Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The year is 20XX. Earth and all of civilization have made steady progress. The planet is networked through electromagnetic waves, or EM Waves for short. Up in outer space are three satellites: Pegasus, Leo, and Dragon orbiting Earth receiving and transmitting defective radio waves that exist around the planet's atmosphere. Despite EM Waves not being visible to the naked eye, they do form multiple networks that supports daily function of everyday life. Most humans now typically carry Transers, portable devices that interfaces with the EM Wave World. Much like cell phones they are often used for communication, public data, identification, etc.

Alas, the planet is not without problems. Malfunctions within the global web of electromagnetic waves have been occurring, reported by locals. Which the public has dubbed EM Wave Viruses. An organization known as the Satella Police special in combating the viruses, maintaining order in the Wave Web.

Somewhere within a high-tech Command Room, alarms blared followed by red holographic screens displaying the 'Warning' sign. The staff rapidly types on their keyboards trying to figure out the cause of this phenomena and how to resolve it.

"The Shiva Lens has detected an abnormality!"

"Coordinations confirmed!"

"Abnormal value rising!"

"Laplace is getting a read on the situation."

"Hurry!"

"Are there any EM Viruses?"

"None. Our security system has detected no virus activity."

In the midst of the Command Room stood a white haired woman, somewhere in her early twenties, overlooking a blue projection of Earth with large interlocking rings rotating around it. On the projected globe of the planet are golden dots that vanish one by one. What's more, the cooling blue light of the projected Earth starts to dim.

"The light—!" Her amber eyes widen at the sight.

From behind her, a man wearing a green victorian suit with a matching top hat, who looks to be in his late forties or so with long hair spoke up. "CHALDEAS is the created reproduction of Earth's soul. If the light of civilization is extinguished—"

"Gather people with Master potential right now!" she commands, turning to face her employees. "We'll have to move forward with the Rayshift experiments ahead of schedule and put it to practical use!" She then faces the projected globe, CHALDEAS. "Unless we regain the light of CHALDEAS, humanity has no future!"

Six Months Later

A heatwave permeates throughout Shibuya as a majority of people are wearing light clothing, such as shorts, hats, sunglasses, etc. Beads of sweat can be seen on people's faces, some carrying fans on their person, paper or portable, as they continued to go on about their business.

Inside the classroom of a local high school, students are seated in their desks. Some looked bored, clearly wanting the day to be over and done with. Others either quietly talked to friends in hushed whispers, texted, or played games (on silent, of course) on their Transers. A few students did genuinely listen to the homeroom teacher's announcement, though it wasn't anything important as it was mostly about their summer homework and what they would be doing.

Speaking of, today is the last day of school. Summer break for students was only a couple of minutes away as this is the last class of the day.

Ding Dong

The last bell of the school year had finally rang, prompting students to stand up from their seats and pack their bags. Conversation filled the classroom and hallways, followed by numerous footsteps walking about.

Seated at the very back of the classroom, at the second desk closest to the door is a young man. He has unkempt, messy black hair and blue eyes. His name is Ritsuka Fujimaru.

Ritsuka's eyes were glued onto his Transer's screen, starring at images of mech figurines. Upon scrolling down at each of the displayed imagines, his eyes seemingly shone at each one with child-like delight, admiring the overall designs and weaponry.

"Yo, Ritsuka." a male voice called out to him.

"Yoohoo~! Earth to Ritsuka, you listening?" questioned a feminine voice, followed by a hand waving in front of his face thus blocking his view.

Now pulling his eyes away from the screen, Ritsuka looks besides him only to see his two friends, Andou and Osakabe. They gave him playful amused looks as if to say, 'You're at it again.'

"Oh. Hey, guys. Is class over?" Ritsuka looks around to see that mostly everyone from the classroom had left, some students still lingering around. Even the homeroom teacher had left.

"Dude, you really were in that deep in your own little world, huh." Andou mused.

"Can't help it. I like what I like." Ritsuka freely admits, no hint of embarrassment. "Besides, it's the last day of school. Not as if I'll get in trouble or get detention if I get 'caught' looking at some pictures."

"Wow, way to make it sound so prurient." Osakabe snickers suggestively with a hint of red on her cheeks.

Andou scratches the back of his head while letting out a sigh, "You can say that again. Seriously, Ritsuka, despite knowing what you actually mean—you reeaally make it sound like you're looking at nudes."

"As if I'd do that." Ritsuka drawled with a flat look.

Osakabe looks over Ritsuka's shoulder, getting a clear look at the mech figurines he had been looking at. Particularly at the prices. "So? You looking to buy one of these…?"

"Hopefully." replies Ritsuka. "But with the money I have now from my allowance, I'd be lucky to get one."

"Wow, you must have been saving up." she noted.

"Are you planning to get a job for the summer?" Andou asked, making the two look at him. "I've already applied for a part-time position, so I'll be working to make some extra money."

Ritsuka nodded, "I thought about it, yeah. Guess I'll have to start looking. Unless…"

"Sorry, man. The place I applied isn't hiring anymore. Turns out the spot I took was the last one."

"Bummer." Ritsuka frowned, before letting out a sigh and stood up from his desk. "Oh well, guess the first thing I'll do after getting my summer homework done is start job hunting."

"Best of luck."

"Thanks."

The two boys look over at their female friend.

Osakabe blinked, "What?"

"Do you have anything planned for the summer, Osakabe?" Andou curiously wondered.

"I might be going on a trip with my family. Not really sure. I'd have to talk to them later when I get back home. But if not, then yeah…Guess I'll end up looking for work too." she said.

"Well, let us know what you end up doing. Maybe we can find some time to hang out." Ritsuka said.

"Definitely."

"In the meantime, do you guys wanna get some ice cream? Andou asked.

"Yeah." Osakabe smiled.

"Sure thing." nodded Ritsuka.

Beyond the reaches of Earth and the entire Solar System, a high-speed asteroid freely travels throughout the cosmos. However, occupying this asteroid's surface are twelve figures. One of them stands alone within the asteroid's crater, surrounded by the other eleven as they glared at him. The lone figure carefully observes his current situation, seeing no way out of this predicament.

"It's no use, Omega-Xis! Surrender right now…!" The bird-like figure commanded. "You can't escape all of us."

"Now hurry up and hand over the Andromeda Key! Damned traitor!" The ox-like figure demanded with bile in his tone.

"Oh? How about this: You can have the key back if you can kill me, which I doubt will happen." The lone figure, Omega-Xis, taunted.

"Why have you betrayed us, Omega-Xis? You were one of Planet FM's greatest warriors!" the bird figure stated, coldly glaring at him.

Omega-Xis snickered, "Hmph. Wouldn't you like to know."

"You—!"

"And besides…"

Abruptly, a bright flash of light seemingly comes out of nowhere causing all of them to shield their eyes. What's more, the asteroid they were on violently quakes. Chunks of debris begin to float, gradually breaking apart the flying rock. Each of the figures gape at their surroundings, nonplussed with wide eyes.

"No way! This is—!?" Stammered a wolf looking figure.

"The Andromeda Key's power!" the bird cried in conformation. "Darn you, Omega-Xis! You really activated the key!?"

"…I think you have more important things to worry about. They're already coming." Omega-Xis informed.

True to his words, something, or rather…several somethings emerged from the bright light. The presence of these unknown enemies caused the bird and his allies to be on their guard.

"Damn!" the bird cursed.

"Have fun now." Omega-Xis grinned, giving a playful salute before into a green steak of light and flies away. After ditching his adversaries, the asteroid explodes in a blinding flash. Pieces of shattered debris fly in multiple directions, now aimlessly floating amidst the stars.

Freely flying through space without having to worry about his pursuers for a while, Omega-Xis keeps looking straight ahead; as one goal was on his mind.

"The Earth...it's calling out to me!"

After parting ways with his friends, Ritsuka returns back home and opens the door with his key. Once he steps inside and closes the door, he hears a shriek.

"Ack! Oh no…" a familiar voice exasperates.

"Huh?" blinks Ritsuka. "Was that mom…?" Normally after hearing a shriek like that, he would have immediately ran to see what was wrong. But given how his mother sounded annoyed rather than worried, he figured she was okay and possibly ran into some technical issue or something. That, and there was no smoke so no one had to worry about a house fire.

"I'm home." Ritsuka announces, taking off his shoes.

"You're back!" a young feminine voice happily cried. Footsteps can be heard rushing towards the young man, he spots a diminutive figure running into him. A pair of arms wrap around his waist. "Welcome home, big brother."

Looking up at him with a bright smile is a young girl around seven or eight years old. She has black hair very much like his, except longer and tied in a ponytail. Also like himself, she shares his blue eyes. Her attire was a pair of pajamas. This is his younger sister, Haruka Fujimaru.

"Hey there, Haruka." Ritsuka greeted his sister, lightly ruffling her hair. "You excited for the summer?"

"Yep!" Haruka replied, releasing her brother as she steps back. Realization then spreads across her features, "Oh right! Come quick. Mom is having trouble with something in the kitchen…!" With that she runs off to the living room.

Ritsuka follows after his younger sibling in a moderate traipse. Once he steps foot in the living room, he surveys everything around him with curiosity. Both the kitchen and living room windows were open, allowing smoke to escape outside. In the kitchen was his mother frantically waving a little towel at the oven, where the source of the smoke was coming from.

"Uh oh. Maybe I do need to worry about a potential house fire, after all." Ritsuka thought before speaking to his mother, "Mom? Is something wrong with the oven…?"

Ritsuka's mother, Mrs. Fujimaru, lightly gyrates her neck as she looks at her son. "Oh, Ritsuka. Welcome home, son." She continues to fan out the smoke with the little kitchen towel. "And…yes, something is wrong with the oven. Could you come give me a hand, please?"

"I'm coming." Ritsuka drops his bag down on the floor and steps into the kitchen to help his mother. Instead of grabbing a towel to fan out the smoke, he opens his Transer. Once the screen lights up, Ritsuka pushes a few buttons on the screen before red spots popped up. "I knew it." he gave a small frown.

The screen displays images of short, tiny black creatures. Their bodies are round, like a ball, with yellow feet and wore yellow construction-like hats that has a green '+' and pointed tip. Above their heads are two red halo-like rings that keep shooting out of their heads, as if signaling more of their kind. Despite not having arms and hands, they carried pickaxes. These are EM Viruses, one of the common ones dubbed, Mettenna.

"A bunch of EM Viruses are infecting the oven."

"Oh jeez." His mother sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Hold on. I'll get rid of them." Ritsuka says, pulling out a memory card-like object from his pocket. "Battle Card! Sword!" With that, he inserts the card into the slot of his Transer.

His Transer screen displays the Mettennas being cut by an invisible blade as they vanish in a black-purplish ripple, almost if as they were 'swallowed' by a black hole.

"There. All gone." Ritsuka confirms with a smile.

"That's so cool~!" Haruka admired, a wide smile across her face.

