He could sense them, somewhere inside this Headquarters of theirs; tearing his way through the outer layers of the facility was bound to attract the attention of his misguided younger brothers. Like all of his family, Takaya and Shinya were the type to fully devote themselves to a cause once they had chosen it, and they had clearly dedicated themselves to those Space Knights of theirs.
He didn't know quite what to make of that; on the one hand, he was proud of his younger brothers and the dedication that they were showing, and yet that very dedication had been given to the wrong people. It was a troublesome thing, to be sure.
Throwing his lancer at yet another dish array, one that looked like it controlled communications for this Headquarters, Spear felt a certain sense of vindication. At least these humans would no longer be able to summon help.
(Takaya, Shinya, I grow tired of this incessant stalling of yours; if you won't come out of this Headquarters on your own, then I will come in to retrieve you. I can promise that you won't enjoy the outcome if you force me to resort to that.)
I
"That's just not going to happen, D-Boy," Honda said, and Shinya couldn't help but smirk a bit at the dumbfounded expression on Takaya's face. "We've disassembled everything. You can't possibly transform!"
"What do you expect me to do then?!" Takaya asked, sounding genuinely worried, though Shinya knew that it most likely had nothing to do with what he was asking Honda.
Like him, Takaya was probably a lot more worried about the fact that Spear was launching a dedicated attack on their Headquarters rather than something simple like whether Pegas was going to be ready or not. Still, Takaya was probably worried about him, too. But then, Takaya always tended to worry about him; especially these days.
"Be patient, D-Boy. Levin and I know what we're doing," Honda said, obviously trying to be reassuring; the effort was clearly lost on his idiot of a twin brother.
"Hey, if you need to stall for more time, just leave it to me!" he heard Noal say, accompanied by the whirr of machinery.
"Are you insane?! The Sol-Tekkaman won't last a second against Spear!"
"I guess you're right, since even the both of you working together couldn't manage to defeat him," Noal said, looking as determined as Shinya had ever seen his brother look; as determined as he'd ever heard himself described as. "Don't worry, I know I can't win; I won't do anything reckless."
"There's another way to do this," the Chief himself said, before Shinya could even open his mouth to thank his fellow Space Knight.
"Chief," Noal said, and Shinya opted to wait until the two of them had finished their conversation to say anything.
"This vehicle is equipped with a prototype fermion gun."
"Ah, so that's going to be our backup," he said, when the Chief paused for a moment. "For when Noal-kun and I go out."
"Yes, D-Two," the Chief said, making his way over to a door on the far left side of the machine shop. "Unfortunately, it takes too long to recharge. You can't fire in succession." There was a brief sound of buttons being pressed, and then the door slid open, revealing something that – oddly enough – resembled a wingless X-wing fighter with a huge gun sticking out of the top.
"Oh," he said, blinking in slight amusement and then smirking. "So, we're going to be helping whoever's in there, and they'll help us to defeat Spear."
"With the three of you working in tandem – Tekkaman, Sol-Tekkaman, and this cannon – you'll receive a substantial power boost."
"That's good," he said, smiling.
"What's even better is that this means you won't die when you lose your transformation, D-Two," Noal said; he laughed, allowing the point.
It wasn't like he could really help what had happened to his tekkaset; not as if he could go back in time and kill Tekkaman Dagger before he set up that little trap of his, much as he might have wanted to, sometimes.
"It is a prototype, though, so you never know what might happen," Freeman said, and while it was perfectly legitimate, Shinya knew even before the Chief finished speaking that Takaya wasn't going to be particularly happy about it.
"Well, three is at least better than two," Noal said, and Shinya knew he was right.
"D-Boy will remain here on standby," Chief Freeman said. "D-Two will, of course, be deployed alongside Noal."
"Who's going to pilot that cannon, then?" Takaya asked, sounding dubious but like he was willing to be persuaded. It was a step in the right direction, at least.
"Me! Me! Me! Let me!" Levin exclaimed, jumping up and down, waving his left arm in the air like a particularly enthusiastic first grader. "Let me!"
"Levin!" Takaya shouted, even as Shinya himself laughed; that was Levin for you.
"Oh my, it's pretty stylish, too!" he gushed, rushing over to the side of the unnamed gunship-thingy, and actually pressing himself against it like he was trying to give the thing a hug. "See you, Uncle Honda!" he enthused. "I'm counting on you to fix that safety!"
He was trying to regain his composure, honestly he was, but after hearing Levin talk like that, it was all he could do to keep himself from bursting into outright laughter. Takaya, of course, wasn't so sanguine about things.
"Hey," his older twin bit out.
"I don't think you're going to talk him out of this, D-kun," he said, smirking at Takaya even as Honda chuckled softly.
"Good. Aki, I want you to ride with Levin, as well," the Chief said.
"Roger," Aki said, smiling as she snapped off a salute.
(They're both going out there?)
(Don't worry, Ta-kun,) he said, as Aki and Levin settled themselves inside the wingless X-wing looking ship and closed it up tight. (I'll make sure you get the chance to kiss Aki-chan later.)
(Levin's probably going to try to kiss you again,) Takaya deadpanned.
(Probably,) he returned easily, sparing a moment of concentration to retrieve his tekkaset as he fell into step with Noal's armored form.
He wanted as much time in his Tekkaman form as he could manage, and that meant that he couldn't afford to waste it on the walk from the machine shop to wherever he, Noal, and then Levin and Aki in that ship thing of theirs were going to be launching from.
II
It was mildly infuriating, to find himself in the position he was: to know that his younger brothers were somewhere very close by, and yet to be completely unable to locate them as yet. (Takaya, if you and Shinya aren't willing to come out of this building, then I will simply tear my way in to get to you.)
The sudden sense of Shinya's presence, stronger within his mind than it could have been merely from his younger brother approaching him, let Spear know that he would at least have the chance to bring Shinya back with him. Of course, he would still have to find Takaya, but for the moment that could wait while he dealt with Shinya.
The sound of whirring machinery, coming from the exact same place where he sensed Shinya's presence, drew Spear's attention and he turned around after having caught his thrown lancer. Shinya, in his full Tekka-armor and with his arms folded across his chest, was being raised up onto the surface with him. However, the fact that the same false Tekkaman that Spear had been forced to confront four days ago stood right beside his younger brother made the situation rather more annoying than it would otherwise have been.
"It's good to see you again, little brother," he said, attempting to keep the annoyance he was feeing in the presence of the false Tekkaman in check. It certainly wasn't Shinya's fault that that worthless creature was following him.
Shinya said nothing in response, but Spear could almost feel the tension radiating from the younger of his two missing brothers. Given what had happened the last time the two of them had met – something Spear still regretted, for all that he understood the necessity of such things – Spear could understand Shinya's hesitance.
"Oi, oi, Tekkaman, you can't just go barging in whenever you want!" the false Tekkaman spat, drawing Spear's attention back to itself; he didn't know precisely what the human wearing that armor was thinking, but Spear had not been particularly willing to tolerate the human's presence even when he was silent, so the insect should not have expected his tolerance to extend to such insolence.
