When Shinya and Takaya, both of them still wearing the armor that Omega-sama had granted them when they had been taken into the forces of the Radam Empire, attacked without even a single word of warning, Spear ground his teeth as he leaped aside. True, it was no less than he'd been expecting from those two, and yet Spear still found it as purely infuriating as the first time he'd been confronted by the twins' stubborn refusal to accept the world and their place in it. It may not have been the most psychologically healthy of mental states, but neither was refusing to admit – to himself if no one else – that he would have honestly preferred to have all of his family at his back rather than not.
I'm sorry, love, Feng Li said, coming to stand beside him as Axe and Wraith transformed and acted to deflect Takaya and Shinya's strike from its original course.
I know, he conceded, allowing Feng Li to help him to his feet, and then finding himself wrapped in her arms as she kissed him lightly. I'd been hoping to avoid this, but…
I understand, she said, as the two of them broke apart once more.
Smiling for a few moments, before he forced himself to face the reality of their current situation, Spear sighed. His tekkaset was in his right hand almost before he consciously registered calling it to him, and Spear raised it quickly, calling upon the power he'd been granted to transform himself even as he felt Feng Li doing the same. Now, all that remained was to deal with Takaya and Shinya.
As well as any others who would presume to interfere.
I
Firing his thrusters, dodging out of the way even as Sasuke – or, the Radam Tekkaman that had been Sasuke – came slamming into the ground like a bolt of armored lightning, Tekkaman Varis just managed to fling himself out of the way of the small sword – only in relative terms, since the blade itself was about as long as Sasuke's arm – that their youngest brother had been swinging at him. Of course, things weren't that easy; they never were, when you were facing off against Tekkamen. There was always one more nasty surprise or other waiting in the wings when you tried to fight them.
This was borne out by the blast that erupted suddenly from the hilt of the thin sword that Sasuke had tried to slam into his head.
Looking up, when he'd managed to snag a free moment to catch his breath, Varis saw Spear standing atop a small rise. The evil Tekkaman's arms were folded, and Varis would have been willing to bet that, under that armor of his, Spear had one of those calculating looks on his face. Kengo had always been one to try to work out the angles when he was in a fight; at least when he had the time to remove himself from whatever engagement he was participating in.
In open combat, he was as ruthless as any of them.
"Are you afraid, Niisama? Come and fight me!" Best not to let him get any planning in; if he was forced to improvise more, at least all of them would be on an even footing.
"Shinya, don't be foolish," Spear said, in that flat, deadpan tone Kengo had always used when someone was really starting to tick him off; still, it wasn't like just that was going to get his and Takaya's brainwashed older brother back into the fray.
It was time for drastic measures; Varis could really come to hate drastic measures.
II
The sound of the heart-rate monitor, combined with the soft signs of Miyuki's labored breathing, made Aki clench her fists in the sheet that covered D-Boy and D-Two's sister from the neck down.
She didn't know just how Tekkaman Blade and Tekkaman Varis were doing out there, facing the remainder of their family and friends that had been ripped away from them by the Radam, but she couldn't help worrying for both of them. She had known, before, that Spear was the twins' older brother, but even then she hadn't fully understood what they were going through. Now… now she knew just how hard it was for the two of them to keep going out, time after time, to face the evil Tekkamen that the Radam kept setting against them.
And she also fully understood how brave they were, for continuing to do so for so long.
III
As his laser-designator lit up yet another Radam monster, which he then promptly shot, Noal turned his attention back to the Gemini Boys and their fight with what he now knew were the last remaining members of their family and a guy who'd probably been close enough to count even without the whole blood-relation thing. It must've been hell for the both of them, and Noal could finally, honestly, say that he understood why neither of them had been open about their past before this.
Still, even as he continued to shoot down the Radam monsters that would have otherwise caused trouble for the kids he was trying to protect, he was also keeping an eye on their respective time-limits. He didn't like what he was seeing.
"Those boys," he cut himself off, turning to shoot the Radam monster who'd poked his buggy little head into their private discussion. "I don't know what you're thinking, you two, but your time is almost up! And, here I am, stuck fighting the little guys! This is pathetic."
Watching from the lip of a nearby rise, from on high as another person might have said, he saw both the Gemini Boys jumping backwards; he knew what was coming. Well, that should shake them up a bit. When the bright blue-and-green lights of the Gemini Boys' respective Voltekkas hammered the outcropping they were standing in front of, he breathed more easily.
Sure, there was no way in hell that something that small was going to stop Spear; he was related to the twins, after all. He might have been as crazy as any of the other Radam Tekkamen that Noal had had the misfortune to encounter, but considering the fact that the guy was willing to come back after taking a full pair of Voltekkas to the face, he wasn't about to make the mistake of counting the guy out now.
That would've been all kinds of stupid.
IV
"Troublesome," he muttered, watching the broken rock and debris obscure the battlefield. He could also sense the fact that his younger brothers had retreated; for the moment, anyway.
"They're running again."
"Yes," he said, before sensei Goddard could complete the platitude he had so clearly been thinking of. Narrowing his eyes, he mused aloud for all of their benefits. Bringing out his lancer, both for the fact that he would have need of it soon, and for the extra gravitas it seemed to lend him when he spoke, he pointed it at the besieged OSDG Headquarters. "It hardly matters; there's only one place either of them can run to anymore."
