He hated to see them there, just sitting there on Slade's bed like that; he knew it wasn't really Saber's fault, since it looked like Slade had just shut down completely and the only things that were likely to get through to him in this condition were exactly the kind of things that Saber wouldn't do to him under the circumstances. He sure didn't know what any of them were going to be to do at this point. There was one thing he was sure of, though: Darkon wasn't going to just let this kind of an opportunity pass him by; he'd be sending down fresh hordes of his Spider-crabs just as fast as he could cook them up.

It would be like when Saber had been injured, or when Slade's crystal had been shattered, only worse because back in those days they'd at least had one of the twins to bolster their defenses. But now, with Slade completely out of commission, and Saber doing what he could to get his dope of a brother to stop moping and get back on his feet, they were sitting ducks for any of the Radam that got it into their heads to attack them. And the Radam would attack them; they always took whatever opportunities they got to launch an attack.

He knew that just as well as either of the twins, as well as anyone who had lived under constant threat of Spider-crab attacks did, so he wasn't particularly happy about having to leave all of this up to Saber. Oh, he knew that kid was good at dealing with Slade and his moodiness, what with all of the things that Star had told him and all that he had already seen Saber do for his occasionally-moronic brother. But, this wasn't the kind of thing that they could wait for; there were going to be Spider-crabs descending on this base.

He might not know when that was going to happen, but he wasn't stupid enough to believe that it wouldn't; he'd lived in the world for too long to be so stupidly optimistic.

And, even if he hadn't known all that he already knew, the fact that the base that they were all standing in was starting to shake and rumble – not to mention the sounds of far-off and not-so-far-off alarms that he was starting to hear – would have let even a completely stupid person know that there was something going on.

"They've breached the defenses!" Star exclaimed. "They're undermining the building's structure!"

"Great, just what we need; alien termites," he grumbled, as the lights in the room flickered and another alarm went off. Another shockwave shot through the floor, leaving him and Star stumbling in its wake.

"What about the laser-cannons?" Star asked, clearly worrying about all of the people that were still inside this base; not just the four Space Knights who'd gone a bit AWOL, but all of the AEM soldiers who were trying to hold off the Spider-crabs.

"Don't make me laugh," he said. "Those things will hold them off for a few seconds, tops."

"Then, we've got to find another way," she said, as they both turned back to the twins.

Saber, who'd up to that point had his chin resting on top of Slade's head as he cuddled his moron of a twin brother, was now staring at the ceiling with a look of worry on his face. Still, at least he was responding to the changes in their situation; which was more than he could say for Slade at the moment.

"C'mon, Saber, we need you boys back in the game," he said, drawing the attention of his fellow Space Knight. "This base is being pounded, and that means that everyone in it is in serious trouble."

Saber gave him an annoyed look for that one, a sort of silent 'do you think I'm stupid?', but all he actually did was sigh. "I'm open to suggestions," the Teknoman said flatly.

"I don't know, punch him or something," he blurted, finally at the end of his patience as far as Slade's antics were concerned.

"Yes, because that worked so well the last time," Saber said acidly.

"Well, you have to do something! This base is going to be coming down on our heads once those Spider-crabs get here in force-"

"You think I don't know that?!" Saber demanded, cutting him off before he could really work up to a tirade. "I know this base is being pounded into rubble just above our heads. I know that once all of those Spider-crabs get here, they're going to be doing their level-best to kill everyone here. I know this is the absolute worst time to just sit here and see if I can get Slade to see reason. What I don't know, Ringo, is just what I'm supposed to do about that."

By the end of Saber's little speech, the blue-eyed Teknoman was glaring at him, his teeth clenched and his expression as fierce as Ringo had ever seen it. As the room started shaking again, and just as Ringo was trying to work out what he could say to Saber to get the kid up and back in the game – since it was completely obvious that Slade wasn't going to be getting off his butt anytime soon – he saw Slade brace his hands against Saber's chest and shove the two of them apart. Saber was clearly just as surprised by that as he was.

"Go," Slade said, staring down at the bed but clearly addressing Saber all the same. "Just go."

Slade folded in on himself after that, curling up against the far wall of the cell the same way he'd once been curled up against Saber's chest. That same spot of blue light appeared on Saber's forehead again, letting Ringo know that he and Slade were using that telepathy of theirs again. Ringo wondered briefly what the Wonder Twins were talking about, and why Slade felt like he needed to use his telepathy when Saber was right here with them and all of them could hear each other.

But then, all of them could hear each other; maybe whatever Slade had wanted to say to his brother was something he wanted to keep private. He didn't know just what it was that Slade wanted to keep between the two of them, but he figured that he'd have to respect it. If nothing else, Saber would punch him in the head if he didn't.

"You're hopeless, you know that?" Saber asked; it was obviously a rhetorical question, but the look on Saber's face didn't match up with his harsh-sounding words. Neither did the gentle tone of his voice, or the way he reached out to stroke his brother's hair.

Just as Ringo had been about to clear his throat, though, to draw Saber's attention back to the crisis they were all kind of in the middle of right now, Saber climbed off the bed and stood up. There was still a kind of uneasy expression on the kid's face, but Ringo didn't blame him for it under the circumstances; he was worried about Slade, too. Finally, just as he was about to see if he could do anything for the kid, since it was obvious that Saber was trying to work up the nerve to leave Slade behind, Saber stepped back.

