That horrible, heart-stopping moment – as D-Two's sky-blue tekkaset had broken in half, just before shattering into innumerable, glittering pieces in just the same way that D-Boy's had done, all those months ago when Tekkaman Dagger had attacked the pair of them on the Orbital Ring – was all but imprinted in her mind as Aki saw the broken, dull-colored shards scattered over D-Boy's left arm and D-Two's right.
"I thought this might happen," Noal muttered, crouching down between the pair of them and beginning to meticulously scoop up the crystal shards from the snow.
"What do you mean?" Levin asked, giving Noal a look as he crouched just beside D-Two, rolling him onto his back so the redhead could gather him up in her arms more easily.
"After the attack from Tekkaman Dagger, I was glad that D-Two managed to escape," Noal said, narrowing his eyes as he continued gathering up the shards of D-Two's tekkaset. "But, then I couldn't stop thinking about it," he said, picking up one of the larger shards and staring thoughtfully at it for a long moment. "I was worried, but I could never be sure enough to tell anyone what I was worried about. At least, not before."
"Here," O'Toole said, handing over a small container; she'd seen the man leaving, but hadn't thought of what he might have been leaving for.
As Noal thanked O'Toole for his help, and Levin gathered D-Two up in her arms, Aki made her own way over to D-Boy. Crouching down beside him, Aki sighed; it seemed like fate just couldn't stop hurting him, sometimes. Touching his face, Aki shivered when she felt the unnatural, feverish heat.
Even for a Tekkaman, that kind of thing couldn't be healthy.
I
When the rest of the Space Knights had brought those lads back into the Green Earth and gotten them settled into the pair of medical beds that'd been stored within the transport's modest sized infirmary for just these kinds of occasions, O'Toole had made his way to the cockpit and begun configuring the Green Earth to run underwater. It was plain enough to see that, considering the sheer amount of Radam monsters that had been drawn to this desolate place by the activities of nearly every one of their lads on the front line, the Green Earth and her precious cargo wouldn't be safe until they were as far away from this place as they could possibly manage.
That in mind, it was no kind of surprise that, once D-Boy and D-Two had been properly settled in the infirmary, Noal and Balzac went right back out to guard their evacuation; he'd have been honestly shocked if those lads had done anything less.
II
As she finished wiping away the sweat that had collected on D-Boy's forehead, Aki looked over at D-Two. It was clear that he wasn't doing any better than D-Boy, and with his fair skin, he actually looked a bit worse. Sighing, unable to help the wish that none of what had happened just a few hours ago had ever occurred, Aki made her way over to D-Two, dipped her washcloth in the cool water she'd placed close to hand while Noal and Balzac had been getting the twins settled into the medical bed, and began to gently clean the sweat from his face, as well.
She could hear the subtle and not-so-subtle sounds of combat going on outside the thick hull of the Green Earth, and as she continued to try her best to keep both of the twins as well as she could manage in their current situation, Aki could only hope that both D-Boy and D-Two would be able to get the rest that they clearly needed. Sighing softly as D-Boy turned his head as though he was trying to look at something on his right, even though his eyes were still firmly closed, Aki couldn't help the slight thrill she felt when D-Boy's eyes opened.
Yes, she knew that he and D-Two both needed all the sleep they could get, but seeing D-Boy's green eyes – even if they were glassy and unfocused from his fever – did make her feel a bit better; Aki hated herself a little for that, but she couldn't truly deny the fact, either.
"D-Boy," she said, not wanting to worry D-Boy, but also knowing that he probably wasn't going to be able to stay conscious for very long; no matter what either of them might have wanted.
"Shinya…" D-Boy muttered, sounding like it was a struggle for him to even get the word out.
"He's all right," she said, smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. "And you'll be all right, too, D-Boy."
As D-Boy's eyes slipped closed once again, Aki caught sight of the flickering outline of his tekkaset just between his eyes, the same way she'd seen every time D-Boy had contacted his brother with the telepathy that the Radam had forced on both of them. She wondered, for a moment, if it was entirely healthy for D-Boy to be using any of the powers that the Radam's transformation had forced on him.
Still, it wasn't as though she could have stopped him, even if he had been coherent enough to understand what she was saying.
"This is sad," Milly said, and Aki gently wrapped her arms around the young girl's shoulders as Milly leaned against her.
"Yes," she said, reaching down to hold Milly's hand as the pair of them stood at the foot of D-Boy and D-Two's bed. "Yes, it is."
III
Once the pair of them had managed to clear out the remaining Radam monsters that'd been chasing them, Noal sighed as he settled down next to Balzac. He was starting to miss those kids of theirs for more than just sentimental reasons, and even knowing just how much it'd cost the both of them just to carry on with the job they'd been all but begged to do by pretty much everyone who'd still been left in the world didn't quite keep him from wishing that the Gemini Boys could have been back on their feet again.
Not that he'd ever actually say it, of course; those boys had done more than their fair share when it came to keeping the Earth and everyone who still lived on her safe and sound.
"I guess we managed to break free of them," Balzac said, sounding about as strained as Noal felt.