There was a unanimous agreement on that point; something he was grateful for, even as he'd come to expect it.
V
Shinya was pretty listless as he helped him back into the infirmary room where Miyuki was resting, but then they both had fired a Voltekka each in order to make sure that Spear and his lackeys stayed off their backs. So, Takaya supposed that was pretty much what he could expect; not that he liked it any more for all that.
"Oi," Levin called softly, and he turned to see him slinging Shinya's unencumbered left arm over his shoulders. "You're even cute when you're tired."
"Lev-chan, you're funny," Shinya said, wearily lifting his head to smile at the two of them as they helped him over to one of the chairs that had been set up next to Miyuki's bed.
The flash of psychic pain through their link, back when they had first exited the Blue Earth in full armor to deal with Spear and his cohorts, had let him and Shinya both know just what was happening to Miyuki, and while they'd both wanted nothing more than to be at her side, there'd been no way of telling just how much damage those five would do to the Headquarters if he and Shinya hadn't at least come out to meet them.
Even if they hadn't been able to stop them, just yet.
"Are the both of you all right?" Aki said.
"Do we really look that bad, Aki-chan?" Shinya returned, his usual smirk looking a bit worn around the edges.
He reached for Miyuki's hand, even as he let Shinya lean on him for whatever small bit of support that his younger twin needed from him; whatever he could still give, under the circumstances.
"Miyuki."
"She'll be all right, D-kun. You worry too much," Shinya said, and Takaya was glad to see that his younger twin was starting to revive.
"Is she all right?" Aki asked.
"You already know we can sense each other when we're close," he muttered, lacing his fingers together with Miyuki's to try and give her what comfort he could. "And, if we're sleeping, it makes it impossible to block out any of the others."
True, he hadn't heard Spear actually trying to talk to them since their attack on the Headquarters had begun in earnest, but he could still sense him and all of the other Radam Tekkamen that had been sent out alongside Spear. The room shook, clearly from the impact of something large; or something fast enough that its size didn't actually matter.
"Spear and the others. Damn it, at this rate, we're going to be buried alive," Noal groused.
Takaya chuckled bitterly, deep in his throat where he knew only Shinya would be able to hear it. Sounded like he and Shinya were going to be having interesting times again soon. Takaya sighed as he heard the sound of far-off explosions that weren't nearly far enough for his peace of mind; it always seemed to be something, lately.
VI
Sasuke, have you found anything? he asked.
Sasuke, being the youngest and most lightly-armored of them – his body not yet suited to supporting the full power of the Tek Set System – was truly best-suited to act as a scout. That, or directing the Radam monsters to their intended targets, but as he, Feng Li, Shinji, and sensei Goddard were all here as well, they would each be able to take that task on when it was required of them.
Nothing yet, Sasuke reported. What do you want me to look for, niisama?
Wait, Sasuke-chibi, he requested, turning to face a still rather intact portion of the Space Knights' Headquarters. If nothing else, taking out portions of this place would serve to deprive their enemies – pitiful as they were – of one of the shelters they seemed so fond of crawling into when they were faced with any opposition.
Charging his lancer, Spear let fly with the electricity that he had been gathering at the tip. His breath came out in an almost explosive burst, as he whipped through the air, sending arcs of electricity into the structures in front of him that struck like bursts of controlled lightning. Could you make it inside?
Not while I'm a Tekkaman, Sasuke responded, sounding thoughtful.
Yes, he conceded, sending a last bolt of electricity into the savaged remains of the buildings below him. Concentrate on directing the Radam monsters, then.
Yes, niisama.
Turning his attention back to what remained of the section of the Space Knights' Headquarters that he had found himself positioned over, Spear saw the damage he had done and decided to move on. There would be other places that required his attention. Best he saw to them.
VII
"Honda, it's only a matter of time before this base is gone completely," he said, as the destruction continued to play out on the main screen before them.
"Chief," the head mechanic muttered, as the pair of them continued observing the devastation from what could only be called the most dubious sort of distance.
However, their contemplation of the situation was interrupted in the most unexpected way: "Mr. Freeman, please respond!"
"If I recall, your name is," he said, uncomfortably aware of just what this contact could mean.
"Brigadier General has begun the countdown to the Fermion Missile launch!" the young man said, cutting him off before he could say anything more.
"What?" All of this would depend on how much time they had to move.
"As his subordinate, there's nothing I can do at this point," MacMillan said, the urgency in his tone as obvious as it was carefully controlled. "Mr. Freeman, I beg of you! Please find a way to stop him…!"
A gunshot sounded, and blood began to show on MacMillan's uniform shirt as he fell forward and out of frame. "Colbert!"
"I've just eliminated a rebellious subordinate."
"Why?" It took a fair amount of his self-control not to shout at the man; particularly when he saw the smoking gun clenched in his fist.
"To save the Earth," Colbert said; Freeman was reasonably certain that he hadn't missed the sneer in the General's tone. "I had no choice! The Fermion Missile will be fired in about twenty minutes. Just keep distracting the Radam, understood? I'm counting on you!"
"Colbert, even if you destroy the Orbital Ring, the Radam…"
With a final salute, and a smile that couldn't be mistaken for anything but mocking, Colbert terminated the connection.
