Fantasy Stellar ARMOR Satellizer (Ranix Aurus & Admiral19)

[Ranix Aurus]

"Kanae!" Hotaru's voice exclaimed from the white side, carrying a trace of happiness that she was helping them. Akira noticed it and gave her a mental nudge.

"Refrain your fangirling for a moment, can't you?!?"

With the attacks slowing down, Akira was able to find an opening to grab on the spear. His arms was heating up from all the repressed energy, but he didn't dare to let go.

"You... I don't care about my body, just make her stop!"

"Understood."

Energy began pouring out throughout the ARMOR, locking Aoi's spear in place. The tremendous outpour planted Gemini on the ground, causing the floor to break down from tension.

"Ugh-- Kanae! Now!" Akira gritted his teeth, trying his best to withstand the pain ravaging his body.

On the other side, Shouji was glaring at Aina. He was drowning in countless emotions. Anger, pain, envy. Those people... Gemini was able to stand toe-to-toe with Taurus in their hands, something that was impossible for him. And now death was facing down on him. There was no way that a powerless human like him could stand a chance against Aina.

But even so...

"Scram!" He spit at her helmet. "You think I'm afraid of you? You're all delusional! No matter what, your wishes will never come true!"

Just like his own. But now, he had found someone who believed in him. So... if it was for him, as long as he could save him, then his perhaps this worthless life might be of some use.

 

[Admiral19]

"Fuck!" This was unprecedented. Gemini's power was far greater than she expected it to be... she couldn't possibly hope to stand a chance. Aina was busying herself with Shouji, leaving her wide open for—

Satellizer, set up.

A punch to Aoi's chest hit her with the speed of a comet and the force of a truck. She heard her armor shatter somewhere before she was sent flying towards the shop, over to...

Aina didn't flinch even as Shouji spat his defiance. "Infuriating to the end." She pulled back her arm, aiming to drive her weapon through his chest—

Only for Aoi to crash straight into her, the two flying into the shop and crashing against its walls.

"Aoi!" Shaking off the rubble on her body, Aina yelled down at her comrade. "What do you think you're—"

"We need to get out of here." Aoi's voice was disgruntled. "Gemini...far stronger than we thought. We'll find another medallion, come back for this one. Right now, we need to go."

This was a first; usually, Aoi was far more gung-ho in combat, never missing an opportunity to taunt her enemies...it was unheard of for her to defer to them.

Which probably meant that this was serious.

Aina, with Aoi slung over her shoulder, glanced between Gemini, Leo, and Shouji before jumping upwards towards the skyscraper rooftops.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

A large shadow flew past the skyscraper until it caught up with Aina and Aoi. The lizard monster, with nimble movements beyond his hulking stature would've suggested, grabbed on to the edge of the building, with Nakamichi Haru on his shoulder. She glanced at Kanae one more time before giving Youmo a pat, telling him to move away from the scene. The Lord had indeed instructed her to help the Holders, but it didn't mean she had to take care of their incompetence, so she had no interest in going any further.

It seemed that their teamwork wasn't as tight-knit as expected.

In the shop, Akira and Hotaru had undid their transformation, separating the two once more. Hotaru quickly went over to Kanae, while Akira crumbled on the floor, clutching his chest while huffing.

"What's with that look?! It's your fault for overloading the system!" He groaned angrily when he noticed his sister's judging stare looking down on him. "You can't just brute-force everything, damn it..."

It was only then that they remembered about Shouji. The young man was crouching against the shelves, his gaze locked on the ceiling. He was that close to dying just then. That in itself wasn't a big deal, but... he had realized once again that he was entirely powerless. Even his life was saved not because of his own power, but from lucky coincidence.

He was useless.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae undid her own transformation, and although she wasn't in as much pain as Akira was, she was incredibly exhausted. "Guys, relax! Firefly, I love you to pieces, but please don't kill your brother. He's my friend too."

Aisuke came out of hiding, the medallion for Capricorn still in his hand. "So Aesir is trying to find the rest of the medallions too. Unfortunate. But on a brighter note, we managed to secure this one. Even if it, uh..." A shelf came crumbling down. "...was at the cost of the shop."