"Take care of him, all right?" he asked Star, before Ringo could say anything else to him. Then he turned to Ringo, wearing a slight, not particularly happy looking smirk. "I'm all yours."

"Glad to hear it," he grabbed Saber's left arm and the two of them made tracks. "Now, let's see what we can do about those Spider-crabs."

Taking Saber's silence as an agreement, he let the kid go as the two of them sprinted out of that depressing cell and away from its even more depressing occupant. As they both made their way down the corridor and out of the section of the cell-block, Ringo cornered a bit too late to do anything but dash through the space between a pair of techs, one of whom was carrying a clipboard. Ringo hoped, in the corner of his mind that was still free to notice the things around him, that he hadn't made the guy drop his clipboard when he blew past.

Him or Saber Ringo amended, when he remembered the currently-untransformed Teknoman running right along beside him.

Just as Ringo had spotted the end of the corridor they were in coming up fast, and was about to signal Saber that they were going to have to corner again soon, the ceiling right above them was blown in. The force of the explosion blew the both of them backwards, but Ringo could feel Saber bracing him so the two of them didn't fall to the floor. He was glad for it, but the air was just a bit too thick with debris and the fumes from a broken pipe to let him express that kind of gratitude in any meaningful way.

As the debris from the explosion settled at last, leaving him free not only to breathe properly, but to talk without worrying about choking, Ringo breathed. But then, just as he'd opened his eyes, Ringo saw that there was another hole, this one torn in the wall. Through the hole he could see another room, one filled with lights and machinery, but that wasn't really what caught his attention at first. All he noticed about the room in front of him at first was the Tekno-suit standing front-and-center before the hole in the wall.

That was all that mattered right now: this was a way to fight off the Spider-crabs that were attacking.

"Come on," he said, gently tugging Saber's arm as the two of them helped each other back to their feet. "I think we just hit pay dirt." Looking over at the kid as the two of them made their way through the debris-field that had once been as normal a stretch of corridor as any he'd ever seen, Ringo decided to clarify something. He probably didn't need to, since Saber had already demonstrated that he had a hell of a lot more sense than Slade, but it would make him feel better; even if Saber would probably think he was a moron for saying it. "I'm not about to let you go out there on your own."

"Thanks for thinking of me," Saber said, though the kid still sounded a bit distracted.

Ringo smirked slightly. "You know, Saber, if I didn't know better, I'd swear you were the older brother."

Saber laughed. "Yeah, well someone has to keep Slade from getting himself killed in this mess. Might as well be me as anyone."

And then they were inside the room with the Tekno-suit, and there was no more time for banter.

"Well, what a surprise," he muttered. "I'd heard the AEM's tech-jockeys were building a second Tekno-suit somewhere," he exposited for Saber's benefit. "I guess we just found the place."

"Looks like," Saber said, keeping his voice low so he wouldn't alert the two techs that they had both seen when they'd first made their way into this room. "And hey, it even matches your eyes."

Turning back to Saber, he found that the kid was wearing that same, sly smirk on his face that he always did when he was yanking someone's chain. "You're a riot, Saber."

"No, it's unthinkable, sir." The voice of one of the techs drifted over to them, once their brief conversation had concluded. "The suit's weapons-systems haven't even been tested yet, and there's all sorts of potential-"

"Send it up, we'll give it a trial-by-fire," General Fatass himself said, cutting the tech off.

"General Gault, none of our test-pilots have been briefed yet," the tech who'd been doing all the talking so far said; this was looking better and better.

"Then I suggest you find one, brief them, and get them flying in the next ten minutes!" General Fatass sounded particularly pissy, and under the circumstances Ringo could understand. "It doesn't matter who they are!"

Perfect, Ringo thought, feeling a grin worthy of the Cheshire Cat tugging at his mouth.

"But, General Gault that's impossible."

"I'm your guy, boys!" he called, sprinting over to the Tekno-suit and climbing into the thing, all the while hearing Saber's laughter behind him.

"What the- Get out of there!" the other tech, the one who hadn't said a word up until now, shouted at him. "Who do you think you are?!"

"You're lucky to have me, I'm over-qualified," he retorted, seeing Saber starting to make his way across the floor to where the three of them were standing over the techs' shoulders.

"Making yourself comfortable, Ringo?" the kid asked, that same, sly smile on his face.

"Saber? What are you doing out here?" the blond tech, the one who'd been talking to General Fatass over the comm., asked as he turned to the kid making his way over to them.

"I'm leaving. Do either of you have a problem with that?" the kid asked, in that light, airy, I-will-punch-you-across-the-room-if-you-disagree-with-me tone that he didn't have much cause to use around the Space Knights; Ringo almost pitied the techs here, since they probably wouldn't have the sense to back off when Saber used that tone.

Balzac hadn't, and look what happened to him.

"No," the blond tech said, looking more surprised than intimidated. "I just didn't expect to see you here; I thought you would have been gone already. The General said you were a flight-risk."

Deciding that he'd better start getting ready for the fight if he was going to be of any use, Ringo started fiddling with the Tekno-suit all around him to see if he could get it to activate. As it turned out, leaning back against the carapace of the thing triggered the armor's activation-sequence, and Ringo soon found himself surrounded by the armor of his own, personal Tekno-suit. It was a bit on the bulky side, but it didn't restrict his movement nearly as much as he'd been expecting; nor did it have Saber's outrageously huge shoulders, but Ringo honestly doubted that and human-made armor would have that kind of thing.

