The deep, steady rumbling of the Green Earth's engine was the first thing Levin noticed when she woke up, especially since it'd been one of the things that D-Two was the most vocal complaining about whenever it got to him too much. Levin didn't really know – she couldn't, under the circumstances – just what it was like, living with the enhanced senses that D-Boy and D-Two had been altered to have by the Radam. She wasn't particularly sure she wanted to know, either; both because it was obvious that the two of them still had problems dealing with sensory-overload, and because the only way to gain those kind of enhanced senses was to be transformed into a Tekkaman by the Radam.
And, even though Tekkamen were the most beautiful things she'd seen in her life, Levin still didn't want anything more to do with the Radam than was absolutely necessary under the circumstances.
The sound of running footsteps on the deck-plating drew her attention, just in time to see D-Boy, D-Two, and Noal go rushing into the aft section of the Green Earth. That probably meant that there were more Radam monsters around, and that meant that she should probably go and start fixing breakfast so their fellow Space Knights would have something to eat when they all got back. They always seemed to be facing Radam monsters lately, and while Levin couldn't find it in herself to honestly wish they were facing Axe or Wraith, Levin couldn't stop wondering just what the two of them were planning, either.
It couldn't be anything good; they were still working for the Radam, after all.
As she got out the bag of potatoes so she could begin peeling them and preparing breakfast, Levin chuckled as she remembered Milly's oft-repeated complaints about the state of their figurative pantry. Sure, none of them were particularly happy to be having potato dishes day-in and day-out, but Milly was far and away the most vocal of them about her dislike. Sometimes it could be annoying, but Levin honestly enjoyed teasing the younger girl about it; it was a nice reminder that the war against the Radam wasn't all they had in their lives.
Levin was making home fries this morning, something D-Two had told her about, and both twins had seemed to appreciate on occasion. It'd been really fun, having D-Two help her out in the Green Earth's small kitchen, showing her how to make dishes that his older brother had made for their family. Yeah, it wasn't fun at all when D-Two would pause – that sad look on his face as he got lost in memories of when he actually had his old family close beside him – but at least Levin had been close enough to distract his sweet D-Two by talking about the meals they were trying to prepare together.
Levin knew it wasn't good for anyone to keep dwelling on everything they'd lost; no matter how sad their story was.
Pushing those unhelpful thoughts aside as the remainder of her fellow Space Knights began filling the room, including the three who'd been fighting Radam monsters not so very long ago, Levin smiled for them as she started dishing out the food she'd worked so hard to prepare. Sure, none of them were particularly happy to have potatoes again, of course, but it was still nice to have all of them there.
I
A few hours after they'd finished breakfast, they naturally found themselves being attacked by Radam monsters again; the Gemini Boys were quick to dive into the fray, of course, and Noal grinned slightly as he climbed into the Sol Tekkaman and joined the two of them in the air with the Radam monsters closing in on all of them. Things went pretty much the way they always did, right up until he saw the struggling form of a woman with her ankle trapped under a boulder.
Landing next to the woman, Noal lifted the boulder free from her leg, all the while the Gemini Boys were flying over the two of them in an effort to guard them. Helping the woman back to her feet, Noal led her off the battlefield while the Gemini Boys guarded their backs. With the two of them there to keep the Radam monsters away from him and the woman he'd just rescued, Noal was able to get the woman over to the twins when the two of them had landed after dealing with the remainder of this batch of Radam monsters.
Still, he knew just as well as any of them that more were going to be coming; it was only a matter of time.
"I'm all right now, thanks" he called, setting the woman back on her feet just as D-Two transformed out of his Tekkaman form.
"Thank you both so much," she said, though given the way she was blatantly favoring her left leg as she tried to stand on her own probably meant that she was going to need some more help. Looked like D-Two noticed that, too, considering the way he rushed right over to support her.
"It's nothing," D-Two said, taking more of her weight as he shifted. "Do you have a place to go back to?"
"I have a place to stay," the woman said earnestly, as D-Two helped her make her way over to the Green Earth. "Would you like to come over?"
"That's kind of you to offer," D-Two said, his tone still sounding a bit conflicted; he probably didn't want to offend her by refusing.
