Fantasy Stellar ARMOR Satellizer (Ranix Aurus & Admiral19)

[Admiral19]

The impact of energy hit straight on, and was far too much for the ARMOR to handle. Aoi crashed into layers and layers of stone, having been a ways down the canyon. Closer to Gemini and the monster, a medallion clattered to the ground, bearing the mark of Taurus.

Aoi stood after a long while, her ARMOR incredibly worse for wear; there were shards of it that were barely hanging onto her body and fabric torn away from the bodysuit underneath. A gaping hole in her face helmet displayed a single, furious green eye, and cracks spiderwebbed across the rest of the mask. Blood ran down the side of her head. The Jotunn serum still ran hot through her body, despite the lack of a proper vehicle that could strengthen her with it.

"Do...either of you know...how many chances I've given you? I've tried being so nice throughout this whole trip...and this is what I have to show for it?!" Her voice was gradually becoming more guttural, and although it wasn't immediately obvious, there were changes happening.

Within moments, part of the face helmet shattered, a deep black bull's horn jabbing through it.

---

Rui froze. What was this? What was Shouji doing? He's never been the sentimental type, so why...Furious, Rui turned their blade so that it was pointed at Shouji's back. "Let go! You're nothing to us but a liability, Shouji! I can kill you where you stand!"

So why haven't they?

"You deserved to be loved."

"You..." Love was something Rui had to earn through all the kind words they could say and small gestures they could make. From there, as long as they didn't say anything wrong, didn't offend anyone, and didn't make anyone angry, that love was theirs forever. So this...this thing that Shouji was so willing to do, without any motive...this statement that somehow, they deserve love, just like that, even after everything they've done, even though they did nothing for it...

"I can't disobey the Kaiserin." Their voice was breaking. Tears fell behind their helmet. "This hurts, Shouji, what you're doing right now. The Kaiserin is why I'm still here in the first place. But you've never done this before, in all that time I tried to talk to you...if you're right about her, then what the fuck am I supposed to do, huh...?!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"..."

Rui was right. Shouji had never been the sentimental type, and most likely never would be. He struggled trying to find any word,  anything, that could ease their pain, but nothing came to mind.

He sucked at this.

"Argh! Enough!" In the end, he could only yell at them angrily. His rage fueled by confusion, and uncertainty.

"If the Kaiserin is so important to you... then I'll take her down! I'll defeat her! And I... I'll replace  her, for you! So don't follow her anymore!"

"Come with ME!"

He yelled it out loud with all his strength. The canyon carried the echoes of his anguish, his longing... and his hope for the future.

---

Akira died.

No, he wished that he had died.

His everything hurt. The moment Hotaru's fist connected, he crumbled on the ground, his knees trembling. Every twitch of his muscles felt like million knives tearing him apart bit by bit by bit.

It was a miracle that the ARMOR hadn't force-ejected him yet... or was it? The synthetic voice had been quiet since a while ago. He reckoned that the system was fried from that outpour.

He didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. The force eject system was there for a reason. But he was thankful for it, because for now, at least he still needed it.

Because that woman hadn't given up yet.

He could tell even from this far that she wasn't any better than him, but something was wrong. Something-- a horn-- was growing out of her face. That didn't seem normal. Not normal at al. Behind him, the snake monster was stirring awake. Below him, his enemy was turning into a monster herself. This was bad...

It was at that moment when Haru leaped toward Aoi, approaching her from her blind spot, and then injected a syringe into her neck, between the gap of plates on her crumbling ARMOR.

 

[Admiral19]

This was...Shouji had always been aggressive, whether it was towards Alfred's dismissiveness, or Aoi's taunts, or Aina's lectures. But never, never in Rui's life, never in all the time they knew him, was he aggressive for the sake of someone else. When Shouji screamed, he screamed because he wanted to say something for himself.

Shouji replacing the Kaiserin, having the same impact on them as she had, saving Rui's life just like she had...there was no way that was possible. In fact, all of this felt like some sort of dream, some sort of fog that they could only imagine within their own little mind. But with the way Shouji said what he did, shouting words that strong straight from the chest...

