Episode 15 Synopsis
Armor
(Original Airdate: May 7, 2000)
At the police station, another detective greets Ichijou. They enter the detectives' room, where Sugita calls Ichijou over to look over the information on the flying object that burst out of the truck. Dr. Enokida comes as Sugita is handing the information to Ichijou, and requests that she look at it too. Sugita reads the enclosed information about the events leading up to the objects escape from the truck, unaided by any human forces. "It can't be," says Enokida. As Sugita reads aloud about the object bursting from the back of the truck at the rest stop, Ichijou and Enokida look over the pictures. The article indicates that the object was seen heading towards Tokyo. Sugita says this will keep them busy at least until tomorrow. Enokida turns to Ichijou. "But tomorrow is…" she begins, but is interrupted when Nozomi enters the office and announces that the briefing is about to begin. Ichijou and Sugita head for the door, leaving Enokida looking after them with a concerned look.
Opening Credits
Yuusuke arrives at the Porepore that evening. Oyasan chides Yuusuke for being absent while the restaurant was busy, for which Yuusuke apologizes. He notices that Nana isn't around. Oyasan tells him that at night she studies drama, and in the future she wants to be an actress. Yuusuke's a little surprised. Oya-san has dreams that she'll be as well known as Sayuri Yoshinaga, or Junko Uchi, or maybe Ayako Wakao, or even Kyoko Enami. Or Izumi Pinko… Oyasan has become lost in his own world, and doesn't even hear the phone ringing. Yuusuke picks it up and finds Sakurako on the other end. She tells him something bad happened to Jean. She assures Yuusuke that Jean's okay, and Yuusuke says he'll be right over. He hangs up and excuses himself to Oyasan, who doesn't hear him, still lost in his litany of actresses. Yuusuke leaves, and Oyasan is surprised to find an empty stool as he turns around. "Where'd he go?" wonder Oyasan. He looks around, even under the bar. "Yuusuke!" he calls..
"This is a picture of the UFO taken shortly after it flew away from the service area," says Nozomi, who is presenting the slides at the police briefing. "The image is too small. I can't tell what it is," says Matsukura, so Nozomi zooms in on the image in question. After adjusting the slide's resolution, he notices that there is some sort of design. Nozomi shows several slides of the object from various locations on its apparent route to Tokyo while the team discusses what it might be. Sakurai notices that it continues to change color and notes that the wings look like car doors. Enokida's best scientific guess is that it is composed of some sort of metal, and the reason for its color change is that is still on its way to becoming whatever it is. Sakurai also guesses that it is related to the unidentified lifeforms. Matsukura says that they have enough reason to believe that they will appear again soon, considering the demise of Number 23, and orders that the team continue their investigation to evaluate the potential destination of the object.
Later, in an unidentified construction equipment storage lot, the strange object alights on the cab of a crane.
Ichijou attempts to make a call, but gets an answering service, so he leaves message: "Sorry, but I can't make it tomorrow. I'll call again at a later time." Nozomi, a short ways off, looks worried.
Yuusuke and Sakurako are trying to make sense of the writings from the images Jean sent her. Yuusuke says that when he had received those images during his fight with MeBiranGi, he thought he saw something like a flying beetle. Sakurako has several possible meanings for each of the symbols, but can't seem to construct an idea that makes sense from each of the possibilities. Yuusuke suggests one sequence which would mean, "the servant is protected by the horse's armor," which seems a little out there to Sakurako. Yuusuke seems convinced that whatever it is, it's not evil.
At the police station it's 4:35a.m, and the team has been working on the problem all night. Ichijou is plotting the locations of the sightings. From the last point he plots a potential direction, and to Ichijou's surprise it's directly toward Yuusuke's residence. Nozomi, at the doorway, calls to Ichijou and asks if she can have a word with him in the hall. "I don't know if this is a good time, but here…" She offers him a small gift-wrapped box. "What's this for?" asks Ichijou. "Today is your birthday, isn't it?" she replies. However, he declines the gift, leading her to think she's done something wrong. She says she doesn't mean to complicate things, but Ichijou assures her that she's not the reason for his attitude toward the situation. (Enokida, passing through the hall a ways down, notices the exchange, but moves on.) Just then Sugita rushes in to the hall. "We've got an incident with Number 24," he says, and rushes out. Ichijou excuses himself to Nozomi and follows Sugita. Nozomi is dejected.
A few minutes later Sakurako's phone rings, but she and Yuusuke are both sleeping. Yuusuke wakes up and answers the phone. "Hello?…Yeah, it's me," he says sleepily. "Okay. I'll leave it to Sakurako. I got it." Yuusuke's voice wakes Sakurako, and she looks up a little dazed (confused, too, maybe). "They've spotted Number 24," he tells her, and starts out. "I'll be back," he says, but she seems a little out of it still.
The object that had been resting on the parked crane suddenly comes to life, the green stone glowing brightly. In a flash it sheds its stone-like appearance, taking on a black and gold design and looking very machine-like. It rises from the crane and flies off.
Ichijou radios Yuusuke on the bike and tells him where to find Number 24. As Yuusuke is driving the object suddenly appears over him, pacing him, and swaying back and forth as if trying to get his attention, which it succeeds in doing. "What's that?" he says, disbelieving his eyes. The object buzzes him a few more times, then shoots off ahead.