A proud grin plastered itself onto Ritsuka's face, "Battle Cards are cool, aren't they?" To emphasize this, he holds up another Battle Card as if it were a trophy. Haruka stares up at the said card with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Yes, yes, you sure love using Battle Cards." His mother playfully rolled her eyes, smirking. She proceeds to fan the smoke out the windows before checking on the oven.

"Mom! Why don't I have a Transer or Battle Cards yet?" Haruka complained.

"You're still too young, Haruka. I don't want my daughter wearing a gaudy looking device on her arm every day." The older woman informs her daughter, as the younger girl pouts.

"Gaudy?" Ritsuka looks at his mother as if she grew a second head and possibly said something in a foreign language that he fails to comprehend.

"Hey now, don't act like I said something blasphemous or anything. I never liked how those things looked. You know this..."

True. Ritsuka indeed knew that about his mother. But come on! Transers are one of the coolest gadgets he could ever possibly have in his lifetime! Especially since they're real life Pipboys from the Fallout video game series! Except without all of the character stats and things like that.

Speaking of which…

"Mom, you really outta consider getting a Transer and some Battle Cards one of these days. This possibly could have been worse if left alone for too long." Ritsuka told her.

"I know, I know. Your dad has been pestering me about that too, believe me." She said with some minor annoyance, though it wasn't mean spirited in any fashion. "But I'm not big on the idea of having to wear a rather large bracelet, computer-like gizmo on my wrist. Better off sticking to my cell phone instead."

Ritsuka gave a small sigh before giving an understanding nod.

Despite Transers being one of the main devices that people use now these days, there are those, like his mother, who prefer to use a cell phone given how it's not some big device you have to wear around your arm. Heck, about half of the student body at his school don't have Transers and use phones. Although unlike Transers, cell phones don't have the capacity to use or even have a function to instal Battle Cards.

"Anyway, thank you for helping me with that little problem, son." Ritsuka gives his mother a nod. "You should probably head upstairs to your room and get ready for dinner later."

"Alright," Ritsuka replied, heading upstairs to his room.

After going to his room, Ritsuka washes up and changes his clothes. He wore a simple pair of black sweatpants and a dark blue shirt. Naturally, he removed his Transer as he had no need to wear it anymore for the day.

Despite wanting to play video games and laze around in his room for the evening, he got started on his summer homework. Once this was out of the way, he is free to play to his heart's content and won't have to worry about finishing said homework at the last minute, like some teens his age might do. Thankfully, he kept some of his class notes so he was able to complete most of his worksheets and workbooks.

"Okay, that should be good." Ritsuka thought, overlooking his work and how he finished up most of everything that was assigned to him.

"Ritsuka! Dinner's ready…!" His mother calls out to him.

"On my way!" the young man responds.

Soon he was downstairs with his mother and sister as they were seated at the table. Ritsuka and Haruka sat next to each other with plates, as their mother sat across from them on Haruka's side. Beside her is an empty seat with an empty plate that has yet to be served.

Ritsuka blinked, "Oh right, I nearly forgot to ask: Where's dad? I noticed earlier when I came back home his car wasn't in the driveway."

Also, much like himself, Ritsuka's father also owns and uses a Transer with Battle Cards. So if he had been home during that little incident with the oven, he would have taken care of those EM Viruses long before Ritsuka came back.

"Your father drove off to meet with your aunt at AMAKEN Labs." she informed.

"He went to see her at AMAKEN?" Ritsuka curiously inquired.

Ritsuka's father works for a computer tech company, so he does mot of his work at home from inside his study room. Meanwhile, his and Haruka's aunt—their mother's sister, to be specific—works as a researcher at AMAKEN Labs.

"Was she, or one of her co-workers, having computer issues?"

"No. It's some work related business. Said she had something to show him and that he'll be bringing it back with him later." she shrugged.

"That's interesting. Wonder what he'll bring back?" the young man wondered.

As if on cue, the door opened and a voice rang out.

"I'm home." announced a male voice.

"Dad!" Haruka pushes her seat back and hops off as she runs to the front door.

Ritsuka's father, Mr. Fujimaru, laughs as his figure stepped into the living room as Haruka greets him and him returning the gesture. "Sorry for coming back so late. Traffic got a little hectic on the way back."

"That's alright. Just make sure you take off your Transer before you sit down." Mrs. Fujimaru informed her husband.

"Right away." After taking off his Transer, the older man sits at the dinner table with his wife filling his plate with some food.

Ritsuka noticed that his dad carried a small looking box with him and placed it beside him as he sat down. Haruka animatedly asked what was inside but their mother injected, saying that they should just let the man relax and eat his dinner. So the Fujimaru family enjoyed their dinner, made idle chit-chat, like any other ordinary family would.

Some time after they finished their meal, Haruka brought up the incident with the oven and brought up how her mother was having trouble trying to figure out the problem until Ritsuka came back home. The siblings' mother tried to dissuade Haruka's exaggerated retelling of the events, saying that she wasn't panicking in the slightest and had everything under control. Ritsuka then explained how he had to get rid of some EM Viruses the very moment he detected them with his Transer.

Mr. Fujimaru sighed upon hearing that story, "See, Hon? This is exactly why I said you should get and have a Transer on standby."

"I would consider it if those things were more fashionable, and less gaudy looking." She told him, firmly sticking to her beliefs and reasoning about not getting one. In response, the father and son duo gave the woman a look, likely trying to wrap their heads around how she could call the Transers 'gaudy', as she would put it. Meanwhile, Haruka laughed at the funny faces her brother and father are making. "Seriously, like father, like son…"

"Anyways…" Mr. Fujimaru says, trying to brush off the minor embarrassment welling up, and gently taps the box besides him. "I think it's about time to show you all what's inside this box."

"It's something you got from aunty, right?" Ritsuka inquired.

"Yes." he nodded. The head of the Fujimaru household opens the box, as his family leans in to see what it was.

Inside the box is a pair of white sunglasses that has a blue visor lens with yellow ripple-like patterns, and yellow star emblems on the sides.

Ritsuka, along with his sister and mother, blinked in confusion upon looking at the glasses.

"A pair of sunglasses?" the young man raised a brow.

"That was my reaction, too." The older man chuckles at his family's nonplussed reaction. "From what your aunt told me, it's called a Visualizer. When worn, it allows the wearer to see the electromagnetic wave spectrum."

That piece of information amazed Ritsuka, along with his sister and mother.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I wanna try them on! Oh please, dad! Can I try them on first?" Haruka animatedly pleads, jumping up and down in front of her father.

"Haruka! You're being rude. You need to be patient!" Mrs. Fujimaru reproves her daughter. "Your father was entrusted those glasses, so it's his decision who gets to try them on first."

Haruka grumbles yet looked apologetic, "I'm sorry…" she twiddles her thumbs.

This prompts a light hearted laughter from , lightly patting his daughter on the head. "Ah, it's okay. Haruka can try them on first. The only problem we'll have to worry about is getting her to give them back to us." he jokes.

Mrs. Fujimaru sighs, "You really spoil her sometimes."

This causes Ritsuka to chuckle.

"Alright, Haruka, the glasses are a bit too big for you to properly wear. So you'll ned to carefully hold them. Be careful not to break the hinges, okay?" Mr. Fujimaru carefully instructs.

"Okay." Haruka nodded. Following her father's instructions, she carefully holds the Visualizer by the temples and looks through the lens. "Hmm? I don't see anything."

"That's because we're inside the house. Come on, let's go outside."

The Fujimaru family steps out the front door of their house. Once they were outside, Haruka's eyes sparkles in delight and lets out an excited ovation.

"Ah~!"

Before the girl's very own eyes is a myriad of luminescent colors, in various shapes and sizes—freely flying through the night sky.

"There are so many!" Haruka laughs, raising up her arms trying to reach for the lights.

"It must really be something, huh." Ritsuka looks at his dad.

"Sure is. I was astonished when I first tried on those glasses." grinned. "Speaking of which, Haruka! Let your brother have a turn."

"Aww. Okay." Haruka conceded before offering the Visualizer to her brother. "Here, big brother. Take a look at the pretty lights."

"Don't mind if I do." Ritsuka grabs the Visualizer and puts them on. He now is able to see the myriad of luminescent colors of light. Much like his sister, his eyes sparkled in delight followed by a wide smile. "Whoa! This is amazing!"

Mr. Fujimaru looks to his wife. "Do you want to try them on next?"

"Maybe another time. It's best to let the kids have fun with those glasses." she replies. Then, after a moment, she releases a small gasp from her lips.

"What's wrong?"

"I just remembered I was supposed to get detergent earlier today. But because I was busy with other errands, such as buying groceries and picking up Haruka from school; along with that fiasco with the oven…I completely forgot." Mrs. Fujimaru sighs.

"I can go out and buy it, mom." Ritsuka volunteers. "The store isn't closed yet around this time."

"Are you sure, son? I could always wait to buy it tomorrow and do our laundry when I get back." she told him.

"I don't mind. And besides, it'd be nice to go on a little nightly stroll." he said.

"Well alright, then. Thank you, son." Mrs. Fujimaru gave a small smile before reaching for her pocket, takes out some money and hands it Ritsuka.

Once he pockets the money, Ritsuka takes the Visualizer off and tries handing it back to his dad. To his surprise, his father simply raises a hand and declines. This causes the young man to blink in confusion.

"Your aunt actually wanted you to hold on to the Visualizer for her." His father explains. "So from today onwards, until otherwise…Those belong to you."

"Really?" Ritsuka blinks, starring at the Visualizer. "So I'll be holding on to this?"

"Think of it as a little side job of sorts." Mr. Fujimaru says, causing his to give him a questioning look "Anyway, we can talk more about that tomorrow. You should put your shoes on and get going."

"Right." Ritsuka nodded.

Some time later, Ritsuka walks back home carrying a bag with the detergent bottle inside. He was quite a ways from his house as he intentionally took the long way back. He merely wanted to enjoy the warm night air. Feeling the cool, gentle breeze flowing through his face.

The weather was so nice that he wished he bought a popsicle or a small cup of ice cream, or maybe some juice. But alas, this was his mother's money and he didn't want to spend the change he received after buying the detergent. Sure, he has his allowance—which he has smartly saved up from doing various chores and errands for his parents—but he didn't want to touch that unless he really needed something. After all, he was taught to be responsible with his money.

He thinks back to his conversation with Andou earlier today about getting a part-time job for the summer. Heck, maybe after he lands some part-time work, he can keep it for when he goes back to school after the summer break. That way he can keep earning money, save up, and buy mecha figures! Oh, but he should probably get a display shelf and then start collecting.

"Alright! Tomorrow I'll finish the rest of my summer homework and start job hunting." He firmly nods at his idea. The movement of his head causes the Visualizer to accidentally slide back on over his eyes. "Oh?" He adjusts the glasses. "Heh. Guess I got a little too excited."

Once again, he looks up at the night sky to see EM Waves freely flying and dancing throughout the stars. "I'm really going to enjoy seeing this everyday." He admires. Right as he was starring at the EM Waves, he notices two in particular—a green one and a cyan one—that circled around each other before clashing, almost as if they were fighting.

