[AkibaSilver]

Chapter Two
Gorou felt himself slowly float into consciousness, his brain swimming in a sea of dreams. His eyes drifted open, leaving him staring at a white ceiling that looked clean. His brain finally kicked in and reminded itself of the events of the last few hours. He slowly began moving, still groggy after being knocked out- again.

“Hello? Oshiro-san? Are you there, so I can punch you for the spray?” He shouted, his words slurring. When he didn’t hear a reply, he slowly dragged himself out of his comfy bed, looking around the room. It was nice and clean, with a bed, wardrobe and mirror. He looked at himself in the mirror- he was still wearing his clothes from the previous day, or at least what he guessed was the previous day, which was a black jacket with a white shirt, and blue jeans, with cheap, battered trainers lying at his feet. His curly black hair was messy and unkempt, and his face had a small bit of stubble spread around his mouth. He yawned, still tired slightly.

Opening the wardrobe, he saw a few sets of clothes identical to what he was wearing now. He changed, throwing his old clothes into the corner, and walked out of the door, entering a room with a small sofa facing a TV, with the girl from yesterday laid on it, sleeping, lightly snoring. The noise of him exiting his room woke her up, muttering, “No Boss, I fixed the prototype… Oh, you’re awake!”

She stared at him, smiling, being slightly off-putting. After a few seconds, Gorou decided to up this to being very off-putting. He started backing into the room, trying to get away from her before she sprayed him again.

“No, I’m still asleep.” He said, hoping she would still think she was dreaming. “In fact, I was never here. Just leave me be…” He might have made it, but she jumped up and grabbed him.

“Nope! Oshiro-san put me here to make sure you were OK… So, are you OK?” She asked, confused. “I mean, you look fine, but I can’t tell. I’m not a Doctor, I’m just an assistant to the Boss, and he said he didn’t want me around for a while, so-“

“If I say I’m fine, can I leave?” He asked dryly, cutting her off, and slowly removing her arms. She blushed slightly and pulled her arms away quickly, and to Gorou’s horror, she started speaking again. Her voice wasn’t annoying, but there was so much of it…

“No, you can’t leave, sorry. Oshiro-san wants you to stay here until you’re needed again, which might be soon, because we don’t know how all these creatures are made…”

Gorou tuned her out, looking around the room. There were no windows, which was a shame, but it looked nice enough-he could see a bathroom with a shower, and a door leading into another bedroom… Realisation slowly hit his brain, and he shuddered internally.

“…And I’m sorry for grabbing you, but I really couldn’t let you leave, because then the Boss wouldn’t let me work on the prototype, which is all I’m really interested in right now-“

“Please tell me that’s not your room.” He cut her off again, getting the feeling he’d have to get used to this.

“Sorry?” She said, sounding apologetic. “It’s just that Oshiro-san, or at least the people in charge, decided that someone should look after you while you were here, and I was the best one for the job.”

Gorou sighed. “You were the best one they had?” He muttered to himself, turning round to the front door, getting ready to leave. “Look, thanks for looking after me…” He paused, not knowing her name.

“Natsumi!” She answered brightly, smiling.

“Well, thank you, but considering you sprayed me with knock-out gas, and I really don’t know you, I hope you don’t mind if I just leave.” He reached for the handle, but it refused to move, no matter how much pressure he put on it. He heard the jingling of keys behind him, and he sighed again. “You wouldn’t happen to have seen the keys, would you?” He asked, not expecting a serious answer.

“I told you, you can’t leave until someone asks for you.” Gorou heard a happy note in Natsumi’s voice, obviously holding back laughter.

“You know, this isn’t making me like you any more than I already do…” He said to her, slightly smiling. As much as he was annoyed he couldn’t leave, he had to give her some credit for her plan. “Any chance you’re just going to give me the keys?”

“Well, I could…” She walked around, leaning into his line of vision, smiling. “But then I’d get into a lot of trouble, and I don’t see that being fun-“ Her taunting was cut off by the ringing of her mobile, which she answered, her face losing her smile as the man on the other end talked. Gorou recognised the voice from the day before as the man he had heard during his fight, even if he couldn’t hear the exact words- the strong accent made it obvious who it was.

After a minute or so, Natsumi put the phone back in her pocket, frowning slightly. “It’s the Boss. He wants to see you for a check-up or something, and he wants to examine this.” She pulled out his driver from under her red woolly jacket, looking at it, confused. Gorou grabbed for it, but she pulled it away, still looking at it, making him stumble into the centre of the room.

