouldn't worry; didn't work, he was still worried.

(Are you sure? I don't like it when you lie, Takaya-niisan.)

(I'm all right, Shinya,) Takaya said, sounding worn out but also like he was trying to hold himself together; though really, they were both trying to do that. (I can stand this. Are you all right?)

(I guess,) he said, breathing steadily as he finished his workout and climbed back to his feet.

Picking up the towel that he had discarded, Shinya wiped the newly-accumulated sweat off of his face and neck then tossed the thing in the hamper he'd been provided with. He'd wondered, back when he'd been shoved into this room and left where he was, if every set of quarters in every base that had been made was built on the same plan. He'd long since stopped caring about stupid things like that, and focused all of his attention on planning how he was going to get himself and Takaya out of this hellhole.

That was all that mattered now.

VII

(Spear.)

Looking up from his book, one of the few that he had brought with him onto the Argos since he had been slated to be placed in hyper-sleep when their journey had begun, Spear slipped his bookmark inside. Omega-sama sounded particularly incensed, and for a moment Spear wondered if it had anything to do with his younger brothers. He hoped not, but there was always the chance.

(What do you need from me, Omega-sama?) he asked, settling back on his bed. He didn't know what he would be called on to do, but it was likely that he would be called to fight again.

(The humans have deployed their weapons on the Orbital Ring,) Omega-sama said, sounding as if said weapons were a personal affront to him. (They are becoming far too bold, and entirely too enamored of those weapons of theirs. I wish for you to show them the error of their ways.)

(Of course, my Lord,) he said, rising from his seat and making his way out of his room.

He would clearly have his work cut out for him, if he was to deal properly with the weapons that the humans were clearly deploying. It was clear that the humans were not content with simply accepting the inevitable, as they should have been; as Omega-sama had said, it would fall to him to teach them the error of their ways.

Leaving the Argos behind once more, Spear wondered for a moment if he would find that his younger brothers were a part of this assault; he hoped not, but there was always that chance...

VIII

As he oversaw the transport and deployment of more of his soldiers to the Orbital Ring, those who would be overseeing Balzac's progress and helping him to test the Sol Tekkaman under live-fire conditions, wondered when Freeman was going to contact him. It wasn't as if he'd ever find any of it relevant to his situation, and the man didn't honestly know what he was talking about in any case, but it was inevitable that he would want to speak about those Tekkamen of his.

"It may be a bit early to celebrate our victory, but…" he said, cocking his head slightly to address the man on the screen.

"So, the second counter-attack, Operation Heaven, is ready to launch."

"Do you have a problem with us recapturing the Orbital Elevator?" he needled, smirking slightly; anyone could see that the good Chief didn't have one iota of power, here; this was his territory.

"Sol-Tekkaman is basically a replica Tekkaman. Isn't your plan too risky?" Freeman asked, obviously impatient despite his efforts to conceal it.

"Well, I appreciate your concern," he said, in a considering tone, though both of them knew how this argument was really going to go. "But I have my own way of doing things."

"You're as stubborn as ever," Freeman stated, his voice barely changing inflection; Colbert sometimes wondered what it would take to truly make him angry.

"You'd better not try anything behind my back," he said, opting not to mention anything about Varis; it certainly wasn't any of Freeman's business what he did with his people.

"So, I can't expect you to hand over those D-Boys if ask," Freeman said.

"Unfortunately, you guessed right," he snapped, beginning to become irate; that always seemed to be the pattern, when he engaged the Chief of the Space Knights in a debate: Freeman's sheer unflappability would always seem to get the better of him.

It was infuriating.

"I understand. I wish you and Sol-Tekkaman every success."

Freeman cut their connection quickly after that, obviously having nothing left to say. Still, as long as he got what he wanted from Blade, Colbert wasn't going to concern himself with trivialities. Besides, Varis seemed to be settling in well enough; it likely wouldn't be long before he would be able to send the boy out alongside Balzac and his squadron of Sol-Tekkamen without having to concern himself with the possibility of the boy running off to rejoin Freeman's Space Knights at the first opportunity he was given.

As he continued to listen to the reports from the combat-teams that he had already dispatched to the Orbital Ring, Colbert smiled slightly. It seemed things were going better than ever; soon, he would have all the power he needed to drive the Radam away once and for all. And, once he did, he would be hailed as the man who saved Earth from the alien menace.

Him, not Freeman and those Space Knights of his.

"Start Operation Heaven! Don't leave even a single Radam in the Orbital Elevator!" he ordered; he tried not to think about Freeman and all of the annoyance that man had stirred up.

He was still going to be the one who got the glory, in the end.

IX

As he lead his combat\support-team deeper into the Orbital Ring, hunting down any of the Radam monsters that he could find, Balzac smiled. Once he managed to get rid of all of them, he would likely be on the fast-track to another promotion. Grinning at the thought, even as he shot down yet another Radam monster that had attempted to ambush them, Balzac kept moving.

"Ha! So this is the counter-attack launched by the besieged human race," he said, after he'd shot yet another of the Radam monsters, this one after it had actually managed to capture one of his personnel. "A battle putting all mankind's dreams on the line, huh?" Two more Radam monsters jumped out of hiding after he made that pronouncement; he grinned all the wider. "This is the perfect stage for the birth of a new hero!"

Targeting the space between them, Balzac increased the output of his fermion rifle and fired at that space. The energy-discharge vaporized the two Radam monsters, and Balzac smirked with supreme pleasure as he prepared to move forward with his compatriots. I'm going to show you the greatest power on Earth!

Even with everything that he'd lost, that thought was still enough to make him happy; he'd have the fame and recognition that he'd been searching for all his life, even without Malraux there to share it with him.

X

"Chief, they told us they wouldn't release them! What on Earth is going on?" he heard Aki demand, as she slammed her hands down on the inert control-console just beside the one he was working at.

"How can you say there's nothing we can do?" Milly asked, sounding more plaintive than he had ever heard.

