[PSP] Guardian Sentai RoboMan #14

[utsukushuu.dreamer]

>From PSP:
http://www.night-jaeger.net

---

GUARDIAN SENTAI ROBOMAN #14
"Girls' Day Out"
Component 05.2
March 15th, 2010
by Adrian J. Watts



New Orleans

Kiko hurried through the restaurant area of 'Hey, Pizza!' and into the
dark back room where she found Ikku watching television while Sei
occupied himself with Trick's computer. Neither of them looked up as
she entered the room; neither of them questioned where her clothes
were, what could have led to her discarding them and revealing her
robosuit.

"Ikku! Sei!" she said loudly.

Ikku did not respond, but Sei stood up and moved in front of Kiko.

"Where is Cog?" he asked.

"We were at the mall when a giant pixie spider-thing attacked," Kiko
explained. "I left Cog while I went to deal with it, and when I came
back she was gone."

"We need to find her," Sei said simply. "Ian - "

"No!" Kiko interrupted. "I mean... I think I can handle that. The
pixie is still on the loose. You guys should take care of that."

Sei raised his eyebrows.

"You lost Cog," he said. "Why would we trust you to find her?"

"Hey!" Ikku said. He jumped up from his seat and stood between his
friends. "Sei, was that really necessary?"

"It would not be logical for Miss Sato to - "

"Geez!" Ikku rolled his eyes. "The appropriate answer was 'sorry'."

Kiko sighed.

"No, Ikku," she said. "Sei's right. I messed up and you've got no
reason to think it won't happen again... but I don't care. I said I'll
find her, and I will. Alone."

Sei opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again. He did not
think Kiko was the best-suited to searching for Cog, or that any of
them should do it alone, but he heard the determination in her voice.
No matter how strongly he argued, Kiko would still do things her own
way. He realised that that was not at all like the Kiko he had known
for the previous two-and-a-half weeks; that Kiko had been polite,
compassionate and willing to follow his direction. There had to be
more to the story than Kiko had told him and while he was tempted to
ask, he suspected that if she was prepared to reveal it all she would
have done so from the beginning.

"Maybe there's a way we can find her?" Kiko asked. "She found exactly
where we were when she first came to New Orleans."

Sei rubbed his chin.

"Cog is able to detect any technology developed by Doctor Nagura," he
said, "and we have been able to contact Cog with our communicators.
Perhaps they can be adjusted to track her."

Kiko looked down at the large communicator strapped to her left wrist.

"Sei... why hasn't Cog tried to contact us?" she asked.

"You can ask her when you find her!" Ikku said cheerfully. "Sei, you
start working on the communicators. Miss Sato, we'll - "

"No!" Kiko interrupted again. "I mean... no. I know more about the
communicators, I think. I was the first one to figure out how to use
them. I will work on modifying them. You guys go find the pixie."

Ikku and Sei looked at one another.

"O-kay," Ikku said. "Let's go, Sei."

Ikku and Sei left the room and Kiko sat down at the computer. She
removed the communicator from her wrist and stared at its ten buttons
and small display panel. She really did not know what she was looking
at - her knowledge was very specialised, focussed on the field of
biorobotics, not electronics and wireless communication.

She typed in the same sequence of keys that had allowed her to contact
Cog two weeks earlier, but nothing happened, so she laid the
communicator flat on the desk and rummaged through the desk drawers
for something she could use to open it up.

In the first drawer she found exactly what she needed - a screwdriver.
Kiko wondered why Trick would have kept a screwdriver near his
computer, then decided it was not important; what mattered was getting
to work, and doing what she could to find Cog as quickly as possible.

I know she's safe, Kiko thought to herself as she opened up the bulky
device. I know who has her, and I know they'll give her back... but I
was lucky this time. What if it had been Miko who took her? What if
she goes missing and -

"Kiko?"

Kiko pulled herself upright with a start as she heard Trick's voice
from the doorway. He stared at her with narrowed eyes and she found
herself blushing just a little.

"Kiko, you've been back here for hours," Trick said.

Hours? Kiko repeated silently. She looked down at the communicator,
which was almost completely reassembled in front of her. Time flies
when you're worried sick and angry!