Still, he'd be able to at least keep up with Saber now, so that was a good thing; the more Spider-crabs that they could take out while Star was trying to get Slade back on his feet, the better he would feel about things. Once he was as fully-armored as he was going to get, with all of the systems having been checked out to the best of his ability at the moment, he made his way back over to the two techs.

They seemed a bit intimidated to be facing their own Tekno-suit, which was really kind of funny considering the fact that they had made the thing in the first place, but they rallied soon enough. That is to say, before Saber would have gone over and slapped the both of them for being idiots.

"Weapons?" he prompted.

"Z-tron pulse-rifle: right arm," said the blond tech; he seemed to do most of the talking. "Brain-wave targeting."

So, you just have to think about it, and this baby does the rest. He grinned under the armor. I wonder if this is what it feels like to be a real Teknoman. He might ask Saber about that later; once they'd managed to get back to the Command Center, but now wasn't the time to think about those kinds of things. Now, it was time to go deal with those Spider-crabs.

"Nice," he couldn't resist commenting, as the rifle and its assorted paraphernalia folded out onto the Tekno-suit he was wearing. "Shield up; systems on. Piece of cake. Where's the exit?"

The sound of a launch-tunnel opening made the question itself a bit moot, and the sound of Saber's chuckling reminded Ringo that he wasn't the only one who was going to be putting his ass on the line today.

"Well, I think that just answered your question, Ringo," the kid said, wearing his usual smirk. The thing Ringo was most focused on at the moment, though, was the crystal in the kid's hand; it matched his eyes, but that wasn't important. What was important was what that crystal could do.

When Saber raised that magic crystal of his, calling upon whatever kind of powers it was that those kids of theirs used when they transformed into Teknomen, Ringo grinned widely. They might not have had Slade with them, but with him and Saber working together, they might just win this without him. Or at least do enough damage that those Spider-crabs that were piling in on them would be forced to break off their attack.

Either way, he'd be satisfied with the outcome.

"C'mon, guys," he said to the two silent techs, both of them having been staring at him and Saber ever since the kid himself had transformed. "The least you could do is wish us happy hunting."

No one said anything, but that was just fine with him; he hadn't really been expecting anyone in the AEM to have a sense of humor, and this really wasn't the time to be joking around, anyway. As he and Saber made their way up and out of the launch-tunnel, catching sight of the huge swarm of Spider-crabs that were descending on it, Ringo couldn't help but smile a little at the irony of the situation. Here they were, racing to the rescue of the very same group of people that he and Star had come to rescue the twins from.

It was kind of funny, when you thought about it that way.

0101001001

Watching as all of the Spider-crabs that she had seen coming down from the sky now making their landings, she couldn't help feeling sorry for the people working for the AEM. Even if they had been jerks to Slade and Saber, even if they had sent Balzac to spy on them, no one ever deserved to be facing Spider-crabs. Especially not so many of them.

"Things are looking bad at Allied Command," she said, unable to resist the urge to speak up anymore. "How long do you think they can hold out?"

Before the Commander could answer, the door to Comm. One opened and someone else came in. Tina didn't have much time to wonder who it was, before Maggie came up to lean against the empty chair next to her.

"Are Star and Ringo still in there?" the older woman asked.

"Afraid so," she said, knowing that things would have been a whole lot different if those two had managed to get Slade and Saber out of whatever cell in the complex they were being held in. "They're with Slade and Saber, somewhere in the complex."

"I wonder why those two haven't transformed and come out yet," Maggie said, putting a hand to her chin as she looked down slightly; Tina had seen it enough times to know that that was her usual thinking-pose. "I mean, I'm sure they have a good reason for it, but I wonder what it is."

Just then, as if they'd been listening in on the conversation and just waiting for the most dramatic moment to make their entrance – which was something she wouldn't have put past Saber, but Slade didn't seem like the kind of person to do things like that – two armored figures burst out of the AEM's Command Center and flew up into the air with a pair of big, probably rocket-assisted jumps.

"They're here!" she exclaimed happily.

"Ah, I knew they'd come!" Maggie said, a wide smile on her face.

Tina smiled, too. That is, right up until she began to notice something odd about one of the figures. Oh, Saber was right there, but that didn't really look like Slade beside him. The colors were wrong, for one thing... "Wait a minute, something's different."

Zooming in on the image, until the two figures flying low over the ground filled the large screen that they were all using to observe the battle, Tina began to pick out the differences. Sure, Saber was right there, but...

"Hold on; that's not Slade. Saber's there, but there's someone else with him," Maggie said.

"That's not Balzac; there's no way Saber would fight with him, after what he did. I wonder who it is?" she said.

"It's someone in Tekno-suit number two," the Commander said, sounding as calm as he ever did.

"Number two?" she asked, at the same time as Maggie did.

Who could it be in there, and why was Saber so willing to fight with them the way he was doing?

1101010011

"Don't look now, but I think we've picked up a tail," he said, linking with Ringo's comm. so that the other man would be able to hear him.

Catching his lancer as it spun back towards him, Saber collapsed the thing back into its standard form, then launched both ends into the mass of Spider-crabs bearing down on them. Ringo had already shot the two that had been creeping up on them, so that was one less thing that Saber had to worry about; that was good, since he had entirely too many things to worry about already.