"Those damned military hotshots are all alike!" Noal snarled. "They'll toss out anything they don't need anymore!" he heard the man's fist slam into the wall, as his emotions became too much for him to deal with and maintain his composure. "But Chief, I thought you were different. I can see I was wrong!"

"Chief!" Aki snapped.

He said nothing, continuing to work on the computer virus that he had prepared; the one that would cripple the security-systems that Colbert relied on, and open the way for Aki and Noal once they inevitably decided to take matters into their own hands.

"Then we've got to appeal to the ADF ourselves," Noal said, his conviction clear; Freeman suspected that it wouldn't be long before he left, as he did almost before he'd finished speaking.

Aki was the next to leave, following Noal at a sprint; once the two of them met up, they would more than likely begin making their plans to infiltrate the Military headquarters. Or perhaps such a thing would be done on a whim; he knew better than most just how Aki would act in the presence of an injustice, or when one of her close friends was in danger. This situation, which combined those two provocations, was hence far more likely to drive her to act than any other.

And, for the chance to give her and Noal the means to bring D-Boy and D-Two back to the home that those young men had so clearly made for themselves in OSDG Headquarters, he was willing to bear the scorn of as many of his people as became necessary.

"Our poor D-Boys," he heard Milly say, with a morose tone to her voice.

"Oh man, I'm so disappointed in the Chief! I always thought he was the kind of man you could depend on!" Levin said, his surprise more than obvious.

"Let's get back to work, Levin," Honda said, his being the only controlled tone that Freeman had heard since his people had gathered around him.

"Hey! Hold up!"

As the footfalls of one of his best engineers faded out alongside those of one of the best of his technicians, Freeman continued his work. Nothing would truly be solved if he spent his energy attempting to console the people who worked under him. As much as he sometimes wanted to, he had learned through long, harsh experience to prioritize.

XI

"You mean, you'll keep working when we don't even have our D-Boys back?!" he called, hurrying to catch up with his coworker as the other man's quick, determined stride carried him down the corridor on his way back to the engineering section that they both spent so much time in.

"Of course," Honda said, not even turning around, as the two of them continued on their way down the corridor.

"But, they're our comrades. Don't you miss them?" he asked; he could still remember the kiss that he and D-Two had shared under the moonlight almost a week ago; granted, the circumstances surrounding it hadn't been the most romantic in the world, but she still wanted to have at least the chance at another. D-Two might have been a bit awkward at first, but he was so beautiful that that didn't really matter. Not to mention the way he had to be worrying about what was probably happening to D-Boy; heck, he was worrying about what was happening to D-Boy, and he didn't even know what was happening.

"At least Freeman known what needs to be done to save Earth right now," Honda said, finally stopping so he could turn to look at Levin; it finally felt like Honda was talking to him, rather than at him the way he'd been doing.

"But…" he asked, feeling as if he wasn't being heard at all.

"So, our job is to work on this," he said, the rolled up plans that he had been carrying as he came into the room with the rest of them still leaning against his shoulder. Honda tapped him on the forehead with those plans as he said that last thing.

"All right," Levin said, glancing toward the plans; he didn't quite remember what they were for at the moment, but then he'd been thinking about a lot of other things lately. He still was, really.

"Right. Let's get started," Honda said, turning slightly away from Levin in an obvious prelude to walking away. The message was clear: Honda was leaving with or without him, but without would cause more problems.

"But, if anything happens to our D-Boys, I'll never let you hear the end of it!" he said, resisting the urge to sigh; he'd done enough of that over the last few days.

"Right, I understand," Honda deadpanned, finally turning and beginning to make his way down the corridor. He brandished those plans of his like a battle-flag as he picked up speed.

XII

The computer virus was complete at last; able to bypass the security-systems that Colbert had installed, and to provide Aki and Noal with the chance that they would need to bring Blade and Varis back home. Now, he just needed someone to upload it; someone who wasn't burdened with the myriad tasks of keeping the Space Knights and their various personnel working together and at as close to peak-efficiency as this war against the Radam would allow them to be.

"Milly, I have a special mission for you," he called, knowing that the young Space Knight was still in the room with him, even though he could hear her light footsteps carrying her away.

"Yes, Chief?" she asked, sounding a bit apprehensive; he understood, though he often wished that she would settle more comfortably into her role, something like that would take time. Everything took time, but time had become a precious resource lately.

"This is urgent. I want you on it right away," he said, handing her the flash-drive that he had used to save his work to.

"Yes, Chief," she said, looking from him to the flash-drive in her hands.

There were many other things that required his attention, and many of them had nothing to do with the core group of his Space Knights. Milly might learn that in the future, if she ever chose to take up a position of command herself.

Of course, that wasn't likely to happen until far in the future; Milly still had a lot to learn.

XIII

Knocking one of the scientists who had been trying to examine him away, knowing that if he let them in close he would never be able to get away from them unless he gave them everything they wanted, Takaya breathed heavily. He knew that they had to be lying about Shinya, knew that his younger twin wouldn't have cooperated with these sadists even if they had tried to offer him every one of his favorite foods and a foot massage. His brief amusement at that mental image, something he'd deliberately thought up to distract himself from what was happening to him, had to be quickly put aside as the scientists began to crowd around him again.

Grabbing the scientist who'd come within his strike-range, Takaya threw him against the wall.

He hadn't had much energy to talk with Shinya lately; the tests he was being forced through sapping both his strength and the mental focus he needed to carry on any kind of a meaningful conversation with his younger twin, and he could tell from the way Shinya reacted that it was worrying him. He hated that; he didn't want Shinya to have to worry about him, he was the one who should have been worrying about Shinya.

Father had told him to look out for his younger brother, but all he seemed to do lately was rely on Shinya to help him; he was sure that Father would have been disappointed in him for that, if their father had still been alive to see it.

A lunge from another of the scientists surrounding him brought Takaya's attention firmly back to the present, reminding him that it wasn't safe to let his attention wander anymore. He couldn't afford to let his guard down around these people. They weren't like the Space Knights at all: any hint of weakness on his part, and they would be on him like sharks on a wounded fish.

He knew that from bitter experience.