Rui could lie to themselves and say they believed it if it meant that they could stay like this, if it meant that they could stay in this delusion for just a while more.

Their ARMOR dissolved away, and Rui buried their face into Shouji's shoulder.

"Don't let go of me. Please."

---

"Haru..." Aoi took an unstable half-step forward before falling to the ground and passing out. Whatever happened just now wore Aoi out, and without someone properly controlling the snake beast behind Akira, it sat down and became completely motionless, sitting without orders.

A cursory glance around the canyon would reveal that Aina and her monster were gone.

"Akira! Haru!"

Above them, Kanae shouted down into the canyon. "We've handled Rui! What happened down there?!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Shouji was aghast. He didn't know what to do in this situation. In the end, he decided to follow his feelings, and hugged Rui tightly in his arms.

On the canyon, Haru had stopped Aoi's overflow of Jotunn serum right on time, as instructed by Alfred. The neutralizing serum, made by two other types opposed to Aoi's compatible type, was effective in stopping the mutation from going any further.

But it wasn't a complete cure. While the horn seemed to recede back into her face, the damage had been done. Something inside Aoi had changed, and if she wasn't more careful in the future...

Haru shook her head. She calmly bent down to retrieve the fallen Taurus medallion.

"Kanae- ugh," Akira was powerless to stop her. His body was rooted to the ground from the pain, he couldn't even reply Kanae without hurting his stomach. Haru didn't response either. She only stared silently at Kanae before backing away with Youmo.

 

[Admiral19]

"Akira!" Kanae descended into the canyon as quickly as she could, giving only a brief glance to Haru. "Holy shit, what the hell happened?!"

"Something must have overexerted him!" Aisuke shouted down at Kanae. "He'll need to get rest, ideally as soon as possible!"

"Goddammit..." Kanae helped Akira up as best as she could. "Akira, if you die on me, I'll kill you myself, you ass!"

As Kanae tried her best to make sure Akira could get out of the canyon, a message buzzed on Haru's phone.

I found Sagittarius. We should withdraw for now. Where's Rui?

---

A buzz brought Rui from their odd form of bliss. They turned away from Shouji to check their phone, only to see the recent message Aina sent. A quiet sigh escaped their lips.

"Shouji."

Just a little longer. Shouji was strong, but the Kaiserin...no, a little longer, they had to wait just a bit longer. Then Shouji could replace her as much as he wanted.

"Soon." Their eyes were hopeful, but sad. "I'm almost done. Very, very soon. I promise. Then, I'll follow you wherever."

They looked down at Haru and the others following the canyon to the right, away from the crater Aoi's body made. With another glance at Shouji, they jogged away, following them from above.

Fool, they thought to themselves. Rui Shiraishi is truly a damnable fool.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"No, Rui, wait!"

But they didn't want to wait.

Shouji stood there in silence, not knowing what to do. Hopelessness began to creep in. He wasn't like Aisuke. Someone like him... couldn't save anyone.

"Damn it!" He smacked his fist on the rock, the pain in his heart numbing him from anything else.

---

Haru had retreated the moment she got the message, with Youmo trailing behind while carrying the unconscious Aoi over his shoulder like a sack of potato. The group was in no place to chase them, neither did they could spare their attention to the giant snake slithering through Grand Canyon, trying its best to catch up with its masters.

Akira was in critical condition.

Aside from overexertion, the moment that Hotaru forcefully undid their transformation, the result was soon clear: his body was covered in bruises from the impact of Aoi's jotunn-fueled strike. The Gemini ARMOR had tried its best to withstand the damage, but it was clearly not enough.

His chest was notably in the worst condition, seeing that it took the brunt of the attack, causing his difficulty to breathe.

Thankfully Seiichiro had arrived in their rented van just in the nick of time. Oblivious to the whole story, he hurried them to get in before rushing to the nearest town for medical attention.

"I'm... fine, it's just some bruises... ugh-" Akira groaned. Perhaps thanks to enhancement from wearing the ARMOR, he had recovered a small part of his energy back, although he was still in a lot of pain.