"What do those guys want, our autographs?" Ringo demanded, sounding annoyed; Saber knew him enough to know that it was more for show than anything at this point.

Still, show or not, Saber appreciated the gesture. "Oh yes, our adoring fans just can't seem to get enough of us. We should give them what they want."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Saber," Ringo responded, in a tone that meant he was probably wearing a wide grin at the moment.

The two of them waded back into the fight, Ringo firing blasts from his Z-tron rifle – the thing he'd once called a death-ray-blaster when he'd first seen Balzac using it – and him carving through the descending ranks of Spider-crabs with his lancer. He spared a momentary thought for Slade, wondering if Star had managed to get his moronic, moping twin brother back on his feet, before the needs of the battle pushed those thoughts right out of his mind. Now wasn't the time to think of anything but what was right in front of him.

Now wasn't the time to do anything but fight.

0101001001

When Ringo and Saber had left, Star had wondered for a moment if that would be all that it took; Slade had reacted to what Ringo had been saying, but he'd only reacted in the sense of talking to Saber, telling him to handle things. Sure, Saber was just as strong as he was, but it wasn't good for Slade if he just relied on Saber to do everything for him. Saber seemed to understand that, too; but he also seemed to be as confused as she was about what they could do about that.

She didn't like it, it wasn't a good situation, but it seemed to be true all the same.

When her commlink went off, reminding her again that there were other people besides Ringo and Saber who were counting on her to get Slade back on his feet.

"Yes, Commander?" she asked, knowing that he was the one most likely to be contacting her under the circumstances.

"Are the two of you still with Slade?" Commander Jamison asked.

"I am. Ringo and Saber are gone."

"I suspect I know where Saber is. However, I would be interested in knowing where Ringo went."

"I don't really know, sir," she said, wishing she had the answer to that very question; not just for the Commander's sake, but for her own peace of mind as well. "When he left, he seemed kind of impatient."

The Commander made a thoughtful sound. "Saber has just engaged the Radam, but he's fighting beside a second Tekno-suit."

"Fighting beside them?" she echoed, surprised. "There's no way that could be Balzac, then."

"Negative, Star, it's an unauthorized pilot," the Commander said, and Star realized right then and there just who the pilot of that new Tekno-suit had to be.

"Ringo!"

"In the flesh, so to speak," her fellow Space Knight said, over the open comm.

"Ringo," she heard Maggie gasp over the open link, and she understood perfectly how the other woman felt; she wasn't particularly happy with Ringo, either.

"What are you doing in that Tekno-suit?" Tina demanded, a chiding tone to her voice.

"Hey; they left the keys in the ignition," Ringo said, with his usual nonchalance. "Tell those egg-heads no sweat: I'll bring this thing back without a scratch on it."

"Saber, you'll keep an eye on him, won't you?" she implored, knowing that Saber would have been listening in on their conversation and that he'd have something to say about it.

"When I can spare the time," Slade's brother said, sounding gently amused. "Still, he's doing pretty well, for an amateur. I might even let him fight beside me and my dip of a brother, if he keeps this kind of thing up." Saber paused for a moment, and Star wondered why until she remembered that he and Ringo were in the thick of a fight with Darkon's Spider-crabs. "Speaking of a certain dip we both know, how's he doing?"

"Not well," she said, looking back over at Slade; he'd shifted slightly on the bed where he and Saber had both been sitting, but that was all.

"Great. Tell him from me to stop being such a blockhead, will you?" Saber asked, and from the sheer exasperation in his tone Star got the feeling that he was rolling his eyes. "Ringo and I still have work to do; these skies aren't going to clear themselves, you know."

She knew that Saber would have been winking at her when he said that, if the two of them had been facing each other, and she smiled. "Right. Well, good luck out there; you and Ringo make sure to look out for each other."

"Will do," Saber said warmly. "Take care of yourself and my idiot brother."

The comm. went silent after that, and Star sighed as she turned her attention back to Slade. She might have wanted to reassure Saber that his brother was going to be all right, but she still didn't quite know what to do about Slade. He seemed to have completely closed himself off from the world; she didn't know why, and she didn't know if she was ever going to find out, either.

Making her way back over to the bed where Slade was curled up, she sat down and moved in close; she might not have known why he had collapsed like this, but the least she could do was try to make him feel better. He'd seemed to react well enough to being held by Saber, at least up until the point where the Spider-crabs began descending on them in force and he had pushed his brother away so that Saber could help protect them all. So, it stood to reason that he would want to have someone with him now that Saber was out.

Scooting closer, Star gently rested her right hand on Slade's head, the same way that Saber had done while the two of them had been sitting together. Slade shuddered, but only briefly and he didn't shrug her hand off, so she scooted in closer. Star knew that she couldn't afford to spend too much time like this, since Saber still had his time-limit, and Ringo's Tekno-suit wouldn't be able to hold off all those Spider-crabs forever.

"I don't know what you're thinking right now, Slade," she said, moving almost as close to Slade as Saber had been. "But, Ringo and Saber aren't going to be able to hold off those Spider-crabs forever. They need you, Slade. Earth needs you."

She felt it when Slade shuddered, and as she stroked his hair, she noticed how badly he was sweating. Star couldn't help but feel sorry for him, but she also knew that she had to get him back on his feet; she knew that the Spider-crabs attacking them couldn't be driven off by just Saber and Ringo along. They would need Slade's help if they were going to be able to survive this.