"He's really lost his mind this time," Honda said, speaking for the first time since the two of them had met up inside Comm. One.
There was really nothing to be said to that; but now wasn't the time for words, at any rate. Now was the time to act; to seek to prevent the damage that Colbert's desperation – both for his own prestige, and in his own way the safety of humanity – would end up doing to the world and all of the remaining people that lived on it. And, Freeman knew just how that would best be accomplished.
All he would need now, was their cooperation.
VIII
As his loyal crew went about making the final preparations to launch the Fermion Missile, Colbert dismissed the conversation that he and Freeman had had from his mind. Heinrich Freeman had never truly possessed the vision, the drive, or the iron will necessary to do what was needed. All great victories had been achieved at the cost of human lives, a few thousand more – even a few million – added to the equation wasn't nearly enough to prevent them from saving humanity as a whole.
Freeman had never truly understood that, which was ultimately why he had chosen to pursue a career within the civilian sector.
However, even people as soft as Freeman and his Space Knights could serve a purpose; with that Spear creature and the others like him distracted, Colbert would have all the time he needed to launch the Thunderhawk into the Orbital Ring. Then, once those creatures had been deprived of any safe ground to return to, it would be a simple matter to deal with them once and for all.
"All systems go, sir!" his head technician reported, after a long string of reports that he had only been half-listening to.
"Good."
It still held true, now of all times: all of the great triumphs in history had been achieved at the cost of human lives. This war had ground on long enough; he wouldn't allow this stalemate to continue. Not when he had the means to end it, right here and now. A few million dead was nothing compared to victory.
It was nothing, compared to those who had already died in the invasion.
IX
Surveying the ravaged structure beneath him, Spear sighed softly. It was swiftly becoming clear that only a particularly drastic action on their part would be capable of driving Takaya and Shinya out of hiding. The problem, of course, was Miyuki. He could sense that she was severely weakened; enough that he wasn't certain if she would be able to transform in time when he and the others began destroying this Headquarters in earnest.
The sound of gentle tapping drew Spear's attention then, and he turned to look at the woman standing beside him. Feng Li's easy stance suggested that she was smiling under her helmet. Spear felt a smile emerging on his own face, as well.
Truly, it didn't matter just how long this campaign of theirs lasted; Takaya and Shinya, and even Miyuki, would not be able to hide behind these crumbling walls indefinitely.
When Feng Li wrapped her arms around him, leaning her armored head against his own, Spear allowed himself to relax into her embrace for a few short, precious moments. However, he fully understood that this was not a time for sentiment. Now, of all times, he had to resolve himself to his present course of action.
Harsh as it was, the results would be worth it; their family would be whole at last.
X
"We're in a jam now!" he heard Honda calling from the doorway. "Colbert is about to fire at the Orbital Ring with the Fermion Missile!"
He heard Takaya make a soft noise of derision, but over it all was Levin's exclamation: "No way!"
"Is he out of his mind?" Noal demanded.
"There's only twenty minutes until launch, guys," Honda said, his tone carrying the same derision that Shinya had sensed from Takaya; still could sense, to be honest.
"Oh, no!" Milly exclaimed. "Isn't there some way we can stop him?"
"I know a few," he muttered, trying for light and easy, but fairly sure he was missing by several country miles.
"Yeah," Honda said, but when he turned to look at the large-framed mechanic, Shinya saw that he did seem at least grateful for the attempt at lightening the tension, doomed to fail as it so clearly had been from the start.
"If Tekkaman Blade or Tekkaman Varis were to go, perhaps," the Chief said, as he came into the infirmary just behind Honda.
"Yeah," he said, even as the Headquarters shuddered around them. "There's just four problems," he continued, giving a lopsided sort of smirk – the best he could manage at the moment – in response.
"There's an emergency exit," the Chief said, fixing both him and Takaya with those cool, pale pink eyes of his. "It's about two kilometers from here."
"I'll go," Takaya said decisively. "If I'm fast enough, they shouldn't be able to detect me."
Are we in a spy movie now? he asked, amused by the idea, though not particularly about what was going to come of it.
Maybe we are, Takaya responded, though he seemed more focused on what the Chief was saying.
Shinya couldn't hold it against him, though; in situations like this, there were more important things than a good joke.
"There's still their telepathy; if one of them spots brother, it's all over."
"There's less of a chance that he'll be detected," Noal said, his eyes closed for a long moment. "If I go out and divert Spear's attention from D-Boy."
"Noal-kun, you're crazy," he deadpanned, smirking faintly.
"I might be crazy, but I'm also right," Noal said, smirking right back.
"Levin, do you think you can fit Pegas with an ultra-mobile booster?" the Chief asked; it was then that Shinya knew that they were really going to be doing this.
Levin nodded. "Sure I can, Chief!"
"I get it!" Honda piped up. "With a booster, Tekkaman Blade will be able to reach the launch pad in ten minutes."
"It's still up to you, D-Boy," the Chief said.
He heard his older twin sigh, softly enough that Shinya honestly doubted that any of the humans around them had heard it at all. "Yeah." Standing up from his seat next to Miyuki, he felt Takaya gripping him in a tight, one-armed hug. Stay with Miyuki for me, Shin-chan.