"Sei and Ikku left in a hurry," Trick remarked. "Is anything wrong?
Where's Cog?"

Kiko smiled.

"Everything's fine, Trick," she answered, "but while you're here,
there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Trick pushed his way through the door and sat on the back of the couch
that rested between Kiko and the television. He looked back at the
door and nodded slightly.

"Shoot," he told Kiko, "but we can't be too long; I have to send
Kageki home soon."

Kiko smiled again.

"Kageki's dealt with everything so well!" she exclaimed. "How old is
he again?"

"Sixteen."

"When I was sixteen my head would have exploded if I saw people
turning into armoured Robomen right before my eyes," Kiko revealed.
"He was a little hyper at first but now it's almost as if he's been
around us his whole life... and the idea never seemed to faze you."

Trick shook his head.

"Best not to go there, Kiko."

Kiko nodded.

"That's not what I wanted to talk about anyway," she said. "I wanted
to talk money."

Trick arched his left eyebrow.

"Giving or taking?"

"Giving. You've been so kind to us, giving us somewhere to stay,
feeding us... We have to repay you somehow."

Trick laughed.

"I knew if anyone was going to bring it up it would be you, Kiko," he
responded. "To be honest, it is getting a bit difficult to keep you
guys here, but I'm not about to throw you out just yet."

Kiko frowned.

"You should have said something! What can we do?"

Trick looked up at the ceiling, narrowed his eyes and stroked his
chin.

"Well," he said. "You're not famous enough to make a guest appearance
as Robomen yet..." He turned to Kiko and winked. "Seriously, Kiko,
it's not a problem. Aaaaand... I've got to go take over for Kageki."
He rose and made his way to the door.

"I'll think of something!" Kiko called after him. "And - wait! Trick,
I need you for a second." Trick turned just in time to catch the
communicator that Kiko tossed his way. "Hold down the 'Enter' key."
Trick did as he was asked.

"Electro Blaster!" Kiko said. There was a sudden blue flash as the
yellow weapon materialised in her right hand. The communicator began
to emit a regular beep.

"You can let go," Kiko said, and as Trick released the button the
beeping stopped and the Electro Blaster vanished. "It works!"

"Yay?" Trick threw the communicator back to Kiko, and she immediately
re-attached it to her wrist.

"With this we can find anyone using Eternity energy," Kiko explained.
"It was already set up to do it, I just had to reconnect a few
switched wires."

Kiko looked over Trick's shoulder and through the doorway; outside,
beyond the store's wide glass windows, she could see the sky
darkening. The sun had nearly set; she really had been working for
hours.

"I've got to go!" she said.

She ran past Trick and out through the store, the only two occupants
of which stared at her in her form-fitting yellow uniform. She made
her way through the glass doors which led out into the street and,
once she found herself alone, shouted "Let's go, Robo!"

Energy crackled around her as jagged pieces of metal passed through
the pores in her robosuit, forming silver boots, gloves, a chestplate
and a helmet.

"Go! Robo Vehicles!" she shouted. The metal separated from her body
and hovered in the air a few feet in front of her - surrounded by
blue, mist-like energy - where it bent, twisted, expanded and reformed
as the yellow-coloured Lightning Jet. Kiko climbed into the jet's
cockpit and, using the road as a short runway, took to the air.

It took the Lightning Jet only a few moments to reach Lake
Pontchartrain and Kiko needed only a few moments more to spot the
person she was supposed to meet. He stood near the edge of the lake,
as close as it was possible to get to the point where she, Sei and
Ikku had first formed Gattai Robo two weeks earlier.

It took longer for Kiko to find somewhere large and clear enough to
land the Lightning Jet and begin to make her way to where the man
waited for her and, much to Kiko's surprise, the Lightning Jet did not
disappear once she had disembarked.

That's odd... she thought. Normally it fades away as soon as I don't
need it.

Kiko pushed through a cluster of trees and bushes and found herself
emerging only a few feet behind the man, who looked out across the
lake with his arms crossed. She took a moment to scrutinise him more
thoroughly - he wore only black; tall black boots, neatly pressed
black trousers and a black shirt, black fingerless gloves. Two
handguns rested in holsters at his side.