"Yeah," he muttered, wondering idly if one of the other Tekkamen had been directing them; given the fact that all of them could sense each other no matter where they went, that was an uncomfortably real possibility, just as the inner door of the Green Earth hissed open. "How are they?" he asked.
Milly was framed in the light of the entrance. "They're sleeping now," she said, pausing for just a moment, seemingly to think about what it was that she'd just said. "But, if things continue at this rate, their bodies will-"
"We've got to hurry to the Alaska base. I'm sure Freeman has a plan," O'Toole sighed, cutting her off before she could say too much.
"You think so?" Milly asked, the hopeful tone of her voice nearly enough to make Noal's heart twinge, just a bit.
"He'd started looking into it when I left," O'Toole said, and Noal couldn't quite help the smirk that wanted to pull at his lips; he bit it back, of course, but knowing that Chief Freeman had managed to win over the loyalty of yet another person gave him a certain sense of vindication.
We're all counting on you, Chief, he mused, eyes narrowing in contemplation as he looked out into the water they'd taken shelter beneath. And, it wasn't even a very good shelter, considering that the Radam had clearly already bred enough of those swimming monsters of theirs to give both him and Balzac a run for their money. Still, at this point it was the best they could do.
It wasn't like the rest of the world was much better off, anyway.
IV
Watching as Lance pulled a distinctly uncomfortable looking Wraith into his lap, wrapping his arms firmly around the younger Tekkaman's chest and shoulders, Sword narrowed her eyes.
"He's going to be here soon?"
"Soon enough," she said, drawing a chuckle from her fellow Tekkaman.
"That's good," he said, tucking Wraith's head firmly under his chin, effectively trapping the youngest of their number within the circle of his arms. "Behave yourself," he admonished, barely glancing down at Wraith where he sat.
"Still, you shouldn't be making plans behind Spear's back," she said, opting to deal with more pressing matters before she addressed Wraith's clear discomfort with his present situation; Wraith would keep, but her beloved would want to know everything he could about what Lance intended to get himself into.
"I'm hardly planning anything our leader would dissaprove of," Lance said, smiling reasonably as he leaned his chin against the top of Wraith's head. "I'm just going to take care of something he seems to be having trouble with," this was said with a glance down at the small form still firmly restrained within the circle of his arms, so Sword suspected that he was using the youngest of their number to prove some sort of a point, even if only to himself. "Spear has always been strong, but sometimes he's too gentle for his own good."
"What do you mean?" she asked, not quite seeing just what it was that Lance was attempting to get at; what had driven him to speak up at this of all moments.
"I'll handle the traitors for him," her fellow Tekkaman said, smiling calmly at her. "I'll spare him another wound to that gentle heart of his," he grinned, and Sword knew that she was at last hearing the true reason for her fellow Tekkaman's current eagerness to put himself forward. "And, I suppose if I do get recognition for my efforts, I'll simply have to accept that."
"Is that what you're truly hoping for?" she asked, knowing that Lance would have a great deal more difficulty denying her conclusions once she'd stated them out loud.
"If Omega-sama proves willing to acknowledge my efforts? Well, I could hardly deny him."
She sighed; truly, it seemed as though Lance was bound and determined to carry through with this foolishness of his.
V
Once she'd settled herself back down at beside the bed that D-Boy and D-Two had both shared for so long, Aki sighed as she checked the readouts on the medical monitors again.
"How are they doing?" Milly asked, sounding about as depressed as Aki felt.
"They're both extremely weak," she said, all of her observations thus far leading to one horrible, seemingly inescapable conclusion. "Just like a man who's been wandering in the desert without food or water."
"Aren't they being medicated?" Milly asked, and while Aki was grateful for the younger girl's optimism, she couldn't bring herself to discount the evidence that was right in front of her eyes.
"None of the medications are working," she said, sighing softly.
"I hope we get to the base soon," Milly said, sounding like she was trying to hold onto hope, even in spite of the evidence.
And the evidence didn't give Aki much of a reason to hope, right now.
VI
Once the Green Earth had surfaced again, plowing through the wavelets on the sea rather than scudding along beneath them, Levin tried to concentrate on getting them all – her fellow Space Knights, and O'Toole's people both – to the Headquarters in Alaska that O'Toole had directed her to go to. Even without her poor D-Boy and D-Two's steadily declining health, they would have continued in that direction anyway, since it was where they were going to drop off the computer chip and check on the progress of the Blue Earth's repairs.
They just had another, more pressing matter to attend to, that was all.
"So, which way should we be going, anyway? I've looked all over the place, but I don't see a base anywhere!" she grumbled, after having spend several, long minutes trying to search for the new base, and thus far finding herself defeated by the unrelenting sameness of the terrain all around them; her worry for their poor D-Boys probably wasn't helping either, but Levin couldn't really help that.
"Hey, don't be so impatient," the soldier said. "Look, there it is."
"Huh? You mean, that's it?" she asked, the lives of two of her closest friends – well, a friend and a lover, now – depended on them all getting to the new Headquarters as fast as they possibly could; but right now, it felt like everything was conspiring to slow them down.