As the two of them made their way to the Green Earth, Noal scanned the skies one last time for any more approaching Radam monsters, before turning to rejoin his fellow Space Knights. It sounded like Tekkaman Blade waited a bit, before making his own way back to the tank. Noal wondered, just for a moment, when they'd be coming to that town that he'd heard was down this way. The Green Earth was starting to run low on power again, so the sooner they and their fellow Space Knights made it there, the better.
Once the three of them had made it the rest of the way to the Green Earth, Noal sighed in relief as he stepped out of his Sol Tekkaman and made his way into the main area of the Green Earth again. The first thing on his mind, and he'd bet a fair bit that he wasn't the only one, was getting some grub. Even if the only thing they'd had to eat lately was potatoes.
II
She hadn't known just what to expect when three of the Space Knights themselves had come racing out of the sky to rescue her from those alien monsters; yes, she'd known who the three of them were as soon as she'd gotten a good look at their armored forms as they'd descended to attack the Radam monsters that had been falling down towards her where she'd been trapped. She was particularly grateful to both Noal and Varis for helping her to the large… she couldn't quite decide what to call the vehicle they all seemed to be traveling in, but since Varis and Noal had both referred to it as the Green Earth, Lillie decided that she would simply do the same.
Following Varis up the boarding-ramp and into the Green Earth itself, Lillie tried not to lean so much on Varis while she walked, but with her leg in the condition it was, she couldn't manage that for more than a few steps before she had to stop again. Varis did smile at her, so Lillie knew that he was aware of what she was trying to do for him, and at least grateful for it as well even if she couldn't manage to keep it up for very long.
The two of them made their way into what seemed to be a sort of living area, and Lillie quickly found herself facing the main group of Space Knights. The ones that had been working so hard for so long to save the world from the Radam; she didn't remember all of their names, but Lillie made herself a promise that she would learn them. That was really the least she could do for these people, these people who had sacrificed everything for the world and the people around them.
The Space Knights were just the kind of people who deserved to be remembered in this world: the kind who found the strength to defend not only the people they knew, but people that they would probably never even meet during their lifetimes. That was the kind of bravery that Lillie often found herself wishing to see from more people in this day and age. Because, in spite of everything that had happened in the world, all the suffering that she'd been unfortunate enough to witness firsthand, or even just to hear about from the people who had come to her farm looking for sanctuary or even just a place to rest.
People like Balzac.
She wondered for a moment if Balzac had had anything to do with these people, if there was some way she could have asked him about it without bringing up those memories that had clearly been painful for him to recall. Settling down on the seat near the back of the cruiser's cockpit, she smiled slightly as she saw someone – someone Varis called "Lev-chan", and who called Varis "D-Two" in the same way all of the Space Knights seemed to do, she figured the both of them were nicknames of some kind – calling to Varis. He smiled at her, turning to leave the room with the redhead so that he could help them prepare the lunch that everyone had been talking about.
"We came here because we heard there's a town nearby," a woman with long, black hair said, making her way over.
"Yes, there used to be, until three months ago," she said, as the other woman wrapped and bandaged her wounded arm and sore ankle.
"The Radam?" the black-haired woman asked, smiling gently; Lillie thought the expression was perfectly at home on her face.
"That's not good. I guess we're not going to be refueling, then," Noal said, the blond man sounding like he'd come to the end of his patience.
Before anyone else could say anything, the huge cruiser rumbled up and over what felt like a small cliff, jostling everyone inside, and also bringing that redhead who'd left with Varis earlier back into the cruiser's cockpit with them.
"That was a close shave," Noal grumbled, as the Space Knights all struggled to right themselves again.
"Excuse me. You mean it was a close shave for me," they said, sounding annoyed, but in a good-natured sort of way. "You just dropped all of the potatoes we're having for supper!"
"What? Potatoes again?!" exclaimed the young girl that she'd seen sitting in the seat opposite her and the dark-haired woman when she'd sat down.
"Don't get so high and mighty. I'm doing the best I can with what I have," the redhead said, in a tone that sounded good-natured, though more than slightly annoyed.
