Chapter 2

In Joshua's mind, he's reentered the place he had been right before waking up before. Before him, again, is the armored warrior.

"Am I dead?" Joshua asks the warrior.

"No, and you did well, for a human. Not many can say that after facing the Cybots." The warrior says. "They are normally ruthless and will kill those who show opposition."

"Who are you?" Joshua asks. "And that's what those things are called Cybots?"

"A friend. I'm communicating to you telepathically while you are in an unconscious state." The warrior says. "And yes, they're part of an army that's come to take your planet by force."

Joshua can make out a feminine tone in the warrior's voice.

"You sound like a woman, but look like a guy." He says.

"I am indeed female. We will meet soon enough, but first, I have to check on the others." She says. "You may have saved one of them, but the other four fought as hard as you did. I must insure that they do not die as well."

"Others?" Joshua asks.

"The others that were chosen. I am sure of it now, that you are one of the six." She says.

"Why? Because I saved a few people at the convention? And who did I save?" Joshua asks.

"You risked your life without a cause." She says. "And you did save one of the others. You will meet that other soon enough. I have been here too long watching over you."

"Without a cause? They were in trouble! I had to help." Joshua states, but he finds himself about to wake again.

The dream has ended and Joshua finds himself staring at the back of his eyelids again. Joshua opens his eyes to find himself looking up a tiled ceiling, his eyes no longer behind the shattered eyepiece of his Buster Red helmet. His head is pounding and as he attempts to sit up, he feels a bit of dizziness take him. Phil, who is sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, looks up as he hears Joshua shifting in bed. He puts down his novel and stands up. He's wearing jeans and a t-shirt now.

"You're finally awake." Phil says.

"I had the weirdest dream." Joshua says.

"No, you really went off the deep end and attacked a bunch of robots in order to save people that you've never met, who happened to be dressed like a bunch of cartoon characters." Phil says.

"So, that wasn't a dream ... That would explain why I'm in the hospital." Joshua says.

"No, you're all over the news." Phil explains. "I think this is the best advertising Saban could hope for. A guy dressed as buster red running in to a large group of robots and saving people at a convention. The kids are going to be begging for the Americanized version of Go-Busters." Phil says.

"Did everyone get away?" Joshua asks.

"Yeah. You almost got killed in the process, but yeah." Phil says. "Now let me go get the nurse and let her know you're awake."

"One more thing. How long was I out?" Joshua asks.

"Two days." Phil says.

Phil leaves the room, speed walking to find a nurse. Joshua looks around and sees the flowers on his night stand. He pulls out a pink card from it. Written in the card in plain handwriting is 'Thanks for saving meAmy'.

"Amy? How the hell am I supposed to know who that is? Oh well. The gesture is more than enough." Joshua says to himself.

As soon as Joshua stops speaking, Phil reenters the room with a nurse and doctor in tow.

"Well, Mr. Hero, you gave us a bit of a scare there." The doctor says as the nurse walks over to him to check his vitals.

"What did that thing do to my body?" Joshua asks.

"We're not exactly sure. We were hoping you could answer that for us." The doctor says as the nurse begins checking Joshua's vitals.

"Well after the robot hit me with that rod, my body felt weak and numb, and since I couldn't react, it smashed me in the face." Joshua explains.

"Anything else you remember?" The doctor asks.

"No, that was all of it." Joshua says.

"Well, your story seems to confirm what the others who were hit said. The rods seem to temporarily cut off the nervous system of your bodies from your brains. This is what caused the numbness and weakness. Thankfully it only lasted a few hours. However your helmet saved your life. If you hadn't been wearing it, you would've died. That robot smashed that thing pretty bad according to the young lady that was in here yesterday to check in on you." The doctor explains.

"Amy?" Joshua asks.

"I didn't ask for her name." The doctor says.

"Well, if you're feeling up to it, you can check out and head home. Check in with your regular physician if you have any pain or more tingling in your body." The doctor says before he and the nurse leave.

"Thanks." Joshua says as they leave.

"Alright, man, ready to get going then?" Phil asks.