"Get your hands off me!" he snarled, his breath heaving from the exertion he'd already been put through by these bastards.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," the scientist who'd been trying to force him into one more of those tests that those sadists had set up for him said. "We're only trying to analyze Tekkaman Blade's armor."

"All you have to do is enter this scanner! Just leave the rest to us," another one of them said, gesturing to a large, upright shape that Takaya had heard Shinya describe from his time in the care of the OSDG's doctors. "Really, you're making too much of this. Your brother would be disappointed in you, being so cowardly."

Takaya wanted to punch him for that; lying to him, trying to use his feelings for Shinya against him. He hated all of these people, and there were times that he was tempted to just kill them all and escape with Shinya on his own. But, no; he wouldn't be the monster that they so clearly wanted him to be.

He wouldn't.

One of them began to close in on him again, and Takaya braced himself as he saw armored talons reaching out as if to touch his face.

"It's time to come home now, Takaya," Spear said, closing in even as Blade felt his own body freeze up.

There was no way that he would ever be able to fight Spear; not on his own, and certainly not in his human form. Forced to give ground as Spear closed in on him, Tekkaman Blade wondered desperately what had happened to Shinya . Blade would never forgive himself if he let something happen to his younger twin; especially after the way he'd already made Shinya worry because of what he was doing.

When he felt Spear's arms wrapping around him from behind – one of them curling around his waist in an eerie mimicry the way Shinya would do when his younger twin wanted to comfort him, and the other supporting his right arm – Blade tried to break away. But, it was like he was paralyzed or something; he couldn't move a muscle.

"Little brother," Spear said, his tone as frighteningly gentle as it had ever been. "We'll fight together."

He found that he couldn't even move his arm the way he wanted it; either Spear's grip was too tight, or there was something wrong with his body, but Blade found that all he could do was watch as Spear brought his armored arm up into line. His fellow Space Knights were standing in front of him, and Blade desperately wanted to yell to them; to tell them to run away and save themselves.

He couldn't even open his mouth.

"Well done, little brother," Spear said, as the blood-soaked remains of his and Shinya's fellow Space Knights fell to the ground. "I'm proud of you."

He hated the fact that he couldn't move, that he couldn't turn and attack Spear for what he'd done; what his evil brother had made him do. He tried to call for Shinya, not having seen his younger twin with the rest of the Space Knights that Spear had made him butcher, and knowing that his younger twin would want revenge for that just as much as he did. And Varis would probably be able to get that revenge.

Anyone could see that he couldn't do anything.

"We'll find Shinya soon, Takaya," Spear said; Blade struggled all the harder, wanting to punch him, kick him, slash him, anything to show that he was still himself. Anything to prove that he wasn't completely useless. But he was, and all he could do was follow where Spear led...

Waking up, feeling his head swim from the after-effects of what had probably been another dose of sleeping gas, Takaya curled up against the wall of his prison and shuddered. Sure, he knew now that he'd just been dreaming, but that didn't change how helpless he was; it didn't change how useless he was. He'd always known that Shinya was the stronger one, but he'd liked to think that the two of them could at least stand as equals sometimes.

He was learning better now, though. Shin-chan, be strong… I can't… he thought to himself, behind the mental walls that they'd both constructed in order to have at least some privacy, considering what they were. He didn't want to put any more pressure on his younger twin than he was sure was already there, though, so Takaya didn't call to him. He didn't want Shinya running himself ragged; the ADF was doing more than enough of that for both of them.

XIV

He'd spent more than enough time in this area of this particular base to get used to it, and to know that this was also at least reasonably close to where they were keeping Takaya. His older twin had sounded more and more worn-down as Shinya had talked to him, and as the conversations themselves had become more spaced out, he'd started to worry. Not that he hadn't already been worried, since the two of them had never been forcibly separated for this long, at least not without doing something drastic to the person responsible for the initial separation, anyway.

He'd just become moreso, given how Takaya – the idiot – was seemingly withdrawing from the world in general and him in particular.

Carefully moving down the corridor in front of him, making sure that anyone who saw him would just think he was going down to have lunch, Shinya made his way toward the place where he could sense Takaya's mental signature the strongest. He'd had more than enough of playing the good little soldier-boy for these fuckers.

XV

When she'd left to find Noal, after seeing the Chief being so infuriatingly nonchalant about what was happening to the twins while the Military was holding them captive, he'd looked just about as furious as she'd felt at the prospect of what was going on. The two of them had talked for awhile, and finally decided to go see if they could at least pay a visit to them. They'd been close friends with both of those boys, her personal feelings for D-Boy notwithstanding, and if this was the only thing they could do then it would have to be enough.

But now, all they seemed to be running into was a dead end.

Both the soldier who had been shoving Noal out of the corridor and the one next to him, pushing her, were silent. Infuriatingly so.

"Hey, back off!" Noal said, as the two of them were shoved out into the corridor entirely. "I know they're not allowing visitors, but can't we just see them for a sec?"

"The answer's no. Get out of my sight," the larger soldier, the one who'd been shoving her, said with the kind of deadpan tone that made her want to punch his face in under the circumstances.

Slamming her right fist into his stomach, Aki finished the job with a crushing elbow-strike to his back once he had doubled over from the pain. She was so very tempted to finish the job by crushing his neck under her heel, but the momentary temptation passed and she was profoundly grateful that she hadn't acted on it. That man had been doing his job, and as much as she might have resented him in the heat of the moment, he really didn't deserve to die for that.

"Aki, what are you-" Noal asked, having taken out the other solder with a single chop to the left side of his neck.

"We can't trust the Chief anymore, so we have no choice. Hurry, Noal!" she cut in, taking in the expression of mild shock on his face and dismissing it just as quickly as she'd seen it.

She didn't know just what Noal said when she began making her way down the corridors at high-speed, but he followed along right after her as she moved. That was good; she didn't want to have to punch him for being stupid.

XVI

As he and his support crew continued on their way through the Orbital Ring, bushwhacking Radam monsters and killing them as they tried to attack, Balzac felt a slight, niggling annoyance. He'd run out of ammo, and was now forced to wait as some of his people caught up with him.

