It’s nighttime at a tower in the middle of Tokyo called TECH LORD INDUSTRIES. The building is designed from top to bottom, with purple neon lights atop its metallic silver shell.
Inside the building, in a dark office, a young man with white hair, wearing a white tuxedo, is seated at a desk, reading a letter on his laptop with rage in his eyes. The topic of the letter is WE CANNOT ACCEPT YOUR UNRELIABLE WEAPONS.
The young man slaps his laptop off the desk; it flies and smashes into pieces across a wall.
Minutes later, the young man walks into a lab where several scientists are at work; one bald scientist in particular looks at him.
“Ah, Mr. Lord....” Scientist
“Save the greetings! We’ve just lost our FIFTH deal. All I want to know is how to make our product better! More enticing!” Lord
“Of course, sir, I did some research and found what we need,” Scientist
The Scientist picks up a tablet and hands it to Lord. On the tablet, there is a picture of a crystal in the shape of the human heart, with gold lines one would find on a motherboard wrapped around it.
“The CEN-PRO-U is an artefact filled with an immense amount of energy, said to be the heart of a powerful Yokai from the Edo Period. Are you sure about this?” Lord
“Yes, sir. The Cen-pro-u will solve all the problems our military consumers seem to have,” Scientist
“Alright, send out a team to retrieve the artefact from its museum, NOW!” Lord
Lord walks away.
“Right away, sir,” Scientist.
An hour later, at a museum while its alarms are ringing, two men burst out from the front doors carrying a bag. They run up to the white van in front and throw the bag into the back. The men get into the van and zoom off as two police cruisers drift into the scene.
Moments later, Lord and the Scientist are standing in front of a white, jurisdiction-looking battle armour. The Scientist pulls out the Cen-pro-u and lodges it in the chest of the armour. The armour bursts into a bright red light, causing Lord and the Scientist to stumble back, covering their eyes. Finally, the armour stops glowing, revealing its slimmer look with red neon lines running across its body.
“I think we’ve done it,” Lord
“Yes, sir. We have. Now all that remains before selling is a test drive; I’ll assign someone right away...” Scientist
Suddenly, Lord begins hearing whispers.
“Huh?” Lord
Lord looks towards the armour. The whispers get louder. Lord's eyes widen.
“Actually, I think I’ll be test-driving the armour,” Lord
The Scientist’s eyes widen.
“Really, sir?” Scientist
“Do you have a problem with that?” Lord
“No, but....” Scientist
“Then, let’s get to moving,” Lord
“Okay, then, I’ll arrange some objects for target practice and....” Scientist
“Actually, I think we need to put this armour through a PROPER test. A fight, if you will.” Lord
“Oh, okay......Against who?” Scientist
“Mr. Monaka, set a false alarm at one of our facilities. I think I want to test my might against THE GHOSTS,” Lord.
Meanwhile, on a rooftop, Hiro is reading a war manga, Miko is juggling tennis balls, Shiro is dismantling and rearranging a laptop, and Tadano is lying on the ground with an annoyed look. Tadano growls.
“I can’t believe after EVEEYTHING we tried to get Pops to go take a break from those manga of his and go outside for the first time in TWO WEEKS, we failed AND got sent outside instead!” Tadano
Hiro chuckles.
“What’s so funny?” Tadano
Hiro pulls out a manga
“Did we really fail?” Hiro
“What is that?” Miko
“One of Dad’s manga, specifically, volume eight hundred and fifty-four. Once he realises it’s gone, his gonna have no choice but to come outside, to look for it eventually.” Hiro
“THAT’S WHY YOU'RE MY LEADER!” Tadano
“¡Bueno, Hermano!” Miko
“Brilliant.....not as brilliant as me, of course, but still” Shiro
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“THAT’S WHY YOU'RE MY LEADER! YOU NEVER MAKE A BAD CALL!” Tadano
“Most of the time, at least,” Shiro
“Hey, I made a promise to you all the moment I was assigned as commander of this elite unit that I was gonna guide us to victories, and I intend to keep that promise!” Hiro
There’s a BLIP sound. Shiro pulls out his phone.
“Lady, Gentleman, Tadano, we have a disturbance at one of Tech Lord’s sixty-two facilities. Whether it's a yokai or a common criminal, it's unclear.” Shiro
“Alright, let’s make like an edgy teen and MOVE OUT, MEN!” Hiro
The Ghosts get on their feet, leap off the building into the city.
Moments later, inside a dark room, the Ghosts crash into the room through the roof, leaving a hole in it. They look around the dark room.
“Hey, Shiro, you sure this is the right place?” Tadano
“Of course, it’s the right place! My baddie tracker is NEVER WRONG!” Shiro
“You say that, but I haven’t seen that thing ONCE point us in the direction of JESSICA CRUZ!” Miko
“She’s not real, Miko.” Tadano
“Since when did REAL define how HOT a queen is!” Miko
The lights come on, revealing all the tools and equipment one would find in a science lab.