I wasn't planning to leave. I'll keep in touch, Ta-kun, he said, wrapping both of his arms around his elder twin and holding him tight for a long moment.
I'll be back soon, Takaya said, in spite of the fact that they both knew it was a lie.
Shinya-niichan and I will be all right , Miyuki's weakening voice drew his and Takaya's attention back to her. Her pale violet eyes were almost completely lucid, and she was looking at the both of them with a gentle sort of approval in her eyes. Thank you, Takaya-oniichan.
XI
The roar of aerospace engines drew Spear's attention; there was a ship lifting off from a ramp quite close-by to them. It had to be them. Clearly, Takaya and Shinya were attempting to escape from this beleaguered facility aboard that ship.
And, just as clearly, that escape route would need to be dealt with.
Calling to the others that he had brought with him, Spear lead them in ramming through the launch-ramp that the ship – the ship that Spear had seen Takaya and Shinya traveling to and from their various attacks on the forces that Lord Omega had sent out to deal with the remaining forces that these humans could muster against his forces – had nearly cleared by this time. The ramp collapsed, causing the ship, the ship that had caused them he and his no end of trouble, to spin out and eventually crash into the rocky ground. Narrowing his eyes, Spear opened his mind.
As he was beginning to suspect, Takaya and Shinya had not in fact been aboard that ship.
Sasuke, his teeth would have been clenched in sheer, frustrated fury, were it not for the changes to his facial structure underneath his armor. Bring me the pilot of that ship, Sasuke.
Yes, niisama, Sasuke responded, quickly darting off in pursuit of that ship and its pilot.
Thank you, Sasuke. Furious as he still was with all of these humans and their little tricks – he was even beginning to become irritated with the twins' continued intractability – it cost one nothing to be polite.
The others landed, arranging themselves in a loose semi-circle around him; all except for Feng Li, who came up on his right side and gently wrapped her arms around him. Allowing himself to lean into the comfort that she so clearly wished to provide to him for a few, long moments – their respective helmets making a soft clicking sound as they touched – Spear felt the tension that had been building up within not only his mind but in his body as well, slowly ebbing away. Truly, he would have to do something kind for Feng Li, in return for the moral and material support that she continued to provide him with.
There was still an unfulfilled promise that he had made to her, after all; but such things could be attended to later.
XII
When the Blue Earth had slammed into that cliff side, one that would have reminded him of the beachside cliffs where those crazy kids of theirs had played together with their little sister if he'd had the time to think like that at all, the first thing Noal was aware of – painfully aware of, you might say – was the fact that he'd cracked his left wrist pretty badly in the crash. The next thing to register, even above the pain that he was even then beginning to shove aside in the face of the clear fact that he needed to get moving away from such a vulnerable position, was the shrieking of metal as it was torn apart by what just had to be either Spear or one of his cronies.
Forcing himself out of the pilot's seat, Noal managed to be just in time to get himself slammed into his control console by his neck. Gagging on the air that he couldn't quite manage to breathe past the armored hand now digging into his throat, Noal just managed to open his eyes enough to catch a glimpse of the Tekkaman that was currently manhandling him. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't actually Spear.
That did beg the question of just who in the hell this new Tekkaman actually was, but before he could even begin to articulate the question, Noal felt the Tekkaman's armored hand closing around his throat as he was yanked up and off the ground.
His first thought, once he'd managed to catch his breath again – not being strangled by an evil Tekkaman helped a lot with that – was that the Tekkaman who'd pulled him out of the Blue Earth was tiny. Not just short, but small and thin; this had to be the Gemini Boys' youngest brother. The armor the kid was wearing was light-colored, but it also seemed like it was lighter than any of the other Tekkamen he'd seen before.
Noal just barely had time to wonder about that, before Spear himself had landed and things pretty much went to hell then and there.
"Good work, Sasuke-chibi," the largest – well, tallest at least, since the Tekkaman in the green-shaded armor with the fuck-off huge halberd was broader across the shoulders, even if he was shorter – of the evil Tekkamen that had arrayed themselves around him said, sounding like he was probably smiling under that sharp-angled helmet of his. When the evil Tekkaman's full attention turned to him, Noal had to fight to keep himself from tensing; sure, he'd faced off with D-Boy and D-Two's psychotic older brother before, but he'd always had something to fall back on those other times. Either the Blue Earth's firepower, or the armor on his Sol-Tekkaman. "You're the pilot."
"Yeah." And damn, it was creepy hearing how toneless Spear sounded when he said that. Of course, the way said evil Tekkaman then grabbed his chin, forcing him to meet that creepy, visored face of his was terrifying enough on its own, thank you very much.
"Oh?" Spear asked, his voice still as eerily toneless as it'd been before. "You're also someone else."
"What do you mean?" the second-shortest of Spear's group of evil Tekkamen – the stocky, broad-shouldered one – asked, looking from him to Spear and back again.
"Those false Tekkamen I reported," Spear said, his voice still toneless, but Noal thought he could hear a slight thread of annoyance; or maybe he was just imagining that, since it was starting to freak him out how damned controlled Spear was. The red lights of Spear's eyes narrowed, and Noal fought down an almost reflexive smirk; this was no time to let his old habits get him in trouble. "He's one of them."