Break
A truck is backing down a rural road. The "Backing Up" message is playing. In the rearview mirror we see two figures standing in the road. One is a woman in a black evening dressing wearing a red boa, the other a man in a black trenchcoat and cap. The truck pulls to a halt. Rose and Xu Gouma Gu walk to the passenger side, and Rose gives Me Gyarido Gi his instructions. Xu Gouma Gu walks to the front of the truck and starts in on Me Gyarido Gi, who clicks on the CB in the truck. A voice says, "It's really flying…How big do you suppose it is?" Me Gyarido Gi keys the mike: "Maybe as big as Gouma."(?) This gets Xu Gouma Gu's ire up. "Aren't you ashamed to be seen in one of the Rint's vehicles?" Now Me Gyarido Gi is irate. He punches the horn, knocking Xu Gouma Gu to the ground. He gets out of the truck, walks over to Xu Gouma Gu, and crouches down, staring sarcastically at him. After several seconds of this, he stands up, and then changes to his Grongi Form. "This way is much better," he snarls. Xu Gouma Gu stands up and sneers at Me Gyarido Gi. Rose, however, seems pleased.
Ichijou arrives on the scene of the latest victim, where Sugita is leading the investigation. The victim was a biker, and from the looks of things he was run over several times. There are bloody tracks crisscrossing a small area. Sugita notes that the perpetrator seems to have a thing for vehicles. Ichijou notes that this method differs from the U/I's regular MO. According to the victim's friend, they didn't even hear the truck, which came flying out of nowhere. An employee at a nearby convenience store witnessed the incident. "So they've taken to driving vehicles," says a disturbed Ichijou. Sugita gets a call on his cell phone. It's his son. "Sorry, but I can't today…" he says apologetically.
Sasayama is at the vending machines, looking quite dejected. She is still holding Ichijou's gift, although she is positioned in front of a trash container. She is just about to discard the gift when Dr. Enokida happens on the scene. She sees what Nozomi is about to do, so she intervenes by making some small talk while she buys some coffee. "This UFO is keeping everyone busy, huh? You conducted the briefing, right?" she asks. "Yes. I'm Nozomi Sasayama." "You really shouldn't throw that away." Dr. Enokida quickly turns to the relevant subject, and explains to Nozomi the reason for his behavior. On Ichijou's tenth birthday his father, who was also a cop, didn't return from work. He was killed in the line of duty trying to save someone else. "So that's why earlier…" posits Nozomi. Enokida goes on to explain that Ichijou became a police detective in part to make up for the work his father left undone. Additionally, Ichijou was hoping to go to Nagoya to see his mother, a nurse, but the current situation is preventing this.
At the West Nagoya Hospital, Head Nurse Ichijou is still working. A subordinate comes into the office, surprised to see her. "Aren't you supposed to be off today, boss?" she asks. Mrs. Ichijou explains that since her son is busy dealing with the unresolved situation in Tokyo and probably won't be able to come down this year, she might as well get some work done. She admires her son's dedication, and says that his father would be proud of him.
Yuusuke arrives on the crime scene as Ichijou is ready to leave. "Sorry I'm late," says Ichijou. "Did something happen?" asks Ichijou. "Yeah. This big thing with what looked like horns approached me on the bike last night. Then suddenly it flew off." "Very likely it was that UFO from the dig site." "That's what I think, too. Sakurako says that it's the horse's armor." "'Horses armor'?" "Yeah." "So why did it come after you?" "I don't know, but I didn't get any bad feelings at the time." "Well, don't make any presumptions. I don't need you to become another victim." Yuusuke agrees. Just then a police call comes over the bike radio: "U/I lifeform Number 24 has been spotted in a large truck." Yuusuke grabs his helmet and jumps on the bike.
In an unidentified grove the black-and-gold object hums to life. Its wings spread, and it lifts off and flies away.
Three young girls are being chased down a blind alley by a truck. "Backing Up" continues to ring out while the vehicle drives them ever closer to the back wall. The girls are panicking, and their state seems to please Me Gyarido Gi, who mutters with apparent glee. Soon the girls have been pinned against the wall, and the rear-view camera shows them unable to escape. Me Gyarido Gi mutters some final words, then punches the accelerator. The wheels are smoking.
Mrs. Ichijou is busy trying to work out the schedule, but she's very tired. Her eyes are unable to focus on the screen, but she persists. Suddenly, however, she passes out and falls to the floor. The nurse finds her prone and calls for help.
On the way to the incident, Ichijou's radio identifies the number of the truck in question: 110-3685. Ichijou calls Yuusuke. "Right," says Yuusuke, and dials up the Kuuga code on the bike. Transforming to Kuuga (off screen), he shoots off into traffic. Kuuga weaves through the stopped cars, much to the commuters' surprise. Finally he reaches a clear stretch, and as he does he sees the truck heading in the opposite direction. While he is looking for a place to turn the bike around the mysterious object appears and begins buzzing him again. He doesn't know what to do. After a few passes, the object unexpectedly splits into two parts, a front and a rear, does a little transforming of its own, and drapes itself onto the Trychaser, then locks itself down. The new armor makes some sort of strange vocal utterance. Kuuga is surprised. "So this is the 'Horse's Armor'?" he ponders. Ichijou calls: "What's wrong?" "I'll explain later," says Kuuga. Several different shots of the TryGouram are shown. (It's quite a nice looking rig.)
Me Gyarido Gi is driving by some warehouses, bouncing madly in his seat. (To make him look more psychotic, they stuck a crewman in the cab of the truck and had him shine a spotlight on the actor and wave it around.) Soon he sees Kuuga in his rearview mirror, gaining on him. "Kuuga!" he yells, screeches the truck to a halt, and throws it into reverse. He hits the accelerator, and the truck backs perilously toward the speed TryGouram. The two are on the verge of colliding…
End of episode
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