 

[Admiral19]

"Akira, you were doubling over! "Just bruises" my ass!" Overexertion was gonna be a problem they had to handle at some point...but to think it got to this extreme this rapidly...

Aisuke shook his head. "We can't move on until you're in better health, Akira. If Aoi managed to get a better hit on you, or if whatever Hotaru did pushed you any more, you could have died!"

They could cover up Akira's injuries real easy; took a really bad tumble while trying to see the canyon. But as far as Gemini went, they couldn't afford to have Akira use it again, not until he wasn't in pain.

In which case...oh boy.

---

"Sooo, how goes things on your end, Alfred?"

The Kaiserin's far too cheery voice rang out over the speakers. She had put every member of Aesir into a conference call to check in on their progress; for the most part, save for the medallions they lost and Aoi's close call just recently, things have been going smooth! And from what she heard, Leo and Gemini's lot suffered a bit of a blow...things were just falling into place, weren't they?

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"... You're exaggerating," Akira tried to act tough, but he knew the limit of his own body. He was that close to death at that moment. If Aoi's spear had managed to pierce a bit more...

He let out a sigh. "Fine. But you still need Gemini's power."

That other woman from back there, the one with Scorpio medallion, hadn't even lifted a finger during their fight, and he was already brought to this state. When they checked it further, an entire section of the canyon had been blasted to pieces, leaving only a small piece of red cloth behind. They had lost Sagittarius... no, they seemed to have lost the fight altogether. If they ganged at Kanae while she was fighting alone...

Akira took off his wristband, and then handed it to Hotaru alongside the Gemini medallion.

"You go in my stead."

"..." Hotaru narrowed her eyes at this brother who didn't even hesitate to throw his sister into the fire.

"... Return it to me."

A voice nobody expected suddenly rang out in the room. Shouji stepped forward, hand reached out at Hotaru. The latter glared at him with blatant suspicion.

---

Alfred had been in a daze as of late. Even when the Kaiserin was addressing him directly, he still looked down on his seat while pondering about something. Haru couldn't take it anymore and nudged him with her elbow.

"What? Huh. Oh, right. Status report."

He pushed his glasses up before continuing with the progress of the construction at Montana. It was finishing at record speed, and it wouldn't take long before it would be completed.

As for his own project...

"Preparation for Operation Clearwater is mostly complete, thanks to our latest breathrough. We're only waiting for your order, my Kaiserin."

Operation Clearwater, the culmination of his long research. By contaminating water sources with the Jotunn serum, they would be able to transform an entire population into monsters, loyal only to them. Not even a nation's entire military could win against a threat of this level.

It was a project that would ensure the Kaiserin's supremacy, and Alfred's greatest offering to her.

 

[Admiral19]

Whereas Hotaru was immediately suspicious, Kanae was...one-hundred-percent behind this? "Oh yeah! Firefly, I know how this sounds, but with Akira out of commission, we don't really have much choice, you know?"

Hotaru was still wary of Shouji. Of course she was; he made her a monster at one point. But they couldn't really afford hesitation, not now that there are two medallions still left in America. They needed to pull every stop they could.

---

"Fantastic! In which case, you've got the green light. Whenever you're ready!"

She then addressed the Holders. "As for you three...what medallions do you all have?"

"Pisces and Sagittarius," Aina responded.

"And what ones are left in America?"

"Aquarius, right?"

"Bingo! But here's the thing. Even if we had every medallion that old man left here, we would have 10 out of 12. Like it or not, we would still need to fight over Leo and Gemini. Stubborn roaches, they are."

"What are you saying?"

"Good question. What do you all think I'm saying?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru made a hundred and eighty so quickly the moment Kanae gave her words. She obediently placed the wristband and the medallion in Shouji's palm. The change was so sudden that even Shouji himself couldn't believe it.

He silently looked at Aisuke, as if saying "look at how fickle your daughter's friend is! What the heck?!"

"Alright, so what next?" Seiichiro chimed in. "How many medallions are left? Have we got them all?"