"Little brother, is this creature troubling you?" he asked, bringing his lancer up into line to impale the armored human through the torso and hence be rid of him quickly. "I kill him for you, if you want."
"I'll think about it," Shinya said, and there was something in his younger brother's voice that Spear didn't quite like; he didn't know how to interpret it, precisely, but it unnerved him slightly.
Shinya's side-kick slamming into his face – blunted by his armor, but more painful for what the attack meant than for the attack itself – knocked Spear back a couple paces, and when he regained his composure he found that the armored human was pointing one of those annoying, oversized pulse rifles at him.
"That means no," the human snapped; Spear ground his teeth, bad enough that one of his own younger brothers had chosen to side against him in this battle, but to have one of those inferior creatures speaking to him that way was nearly infuriating. "So does this."
The shot from the energy rifle that both of the armored suits he had seen seemed to be carrying, while it was just as useless against Spear's own armor as the one that other human had attempted to use on him, was just as annoying as it had been before. Hissing his displeasure at the human who had just dared to attack him, Spear readied his lancer. Before he could fully demonstrate his displeasure to said human, to watch the insect writhe in the grip of the electricity that he commanded with but a thought, Shinya had shoved the armored human out of the way.
As his dear younger brother – misguided and stubborn as he so clearly was – threw his head back, silent but clearly suffering under the barrage of the electricity that had been meant for the insolent human who had dared to attack him so brazenly, Spear froze for a moment. He knew that he could ill-afford distractions, especially in battle such as he was engaged in now, but to see Shinya in this kind of a state…
(Shinya! For Takaya, I can understand risking yourself – though you wouldn't need to if you both would just come home – but-)
Shinya actually laughed; though the laughter was more bitter than any that he'd ever heard from his cheerful younger brother.(You can't understand. And you never will.)
Shoving aside the confusion he felt at Shinya's words – he had always strove to understand his younger siblings so that he could help them with their troubles – Spear steeled himself for the battle ahead. Much as he might not have wanted to do such a thing, it looked as if he was going to have to forcibly subdue Shinya if he wanted to make any sort of progress getting inside, so that he would be able to find Takaya.
III
"We're ready to launch! We'll be heading out, now!" Aki reported, trying to slow her racing heart; this was the first time that she would be the one going into battle against a Tekkaman. The first time for Levin, too, and she couldn't help but wonder if the man was feeling as tense as she did.
"We're all counting on you," the Chief said; Aki felt touched by his concern.
Every one of them knew the dangers of going out to face even one of the Radam's Tekkamen, moreso for normal humans like all of them, but Aki couldn't have lived with herself if she'd refused the chance to help when Tekkaman Varis and Noal had been so quick to volunteer.
"Ready whenever you are," Levin said, as Aki felt the powerful thrumming of the engines as the ship they were on began to hover.
Checking one, last time that all of her gauges were in the green and all the proper switches had been thrown, Aki allowed herself to relax slightly as she realized they were.
"All right, you evil Tekkaman!" Levin snarled; it was startling to hear such ferocity from the man, but then she remembered that Tekkaman Varis was out there, risking himself in defense of their Headquarters against one of the most terrifying things that even someone as powerful as a Tekkaman could face.
In that respect, Aki could perfectly sympathize with Levin's desire to get out there as fast as he could.
Feeling herself pressed back into the padded seat from the force of the ship's acceleration, Aki took hold of the controls more firmly and steered them toward the battlefield. She knew that Tekkaman Varis and Noal were both fully capable people, but under the circumstances the sooner she could get herself and Levin out to their battlefield, the better she would feel about the situation.
She knew D-Boy well enough to know that he felt just the same.
IV
Knowing that he could have contacted Shinya with a thought, and also knowing that his younger twin was in battle with someone who scared even him sometimes, it was all Takaya could do to keep himself from reaching out for Shinya's mind nonetheless. The only real way Takaya could keep his own mind off his worries was to contact someone who actually knew what was going on.
He'd never be able to concentrate, otherwise.
"Milly?" he asked, still feeling tense.
"They're all right," the youngest of the Space Knights said, sounding about as calm as he didn't feel right now. "Aki and Levin have just launched."
"D-Boy, there's no use brooding," Honda said; Takaya figured that he knew what he was talking about, being stuck down here in the machine shop while he, Shinya, Aki, and Noal went out on their various missions. "Let's just focus on doing what we can."
"Right," he said, activating the display and trying to put his worries about what Spear might have been doing to Shinya and Noal out of his mind. Right.
It was the hardest thing Takaya had had to do since his tekkaset had been shattered by Tekkaman Dagger: just sit back and wait, inside their Headquarters where he was safe – for the most part – while his younger twin, someone who Takaya had sworn to protect, went into battle with only the most minimal of protection. He'd hated it before, and experiencing that helplessness a second time didn't improve it at all.
Still, for the moment this was all he could do; Takaya knew that he would have to accept it and push forward if he wanted to get anything done. So, taking a deep breath, he continued with this hardest of tasks.
V
At least Tekkaman Varis seemed to be doing well – as well as anyone could be when they were being forced to fight a member of their own family, at least – after the electricity that Spear had slammed him with, Noal wasn't ashamed to admit that he'd been worried about the kid. It had been pretty much mutually agreed upon that he was best-suited for sniping the kid's crazed, Radam-influenced older brother from whatever cover he could find while the kid himself engaged the Tekkaman.
Noal had also decided that he was best-suited for keeping an eye on Tekkaman Varis' time-limit; they'd already been out here for ten minutes, and he wasn't about to leave Tekkaman Varis to the "tender mercies" of his brainwashed psychopath of an older brother. Still, he was hoping that Levin and Aki made their grand entrance in that hover-gun that the Chief and the lab jockeys had cooked up soon.
It wasn't like they had all the time in the world, here.
Spotting another opening in said brainwashed psychopath's defenses, Noal sniped him and then quickly moved to shelter behind yet another one of the smallish mesas in this area. Turning, he smirked slightly as Tekkaman Varis took shameless advantage of the opening he'd provided to nail Spear with another flying side-kick to the face. Sure, the Radam Tekkaman shook it off like it was nothing, but the kick still staggered him and drove him back through the air, right into the perfect position for Noal to fire another blast straight at him.
He was still hoping that Aki and Levin would get out here with that big, hovering gunship of theirs, since Tekkaman Varis' time was seriously starting to run low, and Noal was fully aware of the fact that he and his Sol-Tekkaman – good as the thing was for fighting Radam monsters – wasn't going to have a chance in hell of beating someone who could regularly come out on top of fights with both Tekkaman Varis and Tekkaman Blade at once. It wasn't a happy thought, for all that it was true, and when Noal glanced back at the Sol-Tekkaman's chronometer, he shuddered.
Seventeen minutes gone already; come on, you two. Tekkaman Varis has only eight minutes of fight left in him. Though realistically he didn't even have that much, considering that no one in their right mind wanted the kid passing out when he wasn't safe inside their Headquarters, and once the kid's time had run out, that was just what was going to happen.
Taking another shot when Tekkaman Varis swung his psychotic older brother around so that his back was squarely facing Noal's position, he continued to hope that Levin and Aki would arrive quickly; it was the only real hope that Tekkaman Varis had.