"Yeah, that's me," he said, once Spear had opened his hand and let him drop back to the ground.
"No matter. Tell me where my siblings are hiding themselves now," Spear said, just as eerily toneless as he'd ever been.
Well, this next bit's sure to get at least some reaction out of him, Noal mused, morbidly curious about just how screwed he was going to be after essentially telling Spear to shove it. "No."
Spear actually scoffed; it was a reaction, at least. "You have some nerve, human." His red eye lights narrowed slightly. "Still, you really should cooperate. For your own sake, at least."
He'd been just about to ask what in the hell that meant, when the smallest of Spear's cronies yanked him back to his feet, before forcing him back to his knees. The pain from having his right arm being snapped almost caused him to scream, but Noal wasn't really in the mood to give D-Boy and D-Two's psychotic older brother – or the guy who pretty much had to be their psychotic younger brother – the satisfaction of hearing something like that out of him.
"How admirable," Spear said, though it didn't really sound like any kind of compliment that he'd ever heard before.
In fact, it sounded like he was actually starting to get a rise out of the Ice King himself; that probably wasn't going to end up being a particularly good thing, but it was an accomplishment all the same.
His left leg's being snapped like the proverbial dry twig let Noal know that Spear wasn't about to let him get away with that. Breathing harshly to try to cope with the pain, Noal briefly caught sight of the smallest Tekkaman's armored feet as his head drooped. It wasn't going to be easy, keeping his head straight with all that was going on around him, all that D-Boy and D-Two's psychotic brothers were probably going to do to him, but it was what he'd have to do.
In the end, it was all that anyone in this position could really ask of themselves.
XIII
She could feel Shinya's hands – warmer than she could ever remember them being; but then all Tekkamen had high metabolisms – wrapped tightly around her right, with his thumb gently stroking the back of her right hand. Miyuki was grateful for it; grateful for the strength that her second-oldest brother's presence was giving her, and grateful that she had at least two of her elder siblings to support her with what she was facing even now.
"Takaya-oniichan must have gotten there by now," she said, feeling her strength failing even as she spoke.
"I could check, if you want me to, Miyuki-chan."
"Thank you, Shinya-niichan, but I don't think we should distract him," she said, smiling as his right thumb gently stroked the back of her left hand. "It's enough that you're here, right now."
"That's kind of you to say," Shinya said, and Miyuki felt warm when she saw the gentle smile on her youngest older brother's face. "Thank you, Miyuki-chan."
"You both shouldn't worry so much," Aki said; she was glad to know that Takaya and Shinya both had the loyalty of such a kind woman like her. "I'm sure D-Two – I mean, Shinya – could tell you plenty of stories about how strong and brave your brother has been all through the invasion."
Shinya chuckled softly, a wistful expression on his face; she knew that he probably wished that he were out there too, but she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't say anything like that. Not unless someone asked him; Shinya wasn't the kind of person who liked having other people fuss over him. If anything he preferred to take care of them, in his own way.
"Don't worry, Aki-san. I'm sure Shinya-niichan won't mind if you called him by his name," she sighed, turning so that she could look both Aki and Shinya in the eyes if she so chose. "At least, not right now."
"How are you feeling, Miyuki-chan?" Shinya asked, and she had to fight not to close her eyes when she spoke to him.
She didn't want to hurt him, but in the end, not saying what she was trying to say would be a thousand times worse than just getting it out. "Not well." Shinya smiled softly; the kind of smile that had always seemed like it was meant just for her when she saw it. "Shinya-niichan, you'll look out for Takaya-oniichan when I can't, won't you?"
"I never stopped, Miyuki-chan."
"Thank you."
Shinya chuckled, deep in his throat. "Of course."
Aki laughed softly.
Miyuki sighed; she didn't want to keep being the one to have to keep bringing things like this up, but before she could even start to say something else, the Space Knights' Headquarters shuddered, and the evacuation alarms began to sound. She could hear their Chief Freeman's voice, directing them to evacuate all of the non-essential personnel, and she sighed. It looked like, whatever was left of Kengo, Sasuke, and the others, they were all still just as determined as they had ever been.
XIV
The landscape around him had blurred into non-importance, as he'd pushed Pegas for everything the newly-enhanced mech could give him. Takaya knew he needed to get to Colbert's launch-station, before the General who'd obviously gone completely bugfuck during the course of the invasion could launch that Thunderhawk missile of his, or else a good proportion of the world's remaining population were going to die. Still, once he'd made it close enough that he could actually see the launch-base, Takaya could feel the boosters detaching from Pegas.
Since he didn't really need them anymore, Takaya didn't let himself think anymore about them after he felt them falling completely away.
No, what he was most focused on was that stupid look that he'd seen on Colbert's face; he was almost tempted to contact Shinya, since he knew that his younger twin would find it just as funny as he did. Still, Shinya had told him that he and Aki were keeping Miyuki company, and he didn't want to keep disturbing her with trivial things just because he kind of thought that Shinya would think they were funny.
Right now, though, what Blade's focus was most taken up by was the transformation that he was currently undergoing. The energy that flooded his awareness until it seemed like that was all that existed in the world. It was just the same as all of the other times that he'd activated his transformation – with or without his tekkaset – and at the same time it had always felt like the first time he'd done it.
