Fantasy Stellar ARMOR Satellizer (Ranix Aurus & Admiral19)

[Ranix Aurus]

This time, the liquid poured out of the vial, descending straight into the crab's mouth opening. He still continued with yet another sluggish swing, but after that, the monster began to shake. "GOOOOOHHH!!!" He clutched his head with his claws, swaying his hulking body left and right in the sinkhole and splashing sewage water all over the place. That liquid did something, alright, but the result was a bit suspect...

...For starter, the crab monster seemed to be getting faster?

"GWOOOOOOOHH!!!!"

He was screaming, so loud to the point that the dirt and cement shook from the vibration alone. Mochizuki went into a berserk trance, his claws swung up and down, left and right, no longer targeting Kanae but simply charging at everything around him for destruction's sake. A swing knocked on the dirt wall, causing the street to collapse even further. A tree planted on the side of the street was brought over, falling down into the sinkhole with a sickening crack.

It was a horrible mess.

"Ugh... Huh?!?" The ARMOR system was assisting Shouji's recovery. Once he found out that Kanae was carrying him, he immediately struggled with whatever strength he had left. "You bastard! Just you wait! Haaaah! SATELLIZER!"

Satellizer ready.

Power began to swell into his right fist once again as the system's cold, mechanical voice echoed inside the sinkhole.

 

[Admiral19]

Well, the potion did  something, alright, but it wasn't at all what was intended! Kanae had to stand back to stay safe from the rage the monster as it thrashed about furiously. This was...unideal.

What's worse, Shouji managed to wake up too, and now he was causing her grief again...goddamnit, can this not be easy for her?!

Kanae shrugged Gemini off and faced him. "Holy shit, can you relax?! We've got a much bigger elephant in the room, in case you can't tell!"

When Shouji still decided to be a problem, Kanae simply stood her ground. Gemini's Satellizer...it wasn't nearly as powerful as her's. So likely...

As Shouji began to swing his fist at her, Kanae caught his arm. The force of the strike was hard enough to push her back, but even then, she did not buckle, digging heels into the sludge-like water below her.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

The punch blasted her downward, sending shockwave throughout the sludge pond. Thankfully, the mud and water dampened the impact, and coupled with Shouji's already drained strength, this time the Finisher barely did anything to Kanae.

"Kanae?" Hotaru's voice called out from above. Her head peeked out from the edge of the sinkhole, as the crab was making another round of swings, toppling more dirt and asphalt down the hatch. "Uwah-"

And Hotaru fell straight down.

She was thrown straight above where Mochizuki was standing, and the pull of gravity made her lunge feet-first right onto... his head. There was a soft thunk as she landed rather cleanly on the rough carapace.

Suddenly, Mochizuki stopped.

It seemed that that tiny smack was the straw that broke the camel's back? Whatever the reason, the crab monster swayed over to his side, and finally collapsed out of exhaustion. Hotaru fell down once more, rolling on his back before diving right into the brownish-green pond.

Ew.

"Pooh-!" She spat dirty water out of her mouth. Behind her, a steam of hot gas ruptured out from the gap between the shells, filling the sinkhole with thick layer of mist. When it finally thinned out, they would be able to see Mochizuki floating on the sewage water, naked, completely out cold.

Shouji on the other hand, without the thick sludge to anchor him, was blown away by the sudden gust of steam, sending him careening over to the side. With his energy squeezed dry after that second Finisher, he was finally knocked out for real.

"Strain detected. ARMOR off."

His body shimmered brilliantly as the black ARMOR scattered into tiny particles of light, revealing his real appearance.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae waited until everything was quiet before she relaxed. She almost collapsed into the sludge water, she was so relieved. "Man." She looked over at Hotaru. "I need a fucking shower. Help me out, would you, Firefly?"

Getting out of the sinkhole was relatively easier than getting in, considering Kanae was only weighed down by the bodies she was taking up as well. Emergency services were already making their way to the sinkhole, blocking it off from civilians that would crowd it.

All in all, everything looked like a mess—her included, given how much sludge she was wading in before. Kanae couldn't believe she was thinking this, but she would have preferred if she just had to handle being assaulted.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Wooo..." Hotaru helped carrying the two deadweight out of the sinkhole -first Shouji, then the, uh, scantily-clad Mochizuki. Although Kanae was actually the one who did much of the heavy lifting. Sirens were blaring at the vicinity of the location. Ambulance, firefighter, utility company... for some reason, the police wasn't here yet? Even though they had arrived a few blocks away earlier.