"As soon as I get my clothing, sure, but who the hell is Amy?" He asks.

"No idea, I know that was the name on the card on the flowers, but I didn't see who dropped them off." Phil says.

A knock comes at the door. Joshua and Phil look over to see a young lady dressed in a grey sweatshirt and jeans. Her hair is brown and cut short, and her eyes are hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. She has a backpack on her back.

"I'm sorry, the nurse said you were awake and that it'd be okay to come in and visit you." The young lady says.

"And you are?" Joshua asks.

"I'm Amy. I was the one who sent the flowers." She says.

"So ... I saved you the other day?" Joshua asks.

The girl sighs and flips around her backpack to her front, unzipping it as she walks over to Joshua. He can see that she's only 5'6" or 5'7" in height, fairly shorter to him and by her looks she's a petit girl. Her skin is a few shades lighter than his. She pulls out a buster red helmet and hands it to him as she bites her lower lip. Joshua looks over the helmet. It's definitely his, but there's not even a hint of damage to it.

"I did what repair work I could, but I'm afraid that without knowing the steps you took to make it, I could only do guess work on repairing it." Amy says.

Joshua continues to look it over.

"This is great. It looks brand new. But ... who were you?" Joshua asks.

"You aren't too smart, are you?" she says.

Joshua looks over to Phil who puts his hands up.

"Don't look at me, man, I'm at a loss for words." Phil says.

Amy walks up closer to Joshua, and leans in. She give him a soft peck on the lips, then moves her head next to his.

"Of course if we had been the real go-busters, I'm sure we would've fared much better, but you wouldn't have gotten kissed right now." She says.

Without letting him get out a word, she pulls back and turns before walking out of the room in a hurry. Joshua puts his left hand to his lips as Phil turns towards him.

"Wow." Phil says. "I think she's into you."

"Yeah ... you're telling me." Joshua says, still in a state of shock.

"So, who was she?" Phil asks.

"Buster ... yellow." Joshua says as he lowers his hand from his lips, looking at the smeared lipstick on his fingers.

Joshua sighs and stretches out on his bed. It's midafternoon, just a few days after he had gotten out of the hospital. He looks over at the Buster Red helmet that is sitting on his dresser. He reaches his hand up to his lips and touches them, thinking of Amy kissing him. Joshua had found a card with her number on it when he had brought it home. She had lodged it in the eyepiece in a way that he wouldn't have noticed unless he had put it on. He tried finding her in his old high school but she wasn't from his district to say the least. In fact the area code on the card was 828, which told him that she was in North Carolina. He had come close to trying to call her a few times since he had gotten home the previous day, but kept stopping himself, not sure of what he would say. He wasn't sure if he should try to ask her for a Skype address so they could video chat, or if he should just call her and tell her that he wanted to see her again. It was all odd.

No girls in high school had really showed an interest in him, and the one girl who went on a date with him when he was in high school only did it because she lost a bet. He turned his head and looked up at the ceiling again. He just had to face the fact that he was hopeless and go on with his life.

He finally tells himself that he's putting way too much credit into the kiss, and that it was a simple thank you. He stands up and walks over to his bookshelf, grabbing a DVD of Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters and pops it into his DVD player, and turns it on. He hits play, and the fast version of the opening comes on. The version titled: Morphin! Movin! Busters Ship!.

Joshua lays back down on his bed, and before he knows it, he's passed out again. She appears before him again, this time, the armor she's wearing has changed to resemble that of a shorter female armor. The armor is still the same color, suggesting that she was using a template of some sort, and just adapted it to her female form to make it more accommodating for him.

"You again?" Joshua asks.

"You do not seem pleased to see me, Joshua." She says.

"No, it's not that, I just wish that I knew why I keep dreaming of you." Joshua says.

"I've already told you, you are not dreaming. I am communicating with you while you are in an unconscious state. This usually takes place during your regeneration cycles." She says.

"Tell me your name then." Joshua asks.

"Pronounced in your language, it is Saitx. PSY-TAX." She says.