"I'm glad you came, Kiko," he said.

"You didn't give me any choice," Kiko responded. "Only you would leave
a friend in the hands of someone like... you."

The man laughed.

"The robot is fine. In fact, we had a long talk while we waited for
you to come."

He turned around and Kiko saw Cog resting calmly on his arm. He lifted
one hand, palm up, and Cog made her way onto it as he walked forward
and waited for Kiko to take her back. Cog jumped into Kiko's cupped
hands and sat down.

"What would Cog possibly have to discuss with you, Senshi?" Kiko
asked.

"You remember my name! I'm surprised, imouto-chan," Senshi said.

Kiko rolled her eyes.

"You're a jerk who walked out on his own family, big brother," Kiko
replied, "but you're still my brother. I'll never forget you, no
matter how much I may want to!"

"Kiko!" Cog cried.

"Sorry, Cog," Kiko said.

Senshi looked at the ground.

"I apologise for what happened, Kiko," he said, "but it's been years.
Can't you just forget about it? Move on?"

Kiko shook her head. She felt the burning sensation of tears welling
in her eyes, but she was determined not to cry. Senshi had put her
through a lot and it had taken a long time to get over it all. She
would not allow herself to cry or do anything else to show Senshi that
anything he did affected her at all.

"You said you wanted to talk," Kiko reminded him.

Senshi nodded.

"As I said, Cog and I already had a long talk," he explained. "It
turns out we have a mutual acquaintance."

"Senshi knows Doctor Brachis!" Cog said.

Kiko frowned.

"Doctor Brachis? That was the woman that sent you to us, wasn't it?"
Kiko asked.

Cog nodded.

"Doctor Brachis was more than that," Senshi told Kiko. "She was the
Head of Security on Science Island, and I was her deputy. In addition
to her regular security duties, Doctor Brachis also had some control
over the Earth Defence/Leadership Directorate and one of your
friends."

"M-my friends?" Kiko repeated.

Senshi nodded.

"I know you are a Roboman," he said.

Kiko scowled angrily.

"Those guns... you were the one who helped me at the mall this
morning! What were you doing there? Were you following me?"

Senshi nodded again.

"Yes, but I knew you were a Roboman two weeks ago. I saw you transform
outside a pizza shop and I met your ally Sei even before that."

Kiko swallowed hard.

"Good for you, Senshi," she said. "Cog and I are leaving now."

Kiko turned and started to walk away; the moment her face was out of
Senshi's view she finally allowed herself to cry. Tears streamed
across her cheeks and dripped onto her hand, and Cog had to quickly
dodge each droplet which to her may as well have been entire buckets
of water.

"Kiko! What's wrong?" Cog asked, but Kiko did not answer.

"Wait!" Senshi called after her.

Kiko stopped moving.

"I told you Doctor Brachis had some control over one of your friends.
Don't you at least want to know who?" Senshi asked.

I know who, Kiko thought.

"Sei was in contact with Doctor Brachis for some time before Sorceress
Miko's attack on Blizzard Base Zero," Senshi revealed. "I know you
were there too, Kiko. Sei kept in contact with her even after you
arrived in New Orleans. She was the one who gave you permission to use
your powers, to use your Robo Defender, to use your vehicles... she
even got Damien Sinclair off your back."

Kiko took a deep breath.

"What are you saying, Senshi?" she asked. "Are you trying to tell me I
can't trust Sei?"

Senshi shook her head even though, with her back turned to him, Kiko
could not possibly see it.

"Far from it," Senshi answered. "Your friend Sei did the right thing;
there was no-one better for him to work with than Doctor Brachis.
Between the two of them, I'm sure everything possible was done to keep
you safe."

"Then why tell me this? I already trusted Sei."

"I'm telling you this..."

Senshi paused and took a long, deep breath. He let it out slowly. For
most of his life, Senshi had relied on his expertise and confidence in
making snap decisions to guide him. There were very few things he had
given a lot of thought and consideration to, and when he did it made
him anxious and uncomfortable.

"I'm telling you this," he finally continued, "to reassure you that I
know about you and about your team."

"Why?"

"Because, Kiko... I want to be a Roboman."