"You just keep cooking them because D-Two taught you the recipe you're using, don't you?" the girl asked, sounding more annoyed than she had previously.
Apparently, the Space Knights were starting to run low on food, after having traveled so long between towns. They might have been planning to replenish them at the next town they stopped in, but… that wasn't really possible anymore.
"Well, if you don't mind going out of your way, you're more than welcome at my place!" she called, drawing their attention before they could really start fighting about something so easy to solve. "Although, I really can't offer you that much," she elaborated, knowing that it was the least she could do to thank them for their kindness; not only in saving her from those alien monsters, but in continuing to protect the Earth from the Radam.
"We really don't want to trouble you," the first woman she'd met said, smiling up at her as Lillie herself stood up.
"No, it's to thank you all for saving me," she reassured them all, smiling more widely.
The girl seemed particularly happy about that, though she also seemed eager to tease the man seated in the seat next to the blond; the blond who looked more put-together than Balzac, especially the way he'd been when the pair of them had first met – the redhead, whose name turned out to be Levin – and Lillie laughed as the two of them began arguing again. Laughing softly as Levin left to go get Varis, though D-Two seemed to be the name all of the Space Knights were using for him outside of his Tekkaman form, Lillie wondered just how Balzac would react to meeting these Space Knights she was bringing back to them. He'd never really been interested in talking about his past, but she'd learned at least some of it from what Rick and Balzac would talk about.
She knew he'd been a member of the ADF, and that he'd been some kind of intelligence agent, but beyond that she hadn't known a thing about the past of the man she'd opened her home to when he was clearly at his lowest. Levin soon came back with Varis in tow, and he thanked her for the offer of dinner, seeming particularly relieved that he wouldn't end up having to have another meal consisting entirely of potatoes.
She smiled, glad to have been able to offer at least some hospitality.
"I have a generator out back I can let you use for the night," she said, to assuage Noal's probable worries about just where they would be able to gain the power they needed to continue on the next leg of the journey they were all clearly making.
"Thank you very much for the offer," the dark-haired woman said, smiling gently at her.
Returning her smile, Lillie settled herself back into her seat. She was glad to be able to offer at least some form of hospitality in return for what all of them had done for her.
III
When Rick had had raced out to meet the approaching Space Knights, Balzac hadn't known what to do with himself at first. This day had started out just as simple as any of the others he'd spent down on this farm with Rick and his sister, the woman who'd taken him in when he'd crashed back to Earth after his first and last battle with that Radam Tekkaman Spear; the woman who'd saved his soul, who'd shown him that there was a life beyond scrabbling for whatever power and prestige he could grab for himself before someone else snapped it up. Sure, he'd swiped a couple tomatoes for himself and Rick, but Lillie was more likely to gently chide him for that rather than get outright angry about it. But now, finding the Space Knights – D-Boy and D-Two in particular, since those two had been the focus of his efforts and ire both when he'd been working under Colbert – all but standing on the doorstep of the farm where he'd managed to find some peace and peace of mind for the first time in a long while, Balzac found himself almost perversely eager to go over and meet them.
He didn't remember much of what he'd actually said to them, with their group of six all gathered around the boarding ramp of that huge mobile base of theirs, since it mostly felt to him that he was babbling for the sake of just saying something, but since none of them tried to punch him – he knew better than most that if D-Two had objected to his being there, he'd have known it right off – Balzac allowed himself to relax a bit in their presence.
As Lillie took the lead, guiding all of them back to the farmhouse where she, he, and Rick all lived alone here in the countryside, Balzac tried to ignore the wary looks all of the Space Knights seemed to be shooting him. If anyone had a right to their suspicions, it was the people he'd caused so much trouble for back when they'd first met. He could hardly argue that he'd made the best of first impressions, but he'd made up his mind to do the best he could with this second chance he'd gotten.
Not everyone got the chance to correct a bad first impression.
The sun was starting to set in earnest by the time the nine of them made it to the farmhouse and started to settle in around the table. He was still getting wary looks from the gathered Space Knights, but after all he'd done to them in even the short time they'd found themselves together, Balzac couldn't find it in himself to blame them. The smell of fresh meatloaf wafting through the air drew the attention of all the waiting Space Knights, and the six of them seemed to mutually decide to put aside the unease they clearly felt for him while they all ate.