"Well, Saitx. Why do you keep contacting me?" Joshua asks her.

"I already told you that too. You are the one." Saitx explains.

"The one? What one?" Joshua says.

"The first one that I chose to save your world. More of the Cybots are coming." Saitx explains.

"So what do I do?" Joshua asks.

"You fight them, as you have before." Saitx explains.

"Can I get some help? I almost was killed last time." Joshua explains.

"The others do not live in your proximity." Saitx explains.

"What about you? Can't you help?" Joshua asks.

"My technology cannot currently be adapted to help you, but I am doing what I can to try and change that." Saitx explains.

"Where are you?" Joshua asks.

"Right here with you, I have been here for some time, watching you and your roommate Phil. I will be back in touch soon." Saitx explains.

Joshua suddenly awakens, due to his alarm blaring.

"Ah fuck ... I got to get to work." Joshua says as he sits up. "I doubt Mr. Waterless will let me take the day off to go hunting ... what'd she call them? Cybots? Yeah ... Doubt that'll happen."

He rubs his head, and looks at the clock. He had to head out to work at his job as a dishwasher. Sure it was a low paying job, but it was enough to keep up his anime and power rangers/super Sentai collection, and it had enough left over to make his cosplay costumes.

"Maybe I should make sure to bring another helmet with me, just in case." He says as he stands up and stretches.

Joshua is sure that Saitx's warning is real. She's come to him three times now, and gave him no reason not to believe her, but what costume could he bring that would be easy to change into? He walks over to his bookshelf and begins looking over the helmets sitting there. All of the ones on top of the book shelf would require a costume. That's when he spots it. It's holding up some of his manga volumes. He hadn't worn it since last year's Halloween. He walks over to the bookshelf and picks it up, letting his manga fall out of place. He looks into the red helmet.

"The red hood. That might just work. I could wear my normal clothing with a leather jacket and keep the helmet with me in a bag, just in case." Joshua says to himself.

He walks over to his closet and opens it up. He can't quite believe what he's doing as he pulls out a duffel bag.

"Now I understand how Peter Parker felt in the cartoon, hiding his Spiderman costume under his clothes." He says as he stuffs the helmet into his duffel bag.

He throws his duffel bag over his shoulder and heads out of his room, closing the door behind him. It was going to be another long night at work, but knowing he was semi prepared for an attack made him feel better. Joshua, as said earlier, is a dishwasher, well, almost, he's a dishwasher slash bus-boy. He works at a restaurant owned by Mr. Waterless. Mr. Waterless was the kind of employer that would infuriate you, the kind of dick that would argue with you if you needed the afternoon off to bury your kid. Yeah, that kind of asshole. Joshua, however, was one of his favorites, as he always showed up early to prep his workstation, clocked in only at the exact time, and stayed until close, regardless of what time he was scheduled until. Mr. Waterless stood 5'7", was overweight, had grey hair, and constantly walked around the restaurant with a lit cigar in his mouth. He didn't care about activists, or fines. He only cared about the money he was making. Yeah, that kind of greed. He is often known for coining the phrase 'He who has the gold makes the rules.' Yeah, it's an old phrase and Joshua wasn't sure who was the first person to say it, though he had searched it a number of times. But, unfortunately, in the world, that was the way things worked. The restaurant was Mr. Waterless's empire, and Joshua wasn't in a position to argue. So Joshua would work hard and the waitresses were nice enough to split their tips with him.

After yet another long night, Joshua shut down the kitchen area, shut off the lights, clocked out, grabbed his duffel bag and left the restaurant. He starts walking home. It was a busy night, but the tip split was good, so Joshua didn't complain, as per usual. He makes his way through the parking lot and crosses the street, making a direct path for home. He's tired and just wants to lay down. He starts through an alley as he starts to hear shouting.

"Oh god, don't tell me someone is getting mugged now..." Joshua says to himself.

He walks to the other end of the alley, and doesn't see a mugging, but spots a familiar form that has him press his body to the wall of the building. He sets down his bag, and unzips it quietly. He pulls out his helmet and slides it on, as the Cybots attack some older ladies who had just gotten out of the bingo hall. Why they had chosen to attack two defenseless old ladies, he'd never know.