He was a bit bitter that they had lost Pisces and Sagittarius, but at least they had Capricorn and Aries with them! That's progress!

---

"Understood, my Kaiserin," Alfred bowed down, showing his utmost respect. "I suggest to wait until we return to Japan. We need to strike a large area right from the start in order to minimize the chance of the government finding out about the plan. It would be best to have our main fighting force ready in case of any mishaps."

He turned his gaze at the Holders, silently saying that he held great expectations of them in the near future.

As for the medallions...

"I think that it is time to stop playing games with them," Alfred nodded. "We have let Leo run around for too long already. As insignificant as she is, nothing shall get in the way of our plans. Eliminating her and her little group of merry fools should be our top priority."

 

[Admiral19]

"Wh-just like that?" Okay, even Kanae found Hotaru's change of heart a bit ridiculous. Hotaru, you've gotta have some spine...

"There should be one more here," Aisuke said, "that being Aquarius."

Kanae briefly counted in her head. That didn't seem right... "That makes ten, though, counting the Holders in Aesir. What about—"

"Virgo and Libra?" Aisuke took the words out of Kanae's mouth. "Unsure. Virgo went missing as I was packing up the medallions that would stay in America, and someone else took them to Japan, so I don't know what happened to Libra. We can grill Aesir about them if we ever get a chance."

---

"Ab-so-lutely!" The Kaiserin cheered. "See, this is why you're head scientist, Alfred! When you retrieve Aquarius, find Leo and kill her. Make sure you've got her far away from her...assistance. I'm to assume that you've completed your little construction task?"

"Yes," Aina answered, "it'll be done within the day."

"Then once Clearwater succeeds and you get Leo and Gemini, return here. I'll be waiting for you all!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Shouji gripped the medallion in his hand. This power... he had once yearned for it, then spurned it. But seeing its true potential, he once again gained the heart to try once again. This time not just for himself.

Rui... he swore that he would free them from the shackle that was the Kaiserin!

"Right, our last target is Aquarius, so... where is it right now?" Seiichiro cut straight to the chase. Aisuke was the only one who had the knowledge of their locations in America, so everyone turned their attention to him with bated breath.

---

"For the New World," Alfred saluted the Kaiserin. He then turned toward the Holders.

"You've heard your orders. Retrieve Aquarius, and both Leo and Gemini. No more mr. nice guy. You may use all of the resources that we had brought along for this mission. Men, supplies, even..."

Monsters. They had brought a few more as back-ups. They should be used sparingly, but pulling their punches had been the reason why Leo had escaped death again and again.

A final boss should use their secret weapon right from the start.

 

[Admiral19]

"Aquarius is different from the others, in that it's sitting in a broken down lockbox in a derelict lab up north, in Alaska." Aisuke showed everyone there a photo that he took. In the photo was an old, rusted cabinet, with one of the drawers marked "810". "This one stayed where it was because I hid it far after everyone left the facility."

Alaska...old lab...wait, so that meant—!

"That's the lab you were doing your research on the medallions in!" Kanae stood quickly. "We gotta get to that!"

"Shouji and Hotaru have to get to that." Aisuke slowed Kanae down. "Akira needs to recover, and we can't just all leave him here. Kanae, you and your mom can watch over him until he recovers. Given how strong Gemini has proved to be, we won't exactly be lacking in power."

---

Rui's stomach tightened. Of course, they were pulling every stop they could. But they hoped that they could at least keep Shouji out of their plan...though that was severely unlikely, especially with Alfred spearheading it.

According to the map the Kaiserin sent, Aquarius was in a broken down facility in Alaska. Apparently the Kaiserin knew about this location herself, though none of them thought to ask why.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Shouji had an exasperated look in his face, while Hotaru just... gave up. She looked like the world had ended. Like a little child, she tugged on Kanae's sleeve, obviously so reluctant to part. Akira sneered at her, which prompted an angry glare.