Kanae noticed Shouji probably wallowing in his circumstances over by a shelf and walked over to him. "Shouji. Need a hand?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"Hmmm," Hotaru nodded halfheartedly at Kanae's words, which infuriated Akira more.

But at least they did manage to get their hands on Capricorn medallion, as Aisuke said.

Shouji glared at Kanae before getting up by himself. He then gave her a cold shoulder as he walked out of the shop with a huff.

"That guy..." Akira crawled back to his feet. "...He's walking out by himself, can he even speak English?"

---

After their retreat, Haru had Youmo reverted back to his more humanoid shape. She covered his misshapen face with the hat, and then gave it a light tap, making the creature unexpectedly purr.

"You've failed. What a shame," she addressed the two Holders with a somewhat mocking tone. "So your power is just this much."

 

[Admiral19]

"I'd like to see you fight whatever the hell Gemini was back there!" Aoi spat back at Haru, venom laced in her voice. "The last person who used Gemini couldn't even make us flinch, forget about Leo!"

"Aoi, Rui warned us about how much stronger Gemini had gotten." Aina tried to placate the temperamental girl(without much luck). "It seems to me like the blame is on you for choosing to underestimate your opponent despite them."

"Oh that's rich. You had your pile driver to Shouji's throat! I had Gemini and Leo on me! If our roles were switched, it would have ended up the same way!"

"Except I wouldn't have gotten cocky enough to think I could brute-force Gemini into submission."

"You piece of fucking—!"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Haru stepped between them, trying to prevent them from duking it out in the open.

"...It's not entirely your fault," She murmured. Back then, she was more or less distracted by Kanae's presence. As much as she didn't want to get involved with these wretched medallion users, a part of her still remembered that bubbly girl from her previous life. That was why she had realized that murderous presence a bit too late.

She might had to ask her Lord about it.

"My Lord... he had given this to me in case you need it," She pulled out two identical devices from her pockets. It had the clean, futuristic style that OLYMPUS and Aesir were using, with clean, minimalistic look. Shaped like a small cylinder, it seemed to fit in size with their wristband.

"It's the perfected Overdrive system. Unlike the one that Cancer used before, it's less taxing to your body, and the output can be adjusted at will. My Lord believes that you will know how to use them best. Would you... take them?"

She offered them to the women, dangling sweet promises like a devil's whisper.

---

Lucas Spitz was torn between fear and anger. He wanted to squeeze them dry for destroying his shop, but thinking about it again, it seemed that they might squash him like a bug if he dared to offend them? These kids were no joke! In the end, he agreed to let them go for a measly compensation, leaving the rest to insurance.

Akira had to borrow Kanae's shoulder to walk out of the store as his body was screaming in pain. Hotaru was giving him a stink eye all the way, but he ignored her. Hmph, let's see if she dared to abuse him again in the future!

"This is not the end of them," Akira muttered. "They're hunting the medallions too. And they have more people than us. Surely those guys weren't the only ones running around with their evil deeds. We need to find the rest of the medallions as soon as possible, before it's too late."

 

[Admiral19]

Aoi and Aina shared a glance. They had heard of what happened to Rui...but at this point, they truly had no choice. Leo and Gemini would overpower them otherwise.

They each took a device. They were already deep into Hell...what's the harm in letting the devil lead them a little further down?

---

After another series of profuse apologies, the group left the scene, each in various states of wellbeing. Akira's happened to be the worst, so Kanae was more than willing to lend him a hand. "I can't help but feel like you two have been at each other's throats more..." she said under her breath.

"Knowing Aesir, they're going to be off for the next medallion within a matter of hours." Aisuke pocketed Capricorn before anyone else happened to take an interest in it. "We can't afford to confront them if we want to minimize our tracks, so we need to go wherever they didn't."

He checked a list in the notes app on his phone. "Let's see...the next closest medallion is...Pisces, in Michigan, held by a Ms. Winters. Which means we need to head to Georgia first and get Aries. Aesir will want to head to the next closest location, so by the time they realize Aries is gone, we'll be in Arizona grabbing Sagittarius."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"...It's just your imagination," Akira whispered. "We've always been like this. It's normal for siblings to fight."