Even O'Toole, and he was trying to help!
"Ready to bring us in?" O'Toole asked, sounding like he was playing along, just for a moment, before becoming serious as he came up to the right-hand side of Levin's chair.
Sure enough, there was indeed a far-off collection of buildings – long and low, designed to both withstand the pressure of the snow that would inevitably build up on top of them, and to appear as merely part of the landscape to anything that might have been passing by overhead – off in the distance, directly on the path that they were all currently traveling down.
"Yeah," she said, relieved to know that D-Boy and her sexy D-Two would soon be able to get the help they both needed to get better. "I'll get us inside."
There was a moment's pause, before the large, imposing bulk of the Green Earth was swallowed up by a hidden entrance to the new Headquarters.
"Can you handle things from here, old man?" Levin asked, already rising from his seat as he felt the lurch of the cruiser going down what felt like a fairly shallow incline.
"Yeah," O'Toole said, taking Levin's place with the kind of smooth ease that Levin found herself particularly grateful for, under the circumstances.
"Thank you," she said over her right shoulder, levering herself up and out of the driver's seat.
She'd be more than grateful, once her sweet, sexy D-Two and D-Boy were in a real sickbay and she could finally be assured of some kind of answers about what was happening to them, of course. Once she'd made the trip back to where D-Two and D-Boy had been set down to rest, she wasn't remotely surprised to find Noal, Aki, and Milly in the room, too.
"Levin?" Aki asked, looking up in relief as the door between them swished open.
"We're there," she said, making her way over to the bed that had once held the slumbering forms of D-Two and D-Boy.
Now, with D-Boy held between Aki and Noal, that just left her to gather D-Two into her own arms; Levin found that she couldn't quite stop smiling, even in spite of everything she still knew was happening.
"Won't he be too heavy for you?" Milly asked, speaking for the first time since Levin had made her own way into this room.
"No, I'm an engineer," she said, grinning and winking down at the younger Space Knight where she stood. "I can handle this."
Crouching so that she could get D-Two's full bodyweight underneath her, Levin carefully lifted him up and out of the bed that he and D-Boy had been resting in together for what felt like such a very long time; too long, as far as Levin was concerned. Following Noal and Aki as they made their way down and back out of the Green Earth, arriving in what looked so much like the motor pool of the old Arizona Headquarters that Levin felt a rush of déjà vu, she grinned all the wider as she saw the men waiting for them.
"Hey, old man," she said, as Honda and Chief Freeman both turned to regard the six of them; though her own eyes were more settled on old man Honda, she had to admit. "It's good to see you again."
"Hey," the grizzled old mechanic – her grizzled old mechanic – said, his own worry coming through with the strength of the emotion she could see in the man's eyes. "How are they doing?"
"Not well," she sighed, looking down at D-Two's slumbering form as the poor, beautiful Tekkaman continued dozing in her arms. "Neither of them have managed to wake up for more than a few seconds."
Aki and Noal came out then, both of them supporting D-Boy as they made their way out of the Green Earth and into the Alaskan Headquarters' motor pool at last. Then Milly came, carrying the box filled with the shards of what had once been D-Two's beautiful blue crystal, making her own way hesitantly out of the transport.
VII
He'd previously taken the precaution of arranging for a medical team to be on standby, once he'd received confirmation that the Green Earth would be arriving shortly, but he hadn't been expecting Milly to hand him a container filled with the shards of what had clearly once been D-Two's tekkaset. True, it would make it all the simpler to convince D-Two – if not both of the twins at once – to rest and allow the Space Knights as a whole to take over for them. And, while D-Boy would likely continue raising objections to that course of action, Freeman hoped that he would be able to convince D-Two to cooperate, at the very least.
The pair of them did seem to take one another's advice to heart more quickly than anyone else's, which had both positive and negative consequences.
Still, as Freeman followed in the footsteps of the medical team tasked with transporting D-Boy and D-Two to the medical wing, he hoped that the loss of D-Two's tekkaset – while it would clearly be a blow to them both – would provide at least something of an impetus for those young men to allow themselves to step back from the front-lines of battle before the pair of them ended up killing themselves. It was a slim hope, particularly considering what he and all the Space Knights knew concerning the character of those two young men who had been so quick to offer themselves in defense of the Earth and everyone who still lived on the planet, but Freeman held to it nonetheless.
When he and his Space Knights had made it to the observation room, having split off from the medical staff as they closed in on the room that had been prepared for Blade and Varis once those young men had been brought in from the Green Earth, Freeman took his place at the forefront of the group as his Space Knights all gathered around the observation window. As well as the microphone-and-speaker arrangement that would allow them to communicate with the twins once they had inevitably awakened.
Watching as the medical staff went to work, attempting to stabilize D-Boy and D-Two's condition so that those two young men would be able to recover, Freeman narrowed his eyes. At least insofar as it was possible for them to recover, considering how much damage had already been done. Both by the actions of the Radam, and by the insistence of those two young men on putting themselves forward to face the brunt of their invasion.