"If it means you're going to give me a dazzling future, then I can look at your ugly face with affection," he said, still wanting to hurry up; sure, the Radam's monsters died easily, but he'd be remembered as a hero all the same.

"This is the 1st squad, we've just driven the Radam from Area G-" before the tech at the scanner could say anything more, the doors just in front of them – closed in the absence of power to open them – exploded inward. At first, all he could see was the near-blinding, swirling light of the explosion, but as the fires began to die down from the lack of usable oxygen in the Orbital Ring, he began to see just who was standing in front of him.

It can't be! But the figure standing in front of him remained right there, casually defying everything he'd known from his briefings.

"How interesting," the Tekkaman named Spear said.

XVII

"That's him!" he exclaimed, seeing the Tekkaman that had suddenly appeared in front of Balzac and his group. The creature was brazen, he had to give it that; now, they only had to find a way to kill it.

"All communications from the I and H area squads have been have been cut off."

"All squads are to assemble in Area G!" he shouted, knowing that nothing else would be sufficient. "All squads are hereby ordered to support Sol-Tekkaman!"

I'm counting on you, Sol-Tekkaman! he thought fiercely. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that believe that any of the current combatants would be able to hear him, but he couldn't help it. He'd seen the kind of destructive power that Freeman's Tekkamen could unleash at whim, and while he had both of them contained for the moment, there was simply no chance of him being able to dispatch Tekkaman Varis at this point.

It wasn't even a matter of the boy being a potential flight risk, there was simply no time to round him up, give him his marching-orders, and send him to assist Balzac and the others. Everything rested on the first Sol Tekkaman now. He would only have to hope that his faith in Balzac hadn't been misplaced in the end.

He hated it, but in the end he was powerless.

XVIII

"Tekkaman Spear? So, you finally decided to show up?" Balzac asked, his confidence clearly audible in his voice, even over the mild distortion of the Sol Tekkaman's speakers.

"What an adorable little creature you are," Spear practically cooed. "I almost want to keep you as a pet," Spear's chuckles turned quickly to outright laughter.

Raising his Sol-Tekkaman's fermion rifle, Balzac fired five blasts of energy straight into Spear's face. Spear, for his part, just stood there and let the blasts hit him. The little insect would learn to fear his power soon enough.

"Good," Balzac said, and grinned.

Once the light caused by all the energy that had been released had a chance to clear, Balzac saw that Spear wasn't as gone as he had thought the Tekkaman would be. In fact, Spear wasn't even scratched.

"Was that all?" Spear asked, sounding more bored than anything, his right pointer finger tapping on his folded arms.

"Shut up!" Balzac shouted, firing his rifle up until the power cell was completely depleted.

Thinking that there was no way that even Spear could have survived that kind of an onslaught, Balzac relaxed. He relaxed, that is, until the light started to clear again. Spear stood there, again completely unscathed. Dry firing until he realized that he was out of power, Balzac started to slowly back away.

"Well, what will you do now? Little pet," Spear said calmly, closing the distance between himself and Balzac with slow, sure strides.

XIX

The group of military soldiers raced forward to form a protective barrier between the little human and Spear. Spear scoffed, looking at all the soon-to-be-dead insects that were trying to keep him from his chosen target. Lunging forward, Spear impaled one of the 'soldiers' through the chest. The tip of his weapon stuck about two inches out the insect's back. Twisting his blade, Spear ripped it out.

It took a fair amount of the insect's chest with it, but Spear didn't care very much about that. The next insect to die was one who foolishly tried to blindside him. Spear's punch easily crushed his opponent's skull. Spear thought that the deep red blood that now decorated his pale-colored armor made a very nice contrast indeed. Laughing, Spear took a moment to select his next target.

He needn't have bothered. The next soldier, seeing two of his friends die at the armored hands of the Radam monster, came charging right at Spear. Full of rage and righteous fury, he didn't even see Spear's hands come back up. Catching the insect in a stranglehold, Spear was mildly disappointed to note that the insect's own momentum didn't cause his neck to snap.

Then, Spear decided that that wasn't so bad, after all, as he slowly crushed the insect's neck. It was somewhat amusing, Spear thought, to watch him kick and struggle. Pity he can't scream right now, but I suppose that one can't quite have everything one wants, Spear laughed to himself. Another one of the insects tried to tackle him, Spear threw him off, then crushed the insect's neck with his foot.

Now, though, the game was starting to lose its novelty. So Spear pulled out his lancer again. Diving forward, Spear swung his lancer in a broad arc, catching a great deal of the alleged soldiers amidships. His lancer tore them in half at their waists, and Spear laughed. Turning to the other group, Spear hacked them to bloody pieces before any of them could even think to try to avenge their pitiful brethren.

Now only three of the insects stood between Spear and his chosen target. Laughing as he ripped into them, Spear reveled in the screams that he could still hear over his own laughter. The blood that now coated him liberally was only cause for more laughter.

Balzac, meanwhile, was frantically reloading his fermion rifle. He knew that the soldiers who had been assigned to his unit were dying with frightening speed and suddenness. He also knew that there was no way in hell that he would be able to do anything for them. So he focused on saving his own skin.

When he had finally managed to gather up all the remaining power packs, Balzac heard a coldly amused chuckle coming from behind him.

"You really are an adorable thing," Spear said. "Little pet."

"Shut up!" Balzac shouted, firing again into Spear's face, hoping to somehow distract the evil Tekkaman.

"This again," Spear said dully, once the crackling energy surrounding him had had a chance to clear again.

But by then, Balzac had already taken the opportunity to turn tail and run. He didn't know just how far he was going to get, not with Spear practically breathing down his neck, but giving up without a fight just wasn't in his nature. Besides, he owed at least something to General Colbert for giving him this kind of opportunity for fame and glory. He just had to get to one of the spaceports and get his hands on a shuttle.

