"Hey girls, ever wonder why Anon is always alone?"
>"Who?"
>"Huh?"
>"What?"
>"Are you referring to the new guy that never talks to anyone and always sits by himself?"
>"Oh yeah, I know that dude, he's in my math class. He sits in the back and is always fiddling with that PDA or whatever of his."
>You look at each of the girls.
"No one's ever talk to him?"
>"He's pretty quiet. Polite, though, he held the door for me yesterday."
>"Yeah, it's like he's trying to avoid bothering anyone."
>You mull that over while resting your chin on your hand. You glance across the courtyard to the table Anon is at.
>He has a square, black object in his hands that he seems fixated on.
>A smile creeps up your lips.
"I'm going to go talk to him."
>The others eye you skeptically.
>"Why?"
"Why not?"
>Some open their mouth to say something but pause. They look at each other and shrug.
>"Want us to come with you, Sunny?"
"I'm pretty sure he doesn't bite. I'll catch up with you guys later."
>You get up and make your way over to the table Anon is sitting.
>As you get closer, you here him grumbling to himself.
>"Come on, you piece of junk."
>He frantically presses various buttons on the device.
>You clear your throat.
"Hi! You're Anon, right?"
>He flinches and nearly drops the device.
>Turning to you, he gives you a nervous smile.
>"Hey. Uh, can I help you?"
"Hm? Oh, no, I just wanted to talk a bit. I don't think we've spoken before."
>"Nah, I only transferred here a few months back."
"I see..."
>You realize you haven't given any thought on what to talk about and were starting to feel awkward.
>Your attention wanders to the thing in his hands, eyeing it curiously.
"Is that a pager?"
>"This? Yeah, I found it in storage a while back. Still, uh, figuring it out."
"Oookay..."
>Why is he interested in an old pager?
"Anyway! I couldn't help but notice you're always by yourself all the time."
>He frowns a bit.
>"Is that a bad thing?"
"Well, not necessarily. You're new, so I understand having some trouble getting to know other students. Doubly so, given our....environment."
>You both look around at passing student walking around with their noses in the air.
>"Heh, yeah."
"That said, if you'd like to hang out, or even just talk with someone, I'm sure me and my friends could-"
>"I appreciate the sentiment, Sunny Flare, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
"How did you-"
>"We're in the same Chemistry class."
"Oh..."
>"I'm afraid I currently don't have time for socializing. I have certain...obligations after class."
"I see. That's too bad."
>You look down in disappointment. He coughs and averts his eyes from you.
>"Yes, it, uh, is. I'd be glad to talk with you some more during lunch and such though."
>You perk up.
"Really?!"
>"Er, yeah, so long as I have time."
>A shrill beeping suddenly fills your ears, making you wince.
>Anon is suddenly staring at his pager intently.
"Some of your obligations?"
>His expression softens.
>"Yes. Sorry, I have to go."
>He hurriedly rises and collects his things.
"Okay. Well...it was nice talking to you."
>He hesitates a moment while looping on a strap of his book bag.
>"Yeah...it was. Goodbye."
>With that he dashes off, exiting the courtyard.
>What does a highschooler have to rush to with that kind of urgency?
>"How'd it go?"
>You barely contain a shriek as you jump back.
"Sugarcoat! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
>"Sorry. Habit."
>The other girls have joined you.
>"So?" Lemon Zest asks giddily. "What's he like?"
>They all stare at you in anticipation. You step back while trying to compose yourself.
"Hard to say, really. He seemed alright, I guess. Couldn't really get anything out of him. I think he might have a part time job?"
>"How do you figure?" Indigo Zap asks.
"He had a pager with him, he seemed like he had somewhere to be when it went off."
>"A pager? Seriously?" Sour Sweet chimes in. "People still use those?"
>Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses. "They can be quite economical for minimalistic messaging."
>You look back the way Anon had gone. Not to the main building, but towards the rear exit.
"Should we ask him about it?"
>"Nah." Indigo says with a wave of her hand. "No need to stick our nose in his business. It's probably nothing."
---
"Damnit, which way is it headed?"
>You run through yet another alleyway, with only the vaguest direction with a fluctuation blip.
>You've since stuffed your uniform in your bag, wearing a plain t-shirt.
>As you exit the alley, you see it in the distance.
>A glittering wisp flying through the air.
>Your target clearly visible, you sprint strait down the sidewalk.
"Ha! Not this time you little..."
>The wisp starts to descend. You notice a woman walking her dog coming around the corner.
>The wisp loops in the air before diving toward the dog, disappearing into its collar.
"Shit."
>The collar glows with multicolored light. The woman finally takes notice and gasps.
>The dog lurches uncomfortably with a groan.
>It's form begins to warp, growing drastically in size.
>Its owner screams and flees the scene. At least you don't have to worry about onlookers.
