December 26th, 2043. Williky Residence, West Flame City. 2:10 PM.
I smiled. "We may have advanced healing and Force-Manipulation Defense, but it costs loads of energy. We will obviously want to protect our identities, so how about we make uniforms made up of a resistant material such as Kevlar? Also, do you think we can make the suits able to respond to and work with our powers? We could try infusing Pyrium-SRT into the material."
"Hmm, that sounds difficult, bordering on miracle territory," replied William.
"Perhaps the four of us can individually bond with our suits," spoke Tanaka. All heads turned to him. "We could use Pyrium-PE from our own bodies as well. As long as we have the templates, it should work. We won't really know unless we actually try, no?"
"I suppose that is the truth, Mr. Sakamoto," answered Julie. "Well then, Dear, what do you say? I'll help out too. Want to put our combined genius to the ultimate test? Heck, if we get Arthur to help it should be more than plausible."
William could only smile and nod. "Sure thing, Honey. Let's do it."
I smiled as I raised a glowing electrified fist. "Go, go, Plasma Force! We're officially inaugurated!"
Everyone smiled as they joined my enthusiasm. "Yeah!"
"Let's all head back down in the lab to give our blood samples," said Tanaka. I instantly deflated.
And so, when Daina and I left the Williky residence, there was a new sense of purpose within us. We were doing something, starting somewhere. Tanaka stayed behind, saying he was going to help William train.
[Occasionally, we would move away from my perspective.]
The next day, at one o'clock, Tanaka and William were hard at work.
"William-san, you might be some kind of prodigy. You pick up everything so quickly," Tanaka complimented.
William was breathing hard, but he gave a smile. "Perhaps it's because of all the time I spent going over the Arthur's materials."
"I think you'll make a great leader for our group."
"Huh!? Me, leader?" William sounded genuinely surprised. "What's brought this on?"
"To be honest, I really did think forming a group and looking for these shady people was a crazy idea, but what Daina said is true. We're the only ones for this job. If we were granted power, then we ought to use it for a good cause. Protecting this gem of a country is a good enough reason for me. While I am arguably the strongest of us, I can sense that Bill is growing fast. The both of us respect you, William-san, and I am sure that you will see us though whatever challenges await us with wisdom and courage."
William straightened. "If you believe in me this much, then I have no other choice than to accept. I will do my best."
"Great. That's all anyone can ask." Tanaka held out his right hand. "I promise I'll always fight by your side, if you'll do the same."
William smiled as he came forward and shook Tanaka's hand. "Of course, my friend."
Tanaka smiled before glancing at a watch on his left wrist. "Ooh, the shipment of Kevlar should be here by now. Let's prepare to go pick it up."
"Julie told me we have to go to the Vermillion Mines to get a small crate of Pyrium SRT. We'll head there after we go to the docks."
"Okay. Let's get on our way."
After informing Julie, the two drove out from the house on William's black Jeep. West Flame Dock was directly across from Chicken Great Lane and south of the Saint Wesley Fire Hospital. After parking, the two went to the reception that handled both domestic and small scale industrial shipments.
"Hello there, Dr. Mr. Williky," greeted the man behind a counter. "Here to pick up Dr. Mrs. Williky's shipment?" William nodded. The man took out a form and pointed to two lines on it. "Please sign here and here. Wait just a moment while we bring out your package."
"Understood," William replied as he took the form and a pen. He signed appropriately before returning the items.
"Thank you. Here's your receipt."
Ten minutes later saw the Snowstorm Duo heading back to the Jeep, Tanaka carrying a small, wooden box. Tanaka secured it in the back and the two got in and drove away.
"Next stop, Vermillion Mines," said William with a smile. The drive there took twenty minutes. At the center of the west side of the city, there was a gated SP Plasma Corp checkpoint. William stopped before the gate and smiled as a staff came up to his window.
"Dr. Williky, welcome. Here to pick up the SRT Mrs. Williky authorized?" asked the gate guard.
"Affirmative," William replied.
"Alright, head on in to the entrance of the cave… Hey, you look a bit younger than the last time I saw you!"
William gasped. "Really? I haven't noticed before, must be my new diet or something."
Tanaka studied William, and noticed the difference. William was 62 years old, and he had some wrinkles and spots here and there that were just gone now. In fact, his skin looked more vibrant than Tanaka remembered, like that of a younger person. "Does APEH consider aging as an injury to heal?" Tanaka whispered to himself. "I'll have to look closely at Arthur-san next time I see him, too."