VI
Snarling in fury as yet another pulse from that annoying human's rifle slammed into his back, Spear whipped around to confront him. Grabbing Shinya's armored collar as his misguided, stubborn younger brother attempted to use the distraction the human had created to assault him again, Spear slammed Shinya's armored body into the side of the cliff they had been battling in front of, stunning his younger brother momentarily.
He would not have used this level of force on his one of his own younger brothers under anything but the most dire of circumstances were they not both in their armored forms, and even though they were, Spear wished that it had not come to this point; he and Shinya were family, for all his dear younger brother's stubbornness. They were not meant to be on opposite sides of a war.
While Shinya was stunned, his younger brother's grip on his own lancer slackening just enough that Spear could remove it from his hand without having to fight Shinya for it, Spear quickly relieved his younger brother of his weapon. With the aid of his own – to hold his misguided younger brother in place while he dealt with the annoying human who had been harassing him for so long – Spear rammed his and Shinya's lancers deep into the rock, crossing the shafts at Shinya's waist tightly enough that his younger brother would not be able to slip out between them even if he did shed his armor in the effort to do so.
Turning his attention to the human who had been making such an annoyance of himself, Spear found that – once again – the human was aiming that worthless pulse rifle at him.
"You're an annoyance," he said flatly, unwilling to show his emotions to such an inferior being.
"Well, you're in my way," the human snapped; Spear ground his teeth, that this creature – so far beneath Spear that he might as well have been an insect in comparison – would even think to suggest that the two of them could ever be…
Snarling, Spear deployed his right-side blade, his pauldron sliding down to cover his right hand with the sound of a large knife being unsheathed. Fitting, of course, but slightly misleading since the blade he now possessed was longer than any knife that Spear had ever seen. Even the butcher's blade that he had used back during his time as a mere human was not quite so long as the blade he had now.
Drawing his blade back, more than prepared to drive it into the head of this most annoying of opponents, Spear suddenly found himself under fire from not only the armored human in front of him, but from someone behind, as well. Turning to see whoever it was that had been so cowardly as to attack him from behind, even as the light from the explosion that had been set off all around him slowly cleared from his vision, Spear saw the vehicle sitting at the top of a low, rocky outcropping.
It had clearly been designed by the same ones that had designed that annoying rifle that the armored human kept stubbornly trying to use on him – Spear suspected the Space Knights were ultimately responsible, since they had been the ones working so closely with his younger brothers for all these months; all the more reason not to show them any mercy – but the form of the vehicle was about as unlike the armored suit that Spear had been facing as it was possible to be.
Clearly, the Space Knights were as fully dedicated to their futile defiance as Takaya and Shinya were to their own; these humans, however, would receive none of Spear's mercy.
VII
That just might have done it, Noal mused, as the space between him and Spear was filled with flying debris from the two-way explosion that D-Two and D-Boy's psychotic older brother had been at ground zero of. Allowing himself to relax enough to check his Sol-Tekkaman's chronometer, Noal tensed up all over again once he saw how much time had passed while he'd been hunting a certain evil Tekkaman across the outer edges of the Headquarters' perimeter.
Damn! Only one and a half minutes left! He knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that he wouldn't be able to get Tekkaman Varis back inside the Headquarters before the kid lost his hold on that transformation that made him and D-Boy so deadly in combat, but he could at least protect D-Two once the kid had inevitably lost consciousness when he lost that armor of his. Rocketing into the air, trusting Levin and Aki to be able to take care of themselves while he got D-Two out of whatever tight spot the kid had to be in now that his time had pretty much run out, Noal sighed.
He found the kid in a particularly bad situation: pinned to the sheer side of an outcropping, with both his own lancer and the one that obviously belonged to Spear holding him up at the waist. There was no blood – Noal took a moment to be profoundly grateful for small favors – but the kid was pretty well stuck, all the same. Just as he was about to yank one of the lances – the one that clearly belonged to Spear, so he could toss it somewhere that a certain psychopath wouldn't be able to get to it – Noal felt something slamming into his armored left flank.
It was just as well that he was wearing armor, Noal reflected, since it felt like that kick would have shattered most if not all of his ribs if it'd connected with his unarmored body. Firing his thrusters to right himself, after he'd ridden out the momentum from the kick that he couldn't turn aside, Noal saw the worst sight he could possibly have seen under the circumstances: Spear was there, hovering right in front of Tekkaman Varis just as the kid finally lost his hold on that transformation of his and his armor vanished.
Righting himself in the air, Noal breathed deeply as he tried to make himself relax. Being tense in this situation wouldn't do him a bit of good, even if he was about to do something that anyone could have told him was dangerous in the extreme. Hell, he knew that getting between any Tekkaman and something they wanted was stupid as all hell, but there were just some things a man had to do when his friends were in danger.
Darting in behind Spear, just as the evil Tekkaman had pulled D-Two away from the outcropping, Noal took a swing at Spear's head to disorient D-Two and D-Boy's psychotic older brother just long enough for him to pull D-Two's vulnerable human form out of the evil Tekkaman's arms. Once he'd gotten a good grip on D-Two, something he had a lot less time for than he would have ever wished, Noal flew as fast as his rockets would let him. Okay, D-Two is about as safe as anyone's going to get out here; now I just have to get him back inside the Headquarters without getting us both killed by Spear.
Easier said than done, he knew; a certain psychotic, evil Tekkaman would be dogging his trail every metaphorical step of the way back to the Headquarters. About the only thing he could really count on to keep Spear from doing anything too drastic was the fact that he was holding D-Two in the first place. And, really, that was bound to piss Spear off more than anything.
Turning to look behind him, his morbid curiosity finally prompting him to need to know just how close he was to having a bad, first-hand encounter with Spear, Noal tensed. As it turned out, he was still a bit too close for comfort. This wasn't going to be easy.
VIII
"Aki! Noal! Please respond!" Milly shouted over the comm., desperately worried for all of her friends who were out trying to fight Tekkaman Spear. "Aki, Noal, Levin?"
Levin and Aki appeared out of the static on the main screen, Levin holding his head like he'd gotten a headache, and Aki slumped across the control console of the vehicle that Chief Freeman had asked her to pilot. Neither of them looked like they were injured, though, so that was good.
"Oww," Levin groaned, holding his head in obvious pain.
"We're all right. What about Noal? D-Two?" Aki asked, raising her head and looking like she was trying to be calm for all of their sakes. Milly appreciated the sentiment, but she was worried all the same.
"I'm trying to reach them, but, I…" she said, hoping that Levin and Aki would be able to tell her what had happened to their two fellow Space Knights that she hadn't been able to contact.
However, right at that moment, the static on the main screen came back, and a small image of D-Boy appeared; Milly could only be thankful that he hadn't heard what she, Levin, and Aki had been talking about. He would have been so worried if he knew that they hadn't been able to contact either D-Two or Noal; but D-Two in particular, she knew. He'd always worried about D-Two when the pair of them were separated.
"Milly, how are my brother and Noal doing?" D-Boy asked, sounding about as tense as he looked.
"Everything's going well," the Chief said, speaking before Milly herself could say even a single word. "I want you to focus on your own task."