“The lights came on,” Hiro
“How so?” Shiro
“That would be because of me,” A voice
The Ghosts snap around, only to find Lord in the Enhanced Armour. Lord whistles
“Okay, WOW. I didn’t think you guys were actually real.” Lord
“Who the heck are you?” Tadano
“The name is Technol G. Lord, heir to the multi-billion-dollar corporation that is Tech Lord Industries, and you are my test subjects.” Lord
Lord ejects thrusters from his boots, launches towards them like a rocket, and rams Tadano away, sending him flying and crashing into a table, crushing it.
“TADANO!” Hiro, Miko and Shiro
“Whoa.....I really did that? To a GIANT BEAR?! This Cen-pro-u is insane.” Lord
Shiro’s eyes widen.
“THE CEN-PRO-U?!” Shiro
Shiro grits his teeth, forms his energy blades, and swings them down. Lord catches the blades, kicks Shiro away, weaves two punches from Hiro, slaps him away, dodges a kick from Miko, grabs her by the face, and shoves her away.
The Ghosts begin rising from the floor, groaning.
“Sweet daddy’s pancakes! What's going on here?!” Hiro
“Isn’t this guy just a human in a suit?” Tadano
“Maybe he’s been going loco on some Chinese cookies for some bueno luck! And you guys said I was stupid for suggesting that!” Miko
“His using the heart of a yokai,” Shiro
“WHAT?!” Tadano
That crystal in the suit's chest plate is the Cen-pro-u, the heart of one of history's deadliest yokai. Grandfather was the one who defeated him,” Shiro
“That’s the best news I’ve heard in my life, truly!” Hiro
“So what do we do?!” Miko
Tadano pounds his knuckles together
“I HAVE AN IDEA!” Tadano
Tadano rolls up into a ball and zooms off towards Lord. Lord ejects thrusters from his arms, catches Tadano with one hand, and rocket punches him away with the other. Tadano unfolds, lunges back at him, and begins barraging him with punches as Lord barrages him with rocket punches. Lord finally catches his hands, ejects a laser cannon from his shoulder, and blasts him away.
Miko flips in, swings down a kick, gets blocked, flips off of Lord, and springs her arms forward, wrapping his arms. Lord swings Miko around with her arms and flings her away. Miko flies, latches to a wall, lunges off the wall towards him, blows air into her thumb, enlarging her fist for a punch. Lord dodges her, forms a laser cannon, and blasts her away.
Hiro flips in, flings two eggs, blowing Lord up. The flames clear, revealing his unharmed state. Hiro grits his teeth and smashes an egg across the floor, creating a green cloud of smoke around them. POWS, BAMS, THUMPS echo from the cloud. Hiro flies out from the cloud and crashes into a closet. The smoke clears, revealing Lord’s unharmed state.
Shiro lunges in, thrusting his blade. Lord weaves his blade and knees him in the guts. Shiro steps back, spins like a tornado, swinging his blades as Lord blocks all his slashes and swings a punch. Shiro dodges the punch, slashes his face, and thrusts the blade towards the heart. Lord catches the blade, catches the other, and kicks Shiro away.
Lord laughs maniacally as the Ghosts crawl towards each other, carrying bruises and scratches all over their bodies.
“This is incredible! C’MON WHO’S NEXT!” Tech Lord
The Ghosts rise back to their feet.
“Hermano, your idea SUCKED!” Miko
“Fair. He's doing us worse than our first time with RAZZLE! Hiro, what’s the plan!” Tadano
“Is there even a plan for an adversary like this?” Shiro
“Of course there is! I made a promise to always guide us to victory, and that’s a promise I intend to keep! I want the three nurses and a doctor formation! PRONTO!” Hiro
“Wait, are you sure?” Shiro
“I said PRONTO!” Hiro
The Ghosts rush towards Lord. Miko leaps onto him, crawls to his back, and wraps her arms around his neck. Tadano swoops in from behind and holds back his arms. Shiro flips in and impales his feet with his blades.
“THE HECK IS THIS?!” Lord
Hiro flips into the air and hurls an egg at the heart, causing a massive green explosion.
The Ghosts land on their feet before the green flames.
“Did we get him?!” Miko
“Yeah! I THINK WE GOT HIM!” Tadano
“Who said a hawk, a bear, a lizard, and a cat don’t belong in a kitchen?” Hiro
“Seems like you made the right call once again, brother,” Shiro
“HEY, I PROMISED! GIVE ME SOME FUR!” Hiro
Hiro and Shiro raise their hands. Suddenly, a laser beam flies out from the flames, and tears through Shiro. Hiro, Miko, and Tadano’s eyes widen. Shiro drops to the floor, smoking from the hole in his body. The sound of CLANKS begins echoing from the flames. The other Ghosts glance towards the flames as Lord walks out from the green flames unharmed and with the heart still intact.