The man chuckled. "Well, anyway, don't let me keep you." The man signaled the operator in the booth on the side to open the gate.
Without further ado, William and Tanaka drove up a hill a few hundred meters, stopping before the mouth of a cave. Tanaka shuddered, remembering what happened to him here several years ago. "Don't worry, William-san. I'll be fine. Let's just get the Pyrium and be on our way."
"If you say so."
The two got out of the Jeep and walked towards two guards. The guard on the left picked up a small brownish grey metal crate that seemed to strain him. "Good day, Dr. William. One small order of Pyrium SRT as requested and authorized by your wife." William tried to stifle a chuckle.
"Strength Enhancement," whispered Tanaka as he took the lead crate from the guard. "Thank you."
"Hey, you're Tanaka, right? I remember you. You used to work with us!"
"Cameron, is that you!?" asked Tanaka, recognizing the voice.
"Yes, it's me. How have you been? Have you been working out? You're carrying that heavy box like it's nothing."
"I'm doing well, Cameron. I got back into teaching ICT like I used to do back home in Japan. I just take time to keep myself fit and healthy." While there was no lie in Tanaka's words, it was not the full truth either.
"That's good. You used to talk about computers and gadgets all the time," said Cameron with a laugh.
"Yeah. Um, please excuse me." Tanaka went to put the Pyrium into the Jeep.
"We have to get going. We're kind of busy," said William.
"No problem. Hey, Tanaka, don't be a stranger. Let's go out for a drink some time."
"Sure, sounds good. I still live in West Flame."
"Great. See you later."
With that, William and Tanaka made their way back to the house. You could imagine their shock when the door was answered by Arthur.
"Come in, you two. I began making my way back as soon as Julie ended the call." Arthur stepped aside and allowed William and Tanaka pass. "I have to say, this idea young Bill came up with was something I tried out before, but had no luck. I brought my failed prototype."
"Really? That's great. Then we don't have to start from scratch," said William.
"Now, on a more serious note…" Arthur's smile vanished. "The developments that have taken place so far… I can't believe that my fears are starting to come to light. It's small now, but to disregard the glaring evidence for what is to come would be foolish. Even if it means that word gets out sooner than I would like, I am all for forming "The Plasma Force" and investigating our enemy." Some mirth returned to Arthur's features. "Anyhow, let's go have some fun."
"Arthur-san, I have nominated William to be the leader of our group," said Tanaka as the trio began making their way to the lab. "What do you think?"
"I don't object, for one. I would gladly follow my brother to the ends of the earth!"
William chuckled. "I'll do my best. Now, let us get to work."
Sunday, January 1st, 2044.
For the rest of December, Daina, my family and I enjoyed the holidays as well as preparing for the upcoming school term and the resuming of jobs. At some time after ten, Mom dropped Daina and me off at the Williky Residence. William had emailed me the night before saying that the suits were ready and that they were better than we would expect. After reading that, I was so excited that I could barely sleep with all the anticipation bugging me.
We entered the lab to find Julie, William, Tanaka and Arthur standing around the tables. "There you are," announced Julie. Everyone else turned to us.
"Good morning, everyone," I greeted.
"Good morning," greeted Daina.
"Are you ready for the big reveal?" asked Arthur with a smile.
"I sure am!" I replied enthusiastically.
William held up his new Plasma Band, which I quickly noticed was different from the model Daina and I was using. "Observe! This is the new Plasma Band 2.0. The basic version Arthur first made has been upgraded using our newest breakthrough, the Uniform Template!"
"Uniform Template?" repeated Daina.
"Allow me to demonstrate." William tapped the Plasmarium Gem of his band and exclaimed, "Plasma Force: Transform!" I stared in amazement as visible, orange colored Plasma Energy itself began to spill out and saturate William's clothing. His clothing glowed and changed into a different outfit. The outfit comprised of grey gloves and boots; long legged pants, with a belt containing the Plasmarium gem from his arm band at its buckle; long sleeved shirts stylized on the chest and back with a circle with the capital letters 'PF' within it, our logo; and the helmet was the same color as the shirt and pants. His shirt, pants and helmet were cyan colored. "Well, what do you think? How do I look?"
"AWESOME! You look radical!" I exclaimed.