And yes, it was rather obvious that the Radam had forced their hands more often than not, however anyone who had worked with the two of them for as long as he and his Space Knights had would be familiar with the self sacrificing tendencies that the both of them shared.
Looking down into the treatment room where D-Boy and D-Two were convalescing, Freeman narrowed his eyes slightly as he began to spot the signs of their impending revival. While he had known that Tekkamen seemed to recover more quickly from fatigue and various injuries than any human had been capable of, he'd thought that they would have shown some signs of the physical degeneration that they were both suffering from.
Still, seeing the pair of them slowly awakening was quite a different prospect from allowing those two young men to throw themselves wantonly into combat with the Radam, the way they would doubtless be wishing to do.
"Please lie still, you two," he heard Aki say, her tone obviously pitched to be comforting. "Neither of you have anything to worry about, anymore," she continued, and he watched as D-Boy and D-Two both relaxed and let themselves lay back down in their respective beds; however, the sight of a distinct flicker on both of their foreheads gave the impression that both D-Boy and D-Two had a great deal more to say to one another than any of the Space Knights around them.
"Chief, will brother and I make a full recovery?" D-Boy asked, eyes fixing on them for a long moment, before flickering back toward D-Two.
"Yeah, are your people going to be able to cure us?" D-Two asked.
"As long as neither of you turn into Tekkamen," he said, knowing that it would be far kinder to the young men before him if they knew what was happening to them in advance, rather than risking their lives in the way that they had clearly become accustomed to; the way that would inevitably prove fatal, considering their present conditions. "It's the only way to stop your tissues from breaking down even further. As long as you both lie still, as long as you both stay here, neither of you will be at risk of dying anymore. But, if either of you continue to Tek-Set, the breakdown will inevitably progress. And it will lead to certain death for the both of you."
"It's probably going to be easier on you, D-Two," Noal said, sounding as though he was desperately attempting to lighten the present mood in their sickbay. "I mean, considering…"
"My crystal finally broke, didn't it?" D-Two asked, his voice flat but carrying an undertone of exhausted resignation that Freeman had never expected to hear from that young man in particular.
"Yes," he said, watching as D-Two closed his eyes, and D-Boy reached over to clasp his younger twin's right hand in what was clearly intended to be a gesture of both support and solidarity.
"Isn't there something you could do? Some way that brother and I could still fight as Tekkamen?" D-Boy asked, his tone beginning to sound far sharper and more demanding than Freeman had heard it sound for some time.
"No, your roles in this battle are over."
"Great," D-Two said, barking a humorless laugh. "Spear's going to snap us right up as soon as he finds out about that."
"We'll handle that situation if it comes up, D-Two," he said, knowing that such a thing was more than likely to be true. And, given the fact that the Radam had been the originators of the Tek-Set System to begin with, it seemed only natural that they would have a way to treat the cellular imbalance that was inevitably created when a Tekkaman transformed. Or, perhaps it was an artifact of their incomplete transformations; there was little chance that he would ever have the chance to discover the truth through a comparative analysis, considering the current state of war.
And, given everything he'd seen and learned of the Radam, their colonialist ambitions would not have allowed for such an examination at all.
"So, what are you going to do?" D-Boy asked, and Freeman could detect more than a hint of desperation in his tone; truly, it fit with the character he'd demonstrated on more than one occasion.
"You shouldn't worry about that anymore, D-Boy," he said, watching the clear expressions of resignation that spread across the faces of both twins as they lay back in their respective beds. "Just rest. Focus on healing."
"What about Spear?" D-Boy asked, the stubborn determination that seemed to define that young man coming right back to the fore once again. "Noal couldn't even fight against Wraith, and you know Spear's stronger."
"I have Noal's report," Freeman allowed; said report detailing his encounter with the youngest of the Radam's Tekkamen had been both scathing and particularly thorough, emphasizing the brutality of the child that had once been Sasuke Aiba. "We'll handle Wraith, and Spear, if he comes back."
D-Two's bitterly amused chuckle echoed over the microphone, before Freeman could dismiss the remaining Space Knights from the observation room. "You really think that's possible?" the young man scoffed. "Are you idiots, too?"
"That's not something you should be asking, D-Two," he said, pinning the young man – just as self-sacrificing as D-Boy, in his own way – with a severe gaze, in order to let him know that insubordination wouldn't be tolerated on this particular subject. "Stay here. You and D-Boy, just stay here and rest."
VIII
Once the last of their fellow Space Knights had left alongside the Chief, Takaya blew out a long, harsh sigh. (It's not over. It can't be,) he said, knowing that anyone who was still watching them on the monitors would know that he and Shinya were talking, but at least wouldn't be able to tell what the topic of their present conversation actually was.
(It probably is for me,) Shinya said, with a wry smile that looked just as bitter as Takaya felt, at the moment.
(What do you mean, Shinya?) he asked.
(Do you really think the Chief would order another Pegas built for me? After all this?)
Sighing again, this time at himself for having forgotten just what it was that Shinya was going through, Takaya closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them, resolved to what he was going to do next. (We'll find a way, Shinya. We'll both be Tekkamen again.)