"All right."
"Chief, why didn't you tell him the truth?" she asked.
"Right now, we don't have that option."
Looking over at the Chief for a moment, wondering if he'd been worrying just as much as she had, Milly turned back to the main screen, just as the image of D-Boy vanished and was replaced by a view of the outside. Standing on an outcropping, larger than life thanks to the effects of the screen, were Noal and Spear.
D-Two was there, too, but it was obvious that he wasn't conscious; Noal was holding him up, bridal style, and standing in front of Spear.
"Enlarge that, please," the Chief said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Roger!" she said, quickly doing so.
Over the Headquarters' external receivers, carried to all of the personnel inside Comm. One, was… a conversation between Noal and Spear:
"Give me my brother," Spear said, his tone softer than Milly ever would have expected from one of Omega's Tekkamen; he did still sound annoyed, though.
"No," Noal said firmly, and Milly thought he looked like he wanted to start moving away from Spear, but didn't know just how the evil Tekkaman would react to that.
"My patience with your kind is not unlimited, human," Spear said, an obvious sneer in his voice. "Now, give me Varis, and then tell me where Blade is."
D-Two! Shivering as she watched the confrontation between Spear and Noal, Milly tried to calm down her racing heart. There wasn't anything that she or anyone else could do for D-Two right now; all that they could do was to trust that Noal was going to be able to get the both of them away from Spear safely. Please, let them both make it back here all right, she prayed, clasping her hands as she continued to watch the confrontation being played out in front of them.
All they could do now was pray that everything would work out.
IX
He could hear Honda directing his underlings, guiding them to put the last pieces of Pegas' outer structure back together. He couldn't focus so much on that, though; most of his attention that wasn't being taken up by the gauge in front of him was back with Shinya. Sure, he'd heard the Chief's reassurances that his younger twin was most likely all right, but nothing could really compare to having Shinya himself say that.
Even if his younger twin laughed at him, which Shinya probably would when he found out, Takaya would be much happier once the two of them were together again.
"All right! All right! Good. Now, all we have to do is connect this unit," Honda said, bringing Takaya's attention back to the world in general. "D-Boy, we're almost there!"
"Yeah," he said, turning and nodding at Honda so that the portly mechanic would know that he'd gotten the message. "Shinya," he muttered, facing the gauge that he'd been asked to monitor once more. Just hold on out there, little brother. I'll be coming to help you soon; just hold on a little longer.
X
Miyuki didn't remember having fallen asleep, but she supposed that no one ever really remembered falling asleep; they just realized that they had done so after they woke up somewhere. She thought that it was kind of strange, the fact that she could feel a blanket covering her; she didn't think any of the nomads would have been willing to do that kind of thing.
Not after the way that all of them had panicked at the sight of her as a Tekkaman.
She was also laying on top of what felt like a bedroll, and she could hear people talking. Just two people, it sounded like.
"We've been ordered to remain on standby," the first voice, a young-sounding man – strangely enough, he sounded only a few years older than Takaya or Shinya – said.
"Even with the Space Knights under attack by the Radam?" the second voice – an older main – asked, though he sounded a bit resigned to their current situation.
"Right now, the ADF doesn't have the have the capability to rescue them," the younger man countered; she knew better than most just how true his words were, but she also understood that no one would truly want to believe how much danger they were in from the Radam presence on Earth. "Besides, the Space Knights have a super-weapon."
"Oh, you mean those Tekkamen – Blade and Varis - right?"
"Space Knights," she muttered to herself, wondering just what kind of an organization would honestly call themselves that; it was a strange name, to be sure. Then, the other thing that the older man had said – far more important to her at this point in time – registered. "Tekkaman?"
Sitting back up, deciding that getting answers from these two men was far more relevant to her current interests than seeing if either of them would say anything else on their own, Miyuki heard the older man comment on that fact.
"How do you feel, Princess Ophelia?" the younger man – he had reddish-brown hair, and kind brown eyes – asked, holding out a mug as if he was offering the contents to her.
"Where am I?" Even the smell reminded her of Kengo; though her eldest brother – when he was still himself – would have had two creams and one sugar in his drink if he'd been the one preparing it. He'd never been particularly fond of the taste of coffee on its own. "Where's Tekkaman?"
"Tekkaman? Oh, you mean those Tekkamen with the Space Knights?" the younger man said.
"Space Knights? You mean that's where my bro- Where Tekkaman is?" she asked; the younger man, the younger soldier, didn't respond.
"What? You wanted to go see that Blade and Varis without even knowing that?"
Miyuki was starting to feel the slight, gnawing hunger that all Tekkamen felt when they had been forced to expend a great deal of energy and then found themselves unable to replenish it in any way. Taking the mug from the younger soldier's hands as he gave it to her, Miyuki took a moment to feel the warmth of the ceramic on her own, before taking a long swallow. The bitter taste of the drink wasn't any more appealing than the last time she'd had it, but it did feel nice to have something in her stomach.
Even if it wasn't particularly substantial.
"It's good, yeah?" the younger soldier said, smiling gently. "But, why were you lying here in the middle of the desert?"
"How far is it, from here to the Space Knights' base?" she asked; she'd wasted enough time, time that she didn't really have, out here in the desert. At the very least, she had something to go on.
"How far?" the younger soldier asked, looking surprised. His expression smoothed out as quickly as she would have expected from a professional soldier, though. "I don't know what to tell you… It's beyond thousands of mountains, and even more valleys."
"I want you to tell me exactly where it is!"
"Listen, young lady: we've been told that that base is under Radam attack," the older soldier said; he was more controlled than the younger one, almost to the point of sounding entirely unemotional.
It was about the largest understatement that she had ever heard anyone make, but the older soldier seemed just the kind of person to say something like that. "Radam?!"
"Hey, you haven't even told us your name yet," the younger soldier said, reaching out to rest his hand on her right shoulder.
He was such a kind person that she almost regretted the necessity of her actions, but Miyuki knew that she couldn't allow herself to forget that it was necessary. She needed to speak with Takaya and Shinya, as well as whatever allies that her older brothers had managed to gather; to tell them what she had found out during the time that the Radam had spent attempting to tamper with her mind. And what she had seen before that.
She couldn't afford to stay here anymore; that much was more than clear. "I've got to find my big brothers." Standing up, the slight 'thunk' of something impacting the ground lost in the new urgency Miyuki felt now that she actually knew where to go.
The younger soldier called out to her, and she could hear the worry in his tone as he gave chase. And, as much as she didn't like to make people worry about her, Miyuki knew that she couldn't afford to spend the time it would take to reassure him. She knew – at least in a general sense – where she would be able to find Takaya and Shinya now, having heard some of the people on the Argos mentioning a group called the Space Knights.
The name of the organization alone had been odd enough to draw her attention, and the fact that their Headquarters was in Arizona – a place that she had always wanted to visit – had ensured that the information would stick in her mind.
The younger soldier was shouting at her as she ran, yelling for her to stop; that it was dangerous out in the desert; yelling that there was nothing for her out there in the middle of the desert. Miyuki knew what she was looking for now, though, and as kind as both of the soldiers had been to her, she knew that she couldn't afford to stay with them now that she had a concrete destination to aim for.