Why do they always have to try and scurry away? Spear wondered to himself with more than a little amusement. These pitiful little insects could never hope to escape from him once he had decided to hunt them, but it was kind of fun to watch them try. So Spear decided to let this one run his little race, it would make it all the more fun when Spear caught him.

Willing the dim light in this section of the Orbital Ring to bend around him, Spear rendered himself invisible. The hunt was now on.

XX

Shinya stood just inside the door of the room he was sheltering in, waiting for those bastard doctors and scientists to come back and try something; most of them were running around like headless idiots, but there were still a few competent ones running around loose. He would make them all regret ever taking him away from his brother. When the door finally opened, Shinya's first reaction was instinctive, understandable, and completely miscalculated. Putting most of his considerable strength behind a hard straight punch, Shinya didn't even consider that there might be someone friendly on the other side of the door.

Feeling his fist slam into someone's face, Shinya was more than a bit surprised to hear Noal's familiar voice.

"Ow!"

"Noal!" Shinya exclaimed.

Noal was now sprawled out in the middle of the hallway after having opened the door in front of him. There was a small trickle of blood running out of his nose. The two Space Knights had first made for D-Boy's cell, since it had turned out to be the closest to where they had come in. But, once they had seen how exhausted and dispirited D-Boy had been, Noal had insisted that they go look for D-Two.

"Oi, oi, D-Two! You're too jumpy!" Noal said, seeming to get over his anger faster than either Aki or Shinya would have expected.

"Have you found brother yet?"

"He's in pretty bad shape, so I thought that it would help if we found you first."

"Thank you," D-Two nodded.

Noal, hauling himself up off of the floor with D-Two's help, dusted himself off and pulled out a piece of tissue to wipe his nose on. Tossing it carelessly to the ground, Noal smirked. Noal shook his head, focusing on where he was going.

He could practically hear D-Two fidgeting behind him, not that anyone else would be able to tell he was doing it. D-Two was almost as quiet and self-contained as D-Boy was, but he covered those traits with his near constant jokes and cutting remarks. Only someone who had known D-Two long enough to know that all the banter really was a cover would be able to appreciate just how similar D-Two and D-Boy really were.

D-Two was also extremely protective of his older twin, and Noal pitied anyone stupid enough to awaken D-Two's wrath by harming D-Boy. Noal smirked, thinking of just what D-Two was probably going to do if he ever managed to get his hands on General Fathead. It would be spectacularly messy, that was for sure.

"It doesn't look good," Noal sighed.

"No one here looks good Noal-kun. The ADF has bad fashion sense," D-Two drawled.

"What?" Noal blinked, not knowing what to make of D-Two's last statement. Beside him, Aki choked on a laugh.

"Never mind," D-Two said, sighing.

"Just tell me you're not turning into Levin," Noal pleaded jokingly.

"Oh? What's wrong with Levin, Noal-kun?" D-Two smirked.

Aki was snickering quietly now. No matter what the situation was or how dire, if it didn't involve D-Boy being harmed, D-Two would find a way to lighten it. Noal opened the door, and D-Two rushed in without another word. He was at D-Boy's side in the time it took Noal to blink twice. Sitting down on D-Boy's bed, D-Two began to gently stroke his brother's hair.

"Are you all right, brother?" D-Two asked, probably hoping for but not really expecting a response.

Noal and Aki had mutually decided that it was best to let D-Two handle the job of getting D-Boy back into the land of the lucid. D-Two always seemed to know just what to do and what to say to get his brother to listen. Of course, there had been a few times that D-Boy had been stubborn enough to ignore the advice of his younger twin, but all in all D-Boy and D-Two were incredibly good at keeping each other out of trouble.

D-Boy's just kind of stupid, sometimes, Noal thought.

D-Two, having been with D-Boy long enough to tolerate – if not understand or condone – his brother's tendency to try and take the weight of the world on his shoulders, was often the perfect one to talk him out of his funks. Sure D-Two had a temper, and he would sometimes smack D-Boy upside the head and tell him he was being an idiot, but only when D-Boy really was being an idiot.

But this time D-Boy seemed to be beyond even D-Two's reach. Noal was just glad that D-Two was more patient with D-Boy than he had ever been. D-Boy needed someone who could deal with his drastic and mostly negative moods, and yes, occasionally to slap some sense into him when he was being especially moronic.

Without the slightest hint of warning, D-Boy jerked himself upright and buried his face in D-Two's chest. D-Two didn't seem the least bit surprised, though, and Noal hoped again that D-Two would be able to reach D-Boy past whatever self-imposed barriers D-Boy had put up when he was in the military's 'care'. D-Boy was shivering, and D-Two had started to rub his brother's head.

"You know, you can tell me anything you want, brother."

Watching from the sidelines, Aki and Noal looked for any sign that D-Two's words were having the desired effect, both Space Knights were hoping that being able to see his brother again would have positive effect on D-Boy. So far, it seemed to be working.

When D-Boy finally looked up, emerald green eyes hollow and dark from all the things he had seen or thought he had seen, his reaction was not the one that any of the other people in the room would have expected.

"Why… Why are you here?" D-Boy asked dully, looking up at D-Two.

XXI

"What?" Shinya was annoyed; he had expected Takaya to be happy to see him, but Takaya looked as if Shinya was the last person in the world he wanted to see.

"You shouldn't have come. I'll just slow you down." As he spoke, Takaya had been turning his face away from his younger twin.

By the time Takaya had finished speaking, he was staring blankly at a point just below Shinya's right shoulder.

Shinya, meanwhile, had to work to control a strong urge to slap his brother upside the head. Hitting Takaya wouldn't do any good with the state his brother was in now. Grabbing Takaya's chin, Shinya forced his brother to look at him.

"Idiot," Shinya hissed. "Don't say stupid things, and come on. We're leaving; Aki-chan and Noal-kun have come to get us out."

"Why?" Takaya asked dully, not seeming to hear anything his brother was saying.

"Because everyone on Earth needs us, idiot," Shinya spat.