"Alaska, got it. Wait, Alaska? Isn't that far from here?" Seiichiro didn't have much knowledge about that place. He only knew that it was up north, it was cold, and there was a lot of ice and snow. Maybe. He looked at the clock in his phone. "So it'll be you, me, and the two kids then. When should we depart?"

---

"One person will stay behind, just in case," Alfred commanded. "I'll leave it to your discretion. In exchange, Haru and Youmo will go with you again. They should provide adequate replacement."

"Then, I shall start the preparation for our end game," he gave a deep bow to the Kaiserin before leaving the room. Haru stayed behind with the Holder, keeping her silence while leaning on the wall.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae could only shrug, an expression that said I dunno what to tell you, man.

"Ideally, as soon as you can," Aisuke said, "because I don't know whether Aesir knows about this location." There really was only a handful that would know, those being the people who were initially working on the project to research the medallions. If Aesir knew, either they were supplied the information or someone in Aesir knew of the location, and both of those were scary thoughts.

---

"Then Rui," Aina said, "you will be coming with me. Aoi holds too much of a grudge against Gemini; her emotions would sway her far too much."

"Understood," Rui said, not wanting to say a word about how they were similarly almost swayed in Arizona. They'd have time to think on that, considering how long the flight to Alaska would be.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Then we shall make haste. Let's go to the airport right away! ...Uh, Saitou, can you handle the tickets fare...?" Seiichiro was ashamed for being an useless adult. He had money, alright? ...He just couldn't take any of them. The downside of being a wanted man...

Shouji naturally followed Aisuke like an obedient puppy, while Hotaru kept looking back at Kanae until she finally disappeared from sight. Silence finally returned to the hospital room.

"...I don't have much confidence in this," he still couldn't fully trust Shouji. He could only hope that it would be okay.

 

[Admiral19]

Fair enough that Akira still couldn't trust Shouji. But... "Trust me, Akira, if you saw what I saw when we were in the canyon, you'd believe me when I say he's getting better."

The way Shouji tried his best to bring Rui over to their side...even though he failed, there was something in Rui's expression that said that they were beginning to feel...well, something. Kanae had faith in both them, and Shouji.

"You want me to get you something to eat, Akira?" She changed the topic suddenly; typical Kanae. "I've heard some horror stories about the taste of hospital food, and my buddy deserves much better than that."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"I see," he didn't argue any further, perhaps due to fatigue. It seemed that he alraedy had a prejudice against Shouji. Only time would help to mend that.

"I-"

He wanted to say that he didn't want anything, but thinking about it again, it had been a long while since he could enjoy Kanae's attention to his fullest. Feeling quit sweet in his heart, he smiled at her.

"Then I'll have to rely on my best friend to get me something yummy, hmm?"

 

[Admiral19]

"Alright then! Stay put!" Kanae said, knowing damn well that Akira isn't moving anytime soon, before dashing out of his room. There had to be a place nearby where Kanae could grab something...

It's been a good while, she realized, since she had to properly take care of someone. Like, there have been days where she had to watch over Akira or Hotaru while one of them was sick or something, but the last time that happened was...well, before she left to study abroad. Hm.

There were 2 places Kanae spotted right from the front door of the hospital; one was a cafe, the other was a sit-down diner. She stood there in contemplation. Hm, which one would Akira like, huh...?

 

[Ranix Aurus]

As Kanae was standing there, two strangers were approaching the hospital. One of them was a japanese man in gray suit, the kind that salarymen used to wear, with a bag containing square-shaped box inside. The bag had a name of a pastry shop plastered on it, which suggested what the content was about.

Walking by his side, towering him by a head's difference, was a handsome man of italian descent. Clean-shaved, with beautiful eyes the color of clear sky, and curly dark brown hair that reached slightly over his shoulder. The well-toned body was strangely dressed in green aloha shirt with splashes of pineapple prints on it, coupled with a pair of khaki shorts and beach sandals, creating a clash of styles that hurt the onlooker's eyes.

They couldn't be more different, but the two were walking harmoniously side by side, the japanese man with a warm smile hanging on his face, while the italian man's eyes were twinkling with curiosity, moving around here and there and asking mundane questions about their surroundings to the japanese man every time something had piqued his interest.