There was really only one way that she would be able to make up for the time that she had lost while wandering in the desert without any real destination, as much as she didn't particularly want to do it: "Teksetta!"
Firing her thrusters as she leapt into the air, Miyuki tried to breathe deeply and calm down. She knew what she was going to be bringing down on her head; she knew that Kengo was going to be able to find her much more easily now that she had transformed, but she also knew that Takaya and Shinya would be able to do the same. And now, now that she had a concrete destination in mind, somewhere to aim her course while she was in the air, there was another thing she would be able to do. She could call out to them now, secure in the knowledge that – as long as she kept moving in the right direction – Takaya and Shinya would come to help her.
At the very least, she would have a chance of meeting up with them before Kengo showed up to attack her; maybe not a good one, but a chance was really the best she could hope for under the circumstances.
XI
Noal could have sworn that the even the air between him and Spear was crackling with the tension that he could see in every line of Spear's armored body. He knew what the fanatical Tekkaman wanted; hell, he couldn't help but know, after Spear had been so damned adamant about it during the battle. The glare from the evil Tekkaman's narrowed, glowing red eyes also let him know that there were probably very few things that said evil Tekkaman would have liked more than to grab D-Two and fly off back to the Radam with him.
Well, other than to be able to somehow get D-Boy back, too; and, Noal was also fairly sure that rending him limb-from-limb rated pretty high on that list, too.
That was what made it all the more surprising when a certain evil Tekkaman snapped around, searching the sky like it held some kind of all-important answer for him. Spear seemed torn for a few moments after that, his red gaze fixing on D-Two for a long few seconds, then back on the sky, before he leaped into the sky in a burst of red fire. The evil Tekkaman was a distant line of red light in the sky before Noal could even begin to formulate any possible idea about what in the hell had just happened.
As soon as Spear was no longer in sight, D-Two sat up in his arms quickly enough that Noal knew the kid had to have been playing 'possum. Not that Noal blamed him, since without his armor he was just as vulnerable to attack as any other human.
"Get me back inside," D-Two said, bright blue eyes boring into Noal with more force than he'd ever seen the kid use before; at least on one of his fellow Space Knights. Still, this was the most serious situation either of them had been in so far.
"Roger," he said, noticing just then the presence of a particular, glowing spot of light between D-Two's eyebrows that meant that he'd been talking to D-Boy all this time. No wonder he didn't say he needed to talk, Noal mused, smirking slightly. Say what you would about those freaky twin powers their boys had – and he'd said a lot of it, both before and after the three of them had gotten to know each other – but it really came in handy during times like this.
Aki and Levin met up with the two of them as Noal made his way back to Headquarters, and for a few moments he was surprised to see that the gun-boat they'd been riding in while they took potshots at Spear was still mostly intact. Then, he realized that it was probably just because a certain evil Tekkaman had been a hell of a lot more interested in beating him and D-Two down so that he could drag the kid back to the Radam and get him brainwashed.
He guessed that it was just a good thing that he and Tekkaman Varis had been able to distract said evil Tekkaman as well as they had. Not quite for their own sakes, since holding the attention of one of the Radam's most powerful fighters tended to have some pretty unpleasant consequences for anyone who tried to do it, but for everyone else who was inside Headquarters. Not that that's going to stop any of us Space Knights from doing what we have to do, but it's something we always have to keep in mind.
XII
(Spear just left.)
Biting his lower lip as Shinya's mental voice sounded inside his mind for the first time since his younger twin had gone out to fight their older brother, Takaya sighed. (I know why.)
(Yeah,) Shinya said, sounding about as wary of the whole idea as Takaya himself felt. (Do you think it might really be her?)
(I don't know,) Takaya said, sighing. He didn't like it; he didn't know if it was possible for Miyuki to have escaped the brainwashing that had turned their older brother Kengo into Omega's loyal attack dog, and didn't like the idea of either of them ending up having to fight Miyuki if she had been brainwashed.
He didn't like the idea both for Miyuki's own sake, and because he knew that, no matter what else happened, they would inevitably be facing Spear again.
"It's ready, D-Boy!" he heard Honda say, bringing his attention back to what he was actually doing rather than what he and Shinya were going to be doing.
"So, I'll be able to use it now?" he asked; it did seem like all of the work needed to put Pegas back together had been done, but Takaya would have been the first to admit that he didn't know the inner-workings of his and Shinya's combat partner nearly as well as Honda did.
"Yeah. As long as you have the High-coat Voltekka… or, if you have D-Two with you, and are able to use the Dual Strike, you'll be able to defeat that Tekkaman Spear's Psy-Voltekka. Chief, it's done!"
"Good," he said softly, staring up at the form of his and Shinya's newly repaired combat partner. He already knew that they wouldn't be needing it as urgently as he'd thought when he'd been all but assigned to help the Space Knights' head mechanic to repair Pegas, but he was still aware that they would both be needing it when they inevitably went out to confront Spear.
And, if their capricious luck was against them this time, they might end up facing off with Miyuki, too.
While Honda contacted the Chief, and the Chief told him that Spear had left, Takaya gathered himself for what he and Shinya were going to have to do next. When Honda started speaking to the Chief about the repairs that they had made to Pegas, Takaya went over to the communication console that he suspected was a standard feature in all of the larger rooms of the Headquarters.
"Right, we don't know why," the Chief said, and before Honda could say anything in response, Takaya had made it over to the console.
"Chief, let me and D-Two go after him!" he insisted, seeing Freeman's eyes lock onto him with what seemed like his usual level of detached interest.
"D-Boy?" the Chief asked.
"There's another Tekkaman out there," he said.
"What did you say?"
"They might be trying to join forces! Brother and I have to kill Spear while he's still alone!"
He was trying not to think too much about Miyuki; Shinya would probably call him an idiot, or at least laugh at him if he ever talked about what he was feeling right now, but Takaya felt that if he didn't mention her too specifically – if he tried not to think too much about their younger sister and the fact that he and Shinya were going to be heading off to at least try to rescue her – then their capricious luck might not find some way to turn against them. It was probably a stupid thought, but it was the main thing in his mind at this moment all the same.
"All right," the Chief said; he heard it when Shinya breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you," he nodded. "Chief."
The Chief's sharp nod was all the answer Takaya got from him, but after working for the man for so long, Takaya honestly hadn't been expecting anything else.
(Shinya, we're going,) he said. (As soon as you make it back here, we'll head for the Blue Earth.)
(Roger, Ta-kun,) Shinya said. (I'm getting really sick of eating rations in the Blue Earth, though,) Shinya said, with the dry, deadpan tone that he always used when he wasn't being remotely serious.
(You'll manage,) he said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
As he sensed Shinya covering the last bit of distance between the two of them, Takaya looked over at the hallway that Noal and Shinya had left through. Shinya was the first one back in, but Noal was close enough behind him that he didn't think his younger twin had run the whole way back. Noal would have been out of breath if that had been the case; Shinya wouldn't have been, though, Takaya knew at least that much.
"No rest for the wicked, eh?" Noal asked, smirking slightly as the three of them joined up with each other in the machine shop.