The firefighters were somberly watching the rising steam wafting out of the hole as they stopped the onlookers from coming closer. There could be possible gas leaks. They wouldn't get closer before they could confirm the safety of the location.

A paramedic wearing a gas mask quickly approached Kanae and Hotaru, who had just climbed out of the hole. Once they were close enough, the one at the front pulled up his mask, revealing himself to be... Akira!

"There's no time to explain, just get inside the ambulance!' He pointed at the white van nearby. Another paramedic was on the wheel, and he gave them a goofy wave. Judging from the demeanor, that seemed to be Mikawa.

 

[Admiral19]

"Akira—" Kanae decided that questions could be left for later, deciding to simply step into the back of the ambulance. Why the police weren't here yet was a mystery, but then again, it was probably better that they didn't try to pin this on them.

She waved back at Mikawa as she entered the van. "How the hell did you guys get this van? What, is this Uncle's?" She wouldn't be surprised; he probably needed a van for his work at OLYMPUS, or something like that. Either way, it didn't explain how the hell these guys were here, at this time of all times!

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Akira pulled Mochizuki off the ground all the way to the ambulance, and then unceremoniously plopped him down on the steel floor. The boy let out a grunt but still didn't wake up. Once they were all in the back of the ambulance, Mikawa quickly pulled out and drove away from the scene.

He took off his mask, breathing a sigh of relief. However, he grew tense again upon hearing Kanae's question.

"We, uh- no, this is not Uncle's. It's... we..."

Not just Akira, Mikawa was also looking visibly uncomfortable at the front.

"...Big brother... is this legal?" Hotaru asked.

The boys collectively gulped. Hmm, was it legal to knock down emergency responders and stealing their vehicle...?

"We're just... borrowing it for a bit. We'll return them after it's all over, alright?" Akira harrumphed. "I mean, Uncle is doing something worse right now. He said he was going to distract the police with gas bomb or something...? I don't get it, but we're supposed to meet him at the other end of the city, just to be safe."

He took his eyes away from the naked Mochizuki to the punk-rock guy that they brought along with them.

"Who this?" He pointed at Shouji, who was still unconscious.

 

[Admiral19]

"What the fuck..." Kanae couldn't even be surprised at this point, but that didn't stop her from being immensely concerned. "Is that why we didn't see the police earlier?! What the hell are you distracting EMS for?!"

Their conversation about this was far from over, but she might as well give an explanation for Shouji. She nudged him with the toe of her boot. "You know the fucker who kidnapped Hotaru? This is him. He's the reason that sinkhole appeared, and the reason why my ARMOR smells kinda like garbage right now."

He was also...somehow weaker than her. He was able to do two finishers, which must mean he's had the ARMOR system for a while. So why was she unaffected by both his finishers?

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Akira coughed. "Well, we can't steal a police car or a fire truck, can we? This is the next best thing..."

Their discussion of legality was put aside for a bit when Kanae explained that Shouji was the culprit for, basically, all the shit happening for the past couple of days. Upon hearing that, Mikawa suddenly took a turn into a narrow street before parking the ambulance on a vacant lot. He then got out of the driver's seat before walking all the way around to the back.

"This is the guy?" He took his gas mask off, and then... smacked Shouji's head with it. Hard.

Akira followed suit by kicking the dude on the rib. Hotaru proceeded to stomp on his stomach as well, joining the fun.

"Whjwqhjdsah?!?!" The pain was enough to hurl Shouji out of dreamland.

"SHUT UP! GO DIE!" Mikawa, however, smacked him in the head again, knocking him out cold for the third time. All while Akira and Hotaru were still going to town with their abuse.

 

[Admiral19]

"Hey, hey, HEY!" As angry as Kanae was at him, she didn't want to just beat up some random guy in an alley; if someone caught them, they'd look like the bad guys! What's more, he probably had information that they needed, and they couldn't get it out of him if he was constantly knocked out! "Look, lay off the guy, would you?!"