Especially because...

He didn't want to say it out loud. Instead, he buried his face in her neck, feeling her soft presence enveloping him. When he parted his lips, his warm breath brushed over her skin, giving a tingling sensation.

"Kanae, I..."

Unfortunately, he was quickly yanked away by none other than his own sister, who hugged his arm perhaps a little bit too tightly and dragged him to the side.

"Dear brother, I'll take responsibility and lend you my shoulder~" Hotaru smiled very brightly at him, enough to make Akira shiver in fear. He wanted to get away, but his arm was locked in place, so he could only accept his fate.

The two siblings glared at each other all the way to their vehicle, completely forgetting the lone figure that was Shouji, who had been walking way ahead of them, not allowing anyone to get near.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae watched Hotaru drag poor Akira away. She knew that Hotaru could get a little clingy sometimes, but this...well, this seems like a new level! It was odd. And beyond that was Shouji, who had been saved by sheer luck...Kanae wanted to get closer to him, but poor guy would probably shove her aside.

Kanae could figure it all out shortly—both with Shouji and with the Tanakas. Right now, though, they needed to get back to the hotel, check out, and hop on the soonest flight to their next medallion. Time was of the essence.

---

It was interesting, the amount of work a handful of monsters could get done on their own.

In the space of a couple days, the base for the Kaiserin's structure had been laid out. There were certain materials that had to be sent over personally by the Kaiserin(for example, an incredibly specific 17 pounds of marble), but otherwise, construction was going well.

"This has been a much smoother operation than I thought," Rui said to Alfred, perhaps a little too confidently.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

During the downtime in the lab, Alfred was chosen as the overseer of the construction project in Montana. It was an important job, one that graced him with honor. He had to make sure that everything was perfect, down to the tiny bit.

Nevertheless, the success of his experiments had basically transformed the gloomy frigid man into a smiling Buddha. The people working under Aesir... couldn't make peace with this version of their boss. Alfred's everlasting smile only served to make them fear him more, afraid that he would kill them in their sleep with a smile instead of a frown.

Usually he would rebuke Rui's overly-optimistic remark with sarcastic words, but this time, he smiled at them and patted them in the shoulder.

"You've worked hard," Alfred, ever so stingy with praises, had somehow gave one so offhandedly, as if telling him the time of the day.

The people around them wanted to just fly and disappear right in that instance.

He was about to say something else when his phone started ringing. Excusing himself for a bit, he walked to a quieter corner of the site. The smile on his face grew even wider when he heard the voice coming from the receiver.

"My beloved Horyuu, I've missed you so! What? Oh, sorry. Haru. I understand. If that's what you want, you can keep that name..." He sounded a bit dejected, like a father who got reprimanded by his own child, but the happiness in his voice was unmistakeable.

"Yes, yes... Leo? I see. So they had failed... that's regrettable," the news didn't seem to faze him so much. "You gave them the Overdrive system. It's fine. You should stay with them for a bit longer to check on the situ- what?"

He fell silent after that. Slowly, the smile on his face was pulled down by an invincible force. In the end, there stood once again the cold man from before.

"...I'll leave it to you and Youmo. Let Taurus and Scorpio do the medallion hunt instead."

He then walked over to Rui.

"Holder of Cancer, I'd like you to go to New York to deliver the 'packages'. You will return after you're done."

He was referring to the car-sized boxes that they had prepared beforehand. The capsules that contained their latest and greatest, the bio-weapons that would change history: the Monsters. Two of them had been prepared beforehand, their instinctual drives controllable by the pheromone markers that had been given to Aoi and Aina.

"No... they might have left New York already. Catch up with them in the next target location, in Michigan."

 

[Admiral19]

For the most part, Rui has learned to...tolerate Alfred's new disposition. That wasn't to say that they preferred it to the cold, calculating scientist he was before; if anything, this was worse. But Rui could keep from retching long enough to be able to look at him properly. At the very least, he seemed much more willing to express his gratitude towards them, which was always nice.