(So a miracle, then?)
(Yeah, Shin-chan,) he deadpanned, though they both knew that he was grateful to his younger twin for at least trying to keep his spirits up. (We're going to make a miracle. Come on.)
Shinya didn't seem to have any objections, so the pair of them climbed up and out of their respective beds. Nodding to his younger twin, once he was sure that there wasn't anyone else in the room with them, Takaya took the lead as the pair of them made their way out of the medbay.
(Coming, Ta-kun,) Shinya commented, as he continued searching for any signs of a laboratory or a storage room; somewhere that the Chief would have been keeping the samples that he, Aki and Shinya had helped the man to harvest, so long ago.
Long enough that it almost felt like a different lifetime, considering everything that had happened.
(Let's see if we can find a lab,) he said, flicking his eyes over the colorless walls and doors at regular intervals; looking for some sign that his and Shinya's search wasn't going to end up being in vain.
However, the brief flash of something, that sense that he'd had so many times in the past – when Shinya was close; when Spear was hunting them; when the remains of the Argos' crew had shown up to kill them; and when Miyuki had called out for help – let Takaya know that he probably wasn't going to like whatever it was that he was going to end up finding in this place.
And yeah, the immature Radam monsters neatly sealed in glass jars that crowded the shelves to either side of them were kind of unsettling considering everything that he and Shinya had been through, but that wasn't what Takaya was sensing. He knew that Radam monsters didn't really register to his senses – at least not any of those that the Radam had implanted in him rather than just improving – and this… He would have said it felt like another Tekkaman, if he hadn't had Shinya with him for so long to compare it to.
It felt weaker than any Tekkaman he'd ever sensed, but Takaya also had the creeping feeling that it – whatever it was – was somewhere close.
(I don't like this, Ta-kun.)
(I don't, either,) he muttered, making his way over to the locked door that seemed to beckon to him; almost as though whatever was behind it wanted him to know it was there.
Pressing the panel that would open the laboratory door in front of them, Takaya found himself confronted by the absolute last thing he'd ever wanted to see in one of the Space Knights' labs.
(What?!) he demanded, feeling his fists clench almost involuntarily, as he stared down the Primary Body – the Tekkaman in the making – in forced-stasis within the spoor flower.
"Chief, you'd better explain this," Shinya said, in his I'm-going-to-punch-you-if-you-don't voice, drawing Takaya's attention to the fact that the pair of them weren't as alone as they had been when they'd found their way into this hellish place.
"Stop! You both have to stop pushing yourselves so hard, or you really will die!" Milly said, coming up between the pair of them and putting a hand on Shinya's left arm and his right.
Of course, it seemed that even she wasn't aware of just what it was that the Chief was keeping from them this time, since when she caught sight of the Primary Body inside the spoor flower she gasped, and Shinya ended up having to catch her as she fell backwards in shock.
"Yeah, that's what we were talking about," Shinya said, his tone tight with the kind of controlled fury that would have had Takaya grabbing the nearest person to demand some actual answers.
"What on Earth…" Aki muttered, as all of their fellow Space Knights – at least the ones who were actually present to see this – stared up at the horror that he and Shinya had found. "A Radam tree in full bloom!"
And, even though it was still in induced stasis, Takaya could almost swear that he could feel the mind of that slumbering Primary Body as it nudged at his own; Primary Bodies were instinctively subservient to Tekkamen, and Takaya wished with everything he was that he didn't know that.
"It's a Radam tree that has shown an abnormal rate of growth," the Chief said, his eerie calm hardly doing wonders for either Takaya's nerves or his temper. "One of our scientists happened upon it and collected it. But, while he was studying it, the tree swallowed him," the Chief continued, just before Takaya could demand that the man get to the point, already.
"Is he dead?" Noal asked, clearly having seen what Takaya couldn't bring himself to ignore.
"No, he's in stasis," Shinya said, and Takaya could see his younger twin narrowing his eyes. "This happens to any Primary Body formatted before the Radam have settled a planet," his younger twin continued, muttering in a way that suggested he wasn't aware that he hadn't actually stopped speaking out loud.
"We haven't managed to detect any brainwaves from him," the Chief said, and Takaya narrowed his eyes as the man nodded. "However, you say he's in stasis? Are you able to sense him? Either of you? Can you tell us what a Primary Body is?"
Shinya sighed, and he heard his younger twin chuckle ruefully under his breath. "A Primary Body – a Primary Tekkaman – is the first step toward becoming a Tekkaman," Shinya continued, looking up at the blooming spoor flower in front of them. "No matter what you were before."
"D-Two, do you mean there are alien Tekkamen?" Noal asked, looking surprised.
"That's not important," he said, before Noal and Shinya could go off on a tangent about how far the Radam Empire had actually spread. "Could brother and I use this Radam tree to heal our bodies?"
"What are you talking about, D-Boy?" Aki exclaimed, and he turned to her, gathering himself to make his case.
"Is it possible, Chief? Could brother and I be reborn as Tekkamen?" he asked.