It'd take a while for Kanae to get everyone off of Shouji, but eventually the bullying circle did break up. They'd have all the time to hash out their anger at the guy once everything eased up a little bit more.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Thanks to Kanae's persuasion (?), they finally stopped harrassing (??) the poor (???) guy. Mikawa went back to the front seat, and the ambulance drove way once again.

"What about him?" Akira turned his attention to Mochizuki. He didn't look too good. For one, he was naked all the way down. What the heck happened back then?

"...Pervert," Hotaru summarized it in one word, which only made Akira frown even more. He was about to start kicking again before Hotaru shook her head to stop him. The kid was just another victim as well. They shouldn't put the blame on him without hearing the full story first.

Thankfully their journey across the city was relatively smooth. People generally don't mess with ambulances, and it helped that the news were mostly focusing on the incident from earlier. They quickly made their way to the outskirt of the city, where Seiichiro was waiting for them, dressed in trench coat and fedora, looking very suspicious.

"Hey, you're finally here. It's wild back there. I finally shook off the policemen chasing me..."

...No, you shouldn't have made the police chase you in the first place...

---

"My attempts to contact him remain unanswered. I'm afraid that the worst had happened. The good news is, the sensor indicates that he's still alive. I've sent you the coordinates. My apologies for burdening you with the clean-up."

Alfred stated matter-of-factly, as if Shouji's well-being wasn't of much concern for him. The boy was a highly compatible candidate, but that's it. His performance had been... questionable, at best.

Perhaps it was time to cut off their losses...

 

[Admiral19]

"Cleanup is not necessary." An authoritative feminine voice called out over the line. "Shouji served his purpose long ago."

She held even less concern for Shouji than Alfred probably did, as if he was a liability from the start. In a way, he was. "I'm learning about the medallions, learning about the sort of power they hold. Shouji was the most compatible with Gemini...but clearly, he wasn't enough to truly bring out its power. Even if he left voluntarily, he would be no danger to us."

Monitor upon monitor hummed to life in the dark room she entered. At the center of all of them was a pattern; a zodiac chart, with four of the twelve signs glowing brightly, and one—Gemini's—dimly flickering.

"Relay this to the others, Alfred: Shouji has decided to defect. Perhaps he is not necessarily working for our enemy, but he is no longer considered an ally. They may do with this information as they wish."

A lie. Most of the others were really only tolerant of Shouji. Perhaps nothing would come of the news being broken. Perhaps they'd try to find Shouji in order to commandeer his medallion, or for the sole purpose of gutting him like a fish. Either way, the Gemini medallion would be returned, and she'd be free to restart her research on it.

"And while you're down there," she said, staring at the sign for Cancer, "Tell Rui that I'd like to see them."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Understood. Glory to the Kaiserin."

Alfred stepped out of his office. The researchers were busy with an important experiment within the testing chambers, leaving the lab eerily quiet. Among the rows of towering glass tubes, one was filled with glowing liquid. A certain creature floated inside of it, its eyes closed. Its chest would slowly rise up from time to time, indicating that it was alive.

That creature looked like a mixture of lizard and octopus, with four thick, fleshy tendrils jutting out of its back.

Alfred placed his hand on the cold glass, his expression somber as he stared at the creature in silence.

---

"Alright, that should do it," Seiichiro had just finished checking on Shouji. Not for his health, but for tracking devices. He had found several: his phone was bugged, the wristband on his arm had its positioning system still running, and there was an unknown implant detected in his neck.

The phone was simple to solve, they simply had to throw it away. Seiichiro was able to turn off the wristband for now, he would just hack into it and disable the positioning system later, like he did with the one he had swindled out previously. The implant was trickier. In the end, he was forced to practically fry the device by sending electric wave with his tools.

"Are you sure that you want to bring this guy along?" Uncle pointed at Shouji. He couldn't be sure that the organization hadn't placed even more tracking devices in this boy where they couldn't reach. It would be a massive liability.

As for Mochizuki... he should be fine. Also they finally wrapped him in blanket instead of letting him go rambo all day long.

 

[Admiral19]

"Look, I don't like the guy either," Kanae said, "but as far as leads and what the hell OLYMPUS might be doing...well, he's the only one with information on that. Any hint is better than none, you know."

If it were up to Kanae, she'd boot the guy to the streets; there was way too much danger in just letting him hang with them. But considering how much they could learn about OLYMPUS through him...well, the benefits outweighed the costs, didn't they? Of course, this was assuming that Shouji would even reveal anything. If he did, that was alright, but if he didn't...well, who knows.