>The dog is now the size of a motorcycle, navy blue metallic scales covering it's now angular body. Silvery sabre like fangs protrude from its mouth, its eyes glowing a sinister red.
>You sigh.
"Can't ever be easy."
>With practiced precision, you hit a sequence of buttons on you pager. It beeps in a mechanical voice.
[Ready.]
>You bring it up to you lips.
"Henshin."
[SADDLE UP]
>You place it against the left side of your chest. It partially liquifies as it imbues itself with your flesh.
>Kind of tickles.
>Otherworldly essence ripples across your body, enveloping you entirely in a membrane.
>Energy sparks all around you as cobalt and silver armor forms and interlocks around you.
>A heavy cuirass covers your torso, linear plates jutting out at the front.
>Wide, round faulds encircle your thighs.
>Angular shoulder guards sprout from spaulders, similar guards forming on vambraces and boots.
>Plates creeps up your neck as a long mask folds over your face. Spines spring up atop and along the back of your head forming a 'mane'.
>Lastly a glowing emblem etches on your chest where you had set the device. The light fades to reveal a golden bull's head.
>You swing your arm as the armor all locks into place with a final flash of life.
[BUCEPHALUS]
>The whole process occurs in just under five seconds.
>If someone told you a few months ago that you would use an old pager you found in your new house's attic to transform into an armored horse warrior, you'd have asked them what they were smoking and if maybe they'd spare some.
>Also why a horse? You are still wrapping your head around that one.
>Back to the the matter at hand, you whistle to get the canine beast's attention.
"Here, Fido, come get me!"
>You are still working on your banter.
>It eyes you and snarls. It lowers itself and launches at you at high speed.
>Despite its size, it moves with speed far surpassing a cheetah. This would have probably made you shit your pants when you first started doing this, but battling the creatures has bolstered your confidence, as well as the armor's power.
>Just as the beast's jaws are about to snap down on you, you shuffle to the side like a champion boxer.
>Your armored fist collides with it's jaw with a audible crunch. It sails away and crashes into the asphalt fifteen feet away from you.
>Your power and speed are greatly augment in this form. You almost feel like your bullying a defenseless animal.
>Said animal quickly rights itself and roars at you. You wince as a blast of air hits you, raising your arms to guard yourself. Display windows of a shop behind you crack.
>You steel yourself. No more playing around. You need to end this quickly or someone might get hurt.
>You rush toward the beast, but it hops away from you. Now aware of your strength, it begins to circle you.
>You hate to admit it, but its faster than you. Rather then chase it fruitlessly, you hold still and wait for an opening.
>When it's directly behind you it predictably leaps at you. You duck and tuck your chest into a roll. As it overshoots above, you bring both your feet up in a kick. It lets out a whimper as you launch it high into the air. You push off the ground with your hand to flip yourself over before it reaches the peak of its flight.
>You jab the emblem on your chest with your thumb.
"Gallop."
[SHOES SET]
>The 'hooves' on you vambraces slide down and fold over your knuckles, surging with glowing energy.
>The now falling beast roars once more in defiance. You slam your fists together, the resulting impact displacing the pressurized air coming down on you.
>Undeterred, you start to pummel the still airborne creature, its speed useless as your blows keep it from reaching the ground. Five, ten, fifteen hits.
[FINISH]
>Your fist glows brighter for one last uppercut. As your fist collides with your opponent, shoe prints everywhere that you hit glow, before exploding all at once. Steam vents from your face guard's nostrils.
>The scales around the canine shatter and fall away as it crashes into the ground.
"Alright, broke its shell."
>You eye the cause of all this, the glowing collar around its neck.
>You grab hold of it and yank it off. The dog's form gradually reverts back to normal.
>Clutching the collar tightly, the energy in it is siphoned out, going into your armor. The glow fades, and you look at the now normal collar.
"Heh, Barkley."
>You press the emblem on your chest once more.
"Saddle off."
[RIDE"S OVER]
>The armor crumbles away as shiny dust, leaving you with you pager in hand.
>You kneel down and nudge the dog gently.
"Come on, Barkley, wake up boy."
>He stirs, and after a moment gets up with a whine. He looks up to you and pants happily, wagging his tail.
"Aw, you're a good boy, aren't ya?"
>You pet him and he responds by licking your hand.
"So the strangest thing happened to me today, boy. Stranger than...this, even."
>He tilt his head.
"One of the most popular girls in school just walked up to me out of the blue, started chatting with me. I kind of brushed her off, but what do you think? Should I go for it? Or maybe at least try to get to know her better?"
>He gives you a somewhat disinterested 'ruff'.
"Yeah, yeah, you're just a dog. Mostly just thinking out loud here. Come on, let's see if we can find your owner. Maybe she won't think you're some kind of demon spawn."