"No. As long as you and D-Two remain in your present conditions, that isn't possible," the Chief said, and he and Shinya both turned to face the man, wondering what he was getting at.
"What do you mean?" Shinya asked, and Takaya saw his younger twin folding his arms, the same, determined expression on his face that Takaya had been wearing ever since the idea had occurred to him.
"Chief?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"During my research, I discovered that Tekkamen have the potential to evolve," the Chief said, still sounding a bit dubious. "Though I hadn't managed to find out about the Primary Tekkamen that D-Two spoke of, I discovered that Tekkamen have an evolutionary system of their own," the Chief paused for a moment, then turned a serious, almost stern expression on the pair of them. "One that depends on the kind of environmental factors they face. When certain conditions are met, Tekkamen can evolve to this new level."
"And, you've found out what these conditions are?" Shinya asked, cocking his head, though it'd almost looked like Aki had wanted to ask a question of her own.
"Yes. This explosive evolution, which I've been calling Blaster mode, can be triggered by upgrading a Tekkaman's body to a more advanced form," the Chief said, though the look on his face suggested that he wasn't particularly pleased by the direction of their current conversation.
"Blaster Mode?" he echoed, not having expected to hear anything like that.
"Your tissue breakdowns were triggered by the fact that you were both fighting other Tekkamen, which is an unexpected development, even for the Radam," the Chief said, having turned to address not just him and Shinya but all of the Space Knights who'd gathered in the laboratory with them.
"They expected us to stay with them, after what they did?" Shinya asked, his tone tolerantly sarcastic.
"Your respective evolutions have progressed much too quickly," the Chief said, his tone as serious and implacable as Takaya had ever heard it.
"But, if brother and I succeed in upgrading ourselves, we can survive as Tekkamen? Chief, you know the answer, right? Tell us!" he exclaimed, unable to hold himself back anymore.
The Chief looked like he might sigh, just for a moment, but composed himself as quickly as he ever did. "There is indeed a way. If you're both successful, neither of you will suffer from tissue breakdown anymore."
"Then, why don't we do that?" Shinya asked, folding his arms as he moved closer to where Takaya was standing.
"Because you're both incomplete Tekkamen!" the Chief snapped, and Takaya almost found himself stepping back, even as he saw Shinya raising both of his eyebrows in surprise. "You've both been incomplete this whole time. If either of you go into Blaster Mode, the physical toll will increase explosively, as well. Even if we did succeed in upgrading you, neither of you would live more than six months… No, you'd only live for three months."
He wasn't quite sure whose bitter chuckle was louder, but Shinya was the one who spoke first.
"Well, that should at least give us the time we need to kill Omega for you," his younger twin said, and Takaya felt his heart contracting painfully in his chest. "It should give you time to find some way to kill the rest of them. Even Spear."
"This is merely conjecture, based on the data from our experiments," the Chief said, his cool gaze settling on Shinya for a long moment, even as the rest of the Space Knights clamored around him. "If we fail to upgrade your bodies, it will be instantly fatal. And, the success rate for the procedure would only be fifty percent."
"Fifty percent, huh?" his younger twin scoffed.
"Chief, you're not about to bet their lives on that fifty percent, are you?" Noal demanded.
"I'm not so sure, myself," the Chief said, the expression on his face as coolly calm as it ever was, but Takaya thought he could see a bit of tension around the man's eyes.
"You're not sure?" Noal drawled, with all the bitter sarcasm that Shinya would have put into that same sentiment.
"Shut up!" Levin snapped. "The Chief cares about them, too!"
"Then why doesn't he just say no?" Noal snarled; Takaya stifled a bitter laugh; really, what else was there to say? "It's because he expects the Gemini Boys to take that fifty percent Gamble!"
"That's not true! The Chief gave us a direct order to cut Pegas' transformation circuit! More than that, he's not developing any way for D-Two to transform at all!" Levin snapped, sounding more than a bit on-edge; considering how she felt about Shinya, Takaya supposed it made sense.
"I've always tried to choose the best course of action," the Chief said. "I've taken full responsibility for every decision I've made, but in this case I was unable to find a course of action that would be in either of your best interests," he continued, beginning to make his way out of the laboratory. "I'm sorry, D-Boy, D-Two."
"Noal-kun," Shinya said, stepping over to gently clasp their fellow Space Knight's left shoulder.
"D-Two, please. Just lay down and rest," Levin said, her left hand settling on Shinya's hip; Takaya tried not to smile. "I don't want to watch you die."
"I won't die, Lev-chan. I promise," Shinya said, turning to smile back at Levin, before casting a glance the Chief's way.
The sound of the Chief's footsteps as they retreated from the room nearly had Takaya turning to follow the man, but the feel of Aki's arms wrapping around his waist drew him up short.
"Aki, I…" he began, though he wasn't quite sure what to say.
IX
"Please, D-Boy, I want you to think about saving your own life. Even if not for yourself, just so you won't leave D-Two all alone."
"I can't think about that, Aki," D-Boy said, serious green eyes fixing on her for a long moment, before he returned his attention to the blooming spoor flower in front of them. "Spear won't give up so easily."