He span around just to see her unlock the door, reaching into her pocket and switching out the keys for the gem. “You ready to go see the maker of this driver of yours?” Natsumi walked out of the door, but Gorou stayed, thinking about his options. She popped her head back around the door. “Of course, I could use this again!” She pulled out a small spray can, and Gorou gritted his teeth.

“Fine. Not as if I have much of a choice…” He followed her down the corridor outside to a lift, which she pressed the button for. They waited in silence for about a minute before Natsumi spoke again.

“By the way, I’m sorry for knocking you out.” Her voice was less happy than usual, more sincere in tone. “I wasn’t anything personal, it was just… Just what I got told to do.” She bowed to him, her face twisted into a sad shape, her long black hair falling to brush the ground. “I’m sorry!”

Gorou wasn’t sure how to respond, so the lift did it for him, with a small ‘ding’. He stepped past her into the now open elevator. “Come on. I assume you’re coming with me.”

She stood up, stepping into the life with him, not making eye contact and pressing the button for the basement. The doors closed, and they descended in silence. When the lift reached the bottom, the doors slid open and they were greeted by a large man with a large beard, wearing a white lab coat. He started shouting at them, his accent very thick.

“Where have you been? I phoned you-“ He lifted up his wrist, checking a large, very bulky wristwatch. “-Five minutes ago! Or maybe three! I forgot to check when I phoned you…” He grabbed the driver out of Natsumi’s hands, and started walking over to a cluttered bench, various bits of technology strewn across it. He pushed some of the parts out of the way and dropped the driver on the table, scanning it with his eyes. “It seems fine, despite it being given to an idiot.” He muttered, not very quietly. Gorou walked over to him, picking his driver back up.
“You know, this idiot did do pretty well.” He said, annoyed at this guy.

“I don’t care- you still have no idea what you’re doing. I blame that fool that gave you the driver.” He sighed loudly, stroking his beard. “Stop looking at me like that. You’re fine!” Gorou hadn’t been looking at him any differently than he would look at anything else, except with maybe a raised eyebrow. “We examined you in your sleep- there don’t seem to be any issues, apart from your extremely low IQ.” He looked back over to Natsumi, who was staying away from the duo.

“Natsumi-kun! The Gem?”

She gasped, searching around under her jumper for the gem. Finding it, she threw it at the scientist, who caught it, casting his eye over the surface. “Not a scratch on it. What an unsurprising surprise.” He shoved the gem into Gorou’s hand, staring into his eyes. “Look, I may not trust you, but if that fool upstairs does, I don’t have a choice, so listen carefully.”

The scientist started to speak, but was cut off by a large alarm sounding in the room, with the lights on the ceiling flashing red. “Sigh.” He said, over dramatically.

Gorou started to walk out, putting on his driver, the machine attaching to his waist. “I guess that’s my signal,” he muttered to himself, pressing the button for the lift.

“Your bike’s that’s way.” Natsumi said, standing next to him all of a sudden, pointing at a small door at the side of the large lab. “We made some improvements to it…” He nodded at her, not making eye contact. Walking past the scientist, he bumped shoulder, but he felt a small crystal being pushed into his hand. Holding it up, he saw a blue gem, similar to his red one, but the centre looked more calm and serene than the ruby gem in his pocket.

“It’s the only other one we have. Make good use of it.” The scientist said, not looking at him, obviously not wanting to give him the crystal. Gorou smiled slightly before walking into the side room to see his motorbike waiting there. It didn’t look any different, apart from slightly shinier plating. He got onto it, and switched it on, feeling the engine roar underneath him, more powerful than before. The door in front of him opened into the corridor from the day before, and he drove off, accelerating incredibly quickly.

Natsumi and the Boss waited as they heard him drive away. “So… what do you think of him?” Natsumi asked, trying to start a conversation.

The Boss just threw a small piece of tech at her. “This needs fine-tuning.” He said gruffly, moving back to another desk, and switching on a monitor, which showed the driver’s systems and Gorou’s vital signs. “Let’s see if he can get himself killed this time…”

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A young woman screamed as a sharp spine just missed her head. The originator of the spine, a large, humanoid, creature with arms and torso covered in sharp quills, simply fired another one, but this one was blocked by the side of a motorcycle. Gorou turned to the woman, who was surprised to be saved in such a dramatic manner. “Run!” he shouted, and the woman listened, still coherent enough to listen to obvious advice.

The Porcupine creature growled at him, wary of the new arrival. Gorou grimaced, pulling out the red gem and inserting it into his driver. “Henshin!”