Noal sighed, this was going even worse than he had thought it might. It was a good thing that they had D-Two to help them deal with D-Boy. Otherwise, Noal might have been tempted to try a more 'hands-on' approach to dealing with D-Boy's depression. Of course, D-Two looked like he just might want to try something like that himself.

But either D-Two had more restraint when it came to dealing with D-Boy, or he just knew that his brother wouldn't respond well to even more rough treatment. Whatever the case was, D-Two just sat there and glared.

"Come on, pull yourself together, D-Boy! Look, we even brought D-Two here for you," Noal said. "Now, both of you transform and go fight. That's what you boys have been living for, right?"

"I can't… I don't want to kill anyone," D-Boy said with finality.

"Okay, then just stay here and die," Noal said, ignoring the scathing death-glare that D-Two shot him for that remark. "Come on, D-Two."

"Ignore Noal, he's an idiot. But we do need you, brother. Remember our promise?" D-Two said.

"I… I can't," D-Boy said dully.

Noal sighed and threw his hands up in the air in disgust.

"D-kun, you're an idiot, but I know you're not that stupid," D-Two said firmly.

Aki, standing off to the side, looked sadly at the twins. D-Two was trying, he really was, but D-Boy seemed to be determined to ignore the efforts his brother was making. It wasn't a good situation.

XXII

Running in his Sol-Tekkaman wasn't quite as easy as Balzac had expected it would be, but at least he couldn't see Spear anywhere behind him. It might have been a little too much to hope that the crazed, evil Tekkaman had given up. But, at least I managed to buy myself some time, Balzac silently congratulated himself. That was when he felt something hard slamming into his back.

"Running again, little pet?" Spear asked, appearing out of literally nowhere.

"Bastard!" Balzac aimed his fermion rifle at Spear's face, hoping to distract the Tekkaman while he looked for a shuttle.

"Really," Spear said boredly. "This again?"

With an incoherent yell, Balzac fired off another barrage of fermion pulses. This time though, Spear did something that he hadn't bothered to do any other time that Balzac had attacked him: he dodged. Jumping out of the way of the bright flares of energy, Spear heard them burn the air briefly as they passed him by.

Slamming into the little tin insect with all the force he had, Spear drove him right into the wall of the Orbital Ring. For Balzac it felt like he'd been hit by a speeding car, even with the protection provided by his Sol Tekkaman. Balzac bit back a scream as Spear began to hammer him with punches that would have crushed his bones if it hadn't been for the layers of metal protecting his body, and still came damn near to doing that anyway.

Balzac couldn't stop himself from stumbling as Spear kicked him in the back, but he got to his feet with just barely enough time to dodge the Tekkaman's follow-up punch. What annoyed Balzac the most was that Spear was actually laughing at him, as if everything that he was doing was funny, as if there nothing he could do that would stop Spear from winning.

Balzac hated that. He was the one who controlled his own destiny, and he was currently in possession of the most powerful weapon ever designed by human hands. It should have been a clear win for him, and instead Spear was kicking him around like a soccer ball. That wouldn't do.

Spear wound up and delivered another crushing haymaker, this time to Balzac's head. Balzac worked his jaw to make sure it hadn't been broken, and then dodged the follow-up kicks that Spear delivered next. Spear, on top of being inhumanly fast and strong, was also tougher than any opponent that Balzac had ever faced. Being a street brat, he'd faced off with some of the more vicious thugs that Earth's slums could throw at him.

That was what had made him so much better than those brainless Radam monsters that the Radam kept sending: he could outthink them. And he didn't have that ridiculous time-limit that those freaks that'd been working for the Space Knights did; that was what made him better than Varis and Blade.

All that being true, however, why the hell couldn't he beat Spear?!

He was knocked out of his little pity-party by one of the aforementioned Tekkaman's fists, then forced to duck quickly to avoid being impaled on the end of his enemy's namesake weapon.

"You know, I don't quite think I want to take you home now," Spear drawled. "Little pet."

His teeth clenched too tightly to speak, Balzac growled deep in his throat. There had to be a way for him to win this!

XXIII

His left cheek pressed against his brother's hair, which seemed to be pretty much the only contact that Takaya would allow, Shinya tried to think of what he could use to snap his brother out of the deep pit of self-loathing that he'd obviously sunk himself into. Nothing was coming to mind, but he was becoming more and more aware of the shaking of the walls, and the rumbling from the base, around them.

It wasn't a good situation; here they were, in the center of a military base that was under the control of a power-hungry sadist, and all Takaya seemed to want to do was mope. He probably had good reasons; the conditions that those military bastards had kept him in had only been comfortable under the loosest definition of the word, and the treatment had bordered on the sadistic. While he might joke with Takaya about his being 'dull and broody', he could understand.

They'd been through almost the exact same hell, after all; and worse, they'd been separated.

He and Takaya were the only hope that Noal and Aki had of getting out of this base; he just had to get Takaya back on his feet and ready to fight. Unfortunately for all of them, that seemed like it would be easier said than done.

(I don't have any strength left, Shin-chan,) Takaya said, his mental voice as dull and lifeless as his physical one. (You should leave without me,) Takaya continued, burying his face deeper in Shinya's chest; Shinya thought for a moment that he could feel his brother crying. (I can't help you.)

(Shut up,) he said, trying to make himself seem as calm as he really wasn't. Pushing his older twin back from his resting place, Shinya noticed in a flash that his brother had been crying. He wasn't about to let that stop him, though.

His open-palmed strike knocked Takaya's head sideways, but the look on his older twin's face hadn't changed a bit. "You really think I'm going to let you give up?" Takaya didn't move, just continuing to stare blankly at the spot on the floor where his head was coincidentally pointed at. After a few seconds, when Takaya's eyes began to brighten slightly, Shinya thought he'd gotten through to him.

But, all Takaya did was curl up against him again, folding inward like a tent without a center-pole. (I really am hopeless,) he said. (You should leave with Aki and Noal, Shin-chan.)

(Idiot,) he said, trying to rein in his growing desire to punch his idiot of an older twin in the head; he'd already slapped him and that hadn't seemed to do any good, so he didn't think just escalating the level of violence would do even a bit of good. (You think you can just forget the promise we made? We're all that's left, and I'm not leaving you.)