And sure, he knew that it wasn't going to last the night, but he was grateful for it all the same.
"Here, D-Two, you can have this one," Milly said, grinning as she offered D-Two a large, juicy piece of meatloaf. "Eat up!"
"Thanks, Milly-chan," the Tekkaman said, smiling amusedly as Levin made an exaggerated pouting face at the two of them.
"Oi, first you take my seat next to my boyfriend, and then you try to feed him in front of me," Levin said, frowning at Milly as the girl stuck her tongue out.
"Lev-chan, you know I'd be happy to eat anything you offer me, too," D-Two said, smirking at the pair of them as he cut the piece on his plate neatly in half. "Here," he said, offering the half nearest the man to Levin.
Levin laughed cheerfully, closing his eyes as he did so. "You're so sweet, D-Two," Levin continued, sticking out his tongue at the girl sitting across from him, then stabbing the meatloaf D-Two had cut in half for him.
"You lovebirds are so cute," Noal said, smirking at the two of them.
He smiled softly as Lillie laughed. "It's nice that the both of you managed to find each other, even with everything that's been happening. And don't worry, we have plenty of food here," Lillie said, smiling as she looked over at the section of the table where Levin, Milly, and D-Two had all made themselves comfortable while they ate.
He was glad that they were all getting along, not only because it was at least one way for him to atone for what he'd done to them in the past, but considering what all of them were dealing with, they deserved to take the time to rest up a bit. Though he could still feel the wary eyes of a couple particular Space Knights tracking him through the room as he went on his way. Still, it wasn't like he wouldn't have been doing just the same, if he'd been in the same situation those kids had been in when he'd met up with them.
If he'd been in their shoes, he wouldn't have been very fond of himself, either.
"Do you not like the food?" Lillie asked, since D-Boy had been the one being the most obvious about keeping a wary eye on him; not that he could really blame the kid, but most people wouldn't be equipped to know that kind of thing.
"Don't worry; D-Boy here is a man of few words," Noal said, trying to laugh off what the kid was doing; and sure, it was kind of awkward to have D-Boy constantly staring him down over the meal that Lillie had prepared for them, but he couldn't say anything about it without coming off as a complete hypocrite. "You're so clueless! Just say something like "the food's great" already!"
"Well, I find it amazing that you and Balzac all know each other already," Lillie said, laughing gently.
"It's so awesome that Big Brother Balzac is friends with Tekkaman Blade and Tekkaman Varis!" Rick exclaimed, words nearly spilling over into one another in his sheer enthusiasm.
"Friends?" D-Boy muttered, glancing at Lillie and then turning to D-Two as the two of them got up from the table and moved over to sit closer together.
"Hey, what's the matter? You guys are friends, aren't you?" Rick asked, looking at the particular knot of Space Knights who'd been staring holes in him all through the meal; and through most of the evening, come to think of it.
"Yeah, Balzac's a friend of ours," D-Two finally said, after he and D-Boy had shared a long, speaking glance.
"That's great!" Rick exclaimed, all smiles as he pumped his right fist in the air. "Big Brother Balzac has Tekkamen for best friends!"
"Now Rick, you shouldn't get too excited," Lillie said, as Rick's enthusiastic fist-pumping ended up with him slamming his right elbow into the saucer he'd been eating out of, spilling the contents over the table for Lillie to clean up.
"Sorry about that," Rick said, looking suitably chastised.
IV
He could sense his younger twin's stifled amusement, but all Takaya could really concentrate on was Balzac's smug silence. It was like the two of them were always moving in opposite directions, and though he knew it wasn't particularly charitable of him to think that way, Takaya still found himself resenting the good fortune that the ex-spy had managed to stumble his way into.
This doesn't feel right, he admitted, knowing that Shinya would completely understand how he felt about… everything.
I know, Ta-kun. It's weird.