Hell, the next time he wakes up, he might thrash out at Kanae immediately. It's okay; she'd thrash right back if it came to that.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"It's up to you, then. We should change car. Here, let's use this one."

Seiichiro had rented them a van. A... very worn-out van, which is the best he could do with how tight his budget was after going dark from OLYMPUS. At least the van was able to fit all of them inside.

Akira and Mikawa dumped their paramedic garb and gas mask in the ambulance before carrying Shouji and Mochizuki to the van. Mikawa was on driving duty once more, while Seiichiro hide at the back because he had just made a mess of the local police force... not the best person to advertise through the front window.

"So... this kid is called Mochizuki?" Seiichiro poked at the sleeping Mochizuki's forehead. "Hmm... where have I heard that name before... miss Saitou, is his name written like this?"

He showed his phone to Kanae. On it was written the kanji for "Mochizuki".

 

[Admiral19]

Well, ah...better than nothing, right? It was a ride, and it would hopefully hold up for a good while. At least Kanae hoped so, because this thing felt like it was held together by duct tape. But again, they couldn't really be choosy.

Kanae squinted at Seiichiro's phone. "Uh...yeah, that's him. Why do you ask?" Did Seiichiro know a guy from Mochizuki's family?

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"I think I know an acquaintance going by that name... I dunno, maybe she'd changed her surname, but that person wouldn't... hmm... I'll just give it a go. Little sister, may I borrow your phone? I think yours is still safe for now."

Hotaru handed him her phone, which Seiichiro promptly used to call a certain number.

"Kanae, are you still wearing that...?" Hotaru poked at the lustrous metallic surface of the Leo ARMOR. It didn't look comfortable to wear. Or was it...? The P.A.S. version was advertised as survivability suit after all.

The ride home was surprisingly uneventful. Akira was on edge for potential attack by their enemies, but it seemed that this guy was really the only one causing trouble today. They parked the car inside Kanae's garage, and them threw the two sacks of potatoes in; Gently for Mochizuki. Thrown about with righteous fury for Shouji.

Meanwhile, Seiichiro, who was dialing someone throughout the ride, was still unsuccessful. He was still trying again and again as the others settled down after a chaotic day.

"Ugh..." One of the potato sacks had finally woken up. Unexpectedly, it was Mochizuki. He blinked weakly, his eyes blinded by the light, until he could see the people around him. His eyes flickered about, confused, as they went from Mikawa to Akira to Hotaru to Seiichiro and finally, to Kanae.

"S-Saitou!!" Before anyone could stop him, he had thrown himself down on his knees, his head swinging down so fast it smashed onto the floor tile with a loud thud. "I'M SORRY!!!"

Mamoru Mochizuki might be a loser, a womanizer, or a lazy rich boy trash, but he understood it well that what he had done before was inexcuseable. He had no idea how to face Kanae now.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae looked down at herself. "Oh. Huh, I guess I am..." She almost forgot about it, that's how distracted she was by everything else that's happened. Fortunately, it was more cozy than it looked, but yeah, she might wanna dematerialize this. "Uh, ARMOR off."

They happened to pull into the garage at about the same time as Kanae's armor dissolved, and the first thing she saw as she stepped out was Mochizuki getting on his knees in front of her.

Ah, right. Kanae took a breath.

"Look, Mochizuki." Her voice became serious. "I really oughta kick you out right now. But I'm gonna forgive you, 'cause you really do seem sorry. That being said..."

She gave the blanket back to him, indirectly imploring him to cover up. "I meant what I said at the pizza shop. I don't have an issue with you. But I'm not interested in you either."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Mochizuki took the blanket with trembling hands, like a convict who had been given a pardon.

"Of course, of course! I'll never bother you again! I swear! You can count on me!"

He acted like he was going to kiss Kanae's feet, so Hotaru placed herself between them before kicking him away.

"You... if you're going to be like this, why did you act like that in the first place?" Akira had been briefed about the situation on their way home. He thought that the guy was a bit pathetic, but not to the point of showing psychotic behaviors like earlier.

"That... I was drinking with my buddies last night, and we were complaining about girls, I brought up Saitou- I'm sorry!" He knocked his head on the floor again.