"Thanks," said William as he took off his helmet.
"Let me show you mine," said Tanaka. "Plasma Force: Transform!" His clothes glowed and changed into the same uniform at William, only that his shirt, pants and helmet was white. "Shiroi Kaze touchaku! White Wind arrives!"
"Looking good, Tanaka-san!" I complimented.
"Bill, Daina, come over here," said Julie. I turned to her to see she was standing to the side of a rack with two sets of the uniform. They were as dull as the training clothes we were used to. Daina and I walked over to her. "Allow me to explain what to do. Look for your name on the shirts. It will be in the place where the logo will manifest once you have properly bonded. Place your hand on your name and focus on pushing your Plasma Energy into the shirt. It will react to the Pyrium-PE that was taken from your donated blood samples. The articles of the uniform will turn into Plasma Energy. You must pull the energy into your Plasma Bands with this command; "Plasma Force Combine." Do you understand?"
"I think so," replied Daina.
"Yup!" I answered, eager to get started.
"One at a time. Who would like to go first?"
"Me!" I all but yelled. "Sorry."
Julie smiled. "Okay, Bill. When you say the command, think of what color you'll want for the shirt, pants and helmet. Picture it clearly in your head," she instructed.
"Okay." I looked for my shirt and placed my band hand on my name on the chest. I closed my eyes and focused, guiding my energy to flow through my hand. "Plasma Power." I cracked one eye open to see that the shirt was glowing orange. "So far so good." I closed the eye again and focused more intensely. I pushed and pushed, then I felt my energy refusing to go any further.
"That should be enough. Use the command," instructed Arthur's voice.
My favorite color was navy blue, so I visualized this. "Plasma Force Combine!" I exclaimed as I opened my eyes. I observed as the energy surged into the Plasmarium gem of my band. My Plasma Band also began to glow, and I could see it morphing. I felt my remaining internal energy surge for a short moment before settling. The glowing stopped, and my band was now thinner and colored navy blue instead of its previous black. I stepped back a few paces from the rack so Daina could have her turn. "Whoa… I feel different… Stronger, somehow."
"The SRT we added to the template should have raised your maximum capacity by a fair bit," started Arthur. "The effect wasn't too big for Tanaka and I since were already have a lot, but for you, Daina and William on the other hand…"
My attention was directed to the lab's monitor as Julie quickly placed a Data Reader on my neck. "WHOA, nine hundred Mega Joules!?" I practically blurted out. I looked at William's data. "William already has one point three Giga Joules."
"Plasma Force Combine!" Daina called out. I turned to her to see the energy that was once her uniform articles travel into her band. "Wow, this is amazing."
I turned back to the monitor and her data displayed next. "Six hundred and ninety-five… Daina's capacity seems to grow slowly," I remarked.
"To be honest, I have no idea what affects the basic rate of growth of our maximum storage," said Arthur. "It could be age, health, genetics… It could even be gender for all I know!"
"It's probably just based on our Power Specialty," offered Tanaka. "Anyway, Bill-san, Daina-chan, to summon your uniform, tap the Plasmarium Gem and say, "Plasma Force Transform." Give it a whirl."
"Alright!" I tapped the orange gem. "Plasma Force Transform!" The gem glowed before releasing visible Plasma Energy that saturated my current clothes. My shirt and pants became thicker, gloves and boots formed over my hands and feet, and a full helmet came into existence over my entire head. It had a slot over my mouth that could open and close by taking in a big breath. "COOL!" I exclaimed as I looked down at myself. I saw the logo of 'PF' in a circle emblazoned in the center of my chest. My band was gone, but the Plasmarium gem was in the pants' belt buckle.
I looked at Daina and her color of choice was silver. Her uniform had a shining metallic luster to it, making her look quite good in it. "William, Julie, Arthur, you all really outdid yourselves with this," she complimented the trio.
"Why, thank you!" replied Julie with her trademark smile.
"How do we change back?" I asked.
"Tap your belt and say Reversion," replied William. He and Tanaka demonstrated, their uniform glowing white as it changed back into their civilian clothing.
"Amazing!" I replied.
"The uniform is maintained by your energy, but just a by a little bit over time," said Arthur. "If you get tired enough or even fall unconscious, it will change back automatically. If any of its parts are damaged, it will be repaired when you re-summon it. That is why it is called a 'template'."
"Good to know," said Daina.