Leaving Pegas behind as he dove through the glass dome that was the only thing separating him from the stupidly-gaping figure of most-likely-soon-to-be-ex General Colbert, Blade landed as lightly as he could in front of the man. Colbert regained his composure quickly, though; he'd pretty much been expecting just that, but it would have been pretty funny to see that kind of look for a bit longer than he had.
"Tekkaman Blade?!" Colbert demanded; ah, there was that look again. Funny, he'd almost missed it. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Brigadier General Colbert, stop the missile launch at once!" he said, forcing himself to sound all-business; not hard to do, even in spite of the look on Colbert's face.
"There's no turning back now!" Colbert insisted, even as one of the many technicians manning the control consoles arrayed all around and behind him asked for his orders.
"Colbert, don't you have a human heart?" he snapped, not even bothering to keep the venom out of his tone; this bastard was risking the lives of more innocent people than he would have ever been able to meet in his life, and all for a stupid gamble that wasn't even going to work anyway.
"Of course I do!" Colbert repeated derisively; Blade didn't like the sheer fanaticism he could see beginning to shine in the General's eyes. "And that's why I'm trying to save the Earth!"
And yeah, he could fully agree with that particular sentiment, but- "Even if you destroy the Orbital Ring, you can't wipe out the Radam!"
"Don't give me that crap! Ignore him, proceed with the launch!" Colbert sneered; Blade gritted his teeth, and mentally reminded himself that feeding Colbert his own teeth wasn't going to get him what he needed right now.
One more try. "I'm telling you the truth! The Orbital Ring is just a Radam outpost!"
He'd been about to say Omega's name, but Colbert wouldn't know it, and saying something like that would probably make Colbert – idiot that he'd proven himself to be on many separate occasions – think that he was in league with the Radam. When he thought too much about that, he'd feel an urge to punch the stupid out of him. Nevermind how impossible that would have proved to be.
"You really think I'm going to believe a story like that?"
"The real Radam base is on the dark side of the Moon," he bit out, the sheer fury he was feeling making Blade feel like he was swallowing acid with every word.
"Oh, the dark side of the Moon? That's a good one, boy." Colbert said, still sounding as stubborn as ever.
Still, there wasn't much anyone could do to launch a bomb if the launch-controls had been destroyed.
"You've got to believe me!"
"Nothing you do will stop me!" Colbert said, triumphantly brandishing a handheld timer. "I won't let anyone get in my way! I will save the planet!" The bastard actually laughed at that. "I'll become the greatest hero on Earth! How do you feel about that? Envious, Blade?"
Colbert, you bastard!
Walking calmly over to Colbert, looking at that arrogant little smile he was wearing – like he was perfectly in control of everything going on; like there wasn't even one thing he wasn't completely prepared for – Blade backhanded him right in his smirking mouth. Then, roughly shoving all thoughts of Colbert and his supreme idiocy right out of his mind, Blade flew back out into the air and met up with Pegas.
If he wasn't going to be able to stop the Thunderhawk before it launched, then he was going to have to settle for destroying the thing before it could do any damage.
For a moment, Blade wondered what he should do about Colbert and his cronies; but that problem would be easily solved. He just had to hit the Thunderhawk a bit earlier. He might have felt sympathy for someone in the position he was about to be putting those people in, but all of them had chosen to side with Colbert. Colbert, the worthless little shit who was planning to murder countless millions of innocent people just for the sake of his own over-bloated ego.
As far as Blade could make himself care, if those people supported him so much, they could burn with Colbert.
Cutting deeply into the Thunderhawk's casing, Blade flew away as the damaged missile detonated behind him. That took care of what he needed to do here; just one last thing to see to.
Shinya, I'm coming home.
Takaya, is something wrong?
He realized that he'd probably let slip a bit more of his personal feelings than he'd been planning; but hell with it, it wasn't like Shinya wouldn't agree with him on this one. Colbert's dead; I hope he rots in hell.
XV
There really wasn't much he could say to something like that, and it wasn't as though he was particularly eager to talk about their current situation. Right. I'll see you soon then, Ta-kun.
There was a general sort of amusement from Takaya, and so Shinya turned his attention back to the current situation that he hadn't been in any mood to report to Takaya. There was another sharp jolt; a bit less powerful than the one that had lead the Chief to call for the evacuation of the Headquarters, but not by much. Miyuki caught his eye, and Shinya knew that she was thinking along just the same lines as he was.
They both knew that the Headquarters couldn't stand up to this kind of a pounding for much longer; they would have to go to the source of this trouble, but therein lay the problems: Miyuki wasn't at her best, and they were going to be facing Spear and the rest of the survivors of the Argos.
"It looks like things are starting to fall apart," he said, his tone deliberately light to help defuse the tension in the room; it fell pretty flat, but no one could say he wasn't trying. "We might have to make a run for it, soon."
"D-Two, we might not have the chance," Aki said.
The Headquarters shuddered again. "Yeah."
He knew what Miyuki was going to do the second she caught his eye again, and so he reached out to support her as she pulled herself up and out of bed. Naturally, Aki tried to stop them, since she knew just as well as any of them did just how much Miyuki was going to be risking if she went out there to confront Spear and the others. Still, the fact that Aki was more focused on what Miyuki was doing meant that he could get behind her.