"Yeah," she said, recalling what Spear had done to Noal, those few times their fellow Space Knight had been forced into combat with D-Boy and D-Two's insane older brother; not to mention what Wraith had been able to do to both Noal and Balzac, even when he was just trying to hold them off.
"Brother and I," D-Boy said, nodding as he looked back at the blooming spoor flower in front of them. "We need to become Tekkamen again. To protect all of you, our comrades."
The four of them all stood there, for a long moment, together but still alone with their own thoughts. Really, Aki would have liked nothing more than to be able to convince D-Boy – and even D-Two – that his life was worth living, and ideally he should want to keep it for as long as he possibly could, but it seemed like that wasn't the issue they were facing. No, D-Boy and D-Two just knew what kind of danger the Earth was facing, and they didn't want to leave anyone on the planet to face it alone.
"Hey, the Aurora is out tonight," Levin suggested, her right arm already wrapped around D-Two's shoulders. "We should go see it."
"All right, Lev-chan," D-Two said, a knowing, tolerant smile on his face. "Let's go."
As the four of them made their way out to the snowy hills that overlooked the expanse of the new Headquarters they were currently staying at, with her and Levin making a quick stop to pick up the kind of warmer clothing that D-Boy and D-Two didn't need – she could tell by the look on both their faces that this kind of thing served as just one more reminder of what the Radam had done to them – Aki found herself realizing that she already knew just how this conversation of theirs was going to play out. Yes, D-Boy and D-Two might have been perfectly willing to humor them, but when it came to the question of just what the both of them were willing to do… Well, she'd worked with the both of them long enough to realize that there was no question, in the end.
"You're still planning to risk your lives, aren't you?" she asked, though she knew that the question was rhetorical at this point.
"We are, Aki," D-Boy said, and there wasn't really anything she could say, when confronted with the simple conviction in his tone; conviction that was reflected almost perfectly in his eyes.
His hands were warm against hers, even through the material of the gloves she was wearing, and Aki wrapped her arms around his shoulders as the four of them sat together under the lights of the Aurora.
X
The sound of the doors sliding open behind him drew Noal's attention, and the quiet, steady resolve in the eyes of both of their boys when he saw their faces again told him exactly what was going to happen next.
"Chief, brother and I are going to bet on that fifty percent. We have to keep on fighting," D-Boy said, standing at the forefront of their little group as they made their way back inside.
"I understand," the Chief said, looking as though he wanted to sigh, but the persona he'd built up around himself was too strong to allow him to do something like that.
Aki was the one who ended up sighing. "I guess I can't stop either of you…"
D-Boy picked up where she trailed off. "Aki, I promise I won't die," he said, wrapping his arms around her as she practically draped herself over him. "But, brother and I need to fulfil our mission; we need to be able to protect our comrades."
Sighing as he watched his four friends – two of whom were basically preparing to kill themselves – as they said what could easily turn out to be their final goodbyes, Noal made his way over to clap D-Boy and D-Two on their shoulders, he smiled back as D-Two smirked almost resignedly at him. Everyone here knew what the pair of them were going to be getting into, but no one could really avoid it.
The Radam were still here in force, and even if Spear seemed to be out of commission, that didn't mean that any of Omega's other goons were going to have the same problem.
Chuckling softly as he watched D-Two and Levin practically wrap themselves around each other as they kissed, Noal stood back as the pair of them split apart with nearly palpable reluctance.
The Chief nodded to the four of them, as he and Levin made their way out of the Control Room. D-Two sighed, once Levin was far enough away not to be able to hear him, and he gave the kid a sidelong hug around the shoulders. There was so much riding on them, and Noal could only hope that everything would go well with this latest stunt they were trying to pull. Not only for the sake of the Earth as a whole, but for the two crazy kids who were bound and determined to put their lives on the line for the sake of everyone on the planet.
XI
Standing in the machine shop, looking up at Levin as he continued with his work, Heinrich von Freeman could only hope that he'd done right by D-Boy and D-Two, considering what he was allowing them to do. Yes, it could easily be said that he was doing right by the Earth and all of her people, considering what they were all currently facing, and a more callous man might have easily said that those young men would have thrown themselves into combat regardless; comforting themselves with the knowledge that there was nothing they could have done to stop those the pair of them.
Still, such comforting lies were simply one more thing that Freeman made it a point to deny himself.
"We'll accelerate the evolution process by injecting their crystals with externally generated electrical current. This procedure will take three hours," he called up, knowing that the young men he was speaking to had a rather more personal stake in the matter before them than he could ever truly have been said to have. "You'll both become Blaster Tekkamen, then."
"Boys, this battle is one you'll have to fight alone," Miles O'Toole said, clearly attempting to give comfort in his own way. "None of us can help you, but just remember that you've both got people waiting for you."
"D-Two, please remember how much I love you," Levin said, sounding as though it was rather a struggle for him to maintain his composure; under the circumstances, Freeman could more than sympathize.
However, the present moment was hardly one for sympathy.