"Strange. Are they supposed to act that way…?" Ritsuka questions, squinting his eyes to hopefully get a better look.

Within the electromagnetic wave spectrum, unseen by ordinary humans, the green and cyan lights continued flying through the night sky and collides against each other before coming to a halt. Once they did, they reformed themselves into their respective forms.

One of them turns out to be the shadowy sawn figure from before. His red eyes burned with intensity and animosity, as he glares at his foe. "I finally caught up to you, Omega-Xis!"

Floating across from the swan is a rather unusual creature. It appeared to look like either a dog or crocodile-like creature, maybe a bear(?), given the snout and 'teeth'; with red eyes. The entire body was that of glowing green energy, appearing almost ghostly due to the tail, and has dark blue armor over its head, torso, shoulders, and wrists that has some silver platting.

"Tch. Didn't think you'd make it this far, Cygnus. Always the persistent one." Omega-Xis clicked in annoyance.

"Bastard!" Cygnus growled. "You must think you're so clever! Waiting for those abominations to catch up with us, deploy the Andromeda Key's power to break apart that asteroid, and leave us all in the dust to deal with them after you escaped during that explosion!"

"Gee, thanks for the recount." Omega-Xis derisively said, vapid. "Still, I have to admit: I'm surprised you managed to keep up despite the obstacles that you all clearly had to deal with it. But then again, I shouldn't be too surprised nor give you that much credit."

"Silence! Hand over the Andromeda Key!" Cygnus demanded.

"I refuse." Omega-Xis splutters. "Like I said before, you'll have to kill me in order to get it. And that won't be easy! So long as I'm alive, you'll never get the key!"

"Don't tempt me, you damned traitor!" Cygnus hissed.

"Then bring it!" Omega-Xis challenged.

Both alien lifeforms collide once more. Each clash produce a flash of lights followed by minor shockwaves. They went at it for a couple of more seconds, before Omega-Xis decided that he needed to end this fight as soon as possible. There was no point continuing this fracas any longer than needed. So with a powerful battle cry, Omega-Xis' body vibrantly glows as he then curls into a ball before releasing an explosive blast. Cygnus, despite knowing what Omega-Xis had done, proceeds to fly towards the traitor caring little about the consequence of his actions and the aftermath.

A blinding flash of light erupts from the collision.

"Uraaugh! O-Omega-Xisss!" Cygnus screamed, his form swallowed by the light.

"Grr! D-Damn. I can't—!" Omega-Xis struggles to keep afloat, until gravity finally takes its hold.

Down below on solid ground, Ritsuka continues to watch the lights clash before one of them starts to shine with an intensity. Eventually, it broadly expands and illuminates over his body.

Realizing what was going on, Ritsuka widened his eyes.

"Hah. Maybe I shouldn't have taken the long way home." Given no time to run, Ritsuka is struck by the green light.

As the young man was struck, he screams until it was drowned away. The beam had struck the ground yet left no form of damage on the concrete. When the light starts to diminish, a silhouette of an armored figure with a glowing red visor briefly appeared.

What remained afterwards is an unconscious Ritsuka, alone and vulnerable to the world.

Chapter Text

There have been times where Ritsuka has had lucid dreams. Not very often, mind you. It was so rare that he can only count the experiences on one hand. Most of the time, he knocks out and wakes up the very next day. Just like that. However during those few rare moments, when he does have a lucid dream, he always vividly remembers getting inside a mech. Seated in the cockpit, donned in an awesome flight suit, pushing buttons, and finally getting his giant robot to take off and fly into outer space! Having grand adventures.

Call him cringe all you want. Maybe a hopeless romantic, fantasizing about things like that. But this is what he likes! And he has no shame in it whatsoever…!

All that aside, he doesn't ever recall his dreams involving him floating aimlessly in an infinite white void. "

"Where…am I?" Ritsuka wonders, floating through the void. Nothing was in sight. Everything seems to stretch endlessly.

Soon enough, he spots an odd looking creature. Its body was primarily made up of this green energy and wore blue armor. It appeared to be unconscious, until its red eyes snapped open.

"Gah!" The act alone caused Ritsuka to recoil due to how immediate it was. He even tried to think of ways to get away from this creature. However, a pained groan reached his ears. The teen gives pause as he properly looks at the creature. Both of its arms wrapped around it chest, wincing in pain.

"Hey." Ritsuka calls out, slowly approaching the creature. Let it be known, it  is  rather stupid of him to approach this being of unknown origin, however he somehow gets the feeling it isn't bad. Or at least, won't cause him any harm. Call it intuition. "Are you hurt? What happened to you…? Is there anything I can do to help?"

From the corner of the creature's red eyes, it side glances at Ritsuka and carefully observes him. "His wavelength frequency, it's…the same as mine." It quietly mutters, its voice deep and masculine.

"What was that…?" Ritsuka blinks in confusion, slightly tilting his head.

"Nothing. Just talking to myself." the creature replies, his voice clear. "In any case, no need to worry about me. This is only a little scratch. Practically nothing. Give it a day or two and it'll be completely healed."

"I see. That's good to hear." Ritsuka replies, approaching closer to him. "It's amazing how we're able to understand each other. By the way, what's your name? I'm Ritsuka…Ritsuka Fujimaru."

"I am Omega-Xis." he introduces.

"Omega-Xis, huh…"

"That's right. I come from the Planet FM." he informs.

"Planet FM…? Wait! You're an alien!?" Ritsuka exclaims in shock.

"Hold up." Omega-Xis shushes hum, looking… somewhere  throughout this endless void.

"Huh? What's up?" Ritsuka curiously inquires.

"Someone's approaching." Omega-Xis warned, vanishing in green light.

Instantaneously, the white void was replaced by the scenery of outer space. A seemingly endless sea of stars, filled with planets, nebulas, and galaxies illuminating with vibrant colors. At first, the change of scenery amazed Ritsuka for split second before he suddenly begins to 'fall', his screams echoing before fading completely.

Red siren lights illuminate the empty sidewalk streets. Police cars, or rather Satella Police cars, are parked around the area as officers dressed in grey and blue uniforms exit their vehicles. All of them wore these large backpack devices with outlet-like scanners attached.

From one of the cars, a muddle aged man with black hair and large, bushy eyebrows steps out. He wore a green trench coat, white dress shirt, red tie, brown pants, a belt with a silver buckle, and loafer shoes. On top of his head is a silver pointed siren. This is Heiji Goyouda.

"Alright, everyone! Split up and search the vicinity. We need to find the source of that abnormal wavelength reading immediately." he orders.

"Yes, sir!" the officers replied, as they spread out.

A couple of minutes have passed since the search began.

"Hmm. This can't be right." Goyouda mutters, scratching his head as he overlooks his Transer. "Our sensors definitely detected abnormal electromagnetic waves around this area. But it's not showing up anymore…"

"Detective Gyouda!" An officer calls out.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We found a teenage boy passed out in the middle of the sidewalk." the officer informed.

"A teenage boy?" Goyouda raises an eyebrow. He overlooks the officer's shoulder, witnessing two other officers helping Ritsuka up on his feet before escorting him into one of the cars. "Did you get his name? And what was he doing here…?"

"He says his name is Ritsuka Fujimaru. Apparently, he was on his way back home after buying some laundry detergent for his mother. One of our officers has the bag he was holding and confirmed it. Moreover, we already searched him. Aside from the usual—such as his Transer, Battle Cards, keys, and wallet…He wasn't armed with anything dangerous or suspicious." the officer reports.

"I see." Goyouda lets out a low hum, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"What do you want us to do with him?"

"Take him back to the station. Contact his folks. And then we'll ask him some questions while we wait for him to get picked up." the older man suggests.

"Understood."

Roughly an hour and a half later, Ritsuka's father came to pick him up. After signing some paper work and some questioning, the father and son duo are walking out of the station. Unbeknownst to the adults, Ritsuka looked as though he had the life drained out of him. His eyes listless, and facial feature impassive.

"Wait!" Goyouda calls out, running after the father and son as they were about to get inside the car. "Just to be absolutely certain: Are you positive you didn't see anything suspicious while you were out there? No unusual activity?"

"No, detective. As I've said to you already, I was on my way back home after buying laundry detergent. Stargazed for a bit. But then a flash of light appeared out of nowhere. I got blinded. And…I passed out. That's all." Ritsuka replied, almost robotically.

Goyouda stares at the young man with a minor hint of suspicion. He has no doubt the young man was telling the truth, seeing that he was indeed carrying the same bag containing said laundry detergent which his father is now holding. Alongside the receipt that was safely tucked inside of his wallet, displaying the name of the store he went to and the timestamp; that was roughly after Satella Police detectors caught those fluctuations of EM Wave readings. Even after one of the officers had taken Ritsuka to the station, Goyouda ordered the rest of his fellow officers to resume their search a while longer and managed to question some people that had been around the area.

Thankfully the people nearby did call Satella Police officers, and confirmed this flash of light that Ritsuka had apparently seen before passing out. Goyouda obviously questioned them alongside his fellow officers, asking if any of them had fallen unconscious after seeing it. They said they hadn't as most only saw it for a split second and covered their eyes, and others were facing the opposite direction. Goyouda realized that the witnesses, unlike Ritsuka, was nowhere near the supposed light source as their testimonies suggests all of them had been a good distance away.

Which means only Ritsuka was the one closest to that particular spot where it happened. The older man couldn't make heads or tails if the boy was just unlucky, or if something else was going on.

By the time Mr. Fujimaru showed up, Goyouda asked the man if his son had any medical conditions after explaining everything to him. However, the man assured him that his son had no such conditions.

The officer releases a heavy sigh, "Right. You did tell us that." He scratches his head in minor annoyance at the lack of any information to his investigation. "Well okay, then. You fellas get home safely now." Then his gaze shifts over to Ritsuka, "As for you, young man. Be more careful next time, you hear? Wouldn't want to worry your folks even more should god forbid if something like this happen again."

"Thank you for your concern, detective. Good night." Mr. Fujimaru said before Ritsuka and himself got inside the car and drove away.

Goyouda stares at the moving vehicle before heading back inside the station.

Shortly after the car ride home, Haruka and his mother came rushing at the young man when he walked through the door with his father closely behind.

"Big Brother, are you okay? Why were you at the Satella Police station?" she animatedly questions, looking up at him with both confusion and worry. No doubt their mother had made a fuss when they received that call from one of the officers to inform them about his whereabouts.

Before Ritsuka could answer his sister, Mrs. Fujimaru interrupted, "Haruka, give your brother some space!" Despite saying that, the older woman instantly pats him down from head to shoulders; even turning him around to look for any sort of injury or anything that may cause him discomfort.

"He's okay, hon. The officers already checked him for injury. As you can see, our son is fine." The head of the Fujimaru household informs, trying to ease his wife's worries. But of course, it's not so easy when motherly instincts are taking over. Not to say he didn't have is own concerns. Reluctantly, his wife backs away from their son after checking for herself that he had no injury. "But…you are okay, aren't you, son?"