After that, a short, sharp blow to the back of Aki's neck knocked her out like a light, and he and Miyuki hoisted her up onto the bed that Miyuki had been using up to that point.
"Shinya-niichan," Miyuki muttered, leaning more heavily on him.
"Let's go."
Letting his and Takaya's younger sister lean on him as heavily as she needed, Shinya subtly guided her through the damaged, swiftly collapsing corridors of the soon-to-be-former Headquarters. Soon enough – sooner than he'd have liked, really – the two of them found a serviceable window – one of the many floor-to-ceiling types that had been spaced so regularly around this place – with most of its glass blown out.
"Shinya-niichan." Miyuki's voice brought his attention back to the present, after he'd seen an armored figure zipping past; far away but still too close for comfort. "Thank you."
Holding her in return as Miyuki hugged him, Shinya rested his right cheek against the crown of her skull. "Of course, Miyuki-chan."
"I just…" Miyuki said, and he could smell the sharp tang of tears; just like the ones he could feel leaking from his own eyes. "I wish you and I could have gone to the beach with Takaya-oniichan, one more time."
"Yeah. I know," Closing his eyes for just a few moments, Shinya swallowed a bitter chuckle; he knew all about the wishes that someone might make in this kind of a situation.
He and Miyuki separated without a word, only their hands still joined – his right to her left – and Shinya spared a moment's concentration to call his tekkaset back to his free hand, even as he felt the brief surge of energy that meant Miyuki was calling her own. He didn't allow himself to feel anything about what he and Miyuki were both doing, but Shinya knew that if he had he would have hated it. Transforming even as Miyuki did, Shinya felt the familiar double-surge that he'd always felt when Takaya transformed next to him
He didn't let himself muse on that for long, because they were firmly outside of the Headquarters now, and he'd just sensed Spear's presence growing stronger.
They're almost here, he said, knowing that the both of them would need to be prepared for what was coming.
I know, Miyuki said. Thank you, Shinya-niichan.
The- whatever name that manta-ray looking platform thing that Spear had taken to riding around on, appeared in the air in front of them then. And, naturally, Spear was right there standing on top of it. Tekkaman Varis tensed as Spear stepped down from the thing's back, and began to make his way toward where he stood beside Miyuki.
"I'm glad to see that the both of you came to your senses so quickly, Shinya, Miyuki." Varis ground his teeth at Spear's tone; gentle as it ever was, Varis knew damn well that that kind of thing would bring them nothing but trouble. "Still, I think it would be best if you removed your armor, Miyuki. You're putting an unnecessary strain on your body."
"Go to hell," he leveled his lancer at Spear's armored head; it wasn't likely he'd hit anything, but he'd get the message across. "Tekkaman Spear."
His electrified lancer-ribbon – or whatever the thing was actually called – slashed through the space that Spear's head had been, and when Varis heard the low, almost animalistic growl that emerged from Spear's throat, not to mention seeing the way his glowing red eyes narrowed dangerously, knew what was going to be coming.
"How dare you!"
Rolling out of the way, even as Miyuki leapt in the opposite direction, Varis looked back to see just the person – well, if one of Radam's own Tekkaman could even be called that anymore – he'd expected when he'd heard that voice. Even the tone was familiar; he'd been scolded by Feng Li before.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Feng Li – what was left of her, anyway – demanded.
"What does it look like?" he said, flippant even though facing the woman who would have been his sister-in-law if life had been kind hurt nearly as much as facing the members of his, Miyuki's, and Takaya's family did. "I'm defending my comrades, and my sister, from a group of evil Tekkamen!"
"Faithless traitor!"
Forced to dodge the evil Tekkaman's lancer – hers more like the blade of a sword than his or Blade's lances, or Spear's harpoon – as she tried to impale him between the eyes with the thing, Varis glanced back over his left shoulder, at least as well as he could when he was wearing his armor, to see how Miyuki was doing. The news was about as bad on her end as it was on his: two more of Spear's cronies had landed just behind her, and while she had turned to confront them, the both of them were a lot bigger and tougher – not to mention healthier – than she was.
Throwing himself forward, Tekkaman Varis caught a fleeting glimpse of another armored figure falling swiftly through the air. Pushing that thought out of his mind, not having the attention to spare for whatever else might be coming – dangerous as it was inevitably going to be – Varis whipped his lancer in a wide arc to deflect the descending normal and halberd-style lancers that were heading down toward Miyuki, even as he leapt to her defense.
Thank you, Shinya-niichan, she said, the weariness that she was clearly still feeling dragging more heavily at her.
Yeah, he said, trying to project reassurance, but not quite sure that he was managing. I'll protect you, Miyuki.
Shinya-niichan!
Raising his left hand, Varis only just managed to avoid the stab that would have gone clean through his head if he hadn't caught it, Varis had only a few moments to truly appreciate how much it hurt to be stabbed through the palm – right between all four of your fingers – before he was forced to bring up his lancer to deflect another swing from the large halberd-style lancer that the second-shortest, not to mention the stockiest, of the evil Tekkamen that he and Miyuki were both facing.