"I will. And I won't die here, Lev-chan. I promise," D-Two said, a smile that held all of the gentleness that their present situation denied them on his face. "I love you, too, Lev-chan."
"D-Two," Levin said, making his way over to where D-Boy and D-Two were standing, and proceeding to drape his arms around D-Two's waist.
Freeman turned away slightly, giving the pair of them at least some modicum of the privacy that any young couple would have wanted; particularly during times like this.
"Chief?" D-Boy asked, after a moment spent looking over at D-Two and Levin, an unreadable expression on his face.
"D-Boy," Aki called, before he could say a single word.
D-Boy sighed, a shudder seeming to run the length of his body before he regained his composure. "Aki, brother and I need to do this."
"I know," Aki said, making her own way over to D-Boy.
Freeman turned away as the pair of them leaned together, clearly taking what comfort they could from the other, and caught sight of Miles O'Toole, smiling calmly. Nodding to the other man, knowing that the pair of them fully understood just what it was that they were asking of these young men, and hence just why it was that the pair of them would seek what comfort they could while they were able. He could only hope that it would prove to be enough to allow the both of them to carry on. That was all any of them could do, under these circumstances: they had to carry on.
XII
The returned sense of his body brought him little comfort, considering the painful knowledge that he carried; he knew the path that Takaya and Shinya had chosen to take, and more than that, Spear knew just what he was going to have to do to them.
(It is good to know that you fully understand your duties, Spear, but I notice that you still seem troubled.)
(Yes,) he answered, knowing that Omega-sama would fully understand the reason for his remaining trepidation.
(I understand that this is a difficult matter for you in particular, considering your former position within your clan,) Omega-sama said, and there was a certain conciliatory feeling transmitted along their mental link, there was also a sense of unyielding determination to it, as well. (However, I feel that it is long past time that we finished establishing our new colony.)
(Yes; I understand,) he said, feeling his hands almost instinctively clenching into fists as he bowed to Omega-sama.
(Go, then; I will be relying upon your skill in this matter.)
(Yes, Omega-sama,) he said, turning to depart from the room where he and his were most often briefed by their Warlord when he wished to send them out on their various missions.
Breathing deeply as he made his way out and away from Omega-sama's vessel, Spear considered calling out to Sasuke for a moment. He knew that his little brother would naturally be worrying about him, considering everything that the pair of them had faced – everything that their family had lost, over the course of the battle that he and the forces of the Empire had engaged in against the defiant humans who continued to attempt to stand against them – and Spear had no desire to allow any of his remaining siblings to suffer.
At least, not when such a thing could be reasonably avoided.
XIII
It felt like his head – no, his entire body – was buzzing with the anticipation of what was going to be happening soon. Then Takaya realized that it wasn't just the anticipation of what was being set up that he was feeling, but the buzzing pressure of ever-building power thrumming through his body. He'd known, in general, what he was getting into when he'd ordered Pegas to open his interlock-chamber so that he could climb inside, but actually feeling the slow build of power within him was another thing entirely.
Takaya found that he could only be grateful that this wasn't nearly as painful as the Radam's first efforts to transform him into one of their Tekkamen.
(Shinya?) he asked, shuddering briefly as he felt the increasing pressure of the Radam's power as it was channeled into him by Pegas and Levin's efforts on the outside.
(Ta-kun,) Shinya said, sounding like he would have been smiling if the pair of them had been able to see each other; or maybe he was doing it anyway. (This feels really weird, huh?)
(It really does,) he said, feeling a brief smile on his face at the comforting presence of his twin.
As long as the pair of them were together, Takaya felt like he could face anything.
(This is worse than one of those scanners,) Shinya groused good-naturedly.
(Yeah, it really is annoying,) Takaya said, knowing that his younger twin was just trying to keep his spirits up, and so grateful to have him so close. (How much longer?)
(You're asking me?) Shinya asked, sounding like he'd have been smirking if the pair of them had been facing each other.
Really, he was probably doing that anyway.
(Right.)
As the pressure of the Radam's power continued pressing in all around him, Takaya couldn't help but wonder just how much time – out of the three hours that the Chief had said this whole process was actually going to take – had actually passed.
XIV
Narrowing his eyes as he grinned fiercely down at the underground hole where those pitiful little human rats were hiding, Lance once again pulled on the connection that all Tekkamen possessed to one another. There was no doubting it, not anymore; the traitors Blade and Evil were indeed attempting to hide in this place. You pathetic little worms. You really thought that you would be able to hide underground? From my senses?
Truly, when he'd told Sword that he would take up the onerous task of eliminating the traitors – and thus spare the sentimental heart of their leader from having to take up such a thing himself – Lance had hardly expected that the task would be so simple as this. Even the hordes of Radam monsters that he'd brought with him were beginning to seem superfluous, under the circumstances.
How adorably futile, he mused, grinning hungrily down at the underground bunker he was facing; there would be nothing to stop him from breaking open that little rathole and killing each and every one of the little human rats inside. That the pair of you would ever think you could escape Omega-sama's reach so easily. Fools! You won't take the redemption that Spear has been generous enough to offer you on so many occasions, so you'll simply have to die!