"Dammit, why'd they have to start now?" Joshua asks himself as he strapped the helmet into place.

A cop car drives up like a bat out of hell, its lights flashing but no siren. The cop that was driving gets out, and draws his fire arm. He yells something that seems like gibberish to Joshua.

"What're you going to do?" A voice whispers next to Joshua.

Joshua turns his head to see a young lady standing next to him.

"Huh?" Joshua says.

"I'll ask again, Joshua, what're you going to do?" She asks.

Joshua recognizes the voice almost instantly. It's Saitx.

"You picked a hell of a time to show up, Saitx." Joshua says. "So this is what you look like?"

He couldn't really see her in the dark, but she looked human enough.

"I wanted to see what you would do. He's obviously going to be killed if you don't intervene. So what're you going to do?" Saitx asks.

Joshua looks back at the cop who had done one thing right. He had pulled the attention away from the civilians.

"So, you're not going to do anything?" Saitx asks as the Cybots charge at the rookie looking cop.

Joshua just watches. He is holding back because he wants more information from Saitx, but the cop needed his help.

"No. I'm going to help him. But now that I know that you're not just a dream, I want to talk to you." Joshua says before rushing in.

The cop is hit by one of the numbing rods as Joshua slides across the cop's car hood. He grabs one of the Cybots by the arm and pulls it back, throwing it onto its back. He grabs the car door that the cop is hiding behind, and uses it to steady his body as he sidekicks another robot as hard as he can. The robot drops the numbing rod and flies through the air, landing on its back a few feet away. Joshua slams into a third Cybot with his shoulder, sending it flying, and moves over to the cop who is finding it hard to stand. The first Cybot comes at him with a numbing rod, hitting him in the back where he's protected by his leather jacket as Joshua attempts to help the officer up. Not seeing a reaction from Joshua, the Cybot hits him again, and Joshua grabs the cop's gun from his hand. He spins around, puts it to the Cybot's head and pulls the trigger. Then he kicks it away from him. It hits the ground like a pile of scrap metal.

"Who are you?" The cop asks.

"Hero in a costume." Joshua says. "With what's been happening in the news, why didn't you call for back up?"

"I thought that was a media ploy. What'd they do to me?" The cop asks.

"Numbing rod. Hope you don't mind me borrowing this side arm for a minute. Considering the circumstances, I don't see another way." Joshua says.

He walks to the closest Cybot and shoots it in the chest as it attempts to get up, causing it to fall down. He then aims at the last one and shoots it before turning back around. The last one falls down and all three explode in small explosions.

"But you got hit by one of the rods too." The cop says as Saitx steps from the alleyway.

"I know, I don't think what the rods do can go through the leather on my Jacket." Joshua says as he walks over to the cop.

Joshua hands him back the firearm. The rookie officer attempted to holster the weapon, but has trouble putting it back in the holster. Joshua gives him assistance.

"We should get you back to the station." Joshua says. "Your fellow officers can do more to help you than I can."

Joshua looks up at Saitx who begins moving towards him. Her hair is long and black. Her eyes are brown. She's wearing a jean jacket with a red t-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

"Who are you though?" The rookie asks him.

Joshua takes off his helmet, and tosses it on the driver's seat of the car. He bends down and picks up the numbing rod and tosses it into the passenger seat.

"My name is Joshua." Joshua explains.

"You look familiar." The rookie says.

"I should. I've been all over the news recently." Joshua says, staring at Saitx.

"We should speak privately, Joshua." Saitx says.

Joshua takes the officer by the arm and helps him to his feet, throwing his arm over his shoulders. He opens the back door and helps the officer lay down.

"Whatever you want, Saitx, but first we have to get him back to the police station. It's not far from here." Joshua says. "We can talk afterwards." Joshua explains. "Now get in the back with this guy and keep him calm."