0001001010

He was actually starting to get the hang of this, funny as it would have sounded to him earlier; but really, it was just like firing any normal gun, really. Easy, cowboy, he reminded himself, remembering just what kind of limits normal guns had. Ammo might be limited, here; I'd better make every shot a bull's-eye.

With that in mind, Ringo took another, carefully-aimed shot... and missed! He was just about to take another shot, when a spinning, silver object bisected them both. As they exploded into innumerable chunks, he grinned.

"You know, Saber, you're a really great guy to have around," he said, setting himself up for another shot; he didn't miss that time.

"Flatterer," the Teknoman chuckled. "So, other than those two, how are you enjoying the war?"

"I don't know; so far it's been all right," he said, moving and shooting the way he'd done since he'd gotten into the Tekno-suit; it was pretty much the only thing a Tekno-suit could do. "Not a picnic," he said, turning to watch Saber as he moved among the Spider-crabs, hacking and slashing with that oversized lance of his. "But, I just might not be leaving all the fighting to you and your brother anymore."

Saber laughed, just a bit. "Well, that's only if you manage to get those pinheads at the AEM to agree with you. Remember, that's not your Tekno-suit you're using."

"Oh, sure, remind me of that," he groused good-naturedly, rolling his eyes even though he knew that Saber couldn't see it. "You just love to spoil my fun, don't you, Saber?"

"Well, someone has to be sensible here," Saber said, with such exaggerated stuffiness that Ringo couldn't help but laugh.

"You; sensible. Right," he said, teasing the kid right back.

After that, though, the thick of the swarm descended on them again, and there was no more time to talk.

1101010111

Sitting with Slade on the bed that he and Saber had shared for the short time that they had been together on this, one of the darkest days in recent memory – even if the only ones who would remember it properly were her, Ringo, and Saber – she took a deep breath. Nothing was going to be solved if she just sat around waiting for something to happen, so in spite of the fact that she didn't really have any better ideas than Saber had had when he was trying to talk Slade around, Star gathered her composure and spoke.

"Come on, now, Slade," she said, gently curling her fingers into his hair; he seemed to respond better if he was in physical contact with someone.

With a soft, muffled sound of protest, Slade pulled away from her hand with a speed that almost suggested he'd been burned by the contact. "No," he gasped, curling up on himself again, knees shielding his face and head. "No; I can't do it."

"Why, Slade? Tell me why, at least."

"I'm scared," he said, pulling in his knees like he was trying to shield himself from the world.

Now, that was something she could completely understand; especially under the circumstances. Still, even that wasn't a reason for Slade to have completely frozen up like this. "We're all scared before a fight," she said, being a bit more stern than she would have been under any other circumstances. "That's no reason to just give up. Saber was worried for you all the time when we were trying to find our way here, and I bet he's still worrying about you. Ringo, too-"

"No," Slade said quickly, cutting her off before she could do anything more to reassure him; she could see his haunted green eyes, visible now over his knees, if only just. "I mean, I'm scared of what I might become. It's different for Saber," he continued, pulling his knees in just that much closer. "He doesn't have to worry about those kinds of things happening to him." Slade paused, a flash of something indefinable passing over his face. "He's... better than I am."

"What do you mean, Slade? Saber ends up helpless after only twenty-five minutes in combat; that's why he and Ringo need you, Slade! More than ever; you're a part of this, too."

"No; you don't understand," Slade said softly, and she could see a shudder run through his body. "I can't protect him anymore; I can't protect anyone. I'm weak; useless."

Her mouth was open, and though she wanted to say something to Slade, she couldn't make the words come. She hadn't known just how deeply he'd been affected by everything that had been happening; she hadn't known just how he would take it. "Is this because the two of you were separated while you were here?"

The look Slade gave her, raising his head only slightly from his knees, was all the answer she needed.

"I don't think that's true at all," she said, settling back down on the bed next to him and gently resting her right hand on his back. "You've done so much for this world; not many people would have been able to do the things that you've done." She decided against mentioning Saber, since Slade had already been comparing himself to his brother; he already knew what Saber was capable of, she just had to remind Slade what he was capable of. "Most people would have already broken down under the strain of what you've been going through, Slade. You've borne up under it better than most people I know. Certainly better than I would have, I think."

Before she could say anything else, though, her commlink went off again; knowing that it was one of her fellow Space Knights, and that none of them would have contacted her unless something new had come up, Star stood up and turned her attention to it. Most of it, anyway; since she couldn't forget about Slade; she wouldn't forget him.

"Star here, come in," she acknowledged.

"Any progress?" the Commander asked, and although he sounded as calm as he ever had, she got the feeling that he was concerned about Slade, too.

"Not much, I'm afraid," she said, looking back at Slade, curled up on the cell's bed like a child who had been having a nightmare; she sympathized, but at the same time she knew that this wasn't the time for any of them to let their fears run away with them. Especially not one of the twins. "I think the Teknobot should be sent up here, right away."

If nothing else, that got Slade's attention; he raised his head from his knees, haunted green eyes pinning her with their gaze. "Star, what are you doing? You know I can't go out there," he said, so clearly terrified by what she was suggesting that Star was almost tempted to take it back. Almost. "You know what's going to happen."

She knew; and more than that, she knew that Slade himself needed to know that, too. He needed to know that he didn't have anything to fear; he needed to know that he could handle what would come.