A long silence, and then: (Forgive me.)

Shinya sighed, resting his chin on top of his older twin's head; he really wanted to find the person responsible for this and strangle them, unfortunately that wasn't really possible.

XXIV

More of them, he mused, not entirely certain if he was more amused or annoyed by the prospect. True, these creatures died particularly easily, but they were also a distraction from his ultimate goal of crushing the worm in the armor. It was an amusing little toy, he had to admit, and if he hadn't been so concerned for the welfare of his two younger brothers, Spear would have been willing to play with the worm and his insect cohorts. At the moment, however, the state of Takaya and Shinya had to take precedence over his own amusement.

As the insects began firing on him again, becoming rather annoying in light of the fact that he hadn't yet dealt with the worm, Spear swung his lancer and unleashed a barrage of electrical energy at them. The blast scattered the insects again, but the worm had already moved to capitalize on his momentary distraction. True, the blast the worm fired at him was completely inadequate for the task of breaching his armor, and the worm screamed in a particularly satisfying manner when Spear fired a bolt of electricity at him, but his concentration had still been divided by these creatures.

That fact was rather annoying, for all that it was still true.

XXV

He didn't know just why Aki and Noal were still standing in his cell; they'd found Shinya, and anyone could see that he wasn't going to be any use fighting Spear. (Go. You should leave now, with Aki and Noal, Shin-chan.)

(Don't say stupid things.) Takaya could feel it when his younger twin inhaled, and then the feel of Shinya's breath through his hair when he sighed.

(There's a demon inside my body, Shinya. It's the same demon that's inside Fritz and Kengo,) he said, knowing that he had to explain further if he was going to be able to make Shinya see; he needed his younger twin to understand this.

(You think it isn't inside me, Ta-kun?) Shinya asked, and Takaya got the impression that his younger twin's patience was starting to run out.

That was all right, he didn't expect Shinya to be patient with him; he didn't deserve it. (You're stronger than I am, Shinya. You always have been.)

(Shut up, Takaya-baka! You and I both know that we're the same! If you're a demon, then so am I!)

Takaya was stunned enough by the fact that Shinya had used that name – he hadn't heard it since the two of them were human, and he hadn't thought that he would ever hear it again – that even the feel of his younger twin's hands clenching against his back didn't faze him so much as that.

(Shinya?)

"D-Two? Are you all right?" Aki asked, inadvertently reminding him that there were other people in the room besides him and Shinya.

"Sorry. Brother's being stupid again," Shinya said, sounding like he was either rolling his eyes or he wanted to.

"You're using that selective telepathy of yours?" Noal asked, though it sounded more like a flat statement.

"You noticed?" Shinya retorted, and Takaya could tell that his brother was probably smirking at Noal.

"You two might not know this, but there are these funny little symbols that appear in the center of your foreheads sometimes," Noal said; he was probably pointing to his own forehead when he said that. "I didn't know what to make of them at first, but since you said that they show up whenever you use that telepathy of yours, I think I can guess."

"That's why you both covered your foreheads back then," Aki said, in the tone of someone who'd just had a revelation. "Who were you talking to, back then?"

Shinya sighed, or he might have just laughed, soft and rueful. "Spear."

"Spear?" Noal echoed. "What in the world did he want?"

"Yeah," Shinya said, firmly enough that Takaya knew that that was all he was going to say.

No matter who else asked him; his younger twin was firm that way, when he was sure of something.

XXVI

"My younger brothers, where are they?" the evil Tekkaman asked, as if the two of them were just having a nice chat over coffee; he didn't know just what was in that alien freak's head, but hell if he was going to fall for it.

"Beats me, but I think you should worry about yourself," he shot back, bravado lacing his tone.

"Little pet," the freak said flatly, armored fingers tapping against the shaft of his weapon. "You don't want me to have to ask again."

Gritting his teeth – who the hell did this alien freak think he was, trying to give a soldier orders like that?! – Balzac hissed through them. He wouldn't do anyone any good if he let this freak rile him up and then ended up getting killed because of if. Still, he'd be damned if he let some Radam freak get the better of him; no matter how many fancy tricks he had.

Dodging back and away from the evil Tekkaman to give himself more maneuvering room, Balzac fired up his Sol Tekkaman's thrusters, curved his flightpath around the immobile figure, leaped up onto one of the bulkheads that hadn't yet been brought down by all the fighting, and leaped off it so that he was coming down behind and above the armored alien freak.

"How was that?!" he crowed in triumph, firing six shots of hot fermion into the evil Tekkaman's back. "Better than a pet, eh?!"

"Not really," the evil Tekkaman said, his tone so dry and completely deadpan even as he was enveloped by the bright, coruscating sphere of power that had obliterated so any of those damned Radam monsters, that Balzac knew he couldn't just leave it at that.

Firing two more shots into the rapidly-expanding sphere of deadly light and energized particles, Balzac watched in satisfaction as Spear's tall, broad-shouldered, sharply-pointed silhouette was completely obliterated by the light. However, once he had retracted his rifle and the light from the fermion reaction began to die down, Balzac saw the worse possible thing, under the circumstances, that he had never hoped to see: Spear's silhouette emerging from the light.

What was worse was that he looked completely unscathed by all of the power that Balzac had poured into the shots hitting his armor, and on top of that, the evil Tekkaman was coming toward him. Slowly, almost deliberately, and inexorable as a rogue wave.

"Little pet, you should give up," the evil Tekkaman said, his tone as deadpan as it had ever been.

"Damnit!" He fired for all he was worth, he fired four times, before he finally realized that he was out of ammo yet again. Frantically giving ground before the deadly, armored apparition in front of him, he searched for more ammo.

As the group of soldiers who had come up to the Orbital Ring with him opened fire on the Tekkaman in front of him, Balzac breathed a brief sigh of relief.