Saitx climbs in the back of the police car, as Joshua reaches for the helmet and moves it to the front passenger seat. Saitx closes the back door as Joshua climbs in the front seat and closes the door.

"Hang on back there ... I've only driven a car once before." Joshua says.

"Under the circumstances, do we have a choice?" The officer says.

"No." Saitx says.

Joshua throws the car into drive, pulls a one-eighty and peels out for the police station with the sirens now on full blast. He pulls into the police station parking lot only a few minutes later, honking the horn and making a ruckus that causes a few officers to come out. Joshua throws the car into park and shuts it off before getting out. The first officer to approach him was the same one who had been there talking to Phil at the convention. Joshua tosses him the keys before grabbing his helmet and opening the back door to let Saitx out and to let the other officers have access to their rookie officer.

"Hey, you're that kid who almost beat down that huge group of robots the other day." The officer says.

"Yeah, wasn't lucky this time either. Your fellow officer was hurt before I could get in there." Joshua says.

The other officers make their way to the back of the car and help their comrade up and start getting him inside. Joshua reaches back into the car and grabs the numbing rod.

"Something tells me you saved his life tonight." The officer says.

"Indeed he did. He performed as expected." Saitx says.

Joshua stands back up and hands the officer the numbing rod.

"These things didn't affect me through my leather jacket." Joshua says. "It might be prudent to have all of your officers wearing protective vests for the time being."

"Alright, I'll make sure the others know. That information could save some lives." The officer says.

"Do you need to take down my information? Or do you have it?" Joshua asks.

"Your roommate gave it to us last time. I'll be in touch if anything comes up." The officer tells him.

"You guys aren't going to arrest me for driving a cop car are you?" Joshua asks.

"No, we'll be overlooking any illegal actions you took in the process of saving him and bringing him here. These are special circumstances." The officer assures him.

"Thanks." Joshua says.

He turns and grabs Saitx by the upper left arm.

"Come on." Joshua says.

"Where are we going?" Saitx inquires.

"My apartment." Joshua says.

"Ah, your domicile." Saitx says.

Joshua leads her a short ways down the road to an apartment complex, and through a door into his building. He unlocks a door, pulls her through and closes the door behind her. He leads her over to the couch where he shoves her by the shoulder into a seated position. He turns away from her and rubs his chin for a moment then turns back to her, a bit calmer.

"Alright, now what the fuck is going on? You obviously are the person I've been talking to in my sleep, I can tell by your voice." Joshua says. "But as far as I know, humans can't contact people in their dreams."

"Indeed I am. Why are you being hostile about this?" Saitx asks.

"Well, the whole secrecy thing. You could've come to me and asked for help directly." Joshua says. "I mean, why didn't you?"

"No, I could not. For a time, my membrane uniform could not display this disguise. I had not programed it yet." Saitx explains.

"What?" Joshua asks as he tries to wrap his head around what she had just said to him.

"I said I could not appear to you in your native form. Harnessing your language was difficult enough, but creating a disguise that would pass for human was hard. I had to take many images from your historical visuals." Saitx explained.

"Historical visuals? So you don't really look like this?" Joshua asks.

"No." Saitx says.

"Alright. I've got some questions then. One, what do you really look like?" Joshua asks.

"My appearance isn't that different from how I look now." Saitx explains. "If you are sure that you can handle my true appearance, I shall show you."

"Do it." Joshua says.

The young woman gives off a series of clicks from her mouth and her appearance shifts significantly. Her skin becomes a pale blue color. Her hair vanishes. Her eyes grow wider and turn completely green. Though her breasts stay the same size. He can easily tell that her breasts are a size 30-B. Over her pale blue skin from the neck down is a white suit now. It fits her form, leaving very little to the imagination. Joshua can easily make out nipples and the lips of her pussy. She is quite attractive to Joshua, even if she is an alien. Joshua feels himself blush brightly but then shakes it off.

"You're definitely humanoid then." Joshua says.

"Yes. I can tell from your thoughts that you approve of me." Saitx says.

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Don't Change - Book 1: Beginnings

Joshua L. Edwards

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