"Yeah, dad. I'm fine. It's just…" Right then and there, Ritsuka's mind began to race as a flashback of seeing those two lights fighting each other replayed. The luster in his eyes returned. "Ah! That's right! It was the lights!"

"Lights?" Mr. Fujimaru blinked.

"There were these two lights that looked like they were fighting each other! One of them was this alien called Omega-Xis! Said he was from a planet called FM. And…and…" Ritsuka tries to explain to his family.

"Son." Mr. Fujimaru gently places a hand on Ritsuka's shoulder. "Maybe you should head up to your room and get some rest. You likely had some bizarre dream while you were knocked out, and your head must be jumbled. Also, I bet your back must be a little sore from having been laying down on the sidewalk before getting escorted by the Satella Police."

"Satella Police…?" he repeated in perplexity.

"Alright, that's enough talk." Mrs. Fujimaru spoke. "Your father is right. Head up to your room and lay down on your bed. I'll bring you some tea in a little while to help you relax."

"You mind if I have some, too?" Mr. Fujimaru asked.

"Me too!" Haruka happily chimed.

"Oh alright. I'll prepare tea for everyone. I sure could use a cup too, honestly." Mrs. Fujimaru said that last part to herself before looking at Ritsuka again. "Go on, son. I'll bring you some tea in a little bit."

"…Okay. Thanks." With that, Ritsuka goes up to his room.

Ritsuka was back in his room. Laying on his bed, feeling the softness of his mattress ease the ache he felt in his back. He honestly had no idea ow much his back was aching. Sure, he felt the discomfort but it was nothing prominent until now. Don't get him wrong, he isn't weak by any means and does some exercises here and there. But he must have been lying on the sidewalk for quite a while before the Satella Police showed up.

His mother came to his room earlier to deliver the cup of tea she had made, and told him it would help him sleep well tonight. Currently, the cup is on his table as the steam rose from the hot liquid. After thanking his mother for the tea, she exited his room and he was just starring up at the ceiling. He was still thinking about what happened earlier.

"Strange. I remember being at the Satella Police station and being questioned by the officers, and yet…I can't remember much of it." Despite the odd contradiction, it was the truth. He hardly remembers the experience. "Maybe dad was right. My head must've been jumbled after seeing that flash of light." He sits up from his bed. "If that's the case, it must've been a dream after all."

Before he could reach for his tea, a voice spoke…

"You weren't dreaming."

"Eh!?" Startled, Ritsuka recoils away from his tea and starts looking around his room. "W-What? Who said that?"

"I already told you my name."

"No way. Omega-Xis…?" The young man gasps in realization, adamantly looks around his room trying to spot the alien he had met earlier. "Where are you? I can hear your voice, but I can't see you."

"Try putting that eyewear thing on." Omega-Xis instructs. "From what I could tell, it will allow you to see me."

"You mean the Visualizer?" he briefly inquired, before immediately putting the Visualizer on. Once he did, the young man was able to see Omega-Xis clear as day. "Whoa! I can see you now."

"That you can." Omega-Xis remarked. "Amazing how that little device can allow someone to see into the Wave World, even beings like myself."

"How do you know that? Also, where have you been this whole time?" Ritsuka questioned.

"I was hiding inside of that." Omega-Xis points at Ritsuka's Transer.

"In my Transer?" Ritsuka blinked, before the answer came to him. "Oh, I get it! Because the Satella Police wouldn't have been able to detect any abnormal wavelength frequencies from within it."

"Good. You catch on fast." Omega-Xis nodded. "Like you said, it was only place where those annoying humans from earlier wouldn't be able to detect me. And as for your other question, let's just say when I crashed into you I may have accidentally hit that Visualizer—as you call it—and learned about its capabilities."

"Because you're made up of EM Waves?" Ritsuka placed a hand beneath his chin, slightly tilting his head.

"That's right." Omega-Xis confirmed. He then phases through Ritsuka's window.

"Hey, wait…!" Ritsuka tried going after him only to accidentally bump into his own window.

Bump!

"Ow." He rubs his face before opening his window, seeing Omega-Xis hovering nearby looking up at the night sky. Ritsuka carefully takes a seat on his window stool, as he too looks up at the starry sky. When he does, he was able to see these yellow roads of energy, almost like circuitry. "Amazing! This is so cool…! My family and I weren't able to see those yellow roads before. I guess when you collided into me, you must've enhanced the Visualizer's preexisting capabilities."

Omega-Xis gave no reply. Merely starring up at the night sky.

Ritsuka spoke no further as he, too, stares up at the starry sky alongside this EM being.

They sat in silence for a while.

Omega-Xis was the one to speak up first, "You sure are a considerate one." This causes Ritsuka to look at him and blink in confusion. "From what little I know about this planet—which isn't very much, mind you—I figured you as an Earthling would be bombarding me with questions. About what's up there and all that stuff."

Ritsuka chuckled, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't have any questions. Naturally, I am curious about what's up there like most people would be. But...now isn't a good time be asking those sorts of questions, no matter how much I want to."

"Hmm? Why's that?" Omega-Xis asked, curious.

"You're still hurt, after all." he simply told him. "Furthermore, and while I couldn't see it clearly at the time, you were fighting that other light from before, weren't you? No doubt you must be exhausted."

Omega-Xis stares at the boy for what felt like minutes. Then he opens his mouth again, "Heh. You sure know how to read the room."

"I try." Ritsuka smiles.

"And me? Exhausted? As if." Omega-Xis snickered. "I would have kept fighting for a couple of more hours, if I could."

"Oh really?" Ritsuka obviously didn't buy that.

"Hrgh." Omega-Xis groans in pain.

"What's wrong?" Ritsuka asks in concern. "Is your wound acting up?"

"Yeah. Guess I spoke too soon." The EM life form winced. "Before I go back inside of your Transer, you must not tell anyone, including your family, about me. Can you do that for me?" Omega-Xis' red eyes met with Ritsuka's blue ones.

"You have my word." Ritsuka resolutely nodded.

Omega-Xis gave a nod of his own before transmuting into a green beam of light and zips back into Ritsuka's Transer.

Ritsuka, now officially left alone in his room, gets back on his bed and closes the window. He reaches for his tea, that has gotten a little cold, and chugs it down in one go. Afterwards, he inhales and exhales until he freely falls back onto the bed. What a weird unofficial first day of summer today turned out to be.

The following morning, a light groan comes out of Ritsuka's lips while a thin beam of sunlight pierces through the gap of his curtain. Sitting up, the young man stretches out his arms and yawns. He ruffles his own hair with one hand and uses the other to open the curtain, letting sunlight illuminate his room. Afterwards, he reaches for his Transer.

"Morning, Omega-Xis." Ritsuka greeted, lightly rubbing his eyes.

Silence.

"Hmm?" he blinks. "Omega-Xis…?" He opens his Transer to see if the alien being was still inside. To his surprise, he found no signs of the EM being. He reaches for his Visualizer and puts them on and scans around his room, only to yet again find no traces of Omega-Xis. The young man opens his window and sticks his head out to see if Omega-Xis was floating outside of his house or anywhere else nearby. Again, he saw no signs of him.

"Did his injuries already heal?" That seemed to be the logical conclusion. "If so, I wish he would have at least said goodbye." He sighs. "Oh well…"

Meanwhile, over 5000 miles away from Japan is one of the most famous locations in the United States of America. Known for its speculative rumors and conspiracies, especially when it comes to the existence of aliens: The Nevada desert. Said to be the location of Area 51. Many people throughout the internet have theorized that somewhere deep within that military installation are underground labs, housing extraterrestrial lifeforms in tubes and aircrafts being studied. Of course, these are only speculations alongside the fact that ordinary civilians are not allowed to enter a military base. Although due to these rumors and speculations growing out of control, military officials made a public announcement that there are no alien lifeforms in their military base.

Obviously, theorists and others alike did not believe what was said. Thinking it was just some public misdirect to get people to stop asking questions. And, well, a majority of people no longer bothered with the existence of alien life in the Nevada desert anymore; at least for the most part. There are still the who believe and continue to do research. Although the whole fiasco gave rise to Extraterrestrial Highway, known for its roadside attractions.

"These humans are really strange." Omega-Xis thought, flying throughout the Nevada desert. Overlooking the weird attractions of so-called 'aliens', or what these humans perceive other lifeforms to be.

Earlier in the morning, at least back in Japan, Omega-Xis had woken up before Ritsuka and felt that his wound was slightly better compared to last night. He wasn't fully healed yet, but it was better than nothing.

Once he checked his wound, Omega-Xis felt a faint yet familiar EM Wave frequency coming from this desert. Of course, before he left Ritsuka's room, he browsed around through the Transer to dig up any information about this location. At first, it was interesting how these humans came to speculate other lifeforms being held in some military base out here. But from what he can sense, he doesn't feel anything out of the ordinary. It was nothing but sand, mountains, roads, the occasional car here and there; and some plants. Additionally, with the time difference between this place and Japan, it was nighttime here meaning not many people are around. As far as he could see, anyway.

"All that aside," Omega-Xis continues to aimlessly float around the desert, carefully observing his surroundings to the best of his ability. "…I can't sense that wavelength frequency anymore." However faint it might have been, Omega-Xis definitely wasn't imagining anything. He knew he sensed EM Waves here. "What's going on?"

…

This is getting nowhere.

For the life of him, Omega-Xis can't figure out where exactly the source of those EM Waves are nor can he see anything else other than sand and rocks. Oh, and maybe some of the creatures that inhabit this land.

"Should I try exploring this Area 51 place?" The thought occurred to him. But he shakes his head. No. It was too risky. For starters, that place is a military base. And with the current condition he was in, Omega-Xis doubts he'll be able to sneak into a guarded base or even fight off a bunch of highly trained humans, despite them being weaker than he is. They no doubt will have some kind of weaponry, much like those Satella Police officers, to potentially harm him.

Yeah, better not risk it. What's more, and he's quite surprised by this—he hasn't seen any signs of Cygnus or the others yet. Surely they would have picked up on that EM Wave signature like he did, and yet they were nowhere in sight. Although when thinking about it now, it does make a little bit of sense that none of them would be here. Cygnus, that persistent bastard, is obviously hiding out somewhere recovering from his wounds during their fight. As for the others, if Omega-Xis had to guess, they likely haven't arrived on Earth yet.

Probably a good thing, though. He still needs a little more time to recover.

"I should get out of where while the coast is clear." Omega-Xis then zips off, away from the desert. "I wonder what Ritsuka is up to…?"

Ritsuka, after eating breakfast with his mother and sister, knocks on the door to his father's study. He remembers his dad wanted to tell him something in regards to the Visualizer and what side job his aunt wanted him to do.

"Come in."