They watched the beasts continue to lay the framework for the stage before Alfred gave them another task. Delivering monsters over to their teammates...alright, they could do that. But...

"What do you need the monsters in Michigan for?"

 

[Ranix Aurus]

"It's not necessary, actually," He replied, not bothered by Rui asking more detail from his plan. "Gemini's power is higher than we have expected. It's not your fault; it seems that they keep on exceeding our simulated data. I'm afraid that... they have their own Overdrive system in place."

Of course, it was just a conjecture. But it was better to be sure. The Kaiserin wanted all of the medallions, and the more that group had their grubby hands on them, the harder it would get for them to achieve that goal.

"I'll leave their deployment to your discretion. As for now, just deliver them as a precaution."

 

[Admiral19]

"Uh, sure, whatever you say." By this point, Rui wasn't going to question Alfred's methods. They were in the final stages of the Kaiserin's plan, and the faster things were done and dusted, the better. If Aoi and Aina needed a couple monsters to make their job easier, then so be it.

Though, the idea of their enemies having their own Overdrive...concerning. That's all it was.

Rui decided to shrug it off for now. They had work to do.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Akira crumbled immediately upon returning to their hotel. His bones were hurting all over, so he merely sprawled limp on the bed, unwilling to move. It didn't take long before he fell into a deep sleep.

His phone were flashing, showing notification for an incoming message. Hotaru took a quick glance on it before turning off the display and threw the phone to the bed, landing it right on top of her brother's sleeping face. Akira didn't even notice the impact, he merely turned his head sideway, letting the phone drop to the pillow.

Seeing that Akira was safely tucked on the bed, she waved at the other guys in the room before returning to hers. She lay on the bed, thinking about the message from earlier.

Tanaka Genki's name was plastered on it.

Can we meet up? I have something to tell you.

"Hmph," She huffed. Akira would most likely turn him down, as usual. Nothing good ever come from that failure of a father.

 

[Admiral19]

"Somethin' come up, Firefly?"

Kanae entered the room not long after, taking a comfortable spot next to Hotaru and anticipating when she'd cling to her body. "Did you bully big bro Akira again? I thought I told you guys to get along~" As typical of Kanae, she had a way with lightening up the atmosphere when it was needed. Her special talent, Kanae would call it proudly.

And yeah, it was special, all right.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru stirred when she heard Kanae's voice. Turning around, she seemed to be restraining herself for a moment, until she failed to do it any longer and rushed over to hug her best friend like a pillow.

"It's alright, he's strong, he can take it," She purred as she rubbed her head on Kanae. Unlike Akira, she was able to have Kanae for herself. She was happy. Very happy.

And also remorseful.

Hotaru slowly pulled away from Kanae.

"I'm... a greedy person, Kanae..." She whispered. "I shouldn't get any closer with you, but I can't... I want to stay with you, even if it's wrong..."

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae enjoyed Hotaru's embrace for a mere handful of moments before she pulled away. That was...unusual. Most of the time Hotaru would cling to her until the sun rose.

Her gaze softened as she looked at Hotaru. "I don't think you're greedy at all, nor do I think you're wrong. Nobody wants to imagine someone dear to them leaving for good. I know for damn sure I wanna hold on to you all for dear life. If being greedy means knowing that you'll still be there to cling to my arm, then goddammit, I'm the greediest alive!"

Ever the kind one, Kanae was. She wasn't afraid to let her heart out. Speaking of hearts, though...was Kanae's supposed to beat this fast?

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru looked into the other girl's eyes. A conflict was broiling inside that pair of black eyes, causing them to tremble. She wanted to move farther away, but in the end, her greed had won out. She snuggled closer instead.

"Am I... dear to you...? Someone like me...?" She murmured, although it was an unfair question.

"Kanae... let's just leave. Leave all this fighting. Let's find a quiet place just for us, where nobody can hurt us. Where nobody can hurt..." you. Everyone else could perish for all she know, except for Kanae. Only Kanae.