"I guess not," Shinya said, the amused expression on his younger twin's face not comforting Takaya nearly as much as it clearly did Noal; he knew Shinya better than anyone else, after all.
This situation was making them both tense.
When Aki and Levin made their way back into the machine shop, Takaya finally let go of the last of the tension he'd been feeling. Both of them looked all right, which he knew wouldn't have been the case if they had gotten into a fight with Spear. Watching as Levin turned to Shinya, wrapping his arms around Takaya's younger twin and kissing him deeply, Takaya turned away slightly.
Sure, it was wasn't that strange, but seeing them together like that tended to remind him of just how fragile all of their lives really were right now. He knew that Shinya knew just as well as he did how precarious all of this was, but seeing Shinya with Levin reminded him more than ever of just how different he and Shinya were; even being twins didn't change that. And, while Shinya tended to reach out to the people he was close to when he was feeing uncertain about things, Takaya knew that he would always try to keep people at arms-length when things like this came up.
It was for a good reason, yes – he'd never want any of his friends to be hurt, particularly when the only thing that had put them in the line of fire was the fact that they were his friends – but watching Shinya's interactions with their friends always served to remind Takaya of how different he and Shinya were, in the end.
It didn't take much time to explain what they had both sensed; the most likely reason that Spear had left them alone when he did, in spite of the fact that Takaya himself hadn't been out there fighting, and their older brother had had to have known that Takaya would have been able, and more than willing, to fight with all he had to save his younger brother. The fact that the Chief himself had given them the go-ahead helped them to move a bit faster, but Takaya found himself watching Noal's reaction as the four of them made for the Blue Earth. He still remembered the way the blond had reacted to him and Shinya when the two of them had first showed up at the Headquarters.
He could have never imagined that Noal agreeing to anything he'd proposed so readily; but then, Takaya knew that he probably wouldn't have bothered asking, back then.
It seemed like entirely too much time had passed before the four of them made it to the Blue Earth, even in spite of the fact that they'd run the whole way to the hangar, but Takaya knew that that was just his own impatience making the trip feel longer. There wasn't really anything he could do about that, Takaya knew, so he would just have to deal with that on his own. Settling into his seat, Takaya turned the chair slightly so that he could watch Shinya climb into his; his younger twin winked at him as he sat down.
Smiling softly, Takaya turned both his chair and his attention back to the outside world; Miyuki was still out there, somewhere, and it was up to them to find her. Takaya wouldn't let himself forget that. The deep, distant thrumming of the Blue Earth's engines as they powered up served both to relax Takaya a bit – since they were finally moving out – and to remind him of just what was at stake.
If his hunch was wrong…
(I hope Miyuki's all right,) Shinya said, cutting into Takaya's worrying before he could really get started.
(Yeah,) he said.
Closing his eyes, Takaya did something he really, truly hoped he wouldn't come to regret in the future: he let down the mental barrier that he had carefully constructed during the many, many months that he and Shinya had spent with the Space Knights. The one that he'd been working to strengthen all throughout the time that Spear had been attacking them; the one that allowed him and Shinya to function as fairly normal people. As the walls around his mind came down, and he began to catch bits of Shinya's surface thoughts, Takaya hoped once again that he wasn't going to regret doing this.
XIII
Standing at the top of one of the many high, thin rock formations that she had been flying over not so very long ago, Miyuki concentrated her telepathy on calling out to her two brothers; the only family that she had left, at this point.
(Takaya, Shinya, help me,) she had called out for her brothers several times during the course of her flight, but there had always been some kind of interference; Miyuki suspected that she knew what it was, but now that interference was gone and she had a definite chance of contacting them this time.
"There you are Miyuki-chan," said the gentle voice of someone that she'd been hoping not to meet during this last leg of her journey. "Come on; it's time to come home now."
She knew that she couldn't really hope to fight the… the Tekkaman that had once been their elder brother, not in her condition, and not when he had all of Kengo's experience and natural talent in combat. There was really only one thing she could do in this situation. She heard the Tekkaman calling out to her, heard him telling her to wait, demanding to know where she was going and what she was thinking, but she wasn't about to answer him.
There was nothing that anyone could say or do; nothing would change what had happened, nothing would bring the other members of her family back.
Miyuki knew that she wouldn't likely be able to land anywhere, not with Omega's Tekkaman following her so closely. Her only hope was to call out to Takaya and Shinya; to hope that her two elder brothers would be able to protect her from the monster using their eldest brother's voice. Pushing all she had left into her thrusters, Miyuki opened her telepathic powers as far as she could, reaching out to Takaya and Shinya with all of the mental strength she could summon.
(Please; Takaya, Shinya! I need your help,) she called, feeling the drain of using her thrusters as it ate away at her.
She could still sense him, Omega's Tekkaman, drawing closer to her with every breath she took; she could only hope that Takaya and Shinya, the only members of her family that she would ever be able to trust again, would come to her aid quickly. She knew that she wasn't likely to win a direct confrontation with… Omega's Tekkaman; not with all of the advantages that he had.
Not when she was still so weak from transforming without food, and then flying for so long without rest on top of it.
XIV
Takaya couldn't quite stop himself from tensing in his seat. He knew, just as well as anyone else inside the Blue Earth, that wishing for the ship to go faster wouldn't do anyone onboard a single bit of good. Noal was flying as fast as he could in atmosphere; Takaya would remind himself of that whenever his desire to see Miyuki again – to save her, to finally have her beside him; to have just one more piece of his family back after what the Radam had tried to do to them all – threatened to get the better of him.
Heknew how Spear acted, he knew that their older brother said that he didn't want to hurt either of them, his actions earlier today had proved that that was just one more lie from Omega's attack dog. It had just proved that you could never trust a Radam Tekkaman to be anything but evil. Takaya found himself wishing once again that the Blue Earth could move faster, so he took a deep breath and reminded himself that Noal was pushing the ship for all she had.
They would get there in time to save Miyuki, he'd told himself that every time that the Blue Earth seemed to be moving too slowly; every time that Takaya had found himself wishing that the ship would move faster.
XV
"Miyuki, there you are."
Looking up when she heard that kind, gentle tone – one that she would have been happy to hear, if this had actually been her brother and not some Radam wearing the same face – she saw the armored form of Tekkaman Spear staring down at her.
"I'm sure this must all seem very strange to you, little sister," Spear said; Miyuki could almost see the gentle smile that he was probably wearing under that helmet of his, and it made her feel sick inside. This wasn't Kengo, but anyone who had known him could have almost been forgiven for thinking that this Tekkaman would be something like her gentle, stern, protective older brother. "Come with me; I'll take you up to the Orbital Ring so you can rest."
There was clearly something that Spear wasn't saying, and even if she hadn't known what it had cost her to escape from the Tekkasystem when she had, Miyuki would have known that something was off. "I'm not going back," she said, knowing that Spear wasn't likely to leave it at that, but not wanting to provoke the Tekkaman if she could at all avoid it.
Not when she had so little strength left; not when she didn't know just when and where her last two brothers were going to come to her aid.
"Don't be silly, Miyuki," Spear said, dismissing what she had just said with unnerving ease. "Just come with me; I don't want anything else to happen to you."