Ritsuka opens the door and steps into his father's study room. The room was fairly sizable with his dad sitting behind wooden desk. There was a lamp, pen holder, short stacks of papers and books followed by their family photograph. Behind his dad is the bookshelf. The window blinds were partially shut, though they are very slightly open allowing beams of sunlight to enter the room. However the main source of light came from the ceiling lamp.

"Morning, son. You sleep okay?" Mr. Fujimaru asks.

"Yeah, I slept okay. The tea mom made really helped." he replied.

"Good to hear." he smiled with a nod. Then he starts to reach for his bag before taking out a piece of paper, extend his arm out towards his son. "Here. Take it."

Curiously, Ritsuka takes the piece of paper from his dad and immediately reads it. "A job application? Says here it's for some observatory called…Chal…dea…? Is that how you say it?"

"That's right." His father confirmed. "When I went to AMAKEN to see your aunt, she had spotted someone handing out fliers and decided to take it. Of course, she and I figured you would be looking for a job during the summer, right?"

"Yeah. That's right. Actually, I was about to see if I can find any part-time work today." Ritsuka told him.

"Well maybe this'll be something that interests you. Just take some time to think about it." he advised.

"Thanks, dad." Ritsuka said. Before he was about to leave, he stops in front of the door. "Oh right, what was this side job that auntie wanted me to do?"

"Oh that? It's nothing much, really. Just send her some emails here and there reporting about the Visualizer. She's gonna want to know if there are any malfunctions and whatnot." he said.

"Oh…right…" Ritsuka awkwardly got out. "I gave Omega-Xis my word that I wouldn't tell anyone about him. So, I can't just tell my aunt that the Visualizer has been augmented because of an alien made up EM Waves, now can I? Hopefully I can figure something out."

"Hmm? Something wrong?" Mr. Fujimaru asked.

"Oh! Uh…I was just thinking to myself, that's all. Didn't mean to space out." Ritsuka said. "Anyway, I'll leave you alone now dad. See you later."

"Later."

Shortly after leaving his father's study, Ritsuka takes a look at the application he had been given and looks over its contents. From what he can tell, it seems this Chaldea place is looking for a decent amount of people to hire. The applicant has the choice of full-time or part-time, so the decision is theirs to make. Of course, the amount the money the individual would make is different, but it doesn't seem too bad.

"Hmm. Maybe I should try it out and see what happens…" Ritsuka thought. "Okay, I'll send in the application online. Maybe I'll get a reply. In the meantime, I should see what else is out there in case I change my mind. Or if they tell me there's no position anymore." Firmly set on his decisions in the meantime, Ritsuka heads back up stairs to change his clothes.

Ritsuka steps out of his house. He now wore an unzipped sleeveless black and blue hoodie, a dark gray shirt underneath, black pants, and sneakers. Around his shoulder is a dark sling bag. On top of his head, of course, is the Visualizer.

After locking the door to his house, he adjusts the Visualizer to make sure it was in a position where he was comfortable at. He then feels the beaming heat of the sun permeate over his body. Already he can feel sweat beginning to slightly bead down from his forehead.

"Sheesh. I've barely been outside a minute and already I'm feeling this hot." he mutters to himself, wiping some of the sweat off his brow.

"You humans sure are fragile creatures. I don't feel a thing." a familiar voice spoke.

"Well of course you don't. Your body is made up of EM Waves. Meanwhile, humans like myself are flesh and—!?" As Ritsuka offhandedly spoke and was about to give his retort, he pauses and perks up in bemusement. Quickly lifting his left arm up, he opens his Transer to see a familiar face. "Omega-Xis!?"

"Yo." the EM life form casually greeted, waving.

"What the—!? I thought you left." Ritsuka exclaimed.

"I did leave. And now I'm back." Omega-Xis nonchalantly told him. "Anyhow, why are you so loud? Weren't you about to say something about you humans being flesh and something else...?"

"Excuuse me. Not my fault for thinking you up and left, considering you were the one who said you needed a day's rest and you'd be back at full strength." Ritsuka gave an annoyed frown.

"Correction: I said I needed a day or two. I'm slightly better than I was last night, but I still need a bit more time before I fully recover Even a great warrior such as myself needs his rest every now and then, supposedly." Omega-Xis stated, arms crossed with his chest proudly puffed out.

"Great warrior, huh." Ritsuka comically thought to himself. "Yeah, I think I remember you saying that." He scratches his head for a moment before starting to walk away from his home. If he stayed in front of his house any longer, his parents would likely come out to ask what was going on. Sure, he could pose it off as him talking to a friend on his Transer—which is partially true, in a sense—but he didn't want to deal with the awkwardness that would come with it. Furthermore, he did give Omega-Xis his word that he wouldn't speak about his existence.

"Anyway, where did you go this morning?"

"After getting some decent rest last night, I felt my wound getting slightly better so I flew around for bit." Omega-Xis falsities, unbeknownst to Ritsuka.

"Good to hear you're feeling better." Ritsuka said. "Still, you sure you were good enough to fly around?"

"Of course! Don't underestimate my tenacity. It's more than enough to keep me going even while at half strength." Omega-Xis boasted.

"You sure have a lot of spirit, don't you?" Ritsuka chuckled. "Oh right…!"

"What's up?"

"Out of curiosity, why did you come back here? Or…more precisely, why come back to my Transer?" Realistically speaking, considering that Omega-Xis is an alien, Ritsuka figured he would have better things to do rather than hang around some random human such as himself.

"Come on, isn't it obvious? You are the first human I've met so far. Therefore, you're the only one who knows of my existence. Also…" he narrowed his eyes at Ritsuka. "…you haven't told your family or anyone else about me, have you?"

"No, of course not." Ritsuka replied. "I gave you my word."

"Then there you have it. Makes perfect sense for me to come back and hang around you." Omega-Xis said. "Though if I had a little more to add…let's just say I've taken some interest in you. Besides, I'm sure I'll learn a decent amount about this planet and the people on it if I stick with you."

"Boy, don't I feel lucky." The young man rolled his eyes.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Omega-Xis curiously asked.

"Job hunting."

While Ritsuka wanders about throughout the city, he explained to Omega-Xis how he's looking for a job. At first, Omega-Xis thought he meant missions and was momentarily impressed how humans can go about doing operations. Of course, Ritsuka had to correct him saying that no one is doing some under cover co-op. Although he does mention how that would be police and detective work, for people who actually do those jobs obviously. The young man goes on to elaborate how ordinary people do regular jobs such as delivering mail, cooking, maintenance, cleaning, gardening, etc. He even stopped by a few places and showed Omega-Xis how people work in stores, each worker doing different things as per their occupation.

After getting an understanding about human work culture, the EM being asks Ritsuka why he was looking for such a thing. That was when Ritsuka explains to him how he wants to make some money during the summer in order to buy mech figurines, video games, or whatever else he may need in the future. Naturally he admits to the alien that it was to support his hobby, but for the most part it was to save up as much as he could into his bank account.

"I see. So humans need money, or currency as it is sometimes called, to continue their daily lives and buy things if they want." Omega-Xis thoughtfully remarked.

"That's right." nodded Ritsuka.

"Then…why are you looking for one now? I've noticed how kids around your age walking about and don't seem to be working. Even some of those stores and other places you've taken me to, I hadn't seen a human your age working in one of them." Omega-Xis pointed out.

"For two reasons: One, some people my age simply aren't working because they want to enjoy their summer break. Secondly, it depends on the shift when people work. Some people work during the day, others work during the night. Also, we haven't been to many places yet. So I'm sure other high school kids my age are working somewhere, even as we speak." Ritsuka pointed out.

"Summer break? High school?" The EM life form raises a brow.

"Oh right. I should explain what those are, too." Ritsuka said, lightly massaging his head.

And so he did. First, Ritsuka explains to his new companion how different places on Earth go through four different seasons known as Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. He informs about the weather changes associated with each season; getting colder and colder, before everything eventually becomes warmer and how it all starts over again. Despite not being particularly very smart, especially when it comes to the subject of science and likes, Ritsuka did his best to explain how each of these seasonal changes occur because of Earth's rotational orbit around the sun, along with its tilted positioning. Therefore, some days become shorter and colder while other become warmer and have longer sunlight hours.

With that said, Ritsuka explains how they are currently in the summer season. Due to how hot the weather is and that all kids around his age or younger are out of school. Speaking of school, Ritsuka briefly went over the schooling system to Omega-Xis. Though he kept it very brief, only telling the FM-ian the basics such as grades and the likes.

"Sheesh. That sounds extremely boring. Being stuck in one place for hours of the day." Omega-Xis said in exasperation, unable to fathom such a concept. "How in the world do you do something like that, and not go mad from boredom?"

Ritsuka chuckled, "Well, it helps that I am around others my own age and made friends. Plus, we do get breaks on occasion and there's lunch time, too. But overall, yeah, it does get boring."

"Tell me about it. The only thing I found interesting throughout this conversation is how this planet goes through a cycle of four seasons, as you call them." Omega-Xis stated.

"Glad you found that interesting, at least." Ritsuka said, already getting a slight sense of Omega-Xis' personality.

"Anyway, let's head somewhere more private. There's something I should talk to you about." Omega-Xis consequentially said.

Ritsuka sits on a bench at some nearby park. He walked around for a while longer before deciding to settle down at this place for a bit. As expected, people are bustling about considering parents are taking their kids here to play and whatnot. And of course, there are some people who are just causally hanging out. Still, with this many people going on about their own matters, Ritsuka doubts anybody will be paying attention to his conversation with Omega-Xis. Although even if someone did pay attention to their conversation, they would just assume he's talking to a friend on his Transer—which is mainly true for the most part.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" he asked.

"It's about the other FM-ians." Omega-Xis said, causing Ritsuka to widen his eyes.

"You mean, that other light I saw you fighting last night?" Ritsuka barely kept his words at a whisper, though luckily nobody was looking at him oddly.

"That's right." Omega-Xis nodded. "The one you saw me fight was one of the FM-ians."

"So that's what it was." Ritsuka said.

"Aside from yours truly, there are others from Planet FM who that have come to Earth." Omega-Xis started. "Be aware of them, Ritsuka. Their goal is to destroy the Earth."

"DESTROY THE EARTH!?" Ritsuka yelled in outburst, immediately standing up from his seat. Both his outburst and zealous movement caused everyone at the park to look at him. A wave of embarrassment came over him as he spotted people whispering among themselves, pointed a finger at him, and what's more…he overheard some kids asking their parents why he was acting so weird.

Too embarrassed to even apologize for the disruption or even come up with a lie about he was reading the plot of some video game, evident by the hues of red on his cheeks, Ritsuka simply just bowed before walking off somewhere else. "Staying here at this park was definitely short lived…"

"Way to keep it on the conspicuous side." Omega-Xis deadpanned.

"A-Anyway…" Ritsuka wanted to quickly move on from this. "…why do they want to destroy the Earth? For what purpose?"