1010100101

The horde of Spider-crabs bearing down on them had thinned quite a bit, though most of that had to do with Saber and that killer lance of his. Still, considering the fact that this Tekno-suit he'd borrowed might not have a full combat load-out, he wasn't going to risk running out while Saber was still in the game. He knew perfectly well that the kid had a time-limit he had to watch, so he was saving his shots for when Saber was forced to pull out.

He wasn't going to count on Slade's getting out to them before Saber's time was up; they were going to have to look out for each other, that much was obvious.

"Ringo, I think I might be able to clear out these Spider-crabs, most of them, at least," Saber said, and he could hear the kid's ragged breathing; that and the sheer exhaustion in his tone let Ringo know that he wasn't going to be able to count on the Teknoman's help for much longer.

"The catch is that it's going to wipe you out completely, right?" Ringo asked, though he was pretty sure of the answer.

"That's the catch," Saber said wearily, and Ringo turned to watch as the kid dodged out of the way of another incoming Spider-crab and then threw that lance of his again.

Ringo knew that he would have to make the choice soon, he knew that Saber wasn't going to be able to hold up under this kind of strain for much longer; hell, he'd been conserving his maybe-limited ammo for just this occasion.

"All right, do it," he said, moving in closer behind the Teknoman so he could catch him when he lost his hold on that transformation of his. "I'll be right behind you."

"Thanks," Saber said, and Ringo could practically hear the weary smile on his face.

Saber planted his feet, and Ringo primed his Z-tron rifle, fully ready to defend the kid from any Spider-crabs that might take this as an opportunity to attack him. The power that he could detect Saber putting out while he was transformed began to go up, and Ringo smirked. Almost time for the big one, he mused, pleased at the sight.

It might not be the big finish, since he was pretty sure that this last shot that Saber had in him wasn't going to be quite enough to deal with all of these Spider-crabs, but they'd at least have a bit more breathing-room. Once Saber fired, his six beams spreading out, whipping and curving through the air as ribbons of energy; almost like they were alive or something, Ringo let himself breathe a bit. It had always been kind of weird for him, watching as either Saber, Slade, or both of the twins at once fired off those beams of theirs.

But now, standing just a few inches away from the kid, Ringo realized that he hadn't really seen anything from back there.

The beams of bright, glowing blue energy slammed into the ranks of Spider-crabs descending on the two of them, and Ringo grinned as they disintegrated. He liked to think that, maybe, just maybe some of them were feeling the kind of helplessness that everyone on Earth had felt during those long, terrible months before the twins had literally fallen to Earth.

When Saber's energy ran out, Ringo caught the kid before he fell to the ground. He couldn't do much for the fact that the kid's armor was gone now, but he could at least try to protect the kid while he recovered. It was the least he could do, after the kid had protected him so well.

Wrapping his left arm more securely around Saber's waist, Ringo pulled the kid in close to his side so he'd be more stable while Ringo was moving out, then he shot down a lone Spider-crab that had either been missed by Saber's attack or had broken away from one of the groups farther out. The ones that had been outside the range of Saber's Tekno-bolt were starting to close in now, and Ringo took a few seconds to check on the kid himself and make sure he was as secure as he could be before he started moving out again. Once he was satisfied that Saber was as safe as anyone could be under the circumstances, Ringo shot down the pair of descending Spider-crabs that he had spotted and made for a clearer patch of ground.

He wanted as much room to maneuver as he could manage, and he also wanted to keep those things from doing more damage to the AEM's Command Center while Slade and Star were still in there; he knew that he probably wasn't going to manage to do both, but one out of two wasn't bad under the circumstances.

0001001011

He didn't know what Star had been thinking, telling the Commander to send Pegas; really, he still didn't. She had to know how weak he was, how useless; she'd been there when he had tried and failed to save Saber from Balzac. More than that, though, she'd seen the way he had nearly killed his younger twin during that horrible night in the rain; trying to strangle Saber even though his younger twin hadn't posed any sort of threat to him at that moment.

Saber hadn't even been in his armor then, and the sight of his younger twin's blue eyes slowly falling closed was one that Slade knew would haunt him for a long time to come.

So, even though he couldn't help but know just what it was that Star wanted from him, Slade knew that he wasn't going to be able to do it. He couldn't protect anyone, anymore; it was better for them all if they just counted on Saber. He had to make Star see that, somehow.

"Is that what you really think of yourself, Slade?" Star asked, more gently than he would have thought she would. "That you're somehow less than Saber, just because you've had a few off-days?"

"It's more than that, Star," he said, looking at her in the eyes again, since that seemed to be the only way that he could make her understand. "Every time I transform, we all run the risk of my true nature taking over."

He had to make her understand; everyone was in danger if he didn't.

"What?" She seemed more shocked than he ever would have believed; she had seen what he was capable of, just the same as Ringo. Ringo had never really trusted him; he just hoped that the other man would be able to keep Saber and Star safe when he couldn't. "That's not true at all! That's not your true nature! You can't think like that, Slade; you're just as human as me, or Ringo. You and your brother have done so much for this planet; there's not a single person here who doesn't owe you their lives, even if they won't admit it."

She didn't understand; why didn't anyone understand?