It would have almost been easier if Spear would have attacked her, then she could have fought. She might have been driven into a corner, forced to fight for her life until she was either completely drained of energy or Takaya and Shinya came to her rescue. But now, hearing the gentle voice of her older brother – what the Radam had left of him, anyway – speaking softly to her as he tried to coax her to go with him… It was the hardest thing that she had done since she had made her escape from Omega's ship.
Turning without another word, or even a look back, Miyuki flew as fast as she could; her only real chance was to run, and hope that Takaya and Shinya would catch up to her before Spear did.
XVI
"What?!" Noal demanded. "Another Tekkaman?!"
"Yeah," he heard Shinya say, and Takaya could easily picture the amused smirk on his younger twin's face.
"That's just great," Noal said, sounding annoyed.
Takaya winced. "Sorry. The Chief didn't tell me what was going on. I couldn't rescue you; I was too late to help either of you."
"It was a good thing you didn't show up," Noal said, not sounding phased in the slightest; he and Shinya were really too much the same for anyone's good. "But, about that new Tekkaman. Was that story you spun for the Chief real?"
"Yeah," he said; knowing that it was true but not really wanting to say it so bluntly.
"Then, you mean it's…" he heard Aki say, though she stopped before she could say anything thatwould make their present situation any more real.
It was real, and he knew that Shinya probably wasn't particularly happy with him for going on like that, but Takaya had long since learned that his feelings weren't particularly susceptible to reason. He didn't think anyone's were, really. Takaya felt the sense of Miyuki and the Tekkaman that used to be Kengo slamming into him like an almost physical impact as the Blue Earth steadily drew closer.
"What?!" he demanded, not really paying much attention to what Aki was saying, anymore. (Shinya, are you seeing this?)
(Yeah. Do you think it might mean…?)
Yeah, he thought to himself, as the Blue Earth drew close enough for him to see the flares from Miyuki's thrusters as she tried to outrun Spear. He knew it wouldn't be long before their older brother spotted the Blue Earth, or else sensed him and Shinya coming, and they were forced to engage him. Still, it might be better for the three of them if they forced Spear to engage, first.
They'd done it in the past, though Takaya didn't particularly like thinking about the outcome of that; still, under the circumstances he was more than willing to try again.
(I…) Takaya said, knowing that it wouldn't be long before Spear took notice of them, and not wanting to wait any longer to go out and help Miyuki.
(Come on, Ta-kun,) Shinya said, and Takaya could hear his younger twin's footsteps on the deck as he got back to his feet.
"Good luck," Noal said, as the two of them passed him at a jog on their way to the air lock.
He heard Shinya call back to their fellow Space Knight, but at this point Takaya was a lot more focused on where he and Shinya were going to be – that is, in battle with Spear to rescue Miyuki – than on where they were right now. Maybe not the best of mindsets, but under the circumstances he felt that anyone would be willing to cut him some slack. Anyone who knew him, anyway.
"Pegas, Teksetta!" he shouted, hearing the big mech's acknowledgement and his younger twin's calling on his own transformation almost at the same time.
As the energies rushed through him again, Tekkaman Blade could almost feel his awareness expanding to take in the two Tekkaman who were fighting each other in front of him, as well as the one flying into battle beside him.
(We're coming up on them,) he heard Shinya say, sounding like he wasn't quite sure if he was more worried about the situation in general or Miyuki in particular.
(Yeah; let's go,) he responded, trying to sound more relaxed than he ultimately felt.
He didn't think it would do much good, both since Shinya knew him so well and because the both of them already knew just what it was that they were getting into, but Blade felt compelled to make the effort all the same. It still didn't feel right when Shinya was tense; he always felt almost compelled to try to help his younger twin under those circumstances. He didn't know if the reverse was true, but then Shinya always had been stronger than him that way.
(You're right,) Tekkaman Varis said, as his younger twin joined up with him on Pegas' back and the three of them dove down to confront Spear.
He was fully aware that their brainwashed elder brother knew they were coming, that he couldn't help but know after they had both transformed so close to him, but here and now Blade didn't care. One of the few remaining members of their family was in danger, and he wasn't about to leave Miyuki to Spear's warped conception of mercy.
(Spear,) Blade said, gritting his teeth as he looked down at Spear's armored form, staring up at them.
(Takaya. I'm glad to see that you and Shinya have come back, little brother)
"Pegas!" he ordered, and it was all he could do to keep himself from snarling outright. "Dual Strike Voltekka! Set up!" (Shinya, take two steps back!)
(Roger, brother,) Varis said, and Blade heard the sounds of his younger twin's armored feet on metal as Varis moved back.
Blade could almost picture what was happening behind him: according to Honda's description of the changes they'd made to Pegas' general configuration, a platform for Tekkaman Varis to stand on – a platform that would put his younger twin's upper-chest just above the top of Blade's own head – was rising up from just behind the place where Blade normally stood on the big mech's back. According to what Honda had told him, there was a pair of restraining clamps on the platform, to help hold his younger twin in place while Pegas was maneuvering; Blade could hear the whirr of machinery as Pegas converted into the new form that the Chief had designed and then Honda had built.
He could see Spear taking to the air in front of them and some distance below, and Blade made it a point to strengthen the mental walls between his own mind and that of Omega's armored attack dog; he wasn't interested at all in anything that Spear had to say.
(We're going to kill him; that damned Spear,) he said, already beginning the charging process for his own Voltekka.
He felt it when Varis did the same. (Yeah.)
Let's hope this works better than last time, he didn't say. He didn't want to entertain the possibility that this wouldn't work, but he hadn't wanted to entertain the possibility that Spear had had something that could do more damage than a Voltekka; he still remembered how that had turned out. Taking a deep breath that he didn't really need, Blade felt the energies roiling inside his armored body reach their peak.
All right; this is it, he mused, as he, Varis, and Pegas all fired their respective energy weapons at the same time.
"Dual Strike Voltekka!" he shouted, hearing his younger twin do the same.
Even his enhanced vision wasn't able to pick out Spear's armored form once the light from their combined weaponry had hit the Radam Tekkaman, but the screaming that Blade could pick up just on the edge of his enhanced hearing gave him at least some hope that – even if Spear was too tough to be killed even by what amounted to two-and-a-half simultaneous Voltekkas – their brainwashed elder brother wouldn't be returning to cause them trouble for at least long enough for them to get Miyuki settled in with the Space Knights.
(We did it,) Varis said, bringing Blade's attention back to the present rather than his hopes for the future.
(We did it,) he said, smiling softly under his helmet as he let Pegas circle over the battlefield. "Pegas, change back."
"Roger."
Sighing softly, still smiling in relief at the sight of Miyuki looking up at them from the ground as they settled slowly down towards it, Blade finally allowed himself to relax. (Don't worry, little sister. We'll be there soon.)
XVII
As she watched that strange machine that Takaya and Shinya were riding on top of slowly transform until it looked just the way it had when they had flown it out of that ship that had brought them both here, Miyuki sighed as she allowed herself to relax slightly. She couldn't really allow herself to relax, of course, not with all that she had been through and all that she knew was still coming, but she was also fully aware that being tense had never helped anyone to resolve a problem. She also knew that Takaya and Shinya would be worried enough about her, once they inevitably found out what was happening to her.