"All of those from Planet FM are battle hardened, warmongering species of warriors. Some time before I came into existence, I heard they destroyed their neighboring world, Planet AM. For what reason? I don't know." Omega-Xis informed. "Even the EM Viruses that distort the EM Wave World are the result of FM-ians. They non-discriminately seek to destroy other life forms. And now that they know of Earth's existence, virus activity will get progressively worse."

"Well sheesh, that's not worrying at all." Ritsuka sarcastically thought, fighting the urge to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming or not. Because all of this sounds very surreal, despite the fact he's talking to an actual alien on his Transer. "Say, Omega-Xis…Why did you betray your people?"

"That's an interesting question. I sure would like to know that myself. Maybe I'll get back to you when I have an answer."Omega-Xis said in cryptic sarcasm, though he clearly had no intent of answering that question any time soon. "Anyway, what are we going to do now? We've done nothing but walk around."

"Guess he doesn't want to talk about it. Oh well, we're still getting to know each other, I suppose. So I shouldn't have expected much." Ritsuka thought to himself before replying with unamused frown, "You mean, I've done nothing but walk around. Meanwhile you've been cozy inside my Transer."

"Semantics." Omega-Xis shrugged. "But! You are right about me being cozy in here."

"Figures." Ritsuka rolled his eyes with a playful grin. "Back to answering your question, I'm likely going to keep looking around and see if there are any job postings or anybody looking for someone to hire."

"You're still doing that?"

"Like I said, I need to find work so I can make some money. Besides, you've been enjoying the sight-seeing so far, haven't you?" Ritsuka said, knowingly.

"True. Seeing this human city has been interesting thus far." Omega-Xis admitted.

"See? Killing two birds with one stone." Ritsuka grinned to himself.

"Two birds and one stone? What's that supposed to mean?"

Guess he should teach Omega-Xis some human aphorism.

"What's this place?" Omega-Xis questioned.

Ritsuka entered a retro game store. There were shelves filled with stacks of video games for different kinds of consoles. It ranged from cartridges, DVDs, board games, consoles, and even books. There are currently people browsing around and someone even talking to the clerk.

"It's a retro game store." Ritsuka began. "They sell video games from older ones to newer ones. Along with other neat things, too."

"Seems like a somewhat interesting place so far. Though also pretty boring." Omega-Xis remarked, eyeing the store through the Transer's camera lens. "You plan to find work here?"

"Hopefully. Though in the meantime, we can browse around and see what they have." Ritsuka said.

So they did. Ritsuka was telling Omega-Xis that back in his room, he actually has some of the game that they were looking at along with some consoles too. Also mentioned that he has to two-player/multi-player games that they could play together to kill time when they get back to his house.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get the heck out of here and play some games!" Omega-Xis inspirited, enthusiastically.

"Okay, okay. Looks like they aren't hiring here, anyway." Ritsuka proceeds to leave the store.

As he did…

Boom!

A loud explosion abruptly reverberated, causing everybody to scream in fear as many had ducked and used their hands to over their heads.

"That was nearby, wasn't it?" Ritsuka inquired, looking for the source of the explosion.

"Over there!" Someone pointed out, making everyone else, including Ritsuka, to look up at black smoke rising to the sky.

Without hesitation, or even thinking, Ritsuka ran to the source.

When the young man arrived at the scene, he sees that an electronics store about three stories tall had caught on fire. Shards of the building's glass windows are littered on the ground, black acrid smoke rising, and orange flames slowing burning away the color along with its insides. Meanwhile, the people nearby were yelling and no doubt someone had contacted the Satella Police and Fire Department. Others, however, used their Transers and phones to record the burning building.

"A…A bombing?" Ritsuka managed to get out, starring at the burning electronics store in consternation.

"In a sense. Hurry and put on your Visualizer, you'll see what I mean." Omega-Xis instructed.

"You don't mean...!" Ritsuka gasped, before putting the Visualizer's lens over his eyes. When he did, the unseen world of EM Waves became visible to him yet again. Around the area are the yellow roads he had seen the previous night. On those said roads are multiple EM Viruses. Without a doubt, they were all targeting the electronics store.

"You see them, don't you? The EM Viruses attacking that building." Omega-Xis said.

"Is this because of the other FM-ians?" Ritsuka asked.

"Either that or they're acting on their own, as usual. Though it's likely the latter, seeing as I don't sense any FM-ians." Omega-Xis said.

"H-Hey! I think there are still people inside!" Another onlooker in the crowd cried out.

"You're right! I think there's two people stuck in there!" exclaimed a nearby woman, pointing at the very top window.

Ritsuka followed suit and squints his eyes, managing to look through the third floor window that somehow had been blown from the inside yet. Despite the black smog obscuring most of the insides, Ritsuka barely made out two silhouettes relentlessly pounding on the glass. He gaped in surprise as he saw the two figures back away, as something within the store had exploded causing them to back away from the window.

"Omega-Xis, can't you help those people with your power?" Ritsuka looks back at the EM being in his Transer, his tone filled with concern.

"Even if I manage to get rid of those EM Viruses, I wouldn't be able to help those humans. Remember, my body is composed of EM Waves. I can't so much as shake hands with someone, let alone touch anything else with physical matter." he explained.

"N-No way!" Ritsuka stares back at the burning building.

"Anyway, we probably shouldn't get involved." Omega-Xis said, catching Ritsuka off guard. "There's no need to get involved in the affair of other humans. May as well leave and let the professionals handle this."

Is…Is that really what he should do? Just leave without doing anything to help? Or, even try. Granted, Omega-Xis has a point by letting professionals, such as the Satella Police and Fire Department, handle this situation. But what if it's too late? Those people could die! Despite being only one person, despite not being able to do anything significant—that doesn't mean Ritsuka shouldn't do anything!

No. He refuses to leave and live with a guilty conscious…!

"Oi!" Omega-Xis cried.

And so, without further thought, Ritsuka's body acted on its own as the young man charges into the burning building! Everything around him became filtered, including the cries of the people who had monetarily realized too late that he had ran past them. Trying their best to dissuade the young man from running to his destination. Not even Omega-Xis' voice reached him, in spite of their close proximity.

Thick, black smoke invaded Ritsuka's sight. If it weren't for the Visualizer's lens' protection, he may have involuntarily teared up due to the intense heat of the flames. Alas, the same could not be said for everything else about his entire person. Particularly his lungs if he, unwilling of course, inhales the smoke due to prolonged exposure.

Ritsuka shook his head. "No." He made the choice to run inside this place and get to those people, so there's no point in second guessing himself or regretting his decision!

Looking up ahead, Ritsuka spots several Mettennas, along with the viruses' other variant known as the Mettaurs. Unlike the Mettennas, the Mettaurs don't have a pointed spike on their helmets or the red rings. Above all else, they looked completely the same in spite of those differences. They all whacked away with their pickaxes.

Ritsuka's face scrunches up at how many there are. It was almost like being inside of beehive, given these are the only viruses he's seen thus far, and the fact that these are more common ones too. But that was neither here or there, the black haired boy quickly opens his Transer and pulls out a Battle Card. The card itself was the one he used the other day to eliminate the Mettenas in his house. Not risking the smoke entering his lungs, Ritsuka refrains from calling out his Battle Card's name and simply installs it into the slot.

A few of the hardhat wearing viruses dissipate in purple ripples. Ritsuka rushes toward the stairs, spotting a few debris that had been embedded onto the ground. He dashes up the stairs and around whatever debris was in the way, making it up to the second floor. When he arrived, however, his eyes narrowed at seeing more viruses than there were on the first floor. But this time, the Mettaurs were accompanied by another kind of virus.

These viruses are known as Billys. However there are two variants, each with similarities and differences. They are mainly yellow with red eyes, spiked probe arms, and lighting bolt antennas protruding from their heads. The main difference between them is that one has additional spikes on the sides of their heads, lacked legs and therefore had to float; whilst the other Billy viruses have legs and yellow feet. For simplicity sake, these two viruses are designated as Billy and Zap Ace.

"Damn! No wonder why this place caught on fire." Ritsuka clicked his tongue. He read about these viruses. They have the ability produce electricity from their spikes.

The Billys and Zap Aces gather around various electronic devices emitting electricity from their spiked arms, sending electrical discharges to said devices causing them to overload and explode. Therefore, causing more mayhem inside the burning building.

"Crap!" Acting quickly, Ritsuka pulls another card out and eliminates the viruses. It may be a futile act, given everything is burning to charcoal, but he needs to delete as many viruses as he can. Otherwise, this building will go down faster than it is on fire! What's more, reducing their numbers may buy him some time to get to those people and get the heck out of this place.

If only it were that simple…

"D-Dammit!" The young man cursed. Before him is a large chunk of debris that was blocking access to the third floor. He mentally berated himself. He should've known that the third floor entrance had been blocked, otherwise those people would have made their way down the stairs by now and ran outside like everyone else! And from the looks of it, there were no gaps or openings for him, or them in this matter, to squeeze their way through. Even if there was, no doubt this piece of debris is super hot to the touch that nobody would be able pass through ant kind of opening lest they get badly burnt.

If that wasn't enough, the boy started coughing due to the prolonged exposure of the smoke. This caught the attention of the viruses, shifting their attention to him.

They slowly began to loom towards him. The Mettennas and Mettaurs lifted their pickaxes and swung down against the ground, releasing a shockwave of rippling energy at Ritsuka.

On reflective instinct, Ritsuka focuses the strength in his leg muscles and manages to jump over the rippling waves of energy. As he did, he hurriedly instals another card into his Transer getting rid of the viruses that were in his way. After landing on his feet, he became surrounded by multiple viruses.

"There are too many!" If that wasn't enough, he was starting to feel this blazing heat get to him.

"Looks like I've got no choice." Omega-Xis' voice came through. A green light shot out of his Transer, with Omega-Xis emerging as he skillfully swings his arm eliminating the nearby viruses. After they vanish in purple ripples, Omega-Xis' red eyes gaze onto Ritsuka. "Honestly, I don't know if you're insane or just plain reckless. Though I can't say if I dislike it or not. Either way, if you're this persistent on saving those humans, I'll lend you my power."

"How?"

"I'll need to borrow your body to utilize the Electromagnetic Wave Change." Omega-Xis told him.

"Electromagnetic Wave Change? Borrow my body…?" Ritsuka wondered.

"No time to explain!" Omega-Xis reverts back into a beam of light, once again entering Ritsuka's Transer.

Before the young man knew it, Omega-Xis reappears behind him and wraps his arms around him before becoming enveloped in flaming waves of green energy. When the green light dissipated, Ritsuka emerges in a suit of blue body armor.

The bodysuit is dark navy blue in color, that could almost be mistaken for black, with yellow lines on the sides. Blue armored boots encompassed his legs that sported silver plated metatarsal guards and toe caps. His right arm is donned in a blue gauntlet. The shoulder guards, likewise, are also blue with silver platings.

Replacing his left hand was Omega-Xis' head that has green manes of energy flowing out. On his back, he sported an armored 'backpack' that has a red square and two silver fins. His chest armor has silver cross sections and on the centre is a yellow star symbol. Lastly, Ritsuka wore a blue helmet that has a red visor, red 'headphone' panels with black outlines and silver pointed tips; metal plates on the forehead, and his hair stuck out from the back.