1101001101

Dodging more of the Spider-crabs that were coming down on him, Ringo checked his gauges and sighed. He'd been right: he did have limited ammo. And, while normally he loved being right about stuff, in this case he would have been perfectly happy to be wrong. He had had eleven shots left, but that had been before he'd had to shoot down a pair of Spider-crabs that had tried to bushwhack him.

Sure, he'd taken them both out with one shot, but that still left him with a grand total of ten; ten Spider-crabs out of that swarm, twenty if he was both very lucky and very good, but even twenty Spider-crabs wasn't going to make a dent in that swarm that was descending on them.

And, to make things just that much more interesting, he still had to watch how he moved, so he wouldn't jostle Saber and risk injuring the kid somehow. It was annoying as all hell, even moreso since he knew it didn't have to be this way. He knew that, if only Slade would get his armored butt back in the air, the two of them would have a much better chance to drive off all of the Spider-crabs bearing down on them.

Times like this, he wished it was possible to slap someone over a commlink.

Shooting down two more Spider-crabs, Ringo sighed again as his gauges changed to reflect the two shots he'd spent downing them. Only eight left, now; he really hoped Star was making some progress with Slade. They could all use the kid's help, right about now.

10101001010

Hearing Slade talking about himself like that, as if he was some kind of animal that needed to be put down, it hurt. Even the shaking and rumbling of the walls around them couldn't quite distract her from the shock of hearing just how little Slade thought of himself at the moment. Even the loss of power to the lights, casting the room they both remained in into what felt like almost pitch blackness, wasn't enough to let her forget what Slade had said; what he felt to be true about himself.

She had sat down beside him on the bed before the lights had gone out, and now she reached out almost blindly to touch his shoulder. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the almost complete lack of light in the room, but as Slade raised his head again, she caught sight of something strange. Slade's eyes, those bright, deep green pools that she probably would have found it easy to get lost in if only he would look at her more, glowed softly in the darkness.

She couldn't even dismiss this as a trick of the light, the way she might have otherwise, because there wasn't enough light to make anything like that possible. Still, Star knew that, if she reacted to the soft glow, Slade was likely to take it the wrong way. Especially considering the way he was feeling right now.

"You think you know yourself, but you couldn't be more wrong," she said, speaking a bit more pointedly than she would have to someone in Slade's condition under any other circumstances. Slade needed to understand this. "You think you're one of the Radam, just because you become that way after thirty-minutes as a Teknoman? A human who's been exposed to radiation will end up looking like a freak, but so what? That doesn't mean that's their true nature."

Slade seemed to be responding to what she said, or maybe it was just the tone of her voice, but in either case he raised his head a bit more from his knees, staring at her with eyes that she thought might not be so frightened as they once were. So, she decided to continue on that track.

"You're a human being, despite anything Darkon may have done," she said firmly, reaching out to cup Slade's right cheek. He'd raised his head just that much more, so she knew she had to be doing something right. "Yes, Slade; like me."

Slade leaned his head into her hand slightly, as if there were parts of him that wanted to believe what she was saying, but on the whole he was still too scared of might-have-beens. That was all right, though; she could have enough faith for the both of them. Moving closer, both so that Slade could take a bit more comfort from her presence than he had perhaps been doing, she moved the hand she had placed on his cheek up into his hair, stroking it the way she remembered Saber doing before.

"You're just as human as I am; just as human as Ringo, or any of us. Flesh and blood; no more, no less. We're the same. And we all care about you; I care about you. You're no monster. And, just because you've had a harder time than usual lately, that doesn't make you weak."

She could feel tears spilling out of the corners of her eyes, but she ignored them in favor of speaking to Slade. She knew what they were from: she was pouring her heart out to a man when she didn't know if he returned her feelings, it was only natural, really.

As she continued stroking Slade's hair, damp with the same fear-sweat that she had felt dripping down his cheeks, Star saw him slowly beginning to unfold from the fetal position that he had folded himself up into. She was glad to see it; Slade was a lot stronger than he gave himself credit for, she knew, and now all that remained was to make him understand that.

The sudden sound of concrete cracking, of stressed metal giving way at last, distracted Star from the progress she had been making with Slade. She didn't have time to do much more than look up at the piece of ceiling that at come loose and begun falling towards the two of them, before she found herself yanked up and off the bed that she had been sitting on, and carried across the room fast enough that everything became a momentary blur. By the time Star found herself settled back down on the ground, she was breathing harshly.

That had been too close for comfort, but it might have been just the thing she needed.

The collapse of the ceiling over their heads evidently hadn't been the only part of the building to fall, because there were now shafts of bright sunlight illuminating the room where the two of them had been trapped. Or, really where Slade had chosen to imprison himself because he thought there was something wrong with him. She could see his face now, though with the light shining from behind his head, most of his features were still cast in shadow.

She didn't care. "Slade," she said, smiling up at the man who had just saved her life; the man she had fallen in love with, even if she didn't know how he felt. "You risked your life for me, without a second thought. That's not something a monster would have done," she said, reaching up to cup his right cheek with all of the gentleness that she could see he needed right now.

"Star, I..."

"You can protect the people you love, Slade," she said, looking up into his shadowed face even as her eyes began to adjust to the stark contrast between the sunlight behind his head and the shadows on his face. "You're not weak; don't ever let yourself think that. That's what they want; if you start thinking that way, then the Radam will win with barely a fight. You can't let them!" Taking a breath to steady herself, not wanting to become too hysterical; she wasn't the kind of person who did that. "Forget about where your powers came from; it doesn't matter. All that matters is how you use them!"