"...Go on," Akira grunted.

"Right. So when I was walking back home, a stranger suddenly showed up and told me that he can help me get revenge. I... I have no intention for revenge, so I pushed him away! But then he suddenly got mad and hit me with something sharp. Since then, my mind had been cloudy, and I felt like my body was moving on my own-!"

"That stranger that you mentioned..." Mikawa dragged Shouji's limp body to the front, then plopped it in front of the group. "Is it this one?"

Mochizuki's widening eyes were more than enough as a reply. Akira silently gave him a tv remote.

"...W-what?"

"Go on. Hit him. Avenge your honor."

"B-but I-"

"DO IT!"

"YEAAARGH!!!" Instigated by Akira, Mochizuki smashed Shouji's head with the remote. The sound of the impact echoed throughout the living room.

"GUAH!!" The pain jolted Shouji awake, only to realize that he was wrapped in duct tape, courtesy of Mikawa. His gaze flickered all over the place, still heavily laced with confusion, before finally stopping at Kanae.

"You!!" The man hollered, his voice filled with self-righteous anger.

 

[Admiral19]

Given everything Mochizuki's said so far...Shouji probably injected him with whatever that monster-stuff is the night before. That's probably why he was tweaking out earlier. And in Kanae's eyes, Akira trying to get Mochizuki to whack Shouji over the head was justified.

Which is why Kanae was ready to kick him in the stomach the moment she woke up.

"Don't "You" me, asshat! You've gotta explain some shit to us!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Hah! I ain't explaining shit!" Shouji spat on the floor in an act of defiance, raising the irk of everyone around him.

Meanwhile in the background, Seiichiro was... still dialing someone. By a stroke of luck, his current attempt finally connected, and a somewhat familiar voice greeted him from the other end.

"Shiori? This is Amamiya-"

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae was growing impatient. But she had to stay civil about this, even if the person she was talking with had no interest in being civil himself. Beating him down wasn't gonna do anything, no matter how hard she wanted to do it. "Look, we're just trying to get an idea of who we're dealing with. You showed up first, and you were the easiest to bring back, so we're gonna grill you. I wanna do this as painlessly as possible, so let's not make this difficult, huh?"

She glared harder at Shouji. "So we're gonna try this again: tell us who you're working with."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Shouji grinned at her. The kind of grin that told the recipient that they could go eat shit.

"Sure, I'll tell you! I work... for the aliens! From Okinawa! Hahaha!"

"...I don't think we can get anything useful from this fucker," Akira whispered to Kanae.

"Yes- no- so I was calling you because- uh, what's your name again?" Seiichiro, totally oblivious to the tension at hand, tapped on Mochizuki's shoulder.

"Huh? Me? Uh, I'm Mamoru... but what-"

"Yes. Do you know a Mamoru Mochizuki? Yes, oh? Your nephew?" Seiichiro mumbled as he veered off to the side again.

"Ehh, is that Shiori? You know my aunt?!?" Mochizuki ended up following him as well, surprised by the sudden revelation.

 

[Admiral19]

"Hmph." Kanae clicked her tongue in frustration. They could get back to him later, she supposed. Instead, she wanted to focus on whoever the hell Seiichiro was talking to—did Mochizuki just say Uncle was talking with his aunt?

"Wait, hang on! Uncle, you know his aunt?!" Who else could Seiichiro just casually call up who also had connections with him?!

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Huh? No, wait a moment-" He covered the receiver before replying to Kanae. "Oh, yes. I know her," Seiichiro readily confirmed so naturally as if he was talking about buying groceries. "Shiori used to work at OLYMPUS under my division. She switched job a few years ago though, I think it was to help her family. I didn't pay much attention back then but it made more sense if she ended up working for Mochizuki Industries instead. Hang on."

He got back to the phone after that extremely simplified summary of their relation.

"Yes, your nephew got involved with OLYMPUS- no, not in the bad way, I mean yes, in a different kind of bad. He was injected with that weird experimental substance the Food Division was tinkering with- yes, yes, that one. You know how dangerous- yes? Uh, wait, I'll ask first."

Seiichiro turned back to the gang, his expression a bit complicated. "So... Shiori want us to bring the young lad to her place. And also explain what the heck is going on... what do you guys think?"