"Whoa~! What is this?" Ritsuka was in awe, admiring his new attire. As he observes his gauntlet and boots, his eyes landed on Omega-Xis whose head replaced his left hand. "Omega-Xis…?"

"You and I have merged to become a singular being that can freely traverse the EM Wave World." Omega-Xis briefly explained. "Again, no time for explanations!" Without warning, Omega-Xis briefly takes control of Ritsuka's left arm pointing at the viruses. "Right now, you need to focus and fight!"

"Wait, hold on! What do I—?" Ritsuka tried to argue, however, a group of Mettaurs and Mettennas tried to get the jump on him. "Back off!?" Frantically swinging his right arm, Ritsuka smacks the viruses away as they crashed into some of the Billys and Zap Aces before they all vanished in purple ripples. "Eh? I touched them? Wait, is it because we merged? And, my body…"

"Of course. Your body is now made up of EM Waves." Omega-Xis informed. "Anyway, I suggest we hurry. Otherwise, those humans above us are going to suffocate or get roasted alive."

"Right!" That was the whole reason why he came here in the first place. "But what do we do? That chunk of debris is in the way."

"Easy. We do this…" Again, Omega-Xis, taking control of his left arm, faces up at the ceiling before forcefully shooting Ritsuka's body upwards.

"Aah! W-Wait, Omega-Xis—!" Ritsuka's cries went ignored, for it was already too late as he was about to crash into the ceiling. He lifts his right arm over his head.

Crash!

The armored teen crashes through the ceiling, a small hole now in place. Once he felt his feet touching the ground again, he blinks in confusion. He hurriedly pats around his chest, his legs, the sides of his helmet, and even tries looking around his own body—as best he could anyway—for any signs of damage. Surprisingly, he found none.

"W-Whoa! I hardly felt a thing!" he exclaims in astonishment with a hint of relief in his tone. "Does that mean my body is now superhuman!? That's awesome!"

"Is now really the time to be amazed? Focus!" Omega-Xis urged.

"Ah!" That caught the armored young man's attention, he shakes his head to get himself back on track. "Right! I need to focus! I can (and will) geek out over this later. My main priority is to get those people out of here!" With that established, he rushes around the third floor only to spot more viruses. That's not all, the viruses from the second floor jumped through the little hole that he (although mainly Omega-Xis) had made; as they were raring to go after him. "They just keep coming! I don't have time to deal with all of them…"

"If you want an efficient way to deal with them, this is how you'll do it!" Ritsuka's left arm, temporarily controlled by Omega-Xis, lifts up as his new companion opens his mouth releasing a blast of green energy. Once fired, the energy bullets collide with the viruses and eliminates them.

"So cool!" Ritsuka admired, before quickly pointing his arm at more viruses. "All I gotta do," He fires off more blasts at viruses, their forms consumed by the purple ripples. "…is that!"

"Good. Now hurry and rescue those humans, then we can deal with the rest of these viruses afterward." Omega-Xis instructs.

Wordlessly, Ritsuka rushes through the third floor, firing at multiple viruses along the way. He finally comes across the two people who have been stuck up here. Luckily, they were okay for the most part.

They had their mouths covered but that temporary solution wound't do them any good, as they did let out a few coughs. What's more, at least from what Ritsuka could tell, they appeared to be a few years older than him. Probably college students in their mid or late twenties or late twenties, if he had to guess.

But that didn't matter.

"Hey!" Ritsuka calls out to the duo.

"H-Huh?" A bespectacled man with black hair questions, bewildered by Ritsuka's appearance.

"What the…?" Beside the bespectacled man, a woman with brown shoulder length hair blinks at the armored teen. "Who…?"

"No time for that!" Ritsuka, with his newfound strength, carries the two over his shoulders. "Damn I'm strong!" He couldn't help but admire. Again, he can geek out later!

"What in the world!?" the bespectacled man cried.

"H-Hey! What are you—!?" Before the brown haired woman could question his actions, the armored young man quickly rushes towards the window. "Whoa! Hold on! You're not going to—!?"

Back outside of the burning store, both Satella Police and Fire Department arrived. Immediately, Satella Police officers blocked civilians from approaching the scene any further as firefighters are preparing their hoses.

"Get back! All of you get back!" Goyouda barked, trying to dissuade the crowd from getting any closer than they were. Ignoring them for the meantime, he looks at one of the firefighters that had traveled with him and other officers to this location. "Hey! You and your men better hurry up and start spraying that building!"

"We just finished…!" A fighter fighter informed, as he and the other firefighters were about to being spraying water at the fire.

However…the sound of glass breaking caught their attention. Everybody looks up to see a blue armored male, carrying two people over his shoulders as their screams echoed throughout the area, jumping out of the third floor's window as shards of glass follow suit as he lands both feet on the ground.

"Phew. That was a close one." Ritsuka released a sigh of relief, before releasing the man and woman he carried. "There. You two are safe now."

"Eh?" the woman blinks in confusion. "Did we…"

"Jump out of that building?" The bespectacled man finished.

"Oh man! I can't believe I jumped from three stories high and didn't feel a thing." Ritsuka couldn't help but continue to be amazed at how his body is now capable of doing these superhero-like feats. He could hardly contain how excited he was!

"H-Hey. You…" the woman spoke, catching his attention.

"Huh?" Ritsuka blinks, looking at her.

"I, uh…wanted to say thank you. For saving us, I mean."

"Sure. No problem." he nodded.

"Who are you?" the bespectacled man asked.

"Oh, I'm Rits—"

"Mega Man." Omega-Xis interjected, his voice loud enough for only Ritsuka to hear.

"Mega Man?" Ritsuka raised a brow, confused. "Sounds like a cool name, I guess."

"So!" Goyouda spoke, pushing the two to the side before coming fact to face with the armored teen. "You call yourself 'Mega Man', huh! Well then, Mega Man! You're under arrest! I'm taking you in!"

"Hold on! What!?" Ritsuka, or rather, Mega Man gaped. "Did you not see me save these two just now?"

Before anymore could be said, Omega-Xis thankfully intervened yet again, "Ritsuka, the viruses!"

"That's right!" Mega Man, without another word to the officer, jumps upward. His body vanishing from everyone's sight.

"Hey, wait!" Goyouda called out, only to not catch no signs of him anymore. "Darn!"

Now standing on the Wave Road, Mega Man faces a small horde of viruses. Among the Mettaurs and Billys, there was another type of virus that accompanied them. If that wasn't all, the ones from inside the building had started coming out and rushed over to where he was at.

"Guess they got bored hanging inside there." Ritsuka remarked, aiming Omega-Xis' head…er, blaster? Well whatever, he aims and takes fire! Each virus was deleted with each blast. However, their numbers didn't make it easy. The Mettennas and Mettaurs plunge their pickaxes agains the wave road, releasing waves of energy toward the young man. Ritsuka easily jumps over the wave of energy, however, he barely reacted to the bolts of electricity shooting at him. "Whoa!" His eyes widen, watching the bolt narrowly miss his head. "Oh man! If not for this new reaction speed, I would've gotten zapped!"

Mega Man lands back on the yellow road before quickly running from the viruses as they pursued him. He would fire at each of them, although it hardly slowed them down. "Omega-Xis, do you have any ideas how to get rid of them? Or at least reduce their numbers to make them more manageable?"

"Use your Battle Cards." Omega-Xis instructed.

"My Battle Cards?" the young man repeated in confusion.

"If you use a Battle Card, you will perform an act known as Predation. But no time to explain, hurry and do it!"

"Alright, you got it!" Trusting his new companion, Mega Man pulls out a Battle Card and tosses it up in the air. Omega-Xis then 'chomps' at the card before a grey ball materializes in his right hand. "Whoa, it appeared!" Mega Man awed, before shaking his head and throws the ball at the group of viruses. "Power Bomb!"

After throwing the bomb at the viruses, an explosion occurs swallowing up the viruses as they were deleted on the spot. It significantly reduced their numbers, too.

"Oh yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Mega Man laughed. More viruses show up. "Alright, let's try this one! Battle Card, Predation!" Tossing another card in the air, it was 'chomped' by Omega-Xis' mouth as Mega Man's left arm morphs into a brownish orange, volcano-shaped weapon with a silver barrel. "Fire Bazooka!" Aiming his transformed arm at the viruses, he launches a torrent blast of fire at the viruses. Unexpectedly, the recoil of the blast had sent the armored young man flying back as he yelped in surprise. Looking back, he sees that he's about to crash into a nearby moving train! "No, no, no, no, no!" With no way to stop his momentum in time, he braces himself for a hard landing.

Much to his surprise, by the time he reach said train, his body just…phases through it.

"N-Nothing happened…?" Mega Man got out, looking at the speeding trains that thankfully wasn't rammed by the momentum of his newly enhanced body. He—in no way—did not want to accidentally cause collateral damage and put innocent people's lives in danger! If he had, prison time would be justified despite his lack of experience with this kind of stuff.

Taking a breath, he observes his body to try and figure out why he hadn't collided against the train, despite not wanting that to happen in the first place.

"Of course not. Have you already forgotten? Your body is now EM Waves at the moment." Omega-Xis answered.

"Oh yeah! But, wait…What about earlier when we broke through the ceiling wall inside the store, and when I carried those two people out of there?" he inquired.

"Back then, you were certainly tangible. However, right when we jumped onto the Wave Road our frequency changed." he explained.

"So it's because our frequency changed," Mega Man thoughtfully said, overlooking his body and flexes his fingers on his right hand. "Yeah, now that you mention it. I do feel lighter than I've ever felt. Wait, is that why the recoil was so strong earlier!?"

"No, that was because you messed up and didn't position yourself properly." Omega-Xis plainly told him.

Mega Man gave his companion a comical flat look. "Guess I'll need to rectify that, then." He looks ahead to spot the remaining viruses. Despite having reduced their numbers to a sizable margin, there were still too many of them. While he can continue to fight them, he doesn't want to prolong this further than needed. He isn't quite used to moving around in this body yet. If he had to give a brief comparison, moving around would be like trying to drive a speeding car and attempting to make tight turns; requiring a level precision and focus.

But never mind that. He needs to…

"Oi, Ritsuka!" Omega-Xis breaks his line of thought as the viruses abruptly appear, surrounding him. "Focus!"

"Crap!" Mega Man cursed, quickly moving to the side barely avoiding the lighting shot that the Billys and Zap Aces launched at him. The aforementioned viruses disappear and reappear again, now in front of Mega Man as they thrusted their spikes arms in attempts to stab the armored teen. Mega Man releases a surprised yelp as he backs away from Billys and Zap Aces, clumsily evading their attacks relying on his newly found enhanced reflexes.

"Ritsuka, behind you!" Omega-Xis cried.

Daring to look behind him, he sees the Mettaurs and Mettennas waiting for him to come to them as they had their pickaxes ready.