"You really think that I-"

She cut him off before Slade could start running himself down again; the last thing any of them needed was for him to start that again. "Actions are what prove a man's worth!" she said firmly, tears beginning to leak from her eyes; she wasn't sure if it was from the dust in the air or the emotions she was feeling anymore, but it had a definite affect on Slade.

"You're right, Star," he said, and she could see his expression regaining the resolve that it once had; the determination that made him who he was. He held her close, and she smiled, wrapping the arm that she hadn't been using to support herself around him in turn. "You're right." Then, she heard the oddest thing: Slade chuckled softly, and as she felt the vibrations from his chest in her own, she wondered just what he was thinking. His laughter had sounded more rueful than anything, almost like he'd been laughing at himself. "You know, Saber always called me his Blessed Protector; I'd always thought he was just trying to be funny, but-"

"I think it's perfect," she said, smiling wider as she held Slade a bit closer. "Saber might know you better than you know yourself, Slade. And, I'm glad you felt you could share that with me."

Slade began to pull away then, and reluctantly Star let him go; she knew that he needed to leave, knew better than most that he had work to do, but this was the closest that she had ever been to him. She thought that most people would have been able to understand her reluctance, but even as reluctant as she felt, Star knew there were more important things than her feelings. Now wasn't the time for selfishness.

0001010100

As he ran from the room, what remained of it after the ceiling had nearly fallen in on them, Slade couldn't help feeling like kind of an idiot. Saber would probably glare at him for it, or smack him upside the head the way he did when he felt his older twin was being particularly idiotic; and he'd fully deserve whatever Saber decided to do to him for that. He'd forgotten; he'd forgotten that there were other people who needed his help, forgotten that even as strong as he was, Saber couldn't fight alone.

It might have been just been for a short time, but he'd still have to apologize for doing it; both to Saber and to Ringo.

He knew that Pegas was nearby, and the sense that he had always had of his teknocrystal helped to guide him through the crumbling halls and corridors of the AEM's Command Center; moving as quickly as he could, Slade soon found what he was looking for.

"Pegas, power on!" he shouted, feeling the familiar thrill of power through him as his crystal responded.

"Welcome back," the mech said, and Slade couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Thanks."

As the familiar energies of his transformation rushed through him again, Slade felt the subtle motion that meant that Pegas had launched; he was that much closer to being able to help Saber and Ringo, and he was glad for it.

Once his transformation into his Teknoman form was complete, Slade burst up out of the top of Pegas' interlock-chamber and backflipped onto the back of his and Saber's combat-partner. He obviously had a lot of work to do if he was going to clear out the rest of the Spider-crabs, so Slade figured it was best if he got to it. Spinning his teknolance in front of himself to deflect and brake up the sprays of venom that a small group of descending Spider-crabs fired at him, Slade continued on his way.

He owed it to his friends, to his younger twin brother, to keep moving; so that was what he was going to do.

There were too many for him to handle using conventional methods, however, and he could see perfectly well that a swarm this size wasn't going to be handled by something so linear as his Tekno-bolt. At least, not yet; they were too numerous and too spread-out at this point to be caught up in something like that. Still, someone like him always had other options.

"Pegas, battle-mode!"

"Affirmative!"

"Teknoman, battle-mode!" he shouted, feeling the rush of energy through him as he did so; he didn't know, exactly, if all the shouting he was doing was completely necessary, but at the same time it felt like something his old sensei had taught him.

Almost like he was back where he started, sparring with Saber; it helped to remind him of better times.

As his armor folded down into that slimmer, streamlined, more dynamic form that it always did when he was using this secondary power of his, Slade rejoined Pegas in the air and the two of them ripped through the Spider-crabs in their way. When he began to feel his energy running low, Slade let go and transformed back into his normal form; there were still Spider-crabs hanging in the air, but they were beginning to mass for a charge.

He was going to have to show them just why that kind of thing was a bad idea... Grinning behind his armored mask, feeling a thrill of energy through him as he began to charge up his energy-condensers, he targeted the mass of Spider-crabs. He was fleetingly pleased by the fact that he couldn't sense Spear anywhere in the vicinity, but then he was firing his Tekno-bolt and there was no more time for any other thoughts.

As even more energy rushed out of him, and the mass of Spider-crabs that had been threatening to overrun this base burned in its wake, Slade let himself breathe more easily. This wasn't the end of things, he knew; not anything more than a temporary respite from the attacks that Darkon was going to launch against the Earth. But it was a respite all the same, and Slade was determined to enjoy it; there were few enough things that he could truly enjoy in his life.

"Well, better late than never," he heard Ringo say over his connection to the comm. nearest to him that he always seemed to establish. "Atta' boy, Slade."

He chuckled briefly, then turned his attention to Ringo; he'd finished scanning for any other Spider-crabs that might have been in the area and found nothing, so he was more than happy to shift his attention to more important things. Things like seeing how his younger twin had been doing during this battle. The sight of Saber unconscious in Ringo's arms, or rather his arm, didn't disturb Slade so much as it might have once; he knew that he could trust the other man with something that was as important to him as his younger twin's welfare.

Just like he knew that he could trust Saber to take care of himself. Still, that didn't mean he was going to stop looking out for him; that was their promise, that was who he was: Saber's Blessed Protector. I am Teknoman Slade. This is who I am.