The two of them continued eating in silence, Takaya keeping a watchful eye on Balzac as Shinya made small-talk with Rick and Lillie. He didn't quite know what the other man's angle was, but he did know the kind of man the ex-spy was. He didn't know just how his encounter with Spear had ultimately affected him, but he knew that there were really only two ways that that kind of near-death experience could have affected someone in his position.
All that remained, now, was to find out just how Balzac's near-death battle with Spear had affected him.
When the man in question had left the room, pleading exhaustion and the fact that he had chores to do come the next morning, Takaya couldn't help but be painfully reminded of his time as Aiba Takaya. That was something he would have been worried about, too: chores, and homework assignments, and whether or not he was going to get to school on time. Takaya… he and Shinya hadn't had those kinds of concerns in so long that he hardly remembered what they were like, anymore.
Turning away before he could say something he wouldn't be able to take back, Takaya bumped Shinya's right shoulder, and the two of them made their way out of the house.
What's on your mind, Ta-kun?
Just… Memories, really, he said, as the two of them made their way away from the lighted interior of the small farmhouse and out into the starry night.
Yeah. We used to worry about things like that, Shinya returned, as the two of them continued on out the door, their changed eyes adjusting in the space between one blink and the next.
Takaya tried not to think about it, since it was ultimately just one more reminder of just how inhuman he and Shinya were now.
Noal came out to meet them a few minutes after they'd left the building; apparently, he'd managed to negotiate them some room and board for the night. It was a nice thing, knowing that there were still people in the world who'd be willing to support them even without knowing quite who they were, he just hoped it wouldn't end up bringing this little family more trouble in the end. It would be a poor way to repay her kindness, bringing the Radam down on her head.
He just hoped their cursed luck wouldn't end up putting another innocent person in danger.
Following the others to bed, yawning slightly as the activity of the past day finally caught up with him, Takaya hoped that he and his fellow Space Knights would be able to get at least some rest, in spite of everything that kept happening all around them. He knew it was probably a vain hope, with the Radam here in force and two Tekkamen in particular that seemed more than a bit interested in them leading the pack, but Takaya found that he couldn't quite stop himself from hoping. No matter how futile it ended up being, in the end.
V
He felt a large, gentle hand settling itself down on his head, even as he continued searching for the pair of mental signatures that were so familiar to him after all the time he'd spent looking for them.
Have you found them, Sasuke-chibi?
I have, he said, looking out into the distance, facing the direction of Shinya and Takaya's mental signals; they were clear to any Tekkaman who might have tried to look for them, which might have meant that they had let their guard down for some reason… but, it also might have meant that they wanted to be found. They're not so far, Axe-sensei.
Wraith knew what he wanted to believe, but he also wondered just what would ultimately end up being true.
Let me see, Sasuke.
Wraith could sense his mentor's interest over the mental link that they both shared, and as Goddard-sensei placed his large, warm hands on Wraith's temples to better focus their respective telepathic links, Wraith felt his own mind opening up still farther. This would make it all the more easy to find out just where it was that Takaya and Shinya had decided to settle for the night. And then, maybe Wraith would be able to find the answer to his question.
VI
When he'd heard Takaya shifting back and forth in the bunk just above him, and more than that when he hadn't heard his older twin's breathing evening out as he fell asleep, Shinya knew that he wasn't the only one who couldn't quite manage to figure out Balzac's angle in all this.
Couldn't sleep? he asked, knowing that it was a rhetorical question but still feeling the need to ask, all the same.
No, Takaya said, and Shinya knew that his older twin would appreciate his company, but would also understand if he wasn't particularly interested in leaving his warm, cozy bed.
Let's get some air, then, he allowed, smiling slightly.
The two of them pulled on the rest of their Space Knight uniforms, and tried to be as quiet as they could while making their way out of the farmhouse where they and their fellow Space Knights had been able to take shelter for the night. Shinya didn't know if they were going to be able to stay for any more than just the night they had, and more than that he didn't know if he'd be open to it if Lillie had tried to offer. It wasn't safe, for one thing: Axe and Wraith were still out there, and there was no telling when the two of them were going to show up again.
There was no question in Shinya's mind that they would, of course; their orders from Omega notwithstanding, the two of them had been thoroughly determined people even before the Radam had dug their hooks in.