Leaping over Spear's head, with a short burst from his thrusters to help his large, comparatively bulky armored form make it the rest of the way, Balzac landed behind the defensive line that his support-squad was maintaining. Without any kind of pause, not even having the time to catch his breath no matter how much he wanted to, Balzac began the process of reloading his fermion rifle. He was definitely going to be taking some extra ammo, this time.

"This farce no longer amuses me," he heard the evil Tekkaman say, actually displaying a sort of emotion for the first time since this part of their battle had begun. What he was displaying, however, wasn't particularly promising. "I suppose I should show you at last, the true discrepancy between your feeble powers, and mine."

Balzac wondered for a moment just what Spear was about to do, since it looked like the evil Tekkaman was gathering himself for something, when he remembered just what it was that those freak-brothers could do when they had needed to clear a roomful of Radam monsters.

Mother of God... "Please, no!" he pleaded, not really knowing who he was speaking to but knowing all the same that it was futile.

As the awesome, terrible red light bore down on him and all of the members of his squad, streaming out in coherent beams before converging on their intended targets, Balzac at last managed to tear his attention away from red death closing in on him at speed. Turning a 180 as quickly as he could, since his Sol Tekkaman hadn't exactly been designed with tight turns in mind, Balzac could hear the screams of those men he'd left behind in an effort to put as much distance as he could between himself and burning red death as he could.

He only heard the screams for a few moments, as the men and women doing the screaming were wiped out of existence by the powerful energies that Spear had unleashed on them. He was distantly thankful for that, but the whole of his world had become heat and pressure and pain, leaving precious little room for coherent thought. He was determined to survive this ordeal, but he was beginning to think that determination alone wasn't going to be enough.

It wasn't a comforting thought.

XXVII

As he stood there, watching the utter obliteration of the forces that he had ordered dispatched to the Orbital Ring to deal with the Radam occupying it, Colbert was too horrified to speak for a few, long moments.

"The 1st and 2nd squads have ceased all communications!" one of his underlings spoke up, clearly more level-headed than he was feeling at the moment.

"This is the 3rd squad…" the image of the man making the transmission went to static as his signal cut out. "A swarm of Radam!-" more static. "Swarm of Radam-!" the image went to static for the last time, as the soldier's comm. link cut out entirely.

Groaning in fear and fury as he leaned over the banks of monitors that lined nearly every square-inch of the monitoring room, Colbert tried to stay on his even though he felt as if all the strength had gone out of his legs.

He couldn't even hope to salvage this situation by sending Tekkaman Varis out to deal with the invading Radam horde; the boy would never get there in time, for one thing, and no one was quite sure where he'd gone in all the chaos, for another. There was no hope anymore.

XXVIII

(You can handle things from here,) he ordered the legions of Radam monsters that he had been placed in command of by Omega-sama when he had been deployed to the Orbital Ring to deal with the new weapons-system that the humans had deployed. (In any case, the humans owe us for this.)

He had been right: that armored suit that he had been facing might have been a completely laughable one-to-one against himself, or likely any other Tekkaman that would be required to deal with it, but if the machine had been allowed to become anything more than simply a prototype, things might very well have become rather troublesome for all of them.

For the moment, however, I suppose I will have to leave that be. I have matters of my own to attend to, he mused, looking up to the moon even as his thoughts turned to his younger brothers back on earth. Takaya. Shinya. You're coming home with me; whether you like it or not.

XXIX

Crawling now, on his hands and knees in the aftermath of the damage that had been caused to his Sol Tekkaman – what remained of it after that beam-attack that Spear had blasted him with at the end of something that couldn't have been called a fight – Balzac forcefully shoved every thought, regrets and recriminations and reflections, aside so that he could focus. Focus and survive. That was all that mattered now.

He had to find a shuttle-pod and get back to Earth; everything else was secondary to that goal. Even the knowledge that he would most likely be called on to report the kind of power that Spear had demonstrated. The power that had crippled his Sol Tekkaman and reduced his support-squad to scattered, free-floating atoms.

Crawling over a particularly large chunk of rubble, he failed to notice until the last minute that it was loose. As his right arm was pulled from underneath him by the unstable surface, Balzac forced himself to relax and let the force of his tumble propel him along the deck of the Orbital Ring.

It was a bumpy ride, to be sure, but it was also a bit faster than he'd been able to move on his own in his damaged Sol Tekkaman; that was really all that mattered right now.

XXX

"A swarm of Radam monsters is now descending!"

"What did you say?" he asked, wanting at least to know where the next attack was going to be; even though he knew that there was nothing he or anyone in this room could do about it anymore.

"Now estimating their projected destination… One minute, please," the technician said. He heard the sounds of keys being punched, and then a slight pause; this clearly was worse news than even he had thought. "It's here! The ADF Headquarters!"

So, that was it, then; even the Tekkaman Varis wouldn't have been able to save them from that many Radam monsters, even if someone had been able to find him. This was the last stand of the Allied Defense Force's Arizona Headquarters.

XXXI

Standing within the sanctuary of his own Headquarters, temporary as it way very well have been, Hienrich von Freeman watched as uncountable numbers of Radam monsters descended on the Allied Defense Force's center of operations in this state. There were more of them then could possibly be displayed, even on the large screen that he was standing before. Seeing that massive swarm... it was as if he was looking into the past, seeing the hopeless state of the war, before Tekkaman Blade and Tekkaman Varis had fallen to Earth. Before those two young men had joined in the planet's defense, and given all of them a fighting chance.

He'd never thought to see this kind of disaster again; he'd never wanted to see it again.

He worried for those stationed inside the ADF's Headquarters, too, but a commander's first duty was to keep his people stable. To help them stand up under stress, even when that stress was affecting him as well; Milly's worry served no practical purpose at this time, best he didn't let her focus too much on it.

Without the twins with them, to provide the Earth's defenders with both the morale they needed to feel that their efforts were not in vain, and the power they needed to ensure that they would actually succeed in those efforts, the people of Earth were in nearly the same situation that they had been in during the first six months of the invasion. Perhaps even worse, since under the circumstances it could easily be assumed that D-Boy and D-Two had abandoned them.