She didn't want to make things any more stressful for them than they would be already.
As Takaya and Shinya's large, flying platform landed and allowed the two of them to step off of it, Miyuki found – to her surprise – that the transformation it had gone through to fire that strange beam-attack that it had used on the Tekkaman who had once been Kengo wasn't the only one that it could undergo. It changed again, this time into a humanoid shape that almost looked like a crude attempt at reproducing a Tekkaman.
Miyuki wondered what it could be for; that is, she wondered about it right up until Takaya climbed inside the strange robot to transform back into his human self. Shinya still transformed like any other Tekkaman would: dismissing his armor with a bright flash of light, inside a crystalline cage that matched the color of his changed eyes. She couldn't quite help wondering just why it was that Takaya and Shinya used such drastically different methods to transform, but then decided that that wasn't so important in light of the things she had to say to them.
She would ask if the topic came up, just to sate her own curiosity, but for the moment all that mattered was telling the last of her brothers just what they could expect from the Radam; all that mattered was that they knew how to save not only themselves, but the Earth as well.
Letting her own transformation fade just before the last of the energies around Shinya had cleared, Miyuki abruptly found herself in the center of a warm, strong, two-sided embrace from both of her middle brothers. She almost couldn't believe it; it seemed entirely too good to be true, that she would manage to not only escape from the Radam, but to find her way back to her brothers after all that they had been through. Miyuki almost couldn't believe it; she must have said something like that, because the next thing Miyuki heard was Takaya's kind voice speaking to her:
"Miyuki."
"I'm so glad to see you," Shinya said, and when Miyuki looked at the younger of her two older brothers, she found that he was smiling at her in the same way that Takaya was. "Miyuki-chan."
"Shinya-niichan," she said, leaning into the embrace of her elder brothers for a few, long moments.
What she had to say next would be painful for all of them, and while there was no real way for her to avoid it now that she was here, Miyuki didn't think that anyone could really blame her for wanting to postpone it just for a bit. Shinya was gently rubbing her back, the way he had done so many times in the past, back when all of them had truly had each other to rely on, and she was grateful to both of her elder brothers for their support. Both the warmth of their strong arms wrapping around her, and the love that she could almost feel radiating from the two of them.
It was what made saying what she had to so very difficult; but then, there wasn't really any part of their current situation that was easy,she reflected.
Just as she had started to straighten up, before she could actually begin to say anything, Miyuki found the weakness that she had been holding at bay through sheer force of will hitting her with a force that almost took her breath away. It would have probably knocked Miyuki off her feet, if not for the support that Takaya and Shinya were providing her by being so close. As it was, though, it still caused her to collapse into the circle of her elder brothers' arms.
She knew that there was no way to avoid worrying Takaya and Shinya, knew that they would both want to know what had happened to her, but for the moment she was far too tired to care. The sound of Takaya and Shinya's worried voices followed her down into the darkness, and Miyuki wished with her last few moments of lucidity that none of this had happened.
XVIII
It felt like every part of his body had been burned. The sheer pressure of his younger siblings' combined Voltekkas had crushed in on him even as the energies had burned him in their wake, and for a few, too-long moments, Spear was honestly surprised to have lived through that assault. There was even a part of him, unacknowledged and all the more insidious for it, that wished he hadn't.
Crushing those useless and near-treacherous thoughts with the ease of long practice and the determination that such had instilled in him, Spear laboriously forced himself to roll onto the front of his body, and then pushed himself up off of the ground. Shifting until he could at least kneel, even if he did feel unaccountably battered and weary from the effort, Spear found that his mount had tracked him to this desolate place where he had been thrown after the combined Voltekkas from Shinya and Takaya had rained down on him.
"Thank you." Patting the creature's head as it nuzzled against him, Spear levered himself up and crawled onto its back as it hovered before him.
The tension that had been keeping him on his knees bled out of Spear's body rather quickly after that, leaving Spear to slump onto the back of his mount even as the creature's tail curled up around him to provide the stability that he would need during this journey more than any of the others that he had made before, Spear closed his eyes. He didn't weep, but that was only because he was physically incapable of the action while he was transformed.
The transformation altered one's body on a fundamental level; not only layering armor over the Tekkaman's comparatively vulnerable body, but altering the biostructure of that selfsame body to act as another layer of armor in and of itself. His eyes, therefore, were currently composed of the same clear, crystalline substance as that which made up his visor; though it was red-tinted as opposed to the pale green of his visor. As he was, transformed like this, he could merely widen and narrow his eyes, and even then he could not truly close them at this point.
Still, given the events of this most harrowing of days, Spear knew that he would indeed be weeping once he reached the Orbital Ring; once he had the chance to release his transformation and rest for a time.
There was no denying it, not after the way Takaya and Shinya had attacked him; not after they had not even deigned to listen to him when he tried to speak to them: they would not be persuaded. He would have to force them to return to Lord Omega; he would need all of his considerable power to do so, and more than likely whatever enhancements Lord Omega saw fit to provide him with.
He would need to force his younger siblings to heel; to beat them down with his superior powers and combat prowess, before he would ever be able to bring them back home.
As his mount wrapped its long, flexible tail around his torso and Spear curled his own right arm around that tail in turn, he sighed in mingled sorrow and exhaustion. It would not be long before he would be called upon to fight once more, Spear knew, so he would have to rest and prepare himself for that eventuality. And, as much as he hated the idea, Spear now knew what he would need to do.
His next battle with his younger siblings could not be allowed to end in his defeat.
XIX
When they had finally made it back to the Headquarters, after having hurried Miyuki back into the Blue Earth and held her as Noal and Aki had taken off and flown, Blade had to almost physically restrain himself from running right into the hospital room where she had been taken. He was grateful to his younger twin for being there with him – Takaya honestly didn't want to think about how badly he would probably be doing if he'd had to face this kind of thing alone – and he leaned into Shinya's right side as his younger twin wrapped his arm tightly around his shoulders.
The worst part of it was that Miyuki hadn't even been injured; Spear had been more intent on chasing her down and talking, rather than actually trying to attack her; it was just what he had tried to do with the two of them.
Miyuki was laying in the same bed that Shinya had lain in, all those months ago when his younger twin had been slammed into the Blue Earth's hull and nearly had his skull cracked open.
"Miyuki, please don't die." He hadn't really been aware that he was actually speaking, but he must have been, since he felt Shinya's arm tightening around him. Leaning as far as he could into his younger twin's side, Takaya tried not to think about what could be happening to Miyuki.
He didn't know what could be happening to Miyuki; it wasn't as if she had been injured during her flight from Spear. He hated not knowing; he hated it more than anything.
"What happened, when Dr. Aiba's spaceship was attacked by the Radam?" the Chief asked.
"Dr. Aiba?" Shinya asked; Takaya could have sworn he swallowed his own tongue at hearing the Chief say that, of all things.
"How do you know about that?"
"Isn't it about time that you told us everything?" the Chief asked, red eyes as calm as Takaya had ever seen them. "Aiba Takaya? Aiba Shinya?"