When they finally did manage to find Balzac, the ex-spy was doing something that Shinya would have been the first to deny being possible if he hadn't been there to see it himself: Balzac seemed to be paying his respects, in some strange way. Sure, Shinya wasn't exactly what your average person would call normal, but… Still, of all the things he'd expected Balzac to be doing, talking to a dead man in front of what was clearly his old, broken-down Sol Tekkaman hadn't been one of them by a long-shot.
He and Takaya stood back, not wanting to interrupt the man during what was clearly a private moment, right up until he mentioned Spear. That was when they both knew that, no matter the kind of peaceful life he'd be leaving behind, Balzac was going to follow them whether they invited him or not.
Looks like he's coming, too, Takaya said, sounding about as resigned to their new situation as Shinya himself felt.
Yeah, he said, as the two of them made their way over to where Balzac was standing.
He wasn't about to say anything, of course, but given the kind of man Balzac had been, Shinya wasn't going to go in hoping for too much.
"What're you two doing up at this hour, D-Boys?" Balzac asked, as they came out from behind the cover of the small rock formation and over to where he was standing, next to the ravaged Sol Tekkaman.
"Oh, just looking at the stars," he said breezily, taking the lead in conversation, the way Takaya always seemed content to let him do when the two of them were together.
"Yeah; I guess you would be," Balzac scoffed lightly, sticking his hands as deep as they would go into the pockets of his pale, faded jeans. "Well, good night, D-Boys," he said, turning and beginning to make his way back to the farmhouse the three of them had left; Shinya figured now was the best chance they'd be getting.
"The Radam base is on the far side of the Moon," he said, tucking his own hands into his pockets as Balzac stopped dead in his tracks.
"If we can manage to steal one or two crystals from some of the enemy Tekkamen, we could make it to the Moon with the crystal's power," Takaya said, clearly wanting to make his own voice heard during the course of their conversation.
Balzac cleared the distance between the two of them in a leap that, while being respectably fast by human standards, still looked slow as far as Shinya was concerned. And yeah, Shinya knew he could have thrown the other man to the ground when he'd grabbed for the collar of Shinya's Space Knight vest, but it was more than clear that the ex-spy wasn't thinking much about what he was doing.
"Are you sure?! Can we really beat the Radam, if we get our hands on those crystals?!" He didn't even have to say a word, before Balzac seemed to force himself to regain his composure, letting go of his collar so that the both of them could straighten up again. "I'm sorry. It's a bad habit of mine, getting all worked up," he said, trying to sound as light and breezy as Shinya himself did, those few times he'd wanted to do something that he'd known he probably shouldn't. "The Radam don't mean anything to me anymore. Sorry about that, D-Two."
Balzac closed his eyes, shaking his head in that way people did when they didn't want to think about a subject they'd been discussing, so Shinya let the subject drop. He wasn't quite heartless enough to keep pressing on what was clearly an old wound that hadn't quite healed yet. It was something he tried to keep in mind, even when he hadn't liked someone; still, Balzac seemed to have become a better person through what had clearly been a near-death experience.
It couldn't have been anything else, considering who he'd been facing.
"Have a nice night, D-Boys," Balzac said, turning away and starting to make his way back to the cabin in earnest.
VII
Reaching down to ruffle Sasuke's hair, as his youngest student locked onto Takaya and Shinya's minds to ensure they hadn't moved from their position yesterday, Axe reached out to the group of Radam monsters that he had gathered to himself in order to deal with whatever allies – most likely those humans that he and Sasuke had met previously – and gathered them up in order to send them out.
VIII
Making her way out of the door of the house where she, Lance, and her beloved Kengo had all been staying together while he recovered from the damage that his traitorous youngest brother had inflicted on him, Sword looked up into the sky as she saw a Radam monster descending upon them. Carrying the unconscious form of her dear beloved up to the creature that stood before them, she watched in some apprehension as the creature almost gingerly gathered him up and began wrapping him up in a cocoon in order to carry him back to the Orbital Ring, so that he could be healed and take his place at the forefront of Lord Omega's forces. Once the Radam monster had finished, only the vague outline of her beloved's form was visible, but Sword stayed there until the Radam monster had gathered him up again and leaped back into the air.