Their chatterings stopped when the japanese man noticed Kanae. A flash of recognition appeared in his eyes for a moment as he hastened his steps toward her.

"Excuse me, are you Saitou Kanae?" The man asked, still smiling. "Ah, my name is Tanaka Genki. I'm Tanaka Akira's father. You're her friend, right? Is he admitted here?"

 

[Admiral19]

It wasn't hard for Kanae to spot the handsome Italian man; his style was so outrageously garish that she could probably spot him from a mile away. Compared to him, the man in the suit seemed incredibly plain...wait, speaking of, was he coming up to her?

Kanae inhaled sharply when the man told her his name. "I am his friend, yeah." Despite knowing who this guy was(or at least as much as Akira and Hotaru told her), Kanae still respectfully bowed in greeting. "Saito Kanae. Hello."

She didn't answer his other question. If Genki wanted to know that, it meant that he likely had some words for his son. The last thing Akira needed was this guy showing up. Instead, she addressed the man beside Genki(making a pointed note not to comment on his tacky style). "And, uh...who's this with you?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

The italian man stepped up when Kanae mentioned him. With a winning smile that completely clashed with his fashion sense, he replied, his voice deep but melodious.

"Hello, lovely lady. My name is Luca Sternz. I'm Gan-key's... let's say that I'm his boss."

"Mr. Sternz owns the business I'm working with," Tanaka Genki added. "Well... saying that it's a business might be stretching it a bit, since there's only a few employees, me included."

"Oh, come on, Gan-key! Business is not about how much people you have, it's about the potential!" Luca acted as if he was hurt, although it was so exaggerated that nobody would believe that he was serious. "So... it's rare that Gan-key boy here has an interest outside his little dungeon-"

"It's my lab, not a dungeon, Mr. Sternz," Genki interjected.

"Same thing, I don't understand a single thing that you make down there. As far as I see, you're doing magic. Anyway," he turned his attention back to Kanae. "He got a message saying that his son had an accident and got admitted to this hospital, so he dropped everything to give him a visit. I can't just let my good employee go out by his own, so I volunteered to accompany him. Aren't I a good boss?"

"Mr. Sternz, I'm sure that you're just bored."

"...Fine, you're not wrong," Luca pouted.

"Miss Saitou, may I see my son?" Genki lifted the bag in his hand, showing Kanae that he had bought visiting gift for Akira. A trace of longing could be seen behind his glasses.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae tuned out from Luca and Genki's banter to think for a moment. Akira probably didn't want to see this guy, not at this point. But until he was let through, he probably wasn't going to leave her alone. Considering the reason she was out here in the first place was to get Akira food, that would be...unideal.

So, Kanae began walking away, making a trail to the cafe. "Sure, you can," she said, "but I don't know if he'll talk to you. All I have to say is "good luck"."

She already knew what she planned to get from this cafe, so she wouldn't be in here long. The moment she made her purchase, she was gonna book it back to Akira's room...something told her that he'd need the backup.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Genki's smile seemed to grow warmer when she finally gave him the go. He politely nodded at her before making his way to the elevator.

Luca Sternz, on the other hand, hovered around Kanae instead of following his subordinate. Even after the elevator door closed, he still followed her like a little tail.

"Am I bothering you?" he asked, his voice gentle. "Kaynayee- may I call you that? I can see your worry. I'm aware that Gan-key doesn't have the best relationship with his son, but this time, it was Aykeera boy who messaged him first. I guess getting into an accident made him remember his good old dad."

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae asked for her order quickly(there was a sandwich on the menu that she thinks Akira would really like) before turning around and...yep, Luca was still there. Ugh, the way this guy said her name was scraping at her skull—!

"Akira asked him to come?" Kanae looked confused. Why would he do that? Did he have something he wanted to say? Most likely...but even then, why call him up to talk to him in person?

Actually, while she had Luca's attention..."Genki"—she not-so-subtly enunciated his name—"said that you were his boss, and that the two of you have a business. What is this business, if I may ask you?"