He slammed the lever down, and the red sphere appeared around him, forming his armour. When it dissipated, he pressed the central button on his driver, and pulled out his sword. He rushed towards the monster, but it fired a black quill into his torso, the armour sparking with red bursts and forcing him back, him shouting in pain. The creature stepped towards him and upper-cutted him with a dark spiky fist, forcing him backwards. He swung his sword at the monster, but it only sliced of a single spike, which grew back.

Gorou swore as the creature punched him in the face, the spikes being blocked by his helmet, but still causing him a lot of pain as he fell to the floor and rolled away. He gasped in a large amount of pain, thinking about what he could use to defend himself as the creature slowly edged towards him.

“Let’s try this…” He muttered, pulling out the blue gem from a storage pocket on his belt. He shakily got to his feet, pulling up the lever on his driver, opening the chamber in the centre. He removed the red gem, replacing it with the blue gem.
“Water.” The Driver announced to no-one in general as Gorou slammed the lever down, sealing the gem in its chamber. His henshin sphere reformed, this time a deep shade of navy blue. His red armour on his arms, legs and torso shattered, fading to nothing, being replaced by armour made from the energy shield protecting him from the creature, which was punching at it, to no effect. The sphere dissolved as Gorou rushed past the monster, carefully dodging its fists, feeling refreshed from the slight break in the beating.

“Now, hopefully, this won’t be a sword.” He muttered, pressing the central button again. This time, a blue portal formed through the chamber, with the grip of a gun forming. Gorou grabbed it and removed it from the driver. It was sleek, with a small barrel and a locking space for a gem on the underside, in front of the trigger.

As the porcupine creature swung at him, he dodged, shooting it in the shoulder. The creature roared, shooting spike from the affected area, which completely missed Gorou, who had ducked to the other side, where he shot it again. This time, when its leg was hit, it span to face Gorou, shooting him with several spikes, which caught him, pinning him to the wall by his shoulder armour. This didn’t faze Gorou, though. He knew he had this.

He passed the gun to his other hand and shot the creature directly in the stomach. This made the monster back away in pain as Gorou continued to shoot it, forcing it away from him. When it was safe enough, he reached to his shoulder and pulled the spike out, throwing it to the ground. His armour reformed around the newly made hole, fixing it in seconds. Sadly, this was long enough for the creature to get close enough for him to deliver a punch to his stomach, which hurt more than before. This form, he thought, hitting his back on the wall, was obviously not as strong as the other. But what he did have, he though, was a pretty strong weapon and some good skills.

Using what strength he had left, he dodged the creature’s next blow before pressing the top button on his belt, making it say “Water,” again. He felt power flow from his gem, and saw water gather at his fingertips. He shot it towards the monster as a powerful stream, forcing it and any spikes it shot backwards. When the flow started drying up, he switched his gun into his main hand and shot the monster in its now bare torso, it loudly screeching.

“Let’s end this.” He growled to himself, opening the chamber and removing the water gem, before opening the chamber on the gun and placing the gem in there. He felt it surge with power as energy started gathering at the tip of the weapon. He pointed it towards the Porcupine, which was stumbling around in a circle, obviously weak.

He pulled the trigger, shouting, “Torrent Blast!”

The ball of water energy at the end of the gun shot towards the creature, streaking quickly towards it and striking it directly in the chest. It glowed, surrounding the creature, before it exploded in a spray of liquid, followed by the creature exploding in a fireball. Gorou sighed, looking at the damage around him before demorphing, closing the chamber again, his armour disintegrating. “So, did you like that name?” He asked, knowing the engineer could hear him. He heard a small growl from nowhere before it cut out, making him chuckle slightly.
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Arriving back at the base, the scientist was nowhere to be found, with Natsumi sitting at a bench, tinkering with a circuit board unsuccessfully. Hearing him enter, to his dismay, she turned to face him. “Congratulations on not dying,” she said with a smile. “That’s what the Boss said before he left- something about hating your guts, I think.”

Gorou smiled weakly at her. This was going to take some getting used to. “Look, I’m just ready for more sleep. As long as you don’t spray me again, it should be fine.”

She got up, smiling. “Done. I could use some sleep too- I’ve barely slept in the three days you were out for.”

Gorou’s jaw dropped. “I was unconscious for three days? And you didn’t think to worry?!”

Natsumi’s smile faltered slightly. “Well, most of the time you spent being checked up on by the doctors. Oshiro-san wanted to make sure you were OK.”

He sighed. He guessed that it wasn’t her fault. “Fine. At least that time it wasn’t your fault.”

He walked past her, and she got up, following him, jingling the keys. “Wait up! You can’t get in without these!”
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As before, I hope you enjoyed! Please share around, and leave any reviews you can!