She continued watching, until the Radam monster had vanished from even her enhanced sight.
Kengo… Sword said, though she was fully aware that he wouldn't be able to hear her as he was now.
IX
They were all getting ready to leave now, the Space Knights that had stopped here for the day so that they could recover from their long journeys – however many they had made between the time their Headquarters had been destroyed and however long it had taken them to get here to the farm – and Lillie had been speaking to Balzac about what he was planning to do. She already knew that he was going to go out with them, she'd seen the resolve in his eyes when he'd woke up in the morning, and more than that she had heard him talking with Blade and Varis last night.
Because of what she knew, Lillie wasn't afraid even when the Radam monsters and Tekkamen started attacking; she knew that Balzac would be fighting alongside them, and with the four of them all working together she knew that she wasn't in nearly as much danger as she had been when she'd first encountered the Radam.
Still, seeing the battle going on almost over her head wasn't exactly good for her nerves, but Lillie knew that if she started panicking then there would have been no chance of her keeping Rick calm. And, if she didn't manage to keep him calm, there was an all too real chance that he would go running out into the battlefield and end up getting himself killed. That was the last thing she wanted, and so Lillie forced herself to remain composed while the battle continued.
It wasn't long before the pair of attacking Tekkamen were driven off by Tekkaman Varis and Tekkaman Blade, so Lillie was able to relax at least a little after being so tense for so long.
X
It wasn't something he'd expected, really; being welcomed into the ranks of the Space Knights by those two crazy kids of theirs after everything he'd done to them, but Balzac wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Hey," he said, just as the rest of the Space Knights were all getting ready to begin heading down to what passed for their rooms in this huge base on wheels of theirs.
"Oh, have you come to see us off?" Levin – D-Two's boyfriend, as strange as that was to think about – asked, firmly snuggling his lover.
"You really helped us out a lot," Noal, the man he'd managed to make the second worst – or third, depending on how you were counting – impression on, said.
"Think nothing of it," he said, working up as best a smile as he could. "Next time, you're all going to be looking out for me."
None of the Space Knights quite seemed to know how to react to that; except for those D-Boys of theirs, of course.
"So, you finally made up your mind," D-Two said, seeming like he knew just what it was that Balzac was feeling at the moment; maybe he did, those D-Boys seemed to hate the Radam even more than he did. He still didn't know quite why that was, but there was a better chance of him finding out what was going on with them if he stayed with the Space Knights.
After he'd managed to negotiate himself a place on the Green Earth with the rest of the Space Knights, Balzac found his thoughts turning back to those D-Boys of theirs. He'd never been one to let a mystery lie like this, and under the circumstances if he didn't find out what was going on it was going to make him crazy… And, against the Radam, it might even get him killed. Even in the face of Noal's own suspicion, Balzac knew he was going to keep searching for the secret of those Tekkaman Boys.
He'd just try to be a bit kinder about it, this time.
XI
"So, what made you so quick to forgive Balzac for what he did to you, D-Two?" Noal asked, as he, Takaya, and the rest of the Space Knights all settled back down in the Green Earth together.
"It's not that I've forgiven him for what he did to brother and me, or what he helped that bastard Colbert do, either," he said, settling back into his seat as he tried to think of a way to explain his reasons to Noal.
"He has the same eyes as I do," Takaya said, and Shinya found himself chuckling softly; that might not have been the way he was planning to explain things, but it seemed to get the point across.
"What do you mean?" Noal asked, looking between the pair of them for a long moment.
Or not, Shinya mused, chuckling softly. "I think brother means that Balzac found something to protect, too." Or someone, Shinya mused, thinking back on the kind woman he'd seen Balzac staying with during the time they'd spent with him.
It was strange to think about, that Balzac could have come to care about someone who wasn't him, but that was the way things seemed to have worked out. And, while Shinya was curious about what had happened, the fact that Balzac was going to be working with the Space Knights would probably give him the chance to find that out for himself. If the Radam would let him, at least.