 

[Admiral19]

"Of course! What kind of a question is that?" Kanae held Hotaru closer. "You and I have been inseparable for ages! You're someone I wanna be with, someone I wanna protect!"

Each positive word Kanae said made her chest swell more and more. Kanae's been Hotaru's rock for years, and nothing was gonna stop that. Not the Holders, not the monsters, not anything.

Kanae paused. The reason why she fought was to stop whatever Aesir's plan was, yes. It was to save the world, yes. But all of those things also meant that Hotaru—that everyone she cared for could be in her life another day. Perhaps Kanae, too, was greedy.

"I'm sorry. I can't do that, not now." Hotaru could wield Gemini's power now, surely she understood what was at stake. "But."

Even closer. Kanae pulled Hotaru even closer, not wanting even a single inch between them.

"Firefly, with everything I am, I promise you that we'll put an end to Aesir, and once we do, you and I can live however the hell we want."

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Hotaru... decided to stay. She was defeated. Kanae's presence was too powerful for her feeble will to stand against. It was too intoxicating. At first it was merely a distraction, but now it had turned into an oasis amidst the everlasting desert, something that she could no longer go without.

Hotaru was a coward. She accepted it. As long as that means she could stay with Kanae just a little bit longer.

"Hmm," she purred, letting the sweet scent to engulf her whole, plunging her deeper to the point of no return.

Even if Kanae would hate her in the end... it was fine, in exchange for these little more seconds...

 

[Admiral19]

There wasn't an existence Kanae could think of where she would end up hating Hotaru. Not a single one.

Kanae truly believed that, with every fiber of her being. Perhaps this made her a fool.

---

The flight to Georgia was decidedly less turbulent than the initial flight to New York, but getting through the airport was absolute hell. Fortunately, they wouldn't have to suffer long; their next target was up in a high-rise right in the middle of Atlanta. This happened to be one of Aisuke's companions who knew of the medallions' power and was willing to do whatever could be done to stop Aesir.

That night, Aisuke thought it a good idea to head down to a park, just so everyone could take a little time to decompress. It wouldn't be for too terribly long—they had to stay ahead of Aesir, after all—but it'd be well-deserved respite.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Shouji was tailing behind the group, ever a loyal puppy to Aisuke, but maintained a distance from the others. He arguably seemed to be a bit miffed with Akira and Hotaru, mostly with the former. Understandable, as he saw Akira as the thief who had stolen his power.

Akira felt a bit more energized. At least he didn't feel any pain when moving, but he was still drained. He was especially muddleheaded tonight, as the message from his father was stuck in his mind.

Hotaru didn't need to vie for Kanae's attention this way. She stuck with her like a koala, unwilling to part for even a moment. It seemed that her clinginess had increased to the roof since last night. Akira wondered what had happened with the two for a moment before he let out another tired sigh.

 

[Admiral19]

Kanae was going about like it was any old day, enjoying the feel of the park at night. Aisuke and Yuna didn't trail far behind, with Aisuke sticking somewhat close to Shouji.

"Say." Aisuke leaned down to whisper to Shouji. "I think you ought to get to know the others a little better. Just a suggestion, but given that we're all here already...might as well, right?" It was a long shot, but a shot Aisuke wanted to take. "Who knows, you all might find something you can bond over."

If no one else, he thought, Kanae might be willing to speak to him, at least...and hey, she could hold back Akira and/or Hotaru should things get dicey.

 

[Ranix Aurus]

Shouji looked at Aisuke like a dog who had been betrayed by his master. He hemmed and hawed for a full minute before he quickened his pace to keep up with the rest. Even with deep frown on his face, he still followed anything that Aisuke had told him.

His sudden presence startled Hotaru. She glared daggers at him, which he promptly ignore. Think of it like doing a mission, he thought to himself. Akira on the other had showed a rare moment of not paying any attention to them.

"...Mr. Saitou told me to get to know you a little better," he cryptically said that. He actually didn't even know how to do that. As long as he had remembered, his entire life had been a fight for survival. Everyone he had thought as friends had backstabbed him, and he had done the same numerous times already.

"Friend" for him was an existence as mystical as an unicorn.