Atop a crumbling landscape stood a decrepit castle. Its walls, filled with pulsating moss, were growing, climbing, consuming the once mighty home. A banner lay there, fluttering.
In the center stood a hammer, blessed by the presence of three godlike beings:
A mechanical being, with only half its face visible, its arms protruding thick pipes and cables, palm held up, blesses the hammer.
A blindfolded woman holds a pair of scales, her face solemn yet warm. She holds the scales in front of the hammer, seemingly judging it.
A man, or what once seemed like one, lifting his many arms, each finger depicting various symbols and glyphs, blessed the hammer.
As the vision tilted down, various corpses could be seen scattered around the castle, each more dismembered than the last. Some had swords stuck in them, some were burnt to a crisp, and some had bullet wounds.
As the visitor panned their head, they glimpsed robotic arms, torsos, even limbs, scattered amongst several eldritch tentacles.
"Wh-what happened here!?" they exclaimed, before being drawn to a kneeling figure, a hammer held in its hands. As they got closer, the figure lifted its head, its mangled face showing clear sorrow...
"Arrghhh!"
Jumping from bed, Subaru bolted to the ceiling, his head bumping against the wall. Banging his head, he fell back down, the bed creaking in agony. As he regained his focus, rubbing his head, he felt his hair feel cold.
Cold...?
"Oh fu-!" Without realizing it, he had morphed back into his armor, this time complete. "Subaru dear, what happened?" Out of concern, Sakura called from downstairs.
"Nothing, just saw... a cockroach. Yeah, a cockroach." Please, please, please go away. Just for an hour, even half would do.
As if hearing his thoughts and prayers, the armor retracted back into his chest. Sighing in relief, Subaru quickly reassured his aunt before going out, telling Sakura he was going out to exercise. As he dashed out, Ryu came out of the bathroom, toothbrush in mouth. Huh, he looks... fitter?
Thinking he was hallucinating due to staying up late all night playing Cod of Duty, he shook his head before returning to the bathroom.
Reaching the secluded region in the park, Subaru panted in relief. Okay, now turn back, please.
Whirring sounds were emitted before Subaru felt himself clad back in the armor. Now, though, he had time to admire the armor without the pressure of saving the damsels in distress.
Sleek white, with green fluid coursing through the armor. Perfectly fitting, with no bulky, useless parts attached. Arms had laser cannons installed in the hands. Best of all, the mask looked cool, almost as if he were the Red Rider from Kamen Rider.
As he was admiring himself, bushes beside him rustled before two figures from the Zeo Clan entered, obviously looking to smoke. They could be heard chattering to themselves, "Hey, isn't the boss too hard on us grunts? I mean, that, whatever that is, could be anywhere—hey, look, we scored the jackpot!"
Only realizing now, Subaru pointed a finger at himself, before the two gangsters turned towards each other, pulling out their guns.