"So they changed their frequency to shorten the distance, huh. In that case…"

With impressive mental fortitude, Mega Man manages to concentrate enough to get a feel for his own frequency as his body then shimmers in prismatic colors of light, vanishing from his spot momentarily confusing the viruses as they tried searching for him. He reappears on top of the wave road he was at before. The armored young man momentarily awed at his ability to change his frequency and essentially teleport. It felt strange for him change his own body's frequency but he can ponder about that later.

"Alright, let's finish this!"

"Oh? You've come up with an idea." Omega-Xis said, a hint of intrigue in his tone.

Mega Man didn't respond as he started running. He spots Satella Police cars driving, no doubt hunting for the viruses…and him, by extension, given that officer from last night is now hell bent on taking him to jail. Oh well. In any case, aside from the looming threat of being arrested and being taken to jail (for no apparent reason, mind you), it was good thing he spotted them.

And he wasn't the only one, the viruses spotted him as well. They wasted no time going after the armored teen, shifting their frequencies—appearing closely behind him as he continued to run. Mega Man, anticipating this course of action, quickly zips through the Wave Road with the viruses on pursuit.

He looks ahead to see a building that he, the viruses, and the Satella Police cars are approaching at the street corner. Good. This is what he needed.

"Come this way!" Ritsuka challenged.

Goyouda's antenna alarm blared, his eyes looking at his Transer spotting multiple viruses near the vicinity. Oddly enough, he notices that one dot was different from the other. It didn't take him long to realize it was Mega Man!

"There you are! You won't get away!" he declared, before calling out to his officers on his Transer. "Everyone! Follow my lead!" he pressed hard on the pedal, speeding up as the rest of the police cars follow suit. He comes to an abrupt halt once he sees that the viruses were gathered together in one area. Swinging the car door open, Goyouda rushes out of his vehicle and looks up at this high rise building.

"Up there!" Goyouda points up and directs the other officers. "Hurry and bring those viruses in…!"

"Yes, sir!" The officers pointed their outlets, sucking in the EM Viruses into their large backpack devices.

"Good. It worked." Mega Man grinned, watching the viruses helplessly getting sucked in by the Satella Police's devices.

"Nice thinking. Using those humans to get rid of the viruses for us." Omega-Xis complimented.

"Well, that is their job. Good thing they were here, though. Not sure how much longer I could have handled evading them." Mega Man remarked.

"Then training will need to be in order." Omega-Xis advised.

"Yeah," Mega Man absentmindedly replied, too preoccupied moving away from the Satella Police. He doesn't want to get arrested, or worse, be accused for causing all of this trouble. He's read and seen too many superhero comics and TV shows alike, particularly Spider-Man, getting blamed for shit he never did. Ugh, he can already hear that Goyouda guy yell accusations at him, so he'd rather avoid interacting with the local authorities if he can.

Once he was a good distance away from the Satella Police, alongside the fact there are no enemies anymore, the armored young man not-so-subtly looks around in all directions before looking at his own reflection in front of a building window.

"Oooohhhh~!" He releases an excited shrill, his eyes—even from behind the red tinted visor—literally shone with comical sparkling stars. "This is sooooo cool!"

"…Are you really doing this?" Omega-Xis frowned in annoyance, honestly not believing what he was hearing…and seeing.

Mega Man ignored his companion's words, too infatuated with his own appearance. After all, this was one of his dreams come true! Wearing an awesome superhero, Tokusatsu armor-like suit! Everything about it was just so cool! Granted, he does wish that he had some type of mouthguard; he personally thinks it would complete the look even more especially with the red visor. Although he wishes his 'blaster' wasn't Omega-Xis' head and was a kick ass arm cannon instead, but…Wait, maybe he's thinking about this all wrong. Omega-Xis' head being the blaster was, in a way, really unique so perhaps it isn't that bad.

If he had any complaints, aside from the mouthguard, he does wish that he had a belt or something to go along with this suit. Kamen Riders and Super Sentai heroes always wore belts around their waists, mainly to reach for their swords or guns, and other times summon a mech or a kicks vehicle! Often times even the buckle itself could be used alongside a Tokusatsu hero's main weapon and the likes!

"Gaahhh! Dammit! I look so cool and awesome, yet I lack a kick ass looking belt! Where's the justice!?" he dramatically thought to himself, making Omega-Xis stare at him like he lost his mind. "No. Calm down, me. This is the best I'll get. Anyway, I'm just so happy that this fantasy of mine FINALLY came true~!" 

If anybody were to watch this, they would back away. 

"Ritsuka, this will be the beginning of an awesome superhero life~!" He continued to be giddy like a kid at a candy store, admiring his own suit.

Until…

Whoosh!

Thankfully, not too lost in his own self admiration for his new look, the armored boy manages to hear something slicing through the very air itself. In turn, by the bare skin of his teeth, he reacts in time to doge an oncoming downward slash of a large weapon.

"Gaahh!" he screamed, almost feeling his heart stop. "W-What the—!? Omega-Xis!"

"Hmph. That's what you get for getting so distracted by your own stupid delusions." Omega-Xis simply told him.

…Okay, he certainly deserved that scolding.

"Now look ahead! We now face the one that was leading those viruses."

"What?" Ritsuka looks at his foe.

This virus was bigger than the others, standing about two feet taller than Mega Man. Its appearance was reminiscent of a medieval knight and a chess piece, at least in Mega Man's opinion. The lower body has a circular base instead of legs, hence the chess comparison, and wore juniper green colored armor, shoulders with a spike, a black body, and red grilled visor helmet with two spikes. In its hands is a large silver ax. This virus is designated Great Ax.

"Where the heck did this guy come from!?" Mega Man frowned.

"Be careful, Ritsuka. The only reason why this virus snuck up on you like that (aside from you acting stupid) is because it changed its frequency." Just when Omega-Xis had said those words, Great Ax vanished from its spot before reappearing besides Mega Man, once again swinging its ax. By sheer luck, Mega Man managed to avoid getting hit thanks to Omega-Xis dragging his body away from its range. "Which was exactly like that."

"Yeah. Thanks for the tip, Omega-Xis. I can clearly see that." Mega Man said with an apprehensive snark, aiming Omega-Xis' head at the Great Ax before firing. Much to his chagrin, the virus used its ax to redirect the blasts. It proceeds to change its frequency, teleporting in front of Ritsuka to yet again swing its ax. This time, Mega Man was a little more prepared as he jumps to the side and fires more blasts at the virus. The blasts landed a direct hit yet the virus showed no signs of damage.

"Its armor is tough. You'll need to use a stronger Battle Card to get the job done." Omega-Xis informed.

"And I have just the card to finish it! Battle Card, Predation!" Throwing another card in the air, Omega-Xis consumes it before his head morphs into a bulky blue weapon. "Cannon!"

The Great Ax virus vertically swings its namesake weapon at the armored teen, however, Mega Man, jumps back before placing his other foot on the ax's shaft. Pressing his foot against the weapon's shaft, Mega Man jumps over the virus' head, aims his cannon and releases a strong blast of energy. The virus was then deleted.

"Phew." Mega Man releases a sigh of relief. "Glad that's over with."

"Good thing, too. Since I haven't completely healed yet, my energy has reached its limit." Omega-Xis explained.

As soon as those words left is mouth, Mega Man's body became wrapped around in green flame-like waves and vanishes from the spot.

Ritsuka then reappears in an alley nearby, back in his casual attire.

"Oh. I'm back to normal." Ritsuka remarked, slightly frowning in disappointment. "Bummer. I was hoping to stay like that for a while." Oh well. He shouldn't overwork Omega-Xis like that, especially when he's still recovering.

"Hey!" a familiar voice hollered out, followed by foot steps approaching.

"Huh?" Ritsuka blinks, looking at the source of the voice. Only to come face to face with the detective from earlier, Goyouda. "Detective…?"

"Hey! You spot anyone strange come through here recently? Dressed in some blue suit. Goes by the name of Mega Man!" Goyouda jabbered on before he, too, recognizes the boy. "It's you…! The kid from last night."

"Nice to see you again, detective." Ritsuka casually greeted.

"Why are you here? Didn't I advise you to stay out of trouble." Goyouda crossed his arms.

"Er…well, I was around the area looking for a summer job. But then I heard this explosion and decided to run here for cover." That was partially true, so it wasn't a total lie. "Although from the sounds of it, I guess the Fire Department is handling things."

"They are."

"That's good. Anyway, I should probably head back home. Thanks again for your help last night. Take care." With that, Ritsuka walked off.

Goyouda quietly observes the boy, once again thoughtfully stroking his chin.

*Ding~*

"A message?" Ritsuka checked his Transer.

A day had passed since Ritsuka's adventitious debut as Mega Man. New Channels, blogs, and social media in general have reported his actions fighting off EM Viruses; and rescuing those people from that burning electronics store. Of course the Satella Police, or rather Heiji Goyouda, was informing to reporters—and by extension the public since it was a live televised broadcast—that Mega Man shouldn't be trusted due to his unknown origins and intentions. Many of Mega Man's images have been posted online with people commenting and everything.

"As expected. Yesterday's incident spread like wildfire." Ritsuka sighed, slumping further into the couch.

"Would you have preferred to stay hidden and not do anything?" Omega-Xis asked, not caring that Mega Man is now known to the public.

"Of course not." replied Ritsuka. "Rather, I'm glad to have been able to do something to help. And it's all thanks to you, Omega-Xis." He smiled at the EM being.

"Hmm." Omega-Xis hummed. He oddly stayed quiet for about ten seconds, seemingly contemplating something before opening his mouth. "…Well, you and I are partners now. Our wavelengths perfectly align, making this partnership ideal for the both of us."

"Guess I should be honored." Ritsuka chuckled.

"Anyway, don't you have that job interview today?" Omega-Xis asked.

The question made Ritsuka sit up straight, his eyes slightly widening in realization. After leaving that alleyway yesterday, he received a message from Chaldea saying they want to interview him for the job.

"Right! I almost forgot!" He checks the time on his Transer. "Okay good."

"I take it you still have time." Omega-Xis conjectured.

"Yeah." he answered.

Last night, he informed his family that he got a job interview with someone from Chaldea and that he might be away for a while due to an 'exclusive job' training. According to the message he received, anyway.

"It's about time for me to head out for the interview." Ritsuka straightens out his clothes.

"Remind me again, what kind work will you be doing if you get this job?" Omega-Xis inquired.

"Hopefully, if I get accepted, I would likely be a janitor of sorts. Sweeping and mopping the floors. Take out some garbage. Nothing too special."

"Ugh. Sounds boring." Omega-Xis frowned. "Couldn't you have picked something better for work?"

"It may not be the most ideal job, but it does pay." he shrugged, putting on his backpack.

"Well whatever. Best of luck."

"Thanks."

Unbeknownst to the duo, fate was already orchestrating something far beyond their comprehension. They would soon be involved in something far greater than what even Omega-Xis had originally anticipated.