He hoped that Takaya was going to get back to them soon; Varis didn't know if he was going to be able to hold up under this kind of pressure, so he knew that it had to be several times worse for Miyuki.
XVI
He knew that he had to get back to Miyuki and Shinya as fast as he could; they were alone against five of Omega's evil Tekkamen, and in Miyuki's condition things would be all the more difficult for her. Still, the fact that he'd been forced to discard the booster-rocket that Levin and Honda had been able to provide him with meant that he could only rely on Pegas' top speed for this trip. And, as fast as he was moving, Blade couldn't help but wonder if that would be fast enough.
He could only hope it would be enough; hope, and push Pegas for all the speed the mech could give him.
XVII
Forcing himself not to scream, as he felt what had to be Sasuke's thin, sword-like lancer driven through his right wrist – his own wrist having been pinned on top of Miyuki's left; presumably so that the five of them could use three lancers rather than four and fuck them all for the effort – Varis panted in exertion as the pain of being impaled yet again hit him in earnest.
"What do you have to say for yourselves?" Varis ground his teeth; seriously, fuck Spear and all his sanctimonious bullshit. "Shinya? Miyuki?"
"I don't have anything to say to you," he said flippantly; he wasn't going to draw their attention to Miyuki if he didn't have to.
"Show some respect, traitor!" Feng Li snapped.
"I haven't betrayed anyone," he snarled. "The Earth is my home, and I'm still human."
"What are you saying, Shinya?" Spear asked, sounding oh-so disappointed, and oh-so sorry for what he was about to do; oh, right, what he had to do.
"Nothing," he said, and smirked even in spite of the fact that no one here would be able to see him doing it. "I could do something," he paused for a moment, painfully wiggling his fingers for effect. "But I can't really move my hands."
Without another word Spear unsheathed his foot-long blade, one of the only armaments that he and Varis had in common, and jammed it nearly up to the point where his wrist would have been into Varis' own left shoulder. Forcing himself not to scream, Varis found his attention drawn away from what was going on around him by Miyuki's mental voice.
Shinya-niichan, fly away from here!
Miyuki…
I'm going to die, Shinya-niichan, Miyuki said wearily, cutting him off before he could actually say anything in particular. You have to live. Please, protect Takaya-oniichan, Shinya-niichan.
There was nothing he could really say to that, at least not without insulting Miyuki's sacrifice and starting an argument that neither of them could afford right now. Sighing deeply, Varis turned his attention back to the five evil Tekkamen – only four of them who were a real threat, since the small, light blue and while form that had to be Sasuke was hanging back almost behind Spear – arranged around the two of them.
He knew that Miyuki would have only included him in their conversation, since the whole point of using their telepathy in the first place was to keep anyone you didn't want hearing your conversation from doing just that simply by being close enough to where you were, and Varis turned his thoughts to what he was going to have to do, he roughly pushed aside how sick it made him feel to be planning any such thing. Miyuki was right: there wasn't anything he could do for her in her condition, and the chance that she was planning to give him wasn't something that he could pass up.
Not if he wanted to survive.
When he felt a surge of energy, almost like a Tekkaman's transformation but of a whole different magnitude, Varis threw himself forward, activating his thrusters in a burst of power as the lancers that had pinned him to the cliff face were torn away by his momentum.
Forgive me, said, knowing even as he did that those were stupid last words to leave someone with.
Fly away now, Shinya-niichan. Go!
There wasn't any more time for words then, and not really much he could have said in any case, so Tekkaman Varis just poured all of the speed he could manage into his thrusters, hoping to outrun the wave of destruction that he could sense building behind him. Hitting Spear head-on, he didn't even look back as his momentum flattened the evil Tekkaman and he literally ran over him, planting an armored foot on some part of Spear's anatomy that he didn't have time to look back and appreciate.
All that he could do now, was fly…
XVIII
As the energies of Tekkaman Rapier's explosion consumed the remains of the OSDG Headquarters, along with anyone unfortunate enough to have still been trapped in there while the evacuation alarms were presumably going off non-stop, Tekkaman Blade could barely spare a thought for anything else but the awful, awesome destruction that he was forced to bear helpless witness to. He knew that Miyuki was dead, since he'd felt the mental link that they had both shared cutting off with a horrible kind of finality.
He also knew that Shinya was still alive, since while their mental link had gone dormant, it hadn't cut off the way his and Miyuki's had done.
Blade clung to that knowledge like a lifeline, as he guided Pegas to hover over the place where he could sense that Tekkaman Varis had fallen. Leaping from the mech's back, sparing only a brief thought to tell his combat partner to come when he called, Blade crouched to lessen the impact of his fall. He still ended up in an ankle-deep depression for his trouble, but he couldn't honestly care about any of that.
Because he'd just found Shinya; his younger twin had been knocked into the side of what remained of one of the mesas that had surrounded the Headquarters while it had still existed, and even as he watched, Tekkaman Varis lost his hold on his transformation. There was what looked like fresh, pink scarring on both of his younger twin's wrists as well as at the point where Shinya's left shoulder met his body, but Blade found that he couldn't care about any of that.
Because Shinya was alive, here and now, and that was all that mattered.
"Shinya," Blade muttered, gathering his younger twin's unconscious form into his arms and holding him as tightly as he dared while he was still in his own armor. "Thank God."