“Energy source, enhancer, indestructible, WHAT ISN’T THIS THING?!” Lord
“My plan....failed....” Hiro
“Anyways, time for the rest of you,” Lord
Lord launches at Miko, rocket punches her in the chest, causing her to vomit, barrages her chest with more rocket punches, snapping and cracking her ribs, then finally punches her away, sending her flying and crashing into a wall. Miko detaches from the wall and collapses.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Tadano
Tadano, with a vicious look on his face, lunges at Lord and begins barraging his head with punches and smashes from every direction.
“I’M GONNA KILL YOU!!!” Tadano
Tadano finally punches him, snapping his neck.
Tadano stands looking at Lord’s motionless body, panting heavily. Suddenly, Lord grabs Tadano by his neck; Tadano’s eyes widen. Lord swings his neck, snapping it back in place.
“HUH? WHAT?! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! DID I FALL ASLEEP?!” Lord
“HOW........?” Tadano
“That was really weird anyway,” Lord
Lord ejects a red energy blade from his wrist, pierces Tadano’s side, and flings him away, sending him crashing through a steel wall, tearing it apart.
“Three down...” Lord
Lord glances at Hiro.
“... one to go,” Lord
Hiro jolts back with a horrified look on his face.
Lord launches at Hiro, catches his throat, lifts him, slams him into the ground, and thrusts his blade towards his chest. Hiro catches the blade and begins trying to push it back. The blade begins trying into Hiro’s skin despite his struggle.
“I’m sorry, bud. I know this is kinda out of nowhere, trying to kill you guys and stuff when, like, I have other non-alive things to use; it's just that I don’t know. I just feel so DRAWN to you guys, y’know,” Lord
The blade slides in deeper despite Hiro’s struggles.
“No hard feelings again,” Lord
The blade slides in even deeper; Hiro’s grasp on the blade loosens. Suddenly, there is a bright flash of white light.
“GAH!!!” Lord
The light subsides. Revealing the damaged room without the Ghosts in it.
“WHAT THE....?!” Lord
Lord looks to his left, then looks to his right, only to find nothing.
“Well, darn.....” Lord.
Later, on a rooftop, Hiro is lying on the floor, bandaged around his chest. Hiro’s eyes snap open. He jolts off his back.
“NOOO!” Hiro
“Take it easy, brother,” a voice
Hiro looks to his side only to find Shiro bandaged around his shoulder, Tadano bandaged around his belly, and Miko bandaged around her chest.
“Y-You guys.....your....h-how?” Hiro
“Thankfully, our opponent tore open my shoulder, and not my chest, so I’ll find it much easier to regenerate,” Shiro
“My shattered ribs couldn’t tear my elastic insides.” Miko
“Turns out my shell absorbed most of the damage from his stabbing.” Tadano
“As for you, brother, before the blade got any deeper, I distracted you with a flash bang I made out of a can, a mirror, and a flashlight- by the way, impressive, I know- and got you out of there.” Shiro
Shiro pauses with a serious look and folds his arms.
“What’s up, lil’man?” Tadano
“It’s just I made this flash bang years ago, as we started fighting crime, after all these years, after all those battles against thieves, yakuza, yokai. This was the first time I’ve used it,” Shiro
“Yeah, that Tech Lord guy is insane.... I mean, we’ve lost a fight before, but that was because of new territory; this guy.... is just different, MUCHO different.” Miko
“Yeah, maybe, but we’re The Ghosts; we always find a way. I know we can... well, at least I HOPE we can......We can do this, right, Hiro?
Hiro is sitting by himself, murmuring.
“Uh...Hiro?” Tadano
“I almost got them killed. I almost got them killed. I almost got them killed. I almost got them KILLED,” Hiro.
Meanwhile, at Tech Lord Industries. On the roof, Mr. Monaka is standing on the roof, operating on his tablet. Lord flies in and lands in front of him.
“MR. MONAKA, THE CEN-PRO-U IS AMAZING!” Lord
“I saw Mr. Lord,” Mr. Monaka
“I was like BAM, WHAM, BAM, and those YOKAI were like SCARED…” Lord
“I believe, sir, it’s safe to say that the military are going to come crawling back once we send them footage,” Mr. Monaka
Lord pauses.
“What?!” Lord
“Y'know our plan, to replicate and sell the suit....” Mr. Monaka
“NO! No, no, no. Mr. Monaka, did you even see me out there? I was invincible; I went up against supernatural creatures who have gone up against OTHER supernatural creatures and WON. I ain’t SHARING this power!” Lord
“Sir....y-you can’t be serious!” Mr. Monaka
“I am VERY serious. In fact, I have a BIGGER IDEA. MUCH, MUCH BIGGER! Schedule a meeting with me and the other scientists at our facility down at the park. I’m gonna pitch the idea there.” Lord
Lord begins to walk away.
“Um....okay, but sir....aren’t you gonna leave the armour here with me to take it down to the lab....” Mr. Monaka
Lord pauses.
“Nah, I don’t really feel like it,” Lord
Lord walks away, leaving Mr. Monaka standing there with a confused look on his